What to-do list apps have you used and stopped using and why? 2

[surval]

What was unnecessary or what was lacking? To each his own, but while everyone can praise their current tool this may be because of a feature I’m not interested in at all; I’m most interested in knowing why have you stopped using other ones to find out whether or not I could be bothered by the same feature or the lack of one thereof.

 

[FreddyNurk]

I used Omnifocus for a while, seemed to be ok for task management, but I dropped it as it was an apple only platform, and the only apple device I had was a work supplied phone, which even then was too many apple devices for me.

Having to rely on just my phone proved a bit too tedious, particularly when it was also my work phone, so keeping it with me meant work kept calling too.

Everything I've tried since has been cross platform, supported on Windows, Android and iOS (although I no longer have any apple devices). Synchronising across devices is unbelievably handy.

 

[surval]

Thanks FreddyNurk. And may I know what tool do you use now and how has it worked for you?

 

[PatCouture]

Ever since I got a Surface pro 3 I became very found of OneNote. It can sync through OneDrive from my surface to my phone and my workstation. Having the opportunity to transfer an outlook email directly to OneNote to break it down into a list of task is very handy. Also I can take note in OneNote and link it to Outlook for reminders. As a bonus I can insert all types of media into OneNote, videos, photos, handwritten notes, etc. I often find myself going in the shop without my surface just to have to take notes of some modifications made to a machine I designed so I just take out my phone, launch the OneNote app, take some pictures of the changes, even sometimes with a tape measure and once I get back to my surface at my desk I can sync it and start writing why the change was made, who made it, etc.

So OneNote is now my solution for todo list.

Best regards

Patrick

 

[Guest262653]

Paper and pencil.

 

[1gibson]

Used to use excel, spent too much time trying to manage tasks and update the list.

Now I use a 3x5 post-it notes. When I run out of room, I transfer every incomplete task to a clean one and put it on top of the stack. If it's a quick task, I'll just do it rather than transfer it. If I get sick of having to transfer the same task over and over, I'll just do it. If it's something random that I've transferred 5 times and nobody has asked me for it again, I just leave it. Can always go back and find it later if needed, and the list has sufficient detail for me to know what to do even if I've completely forgotten about it.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I used Lotus Agenda for a couple of years, and loved it.
Then IBM bought Lotus, and killed the product.
I never forgave them.
I have not since found anything that even came close to replacing Agenda.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[FreddyNurk]

I now use IQTell, and to a lesser extent, Evernote.
Each has its benefits and drawbacks, for me, with IQTell, being able to create tasks, complete with reminders, integrate it with multiple calendars for appointments, and also create tasks (or actions) from emails all within the one interface is great. Its also (somewhat) multiple platform, it has Windows, Android and iOS clients, as well as a web interface, which is also handy as one of my PCs runs Linux.

I use IQTell to track actions, sort by project, location, whether they're work related or not and so on. Evernote is used for my document storage and reference, and is also available from within IQTell's interface.

All of this is underpinned by the Getting Things Done methodology, which is what started me using Omnifocus in the first place.

 

[surval]

FreddyNurk: Thanks for the detailed answer.

MikeHalloran: What do you feel is missing from the multitude of to-do apps that exist that you haven't been able to find one that works for you?

Thanks to everyone!

 

[MikeHalloran]

Agenda was supposed to be a meta-framework for writing your own apps.
Almost nobody used it that way.
The included demo Planner app was amazing.

You stayed organized by typing simple narrative notes about what happened, and it picked up clues from your text.

As you went along, you would add to its lists of places where you might be, people with whom you might meet, projects you might work on, etc. as 'Categories'.

As you typed your notes, Agenda Planner would pick out names, places, dates, etc., and link the note to the appropriate categories, working in the background, usually overnight. It was hell on hard disks with small caches.

That way, a To Do List was just another 'View', showing stuff you hadn't completed, in temporal order, or any order you liked, and a summary of a single project was yet another View.

IBM tried to sell Notes as an 'application framework', but couldn't explain what that meant.
As recompense for killing Notes, I got a free copy of Lotus Organizer, which was a pretty but primitive day planner, with no inference engine behind it. It was nice looking garbage.

My boss invited a couple of IBM dudes to show up and sell us Notes. They spent the whole day there, and couldn't get either of their laptops to talk over our network. Then they told us about the wonderful stuff that we'd be able to use Notes for, if we ever got it to work at our facility. Never even saw a demo screen. Never got a brochure. Never got a quotation. Never got a demo disk. Even AOL did a better marketing job than that.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Panther140]

I was using Microsoft office calendar, but I had to stop relying on it completely because Windows is updating for close to 60% of my device's duty cycle.

"Formal education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed." ~ Joseph Stalin

 

[RunSomewhere]

OneNote, Evernote, or Wunderlist are all excellent.

 

[FreddyNurk]

Calendar platforms can be somewhat of a challenge, there is obviously a decent benefit in using one to manage appointments and critical times, but most businesses have their own implementations. For me, having a calendar that I don't need to be in the office at my desk to use is critical, and I'm not a fan of taking a paper diary around either.

Now I use the Exchange based work calendar for all my work appointments, and Google Calendars for personal stuff. IQTell them provides me a means to view both calendars at once, and to add appointments as I need. One of the reasons I find this so handy is my partner also has access to the Google calendar, so any outside work appointments, dates and so on are also apparent. Stops me from booking Friday afternoon drinks if something else is planned without my having to call to check.

Of course, its possible to use just the work calendar for all your appointments, but I've always believed in separation of business and personal resources.