The Best GTD App
Posted under: When I started this review process back in September 2011, eager to find the perfect GTD app for myself. I was looking forward to whizzing through the reviews, to find a winning app that would meet my needs set out in the opening post. I was writing the reviews, at times, twice a week. Then babies, work and disillusionment set in. The latter came about as it slowly dawned on me that there wouldn’t be a clear winner, a perfect GTD for me (and others).
The conclusions I’m about to draw, as I choose my ‘perfect’ GTD system, will be a story of compromise. Will the app be, not perfect, but just good enough? Will missing features be made in the future? Many a “it would be perfect if …”.
Recap
The full story is in the opening post. To find the perfect app, I came up with some basic criteria the app had to meet in order to be considered, this got the list down from over a hundred to a manageable 9 (10 originally, until I realised Get It Done didn’t have a Mac app).
- Multi Device – Mac, Android and Windows
- Quick
- Available Off-line with Cloud Syncing
- Beautiful/Great User Experience (UX)
The following 9 shortlisted apps then got an in depth review:
… and now here we are, about to find out which I think is best and which will become my trusted system?
Comparison Chart
If you’re after a quick comparison, here’s how their features compared. The criteria is taken from my thoughts on what makes a great GTD app, outlined in the introduction post. I’ve included some ‘nice to have’ features that I discovered which I enjoyed and/or were useful.
| Feature | TODO | Due Today | Toodledo | Doit.im | Wunderlist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick add | Yes, into an inbox | Yes. Into an inbox if on home screen or into the list that you currently happen to be in. | Yes. But there’s no inbox | Yes. Into inbox or you can change when adding. | Yes. Into any list incl an Inbox. |
| Projects/Sub-tasks | Lists and sub tasks | Yes. Projects, Sub projects and sub tasks. | Yes. Folders and sub-tasks. Sub-tasks in Pro. | Yes, projects. | Yes. Lists. |
| Contexts/tags | Yes, both | Yes, both. | Yes, both. | Yes, both. | No |
| Order tasks | Yes. But order is not synced with Toodledo | No | No | No | Yes |
| Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Highlight/star | Yes | Yes. In paid version. | Yes | Yes. Starred tasks go into special ‘Today’ folder | Yes |
| Search | Yes | Yes. In paid version. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deadline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reminder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (Yes – on Android) |
| Recurring tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sync with Google Calendar | Yes. via Toodledo | Yes. via Toodledo. | Yes | Yes | No |
| User Experience | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| Notable extras | |||||
| GTD Specific | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Hotkey | Yes | n/a | n/a | Yes | No |
| Badge | Yes | n/a | n/a | No | Yes |
| Import/Export | n/a | n/a | Yes | No | No |
| Widget | n/a | Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes |
| Attach files | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Assign tasks | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Price | £10.49 | Free/£1.85 | Free/$14.85 p/yr | Free | Free |
more…
| Feature | Astrid | Producteev | Nozbe | Conqu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick add | Yes. But it has no inbox | Yes. There’s an inbox but I think tasks that people assign to you land in here. | No | No |
| Projects/Sub-tasks | Yes, lists. | Yes, labels | Yes, projects. | Yes, projects |
| Contexts/tags | No | No | Context, with icons | Both context and tags |
| Order tasks | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Notes | Yes | Yes, multiple notes | Yes, as multiple comments | Yes |
| Highlight/star | Yes. Importance stars 1-5 | Yes, importance stars 1-5 | Yes, for marking tasks as next action | Yes, 3 coloured flags |
| Search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deadline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reminder | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, scheduled date |
| Recurring tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sync with Google Calendar | Kind of. You can add a calendar entry that is connected to the task | Yes | Yes | No |
| User Experience | 4/5 | 5/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 |
| Notable extras | ||||
| GTD Specific | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Hotkey | n/a | Yes | No | No |
| Badge | n/a | No | Yes | Yes |
| Import/Export | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Widget | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Attach files | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Assign tasks | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Price | Free | Free | 9.95 eur p/mo | $53 p/yr |
Honourable mentions
These apps didn’t get reviewed because they lacked some feature/s that made them unsuitable. I liked how they looked and their features, they show great promise:
- Nirvana – Well thought out, great looking GTD web app.
- Assana – Good looking, collaborative task manager.
- Smarty Task – Great looking GTD app with some smart filters.
- Things & Omnifocus – Users of these had great things to say about them but sadly Mac only.
