I've been using org-mode since 2008. The most stable usage pattern is clocking the work time under the relevant org section whenever I'm working on a project. This gives a nice progress metric and a rough log of what I did and how long it took. Some kind of cross-referenced reading notes system would also be good, but I haven't gotten around to properly setting one up yet.

Org-mode really works on the single-system aspect, though nowadays an organization system really should do mobile integration too. Org-mode has some kind of external app for ios/Android, but I don't know how well it works with the rest of the system.

Upvoted org-mode; it's universality, simplicity and portability will be hard to impossible to beat. I've been using it for 4 month, it was useful from the start but is twice as useful now, learning some tricks and usage patterns.

Another random little thing I find handy for keeping my tasks organized (correct me if such things aren't of general interest to people reading this thread): I have a walking-around notebook that I use to jot down ideas, compose things, study, etc. (it's the "everything else" notebook to my organization notebook and my school binder). Whenever I make a note in there of something which requires action--"buy eggs," "look up the etymology of x," "call y about z"--I'll draw a little square next to it. This gives me an ad-hoc checklist which it's easy to skim for, so when I get home I can move stuff to my task list and check them off. This way I a) don't lose anything important in the jungle of miscellany, and b) can see at a glance whether I've gotten around to something yet or not.

ETA: To clarify, the part I'm recommending/pointing out is the ad-hoc checklist. One could fold that into any setup where one usually has paper around and can remember to look at the paper later.

I read a few tutorials on org-mode here and have been playing with it for the last two days. For those who don't know, it basically gives you a nice way to organize text hierarchically into levels. Each of the levels have headlines, which can have tags (like :WORK: or :PLAY:).

I've been enjoying it so far. In my file I have Fun (:VALUE:) at the top, and projects that aim to increase Fun on the second level. Then sub-projects inherit from projects, and so on until I've reached physical next actions (which form TODO lists). I like being able to keep track of why I'm doing things because it helps keep me motivated, and facilitates re-evaluation and optimization. So far org-mode seems to give me a good way to do this.

I had an idea while commenting elsewhere. We--or at least I--keep looking for an organization system which suits us so well that we can keep using it and stop looking. But if the systems itself are interesting enough to explore, that might be the wrong goal. When you're trying a new method of keeping your tasks arranged, do you find yourself more productive and interested in the work you have to do? If so, why not exploit the novelty, and deliberately change up the format/interface of your system every once in a while, so as to stay excited about it?