My 85 year-old grandpa's to-do app

July 29, 2017

A very successful salesman for 50+ years, my grandpa recently retired at the ripe old age of 85.

Even though he doesn’t work anymore, he still follows a similar routine, including sticking to his system for getting things done.

With writing that’s probably legible only to himself, he lists out the tasks for the next day on a diary page. He carries that piece of paper, folded up in his pocket, crossing off tasks as he completes them. If a task is not completed by the end of day, it’s meticulously copied over to the next day.

His favorite past-time now is maximizing awards from credit cards and then booking trips using mileage points for himself and my grandmother. He loves the game - often writing letters to airlines to request mileage deals, working customer support to eke out better deals, and applying for/cancelling credit cards. Just this year, they’re gone to Florida (x2), Boston, St. Louis (x2), and have booked trips to Florida (again), Sweden, Russia, and France. Domestic trips were booked using award miles.

I think the most effective (and inspiring) aspect of this is the consistency.

todo

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