- Wunderkit – Wunderlists big brother, fantastic UI for collaborative task management.
- Any.DO – Slick Android app with intriguing gestures.
The Runners Up
It was really hard to choose my apps to make up my trusted system. There wasn’t a single one that looked like a clear winner. All of them had at least one thing wrong or missing. So it’s not that the runners up are bad apps, it’s just that the others were better, sometimes marginally.
Wunderlist
I love Wunderlists simplicity and looks but the lack of tags or appearing in more than one list, means no contexts. Based on that alone it loses out. Although there might be reprieve for this, as I’ve been using it for a while for my work tasks for Life Tuned and Pik Pak, in a kind of personal Kanban. With its drag ‘n’ drop task ordering (something surprisingly missing on most), it makes easy just-in-time ordering of the next tasks to do in a project, so it might remain as part of the system.
This is for you, if you after an app that has great looks, fantastic simple UX, same experience across multiple platforms and are happy with basic task organisation.
Conqu
The odd UI and it’s clunky-ness is just something that would grate on me after a time, it bewildered me in the short time I used it. Plus missing features, like task recurrences (essential for doing stuff like monthly accounts) and Google calendar sync puts this one out of the running.
This is for you, if you after an app that looks good, supports many platforms (Playbook and Nook included), don’t mind Adobe Air and are not too bothered that it doesn’t look/work like anything you’ve used before.
Nozbe
For the high price it has to be the best and I don’t think it is (yet). The brownish UI for Mac just doesn’t work, I can’t quite put my finger on it, is it because the colour palette looks like something off a toddlers app? I’m not sure. My biggest turn-off was their New Android app. With a small number of tasks it was slow. What would it be like with many more? It also looks like I’m not the only one having problems, it gets a right panning in the reviews on the Google Play store which worries me more. To be fair they’ve only just released their new Mac and Android apps, so perhaps one to keep an eye on for the future.
This is for you, if you after an app that is GTD all over, simple to understand, you use Dropbox and/or Evernote, your patient (as they get out of beta quality), rich and your favourite colour is brown.
TODO for Mac, Due Today & Toodledoo
These apps come in as a threesome, working together to provide one trusted system. TODO for my Mac, Due Today for my Android phone and Toodledo for access anywhere (it’s Web) and providing the core service/glue that the other 2 sync with. One of the advantages of Toodledo is the many of 3rd party apps, so if I find that I don’t like Due Today, I can swap it out for one of the other many apps that sync with Toodledo. One particular app that caught my eye was 2Do.
Some people love Toodledo but I can’t get over its poor user experience. I don’t come away feeling happy, I just feel frustrated. It’s not alone, TODO for Macs task editing is jarring and the overall experience is mundane. They’re great at being functional, they just don’t delight. Due Today has it’s own foibles, chipping in with Floating Tasks!?
The other main problem, was the inconsistent experience. Not a fault of any individual app but nevertheless a problem as a whole. Take projects for example; TODO calls them lists, Due Today calls them projects and Toodledo calls them folders. They also have different special lists. Due Today has one called Future, TODO has one called Focus. The split boxes work differently too, TODO shows in gray the total number of tasks and in red the number that are overdue. Whereas Due Today shows in grey the number of tasks not overdue and in red those that are overdue. So for 4 tasks, 2 of which are overdue. TODO would be 2:4 and Due Today 2:2. TODO orders tasks but then this order isn’t the same on the other 2.
This is for you, if you are a power user and are after an app/s that is extremely customisable, has tons of features, has multiple clients to choose from and you can live with fugly UIs.
Doit.im
Doit.im has the best GTD implementation I’ve seen. It’s designed specifically for GTD and I think it aligns itself with GTD perfectly. For example when tasks are created, they’re in the inbox (which is not a special folder but more a classification or focus). When you process the inbox the task, it can then can be reclassified as Today, Next, Scheduled, Someday and Waiting. On top of this, independently you can then add to projects and contexts (plus tags for good measure).
Unfortunately Doit.im’s Mac app, is unusable. It’s a cut down version of Doit.im (Web\Android) and feel abandoned. Simple things like putting something into ‘Next Action’ means it will never be seen again in the app and there’s no projects for you to browse either. Sadly that just leaves the Web app for managing tasks on the Mac. It’s good and matches the Android app but I did experience slowness at times and it’s not so good off-line or with a slow Internet connection.
