Sort of a poll: What is your favorite task manager/to do app?

Posted by MadaboutDana
Feb 4, 2019 at 10:26 AM

Ha, fascinating insights, Graham. I am currently adjusting my own way of working in very similar ways.

After much thought and some experimentation, I’m dumping all the subscription-based apps I was using to manage my time.

I’ve invested in a couple of notebooks to jot down ideas/must-do tasks (for later transfer to software if necessary - otherwise “just do it”, as you say).

I’ve created my own task management system in Apple Numbers.

This has the huge advantage of being optimised to my own way of working, preferred methods of visualisation etc. It wouldn’t have been possible until now, mind you, because of the new “grouping” feature in Numbers, which allows me to create fold-away sections for notes (and any other specific data, such as contact names, start dates and so on). Oh, to explain that, I should specify that each task is a micro-table (one of Numbers’ most powerful features - the fact that tables are only a small part of what the software can do). So I have multiple types of micro-tables for different kinds of task or notes.

The system is slightly cumbersome, in that I have to keep my task templates in a separate tab so I can copy and paste them into the relevant “to do” tab (classic GTD setup for those, incidentally, but with timing bands added to the “TODAY” tab, so I can rough-schedule tasks into my day). Obviously copying and pasting takes a little time - but it also helps you to concentrate on exactly what you want to do with the task.

Reason for this radical revamp? I just couldn’t cope with the vast lists of tasks that inevitably build up in all standard task managers, no matter how well designed they are. Those lists are so annoying! So many brain cells die as you scan down them over and over again.

The Numbers setup means I can highlight tasks any way I like; I can position them on the infinite canvas that is a given Numbers tab anywhere I like; I can modify the task layout spontaneously, or create new templates if I feel like it. I can include diagrams if I like. I can create notes anywhere I like (either in the task or elsewhere); which brings me to the one major limitation of Numbers - the lack of any option to link to tables/worksheets/other objects across a Numbers workbook. External links, yes, internal links, no. This is a big weakness, and I’m hoping they’ll address it soon.

As for tagging - yes, I do that sometimes. No, Numbers doesn’t display groups of tagged items like other task managers, but the search engine is so powerful you can zoom through items that have been assigned the same tag very quickly and easily. I keep a separate tab with tags on it, just for reference.

So it’s all a bit “manual”, and I could probably use a database (Ninox, Tap Forms) to do the same things. But that would be so much more complicated and so much less flexible.

And best of all? No more expensive subscriptions! I’m thinking of transferring all my journaling to Numbers as well… Apple Numbers is, after all, free.

Another wacky change of tack from Bill!