diff --git a/.zshrc b/.zshrc
index b60cc65..06ad865 100644
--- a/.zshrc
+++ b/.zshrc
@@ -171,22 +171,24 @@
    todo() {
       ( # subshell to protect against directory changes
       todo_dir="$(dirname "$(realpath ~/todo)")"
+      todo_file="$(realpath ~/todo)"
       if [ -z "$@" ];then
-         cd "$(dirname "$(realpath ~/todo)")"
+         cd "$todo_dir"
 
          # pull the latest commits
          git rev-parse &&
             git pull
 
-         "$EDITOR" ~/todo 
+         # open the file
+         "$EDITOR" "$todo_file"
 
-         # commit and push the file if it's in a git repo
-         git rev-parse &&
-            git commit "$(realpath ~/todo)" -m 'todo' &&
+         # commit and push the file if it's in a git repo and the file has changed
+         if git rev-parse && ! git diff --exit-code "$todo_file"; then
+            git commit "$todo_file" -m 'todo' &&
             git push
+         fi
       else
-         cd "$todo_dir"
-         git $@
+         git -C "$todo_dir" $@
       fi
       )
    }