They also just announced premium pricing of 20USD, which I think it’s great. It provides some re-assurance that they have a way to make money and stick around. Something I was concerned about previously, having been around a long time without making money and not publicly announcing how they would.
This is for you, if you’re after a complete GTD style trusted system in one – for Android, iOS and Web.
Astrid & Producteev – The Winners!
It was a close call but I think these pair just edge it. There’s a great desktop app for the Mac (Producteev) and the best task app I’ve seen for Android (Astrid). They’ve got a host of features and even missing the odd one but I think the User Experience won it over for me. Both make me smile and that’s important. It compels me too look at them, collect on them, organise on them, review on them.
I’ve had Astrid on my phone for a while (as an inbox to collect stuff on the go) and it’s fun to use. I’ve seen it get better and better with each update, which occur frequently. It’s feels good knowing that it’s fantastic now and it’s being actively being developed, getting better all the time. I love its humour too, with it’s reminders, some of them persistent, “snooze time is up! Complete ….”, “Feel good about yourself! Let’s go!”, “No more postponing! Complete …”. I even love their Web app, I really wanted a desktop client for speed and offline access but this is really nice. It’s got a simple bright clean interface, it’s like Producteev but on the Web. If they made a Mac one (hint hint) then I’d be in heaven.
Producteevs Mac app is brilliant. It looks beautiful. It’s both easy to add tasks and manage them. Their Android app is just OK, it’s new and has a long way to go to catch up with Astrid but they’ve shown that they can create great apps with their Mac one. If that gets the love the Mac one does, it’s another option.
Since the reviews for these 2, there’s been some updates too.
Producteev
- A UI make over (I thought it was great as it was)
- Sub tasks (although they don’t sync with Astrids)
- An Android app
Astrid
- Sub tasks (although they don’t sync with Producteevs or Astrid.com)
- A lovely new UI, that fits in with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
- More customisations
- A web clipper
- Some ordering on the Android app but don’t sync to Producteev or Astrid.com
- Lots of little things which I keep noticing after updates that has me thinking “that’s cool”. For example; prompts me on missed calls to add a task to call them back or do something else.
This is how they look now
It’s not all roses, there’s some workarounds/concerns:
- Lack of contexts/tags mean using lists for projects and contexts (tasks can belong to more than one list). Not ideal but do-able. So lists like @home, @phone for contexts would keep them at the top and the ‘@’ signify it’s a context, not a project list. Producteev only showing the first 5 lists is a pain.
- A few people complaining that syncing with Producteev sometimes doesn’t work. I didn’t test it long enough to really know, so this a concern.
So there your have it. Producteev and Astrid take the winners medal. I’m going to start using these 2 in anger which will be the real proof. If it all goes horribly wrong I’ll report back!
Hope you enjoyed the series, I certainly didn’t ;) I never foresaw the amount of time and effort it would take. Next time I’ll just look at some apps and pick one. Agree? Which is your fave?
Over and finally out.
The perfect GTD system does not exist.
Question mark photo credit – Scott McLeod
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I like the UI of Producteev, but its lack of some concept of projects makes it a non-starter. Sub tasks are worthless as they cannot be scheduled or have context. Workspaces as projects is too heavyweight.
I’ve decided that the typical way these apps represent Projects is not a good fit. All a project is is something with subtasks. Most apps that put projects in a list on the side are too heavyweight. Basically, creating a project feels like a big deal in these apps so I end up avoiding it unless a project feels “big enough” to warrant it. I want light weight projects that reduces the resistance to create them.
I just yesterday discovered a new contender, Smthngs (http://thn.gs), that I think gets it right. Projects are much lighter weight and are easily created.
It doesn’t have a desktop client, but the web app does support running in off-line mode. They have an Android version, which is not tablet-optimized.
My only complaints about it are:
- no recurrence
- Android app is not tablet-optimized
There are some rendering bugs sometimes in the web app, but nothing too serious.
Smthngs is certainly look nice. I signed up to give it a go. I did get a bit stuck at times with not knowing what to do next (eg editing a task, how do save/exit that mode?) and my first project would always appear in the trash. Then sometimes tasks are in projects, then they’re not. A bit weird, wasn’t sure it was buggy or not easy to understand, neither good. It’s slick though, I like the UI, different than the others, a fresh approach. I think I will check back on it in a month or 2. Thanks for the heads up.
I’m going to use ‘labels’ for projects in Producteev which are lightweight. You’re right, workspaces are certainly to heavyweight and I probably wont use them, unless I use them to split personal and work. Then I’m not sure I’ll use sub-task as they don’t cross sync.
