I found Type yesterday in the Club MacStories newsletter.

It is a simple app which let’s me append any text (with a timestamp) to plain-text files.

• Basically a quick capture tool for running lists.

  • Append to selected file (from list of running files – a la Merlin Mann’s “runx” file scheme) – Actions – Help & Questions – Drafts Community

  • Mac Power Users #23: Workflows with Merlin Mann – Relay FM

• LaunchBar can be also used to append text to plain-text files.

I haven’t kept any running list before in plain text; I just captured these ideas into Things directly.

I created a couple of new files using Type in my ~/Documents/Running Lists folder. Here are some examples.

• Brainstorm.txt

  • Following the Natural Planning Model in GTD, sometimes the best way to figure out something is to start writing about it.

    • Free-form thinking environment for writing – Decoding Zettelkasten

    • Journaling can help us to clarify next actions – Decoding Zettelkasten

• Debug.txt

  • Stole this idea from the Type app website.

  • It should be a log of steps I used to figure something out while programming.

  • Since this is just a capture file, steps must be migrated into proper how-tos later.

• Meeting.txt

  • A quick log of any meeting I’m attending to capture what we are talking about at the moment quickly.

Type is focused on just one task: append text to these files. It doesn’t disrupt my workflow.

But I still treat these files as an inbox in a sense, so after I capture anything here, it should be processed.

Instead of introducing yet another inbox, I integrated these files into an existing one.

• I’m big on having multiple capture tools, but just a couple of inboxes.

I made a shortcut that is triggered via Keyboard Maestro when I’m reviewing my TaskPaper journal.

• The shortcut grabs all running files and then lets me pick one.

• It grabs the content from the picked one, then appends it to my TaskPaper journal as a new entry.

• Finally, it cleans the picked running list file, so it’s ready for the next batch of ideas.

Here’s a demo video.