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

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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 29, 2019 at 04:18 PM

Question… both specific to Everdo, but also a general inquiry… how does an app built specifically for the Getting Things Done method scale for people who aren’t married to GTD? I’ve wondered this about OmniFocus too.

thouqht wrote:
I gotta put my vote in for Everdo. It’s getting rapidly developed but
>already most of the power features you’d want for a full blown GTD
>system
> >- Cross platform
>- Great performance
>- Separate start / due
>- “Areas” focus which is like a global filter for tasks/projects (one of
>my favorite features)
>- All task operations available on Projects (for most programs
>“Projects” are just a folder with super basic meta-data)
>- Good hotkeys
>- Repeating tasks
>- Subtasks
>- Encrypted sync you can either host yourself or run via their cloud
>(currently still beta, but has worked nearly flawlessly so far)
>- Notes (both in tasks, but also a whole separate notebook module)
>- Rapidly being developed
> >I thought I was going to be on Org-Mode forever, but this does most
>things org-mode does just it also does it well on mobile.

Posted by Paul Korm
Jan 29, 2019 at 09:20 PM

I’m not sure what “scale” in the context of this question means, but OmniFocus 3 has dialed back it’s GTD emphases by eliminating “Contexts” and using “Tags” instead. I’ve never been a GTD person (the whole obsession with “productivity” does not appeal to me), but I’ve used OmniFocus in all its guises since it came to market. Mainly because it is quite flexible and reliable. Most of life doesn’t need a plan, but the bits that do can benefit from structure, which is what OF provides.

I don’t think that answers your question, though.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:
Question… both specific to Everdo, but also a general inquiry… how
>does an app built specifically for the Getting Things Done method scale
>for people who aren’t married to GTD? I’ve wondered this about OmniFocus
>too.

Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 29, 2019 at 10:37 PM

Thanks, Paul. That answers part of what I was trying to learn. Just to be clearer—if that’s possible—I am wondering about the flexibility of dedicated GTD apps in general. Will they provide effective task management if you don’t subscribe whole heartedly to the GTD principle.

I am like you. I don’t need everything to be put into a GTD hopper and come out the other end with a neat list of tasks to do every day. (I am not disparaging that functionality. Everyone works differently.) In fact, feeling I HAVE to write it all down makes me anxious.

I like being able to build a list when necessary, one that’s detailed or not, depending on the project. Often I just write down the outcome I want instead of the steps leading to it. (For example, publish the newsletter by x date.) Mostly, though I want to associate resources with tasks—what Beck was talking about earlier. Documents, notes related to tasks. If Agenda had a Windows version, it would be ideal for me, I think.

But getting back to GTD, Everdo is a really attractive app. The separate notebooks really intrigued me, but as far as I was able to tell, you can’t associate the notes directly with tasks or projects. They seem to live independently.

Steve Z.

Paul Korm wrote:
I’m not sure what “scale” in the context of this question means, but
>OmniFocus 3 has dialed back it’s GTD emphases by eliminating “Contexts”
>and using “Tags” instead. I’ve never been a GTD person (the whole
>obsession with “productivity” does not appeal to me), but I’ve used
>OmniFocus in all its guises since it came to market. Mainly because it
>is quite flexible and reliable. Most of life doesn’t need a plan, but
>the bits that do can benefit from structure, which is what OF provides.
> >I don’t think that answers your question, though.
> >Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>Question… both specific to Everdo, but also a general inquiry… how
>>does an app built specifically for the Getting Things Done method scale
>>for people who aren’t married to GTD? I’ve wondered this about
>OmniFocus
>>too.
>

Posted by Luhmann
Jan 30, 2019 at 01:06 PM

For me GTD is about NOT thinking about things I have to do. The benefit of GTD is precisely that it isn’t one big list, but that it hides all the things that can be done “someday” or in a different context, or which don’t start till a later date. But it only works if you can trust the system to show you the things you DO need to think about when they become relevant (due to date, context, etc.). In this sense, any proper GTD system can scale infinitely because it only ever shows you what requires focus right now.

I still think 2Do is the best at this of all the suggested apps, although I appreciate that any system can be made to work - even pen and paper - if someone is sufficiently dedicated to that system. If I have to focus on a sub-set of my today tasks in 2Do I will use stars, priorities, or tags to filter that list even further. Stars are great because even things not showing up in Today can be starred if you want to start thinking about them early. Priorities I use less often, but can be useful if I have a lot to do in one day and need to tackle the most important ones first. And tags are useful for contexts. My most common one is “errands” which covers everything I have to do outside before returning to home or office. (Location based reminders are also great.)

Posted by Hugh
Jan 31, 2019 at 11:37 AM

Like Paul Korm, I see Omnifocus (especially Version 3) as less of a strictly GTD app than some of its rivals have been. I do remember two or three apps that were designed around rigorous David-Allen principles and flowcharts. I think Midnight Inbox was one, but I cannot remember the names of the others. All I remember about those I trialled was that they were too fussy and time-consuming for me.

That’s not to say that I think that the David Allen methodology has not been useful. It’s made me at least think a bit more carefully about the to-do lists that I’ve been making for the last 50 years. But as with any methodology, its lessons can be applied too zealously.

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