I have to admit there was a small learning curve to Smthngs, but it wasn’t that much. They are quite logical once you understand them.
To edit a task just double-click it. To stop editing it, click somewhere else.
Tasks are created where you are. If you are in the trash tab you will create them in the trash. Might be nice if they warned you when creating a task in the trash.
By default when you just enter text into the text box it will create a standalone task with no project or labels.
But, If you have a filter applied (either a project filter and/or a label filter) and create a task in the box, the filters will be applied to the task created. You can see that the filters are shown in the text box to tell you this.
So if you click on a project in the sidebar that applies that project as a filter and tasks you create while that filter is applied will be put into that project.
I really like that all it takes to create a project is to drag one task onto another and that projects can contain projects.
The kind of bugs I was talking about were some rendering issues with tree and fold views where information will not be drawn. It’s usually obvious (tab line with no tabs or a bullet with no text). If I switch to flat view everything renders fine.
I don’t like labels for projects for the same reason that I think Evernote sucks because they only have labels and not hierarchies as well. Labels are good for some things, but other times it is better to have a hierarchical structure. Having a flat list of project labels that is also mixed with contexts and labels for Area of Focus is too jumbled for me. I really like having hierarchical projects, it really lets you organize big projects better.
I have emailed the developer requesting that next be split into next and scheduled so that tasks with future start dates don’t appear in next.
And I decided I sort of disagree with your closing thought. The perfect GTD system does not exist, but that doesn’t mean it can’t exist. I think there can be a nearly perfect system, but no one has created it yet. I am really tired of all the “me too” half-baked apps out there (e.g. the aforementioned DGT). Perhaps what we need to do is define what that perfect system looks like.
I have considered writing a perfect GTD system before, but know that I don’t have them time. Perhaps if it were funded through a Kickstarter project so I could quit my day job…
That could have been it, I created the project in Trash. It seemed to appear in Next and Inbox at the same time though. I like the drag-drop for creating projects, nice touch.
It is frustrating, it’s like most apps are 90% there but there’s always one or 2 things missing. I’m hoping labels will be enough, if it has a weakness that’s it. I’m not sure if we need another app, I’m hoping that one of the ones out there will add that missing 10%.
I have a friend who’s in the same boat he’s started writing his own http://mytrustedsystem.com/home
Hi all,
Thanks for the mention of Smthgs, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for (well, nearly) – I’ve decided to make it my trusted system. For anyone interested, I’m throwing together my own Smthngs User Guide (as there isn’t one… well, I emailed the dev but no response yet…)
Would love to know if anyone else has any tips on how to use it…
Do you know if smthngs has an option to forward an email to the inbox? That is a deal breaker for me . Otherwise I really like the web app… especially the project/subtasks.
No, Smthngs does not have an email to inbox. I asked the developer about this and this was his response:
“All of the improvements you’ve suggested have already been under our
consideration — these features have high priority and we sure will
work on them in the very near future.”
I agree and this and no recurring tasks are why I ended up not using Smthngs. If they get email to inbox, I might switch back.
Hi all,
Thanks for the mention of Smthgs, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for (well, nearly) – I’ve decided to make it my trusted system. For anyone interested, I’m throwing together my own (as there isn’t one… well, I emailed the dev but no response yet…)
Would love to know if anyone else has any tips on how to use it…
The best I’ve used is http://dooity.com. It has circular linked Tags that can be used in the way you want.
Thank you for this survey, but there is an android app which is really very good for gtd, it is “DGT GTD & To-do List ” by DGTALE, the interface user is very good, and it’s very rich featured. Hope to see it compared to th others in this survey.
Functionally DGT has all the checkmarks, but the UI on Android is absolutely awful.
I’d have to second that. The UI is pretty terrible, looks like each screen has been designed by somebody different.
Tom,
Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Since i’m not an Android user, it’s refreshing to see what’s available for the platform — and what wins out on said platform for someone who is into GTD.
And you’re closing thought is spot on. There isn’t even a perfect GTD app for any one person, as the field keeps growing and evolving. Great job on this.
The problem with both Astrid and Producteev (and the deal-breaker for me) is that they don’t have projects/subtasks. They both say they do, but they don’t.
Astrid has indenting so that visually, it looks like you have subtasks, but in no other way are the tasks related. You can’t manipulate (move, enable/disable/complete/postpone) the project as a unit.
