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Sort of a poll: What is your favorite task manager/to do app?
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Posted by MadaboutDana
Jan 14, 2019 at 09:42 AM
Sorry, Beck, only just seen this: I’ve been experimenting extensively with NotePlan, but have discovered some very irritating discrepancies between the iOS and macOS versions (not least the lack of reciprocity between to-dos scheduled from Notes in macOS vs. the reciprocity available in iOS for iPad - but not on iPhone!). I’ve not found any useful sources, so all my discoveries are spontaneous. Not sure what to make of NotePlan, in truth - it’s just not quite developed enough, although the iOS version is much more refined than the macOS one.
I’m now examining Agenda (iOS, macOS) with the same issues in mind. It’s got shortcomings (notably a lack of folders/hierarchy, odd behaviour when using “due” tags), but also some impressive strengths. But it does appear to be more consistent across platforms than NotePlan. And you can link notes to any other notes. You can assign dates to notes - but also, and this isn’t so widely known, assign due dates to any individual item (= paragraph, piece of text, list item) in a note. You can also pin and star items.
It’s just started supporting attachments, but doesn’t yet support multiple windows (definitely a fairly major shortcoming, although they’re working on it, since it’s by far one of the biggest user requests). It does now support Markdown as well as rich text.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 14, 2019 at 11:20 AM
There is a great deal to admire about Agenda, starting with its unique approach to date-oriented information management. The iOS app is very well designed to follow the functionality of the Mac version, but make good use of what iPads are good at. I also like the innovative “subscription” model the developers use, which protects purchasers, but also provides incentive for continued improvement.
But its category/project organization scheme feels too limited to me to be a full-blown note manager. I have tried thinking the notes in a project as a timeline (like the original Evernote, for those of you who remember that). But I am too used to thinking in folder structure. If “projects” were instead folders that could be nested, Agenda would probably become one of my main tools. Instead, I use it on a limited basis for certain tasks it is good at. I will always keep my subscription current, however, because I enjoy watching the Agenda team evolve the app, and maybe it will get to the point where it better fits my way of working.
Steve Z.
MadaboutDana wrote:
>
>I’m now examining Agenda (iOS, macOS) with the same issues in mind. It’s
>got shortcomings (notably a lack of folders/hierarchy, odd behaviour
>when using “due” tags), but also some impressive strengths. But it does
>appear to be more consistent across platforms than NotePlan. And you can
>link notes to any other notes. You can assign dates to notes - but also,
>and this isn’t so widely known, assign due dates to any individual item
>(= paragraph, piece of text, list item) in a note. You can also pin and
>star items.
>
>It’s just started supporting attachments, but doesn’t yet support
>multiple windows (definitely a fairly major shortcoming, although
>they’re working on it, since it’s by far one of the biggest user
>requests). It does now support Markdown as well as rich text.
Posted by Paul Korm
Jan 14, 2019 at 01:20 PM
Agenda has three other dimensions you can use in addition to category and project: stars, people and tags. In conjunction with date search (“tomorrow”), search across all projects, and saved searches, there’s quite a bit of flexibility. It seems that Agenda’s organization philosophy is to provide limited fixed-hierarchy methods alongside various metadata options (though not custom metadata) and then let the user use the discovery tools in search, search within searches, etc. It can take a while to learn to work within an app that eschews a lot of hierarchy but provides on-the-fly and saved-searching features instead.
I recommend using the beta version of Agenda—4.1(60) is the current beta on macOS—since it is has improved speed and some other nice features.
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>But its category/project organization scheme feels too limited to me to
>be a full-blown note manager.
Posted by Hugh
Jan 14, 2019 at 02:00 PM
Lucas wrote:
>
>Hugh wrote:
>One type of task manager that I think nobody has mentioned is the type
>>that not only lists your tasks but also schedules them in the working
>>day. When I used Windows, there were several available (the name “Above
>>and Beyond” rings a bell), but I have seen none for the Mac. Do they
>>still exist?
>
>I confess that I have searched somewhat obsessively for such software
>over the last 10 years, and I have tried just about everything. There
>are indeed some options available, although I find all of them lacking.
>I will highlight a few options on various platforms:
>
>Windows (old software): In addition to Above & Beyond, there was TimeTo
>and Watership Planner.
>
>Mac (old software): SmartDay did this, but never became sufficiently
>polished and was abandoned.
>
>Project Management software: Obviously overkill, but I have used
>full-blown project management software for this purpose. Any software
>that includes “resource leveling” can be configured to automatically
>schedule tasks according to priority, deadlines, availability, etc. I
>have used Microsoft Project. On the mac, OmniPlan and Merlin Project do
>the trick. On the web, LiquidPlanner also does this.
>
>Recent software:
>—Focuster has already been mentioned here. It’s relatively simnple,
>and it lacks prioritization, but it’s automatic scheduling works well.
>—JXCirrus Planner tries to be a full-blown, extremely powerful
>automatic task scheduling solution (including being able to give tasks a
>numeric priority), and it works on Windows, Mac, and iPhone. I recommend
>looking at it, but there do tend to be major bugs, and it isn’t exactly
>elegant. If the bugs get worked out, it would be my first choice.
>—SkedPal is much more polished and is also cross-platform (including
>mobile). It’s an excellent option, with a highly sophisticated approach
>to blocking time for different sorts of tasks. My only issues are the
>lack of numeric priority and the approach it takes to automatically
>scheduling short-duration tasks ahead of longer, higher-priority tasks,
>but for many people these aren’t problems.
>
>DIY approaches:
>—Another powerful solution I have found is Tinderbox, which I have
>configured to be a capable task manager, including with automatic
>priority-based scheduling, but I have stopped using it for that purpose
>because of the inability to sync tasks with my iPhone. I am sure
>InfoQube could also be used.
>—Excel can be configured to do this, but there are severe limitations.
>
>As far as which task manager I currently use: Last year I switched to
>index cards, which I loved, but eventually there were too many issues
>with transporting cards and losing cards, so I switched back to
>electronic. But I have grown to appreciate the card metaphor, and I’ve
>been trying various Kanban options. Currently, I’m using Zenkit, which
>is quite powerful but also a bit buggy. I’m still on the lookout for
>better automatic scheduling options that can sync with iPhone.
Many thanks, Lucas. I’m exploring a number of these suggestions (which it’s good to see still exist, at least a dozen years since I first looked at them).
Posted by MadaboutDana
Jan 14, 2019 at 03:37 PM
I agree with Steve that Agenda isn’t a true notes manager (like my ongoing fave, Notebooks); but increasingly, I’m using it as a task management app precisely because you can manage tasks and notes separately.
As Paul mentions, it’s got a number of clever features for differentiating/categorising notes; it also supports links between notes, which (again) is ideal for task management purposes. For example, I have various projects under “Business” and “Home” categories, plus attached notes under “Business Notes” and “Home Notes” (that’s an example; in reality, my taxonomy is a little more complex). Once I’ve completed a project, I drag and drop it into a related archive (e.g. “Business Archive”); this may include the note, but on the other hand, if the note is more broadly applicable, I may leave it where it is under “Business Notes”.
This, it seems to me, is how a task manager should really work. NotePlan is also capable of this, of course, but the taxonomies available in NotePlan are very simplistic (dates and tags are there, but very little else; IMHO the ability to link notes doesn’t really make up for this excessive simplicity).
Cheers!
Bill