Task management options

I know I’ve been talking a lot about toodledo as my current task manager of choice, but there are a number of options out there for people that would work pretty well for what I’ve been harping on so far.

In fact, almost any type of “list” system will work just fine.  The only reason I’m currently using toodledo is because it syncs with the iPhone so well and fast, it’s incredibly easy!

However, in terms of UI they could certainly use a retrofit.

Check out a similar task list in nirvana.. I can compress the window a lot more, only the relevant information is shown, and it just looks way cleaner.

I love the list of projects on the left, the fact that I can use Areas of focus to easily separate work from home stuff, and it’s super easy to see what items I’m waiting for, what’s next ,what I plan on doing in the future, etc.

The only real issue as to why I’m not using nirvana is because I can’t sync with my iphone.  They have a beautiful mobile app, but it needs an internet connection to sync. When I want to get my tasks I don’t wait to wait for an internet connection, I want the stuff there.. immediately!

Google tasks is another possibility.. you can make individual lists, and you can indent.. but as far as I know I can’t search my tasks, and I can’t tag them.  That makes it a no-win for me.

The other thing I like about both toodledo and nirvana is that I can email tasks directly to the inbox.. super sweet!  And with toodledo I can actually process stuff with my email!  I can send with a subject like:

Call bob about new car ideas ! @@call #today

and it’ll show up in my inbox with the context @call and already marked for #today.  I can also add tags, status, folders, etc..

Crazy powerful!  Also, check out all the connections they have. Lots of ways to work with your data.

They also have a fancy “refer your friend” deal where if you refer a friend to toodledo and they sign up through a special link, you can save money on a pro account.. giving you access to all sorts of cool things like subtasks and more.

I just wish it were prettier. 🙂

At any rate, I’d love to hear what other things you guys are using!  In fact, regardless of how useful toodledo is, or how pretty nirvana is.. neither still really give me what I want.

What I WANT is something I can host myself for absolute security that’ll sync with my iphone/ipad.  Anyone know of anything like that?

Categories:

gtd

7 Responses

  1. Jim says:

    I’m in the same boat – I love the functionality that Toodledo provides (especially the Outlook sync tool), but Nirvana has the UI down cold. Nirvana says that they are coming out with a development interface, so maybe that functionality is right around the corner.

  2. Josh says:

    I’m kind of in the same boat you were a few months ago, Jason. I’m still trying out lots of apps, looking for a good combination of a clean UI and complete connectivity with iPhone, web, and calendar syncing. I do notice that Nirvana has a standalone iphone app in the works, though, so that could really help expedite my decision.

  3. johnwin says:

    In firefox you can install the stylish extension and then apply a new CSS “skin” to toodledo – the Helvetica one is very nice!

  4. Hey Johnwin,

    I did not know about Stylish!
    That is pretty neat in order to change the visual style!

    Thanks for the heads up

    @ Jason: Keep the articles coming!

  5. Lennart says:

    I use Toodlethings (http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/54863) within Fluid (http://fluidapp.com/) to have a prettier stand-alone app on the mac.

  6. sean says:

    how about “Remember the Milk”? I just started to use this and to me..the design looks much better than toodledo

  7. jason says:

    @sean
    I tried remember the milk, but found that I didn’t like the way it handled projects or sub-tasks..

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