Producteev has a way of creating a thing which it calls a subtask, but it’s not really a task. Anything that syncs with Producteev (eg. Astrid for Android) will only ever see the top level task. Most of the views in the web app only show you the top level task.
Without real subtasks, there is no project list and there is no next action list, and therefore there is no GTD.
I’m going to use the ‘labels’(Producteev)/’lists’(Astrid) for projects. Then I can organise my tasks in them to complete a project. Looks like its early days for both of them for sub-tasks, so I’m not sure I’ll be using them just yet.
The only reason I chose Todoist over Producteev or Astrid is sub-tasks (they also support sub-projects). Due to the fantastic app support for Astrid’s and Producteev’s, I am not sure I will be sticking with Todoist for long.
Last few lines are something to remember.
I agree – no system is perfect.
And I also far too often volunteer on doing something much more extensive, then I have expected. Picking some usable solution and using it daily is the moment, when one really starts earning quickly.
Thanks for the effort.
Whilst waiting for your deliberations, I took the plunge and went for 2Do for my iPad and iPhone, and implemented a GTD system on that which i have to say seems to work pretty well, similarly using the @home, system of tags to support the app pulling together all my tasks with @home tag added, and using their Starred feature to identify the ‘Next Action’ task for each project. Its helpful that you can set Stars independently of priority tag too. I then renamed folders for my main ‘Areas of Focus’, and created the context tag folders alongside them. I am getting a lot more done! Which of course is the ultimate purpose.
Whilst they don’t have a Mac desktop version yet, this is coming, and i’m finding I am using my iPad so much more now than my Desktop for this kind of task management. And the iCloud syncs it. so I would recommend anyone wanting an iPad or iPhone app to look at 2To. Especially if you are wanting an app to mould to the GTD methodology.
I liked the look of that app and I’ve just seen they’re saying Mac one coming soon. Interesting! Might take a look at that in when it’s out. Although I should stick to geting things done ;)
That really does look good. And they are not just iOS, they have Android as well.
Unfortunately, they don’t have trial versions. I tried doing the test drive on the Amazon Appstore, but did not work for me here. I’ll try it when I get home.
My question is what does their implementation of projects look like. Do you just have a flat list of projects or can projects contain projects (see earlier discussion about lightweight vs. heavyweight)?
It seems to have just a single layer of projects. I have not found this a problem as I have set up Areas of Focus eg Home, Personal, business as separate folder tabs. Under this I can have either a Project ( within which I can have as many to do task items as required), a checklist ( eg like a shopping list), or a To Do task item on its own. I have added context tags and set up @office etc as a tabbed folder, so I can either review tasks by Areas, Projects, or Contexts. Hope that helps Dale.
Actually I was able to try it out on the Amazon AppStore and actually took the plunge and bought 2Do (it’s only $3.50 on the Amazon App Store).
I think I can live with the single layer of projects. Projects are lightweight and there is even a lighter alternative, a checklist.
I thought it was interesting that they use Toodledo for sync, but unlike many other apps you aren’t exposed to Toodledo warts. It even maintains hierarchy within 2Do without using the Premium version of Toodledo!
If you think you will be able to use Toodledo or other apps, there is much of 2Do metadata that will not show up in Toodledo.
I worked around a few things, 2Do was very flexible.
– 2Do does not natively have an Inbox. So I just created an Inbox folder
– 2Do does not have a Someday folder, so I just created one
– Note that Toodledo items that do not have a folder will not show up in 2Do
Can’t wait for the OSX version to complete the package.
indeed Dale, its flexibility is a real strength. Likewise I renamed the Starred folder to Next Actions, and use the Star feature to identify the next action in each project, and hey presto, all my Next Actions show up in that folder as well as the context folders, giving me an overview of all Next Actions alongside the context view.
Dale: Its been three months since your enthusiastic post, with some workarounds, about ToDo. I’m curious if its passing the test of ‘real world’ useage. Are you using the software regularly and is it working for you?
Secondly, I’m ONLY PC for desktop and laptop and Android for phone. Would that work for me? And, finally, you talk about syncing with Toodledo…and as someone unfamiliar with these types of apps, I am wondering what’s the point of that…I’d certainly prefer not using another software/app to sync because then you have to worry about each of them, with updates, continuing to work well together. Sure seems like a standalone solution would be far preferred. Thanks!
