OK so let me qualify my discussion question. I’m sitting here adding items to my task manager and realize I now have another community that might actually be a good pool for ideas / discussion.
I’ve been a task management nut for awhile now. I’ve used tons of them over the last five or so years - OmniFocus, Things, Nozbe, Nirvana, Toodledo, Remember the Milk, Asana, Do.it, Any.do, Todoist… undoubtedly more than I can think of here.
Here’s a link for reference if anyone is unfamiliar with this topic.
I’m interested in sharing/teams but NOT interested in discussing bigger project managers here - let’s keep this task management oriented in scope, if possible.
I currently use Todoist. I’m happy with it, sort of, but in reality I feel like I’m just settling for a half-solution to what I want.
What’s the best one in your opinion? Why? What do you look for in one, or do you find them to be a waste of your time altogether?
I don’t use any task manager, so I can’t give you my opinion.
But, to help the discussion on the way, it might be helpful if you explain why you feel Todoist is a half-solution? What are you missing that you would like your perfect task manager to have?
We use Trello at SitePoint and while it took me a while to get used to, I love it. It’s not on your list but I imagine you’ve used it, most people have. What holes did it have for you?
What I find the most interesting about it is how many different ways that people use it. When we get new staff on board they sometimes introduce us to new Trello ideas and processes, which is cool.
You’ve probably used it, but for those who haven’t: it basically works like columns of index cards. My basic workflow is to have a “Now”, “Next”, “Todo”, “Features”, and “Done” column. Excluding the “Done” column, everything moves from Right to Left, bottom to top (the features column helps prevent feature creep).
Managing is simple, just drag cards around or click them to see the “reverse side”.
Here’s a screenshot of the workflow for something I’m working on now:
Each index card can contain text, images, checklists, due dates, attachments, and a comments section. Every little action you do, from moving a card to checking off a todo, is tracked right inside the card so you have an uneditable “paper trail” of everything that goes on.
Alternatively, if you’re working on a team-client based project, where the client wants to leave feedback but may not know how to turn on a computer, Google Sheets is great. You can make a sheet public, so that anyone with the secret link can make edits. This is all sorts of awesome, since the client doesn’t even need to login to participate. And it’s Google, they keep a revision of every keystroke ever.
Never tried Trello. I don’t use any because those that I tried didn’t fit my workflow. Or I was not able to adapt to them. But I’m just one person so I guess my system of adding endless virtual post-its on my screen works well enough for me.
Trello… I just could never get into, although I’ve never given it more than a perusal. It seems so foreign to me. Most of my attempts have been either GTD oriented or due-date oriented list type applications, as opposed to the card boards Trello uses… maybe I should give it another try.
Spreadsheets are definitely useful for a lot of things, but I feel like if a tool isn’t easy to input into, sort out of, etc and easily usable on mobile, I’ll never use it.
And as far as Todoist… I think my issue may be with my application of it rather than with the app itself. I often end up just throwing things in the inbox and not sorting them, or sorting and dating everything but then just postponing tasks when their date ticks up. I also don’t do regular GTD reviews, so if I don’t date everything than some tasks stay in lesser used “projects/folders” and become lost or at least forgotten for awhile.
I don’t know, it’s an endless battle for me and I’ve spent enough time working ON task management ideas that it’s probably negated what time I’d save using one
I felt like that at first too. I pushed back quite hard because I was used to interfaces like Basecamp. Under duress I became acclimatised and now I like it.
I tried that one too, and it was one of my favorites I think, I forget why I quit using it. Thanks for the suggestion… might go look at it again since I can’t remember why I didn’t stick with.
So true. Before mobile devices, I used to use spreadsheets for literally everything. I probably could have been on one of those TV shows about OCD - in fact, I had a health spreadsheet that was more accurate than my actual health records haha! They make it very easy to over-manage
