Dash/Plus.
Drawing squiggly lines followed by barely legible handwriting.
Musings on Note-taking
I have been writing to-do lists in various forms over the years, but lately I have returned to handwritten lists. For maybe the last 15 years, I have been using the Dash/Plus System created by Patrick Rhone for handwritten to-do lists.
The list syntax is simple: all undone items start as a plain dash followed by the item. As the status of the item changes, the dash gets modified to another symbol to denote completion, movement to another list, etc.
The beauty of this system is that it is all built upon, and extensions of, the original dash. Therefore, it is easy to change items from one state to another (an undone action item to a done one, an undone action item to waiting or delegated) and in the case of an non-dashed item changing completely the item is circled to denote that.1
The Dash/Plus System
| Symbol | Action Item Status |
|---|---|
| \(-\) (dash) | Undone action item |
| \(+\) (plus) | Done action item |
| \(\rightarrow\) (right arrow) | Waiting (i.e. for another action) |
| \(\leftarrow\) (left arrow) | Delegated action item |
| \(\bigtriangleup\) (triangle) | Data point (notes, etc.) |
| \(\ominus\) (circled dash) | Moved action item |
Patrick Rhone’s blog can be found under another URL these days. Check out https://www.patrickrhone.net/.
Rhone, Patrick. “The Dash/Plus System.” https://patrickrhone.com/dashplus/. Accessed 22 January 2025. ↩︎