Dale: I tried to reply to a post of yours on David Allen’s site but not sure its getting shown as a reply to you, so you may not see it. My question over there had to do with your comments on these two sites, where it seemed you were using two apps, and I’m wondering if you’ve settled on one of them. Doit and ToDo. Have you made a commitment to either of them long term? I have no Apple products, so PC for desktop/laptop and android, with a hope that cloud is available but offline also for long plane rides… Tom’s comments above about Doit were very strong and if his deal-breaker Mac app disappointment weren’t a problem, it seems like he might be using Doit.
I’m just wondering if you’ve made a choice.
The real problem with 2Do is the lack of any good desktop client to go with it. It syncs to Toodledo (p.s. I hate Toodledo) but only partially. Some features in 2Do do not show up in Toodledo so even if you had a good Toodledo client (I know of none) then you don’t see the entire picture.
So 2Do is one of the best for Android, but only if you can live entirely in Android. 2Do is still the last app that was my trusted system, but I haven’t really kept it up to date. I had to send back my keyboard dock for my tablet so it was too hard to use as just a tablet without the keyboard.
DoIt is good, but has 2 big problems for me:
- They only support email to inbox, not email to fully-formed task. I have filters and scripts that can turn periodic email notices into tasks. I don’t want to have to go to Doit and manually edit the tasks.
- The Android app is improved, but still meant for phone, not tablet. It forces portrait mode which is kind of unusable on my Asus Transformer that docks into the keyboard in landscape mode
Thanks for the review, it great. I’ve been on the same quest for some time and finding your series was great. My situation is a bit different because I’m on Windows+Android, so I’ve gone for the option you had before the series, MLO. I had tried it in the past and didn’t really get it, but after reading some of your post I decided to try it again and I’m loving it. I only miss a web version, but I think I’ll be able to live without it given the great Android app they have.
Tom, thanks for all your research and postings. This was very helfpul. Although, I am not looking for an android or Mac app, it helped me greatly to review the desktop applications.
Thanks again. I look forward to further updates.
Hi!, you’re still using Astrid + Producteev to implement your GTD system?
How you solve the lack of sub tasks?
Best regards!
Yep, using Astrid & Producteev at the mo. I’ve simplified my task organisation so I’m not finding lack of sub-tasks a problem.
Ok!, I’m using Astrid (android) + Astrid (web) right now, I didn’t try Producteev yet. Can you tell me how you organize your tasks with Astrid? or some tips to use it in a productive way?
Thanks!
Best regards!
I haven’t got anything too complicated at the moment. I’m using lists to manage contexts and project. So I have contexts like ‘@home’ and project looks like ‘Tidy Garage’, then I can assign multiple lists to tasks.
I use it the same way. Lists for context (@somecontext) and for proyects (list name = project name). My problem is when a project have some steps that depends on previous steps. I don’t want to see those steps that I can’t do right now (because there’s some previous steps that I need to do) when I list the tasks per context.
i.e: I have a project called “Organize my birthday” with two steps:
- Choose a place to dinner with friends
- Send invitations to my friends
The second step depends on the first, because I can’t send an invitation if I don’t choose a place to dinner. I set both of them to certain context.
When I choose the context list in astrid I see both steps and I don’t want that.
How do you solve this situation?
Just discovered that there is at least one app that does try to tackle dependencies between tasks. The newer versions of the open source task list web app Tracks does allow you to specify that a task depends on another. As an open source project it may take a bit more work to use, but there are free hosting sites out there. What you won’t find are great mobile apps for it.
Hi Tom, been following your topic on the David Allen forums, and just posted on there about the upgraded Doit.im Pro app. Have you tried it? Doit.im has gone Pro recently with the option to to buy a subscription which at $20/yr isn’t too hard on the pocket. There’s some increased functionality to go with it which includes email tasks to inbox, drag and drop functionality, Google Calendear integration and a new Review feature which is pretty impressive. You get to do a daily review and integrated weekly review which you can save locally as a report.
I still think the web app could do with a bolder font, but other than that it’s one of the few task management apps which provides both a comprehensive desktop and native mobile solution on Android. It looks like Flow which has some nice features like attaching files but cost $99 a year. For that you don’t even get a native mobile app whereas Doit.im Pro offers one of the best in class.
I just tried doit.im but i’m unhappy with it. You can’t set a task for more than one context!, that’s annoyance and ridiculous for me.
Also, it lacks of energy “parameter” for the tasks
Good luck finding any app that deals with the dependency between tasks. Nirvana allows you to select whether a project shows all tasks at once or only one at a time, but that doesn’t help if you have a mixture of dependent tasks and parallel tasks. MLO also has a setting like this per folder and since folders can be nested you can achieve a mixture by organizing in folders.
Outside of those I don’t know of any app that handles dependencies. There are some that limit the number of tasks shown per project so they might just show you the top 2.
I have just discovered your GTD app reviews as I am a beginner in GTD. Thanks Tom for your time !
Since a few days I am using Doit.im Pro and my experience is great.
If anybody is interested in using a Pro version for free, there is just running a Doit.im Pro contest until September, you can find it on their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/events/347392008673520/
Matias, why do you need more than one context for a task? If you have ever read the book of GTD, you would know there should be just one context for a task.
I am not really sure what you mean by the “energy parameters”?
I haven’t tried it but I like the idea that there’s a mac app (there mini mac app was severely lacking). When I get a little time I will check out. Shame there isn’t a trial for the mac app, you need to pay for pro, as I’d just like to see what it is and then make a decision to buy.
As the owner of an Android tablet I can say that their Android app is not “best in class” as it is not tablet optimized at all.
I’d be interested to understand without your specific Mac requirement whether “Get It Done” or any other GTD app without a Mac client would have rated or compared against the others in your GTD review? As much as I like Mac’s it’s not an absolute requirement for me, so I didn’t want to eliminate anything just because of that criteria you had for your overall evaluation. Thank you.
Difficult to know really. There’s over a hundred GTD apps and I quickly discounted ones which didn’t have Mac apps and didn’t look into these in any depth (just too many too look at). I discounted Get it Done because it didn’t have a Mac or PC client. Nozbe has a Windows client is a pretty decent app, if you can afford it.
I assume, with no posts to the contrary, that you are still using your dual app setup. I’m confused about your system with the need to sync. I may be missing something, but with your original evaluation criteria, seems like you required the multiple platform functionality–so why would you end up and be satisfied with a dual (Producteev and Astrid) setup? It just seems that introduces an ongoing potential problem as each software makes their own updates, and future syncing could be an issue. So why did you settle for this dual app setup?
Thanks very much for your work. You are one committed guy.
Apologies for the late reply, I just got back from abroad and with little Internet access.
The multi-platform requirement didn’t have to be met by one single app, it was just something that I needed and if it was provided by more than one app then that was ok. For example, Due Today (Android), TODO for Mac and Toodledo also make up one system.
The dual system hasn’t been perfect so far (some duplicates and slightly different ordering within a list). I’ve actually found myself using Astrid Web when I’m on my Mac and because I now have a larger phone (HTC One-X), relying on that for offline has not been so bad (useful last week when I was abroad). I feel there’s a post due, documenting how it’s been so far.
I use Toodledo on my mac desktop and use Ultimate To Do on my android. I’ve read David Allen’s methodology it took a while for me to work out in my head exactly how to make the system work for me but I think I have the most powerful tools in terms of being able to map out EXACTLY what you want them to do but the issue is their user interfaces.
They just don’t jump out and if you have a lists containing over 400 tasks then you need them looking sexier if productivity is to remain high.
Just out of interest did Ulitmate To Do get looked at for android?
I took a brief look at Ultimate To Do List but went with Due Today instead, for its better UI. I think with any software the User Experience has to be good. I think with a trusted system/app, more so because you will use it frequently and bad UI can only reinforce procrastination.
Tiascha, I need more than one context per task because I have tasks that I can do in more than one context but I can’t do them everywhere. I don’t remember the book saying that you cannot have more than one context per task, could you tell me in what section or Page it says that?
When I talk about “energy parameter” I refer to one task parameter to set up the “energy” you need to complete the task. Daniel Allen use this concept of energy when he describes the process of selecting an action to do. You can see an example of this in the Web site nirvanahq. Which I think is the best pure gtd implementation out there
Best regards!
It might be that you do not have a good set of contexts if you have much of this cross context tasks or that your tasks are too big. Can you provide an example?
For example, my research related tasks. I usually do some research of different topics, and I can do that in more than one context.
For example:
I’m doing a research about photography, to be more precise, about “flashes”. So, I have some lines of investigation:
- Read “x” document about fill flash
- Look for a good book about lighting
etc….
I have a Smartphone, so, I can do some research @home or @smartphone. But I can’t do this research in my free time at office, because I don’t have access to internet there.
I have some offline taks that I can do on my phone, or my computer at home, or even at office. But this is not a “computer” exclusive task.
Another example are my “planning” or “design” tasks. I usually have some free time at work after launch. Then I can use that time for personal taks, for example “Design X logo for Y project”. I can do that task on paper @home, or @office, I can do that even when i’m waiting at the barber shop.
In which section of the book David says that you can’t use more than one context per task?
Thanks for your help! ;)
The purpose of a context usually is to specify a required place or resource in order to perform the task. You appear to want to use them to specify places where you could do the task.
Unless you have tasks that can only be performed with a particular app on your phone, I don’t see any value to the @smartphone context. @Home should only be things that must be performed at home, one example would be to change the furnace filters.
It sounds like you may benefit from either using an @Internet context or expanding your @Computer context. To me the @Computer context includes tasks that can be done on the laptop, my tablet, or even possibly my smartphone. People that travel a lot and my have long periods of disconnected computer time the distinction between computer with and without Internet access need the distinction of an @Internet context.
For your design task it sounds like neither home or office is required, so that it doesn’t make sense to use those contexts. It may be that you have no needs for this task. I would lean to using no context or an @Anywhere context if that is the case. If design is a frequent task for you it might make sense to have a @Design context
I was not necessarily claiming that the book said one way or the other, although since the book is slanted in my opinion to a paper=based implementation it is implicit that a task only appears on one list as it would be unworkable to have a task appear in more than one list in a paper-based system.
It is more important what provides value. I question whether the way you want to use contexts will provide great value (particular the @smartphone context)
Some good articles on the subject:
http://www.evomend.net/en/what-not-gtd-context
http://www.43folders.com/2006/07/31/simplify-contexts
Yeah!, you’re right. I’m missing the point with contexts “concept”. Now I’m using the context as “places” or “moments” where I ‘CAN’ do something, instead of “places”, “tools”, “situations” that I ‘NEED’ to accomplish my tasks. I read again the context section of the book, and also your links. Now I know, I need to use a context for a unique situation, place, tool that is REQUIRED to accomplish a task.
I have two problems, or doubts about this approach:
- With my approach, I usually only look at ONE list of tasks in each situation. i.e: I arrive at the office, and then I check the “@Office” list. I take the bus, and I check the “@Smartphone” list, and so on.
If I use contexts like you say, I need to check more than one list. So, I should think about all the lists that I will check. i.e: I arrive at office and I need to check @Office, @Phone, @Computer…. etc. This is ok?, this is the way you”work” with GTD?
- I don’t know if I’m making a mistake but with this approach I’ll end up with a lot of contexts. Let’s see some example tasks:
1. Search/Investigate something -> Need to be online on any device with internet [@OnlineAny]
2. Organize my MP3 library -> Need to be on my home PC [@Home]
3. Read certain Archived Article -> Need to be Offline (or don’t need to be online) on any offline device [@OfflineAny]
4. Design a logo -> Need to be on a Desk, anywhere [@Desk]
5. Some task of my job -> Need to be at office [@Office]
6. See some online video -> Need to be Online on a PC [@OnlinePC]
7. Test a PC soft -> Need to be Offline on a PC [OfflinePC]
8. Do a Task with certain software – > Need to be on a PC that have this software [@NameOfSoftware]
SO I end up with, more or less, this contexts:
@Home
@Office
@OfflineAny
@OfflinePC
@OnlineAny
@OnlinePC
@Software1
@Software2
@Phone (for calls, or SMS)
@Errands
@Agenda (for person, event related)
Is this Right?
I need to thank you for your time and help!. Seriously, thank you!
You made me pull out the GTD book and it’s really amazing how little the GTD book actually says about the use of contexts (or many other parts of the methodology).
In a paper-based system yes you definitely have to go look at each context list that are available contexts to find what to do. In a software system you may have other options. Your software may let you do filtering to show multiple contexts at once or perhaps at least show you all next actions grouped by context so that you can easily jump from list to list
For your office scenario a common thing many applications let you do is star tasks for a special list. So when you get to the office you think what contexts are available. You look through those lists starring items that you want to accomplish today and then you work from the starred list.
For your contexts I would really encourage you to consolidate your computer ones. The rule is that you should have as few contexts as possible, but not less than you need. Start with less contexts and only divide a context when you find it unmanageable. I would start with just an @Computer list. If you find yourself wading through a long list of tasks (e.g. > 10) in the Computer list that you can’t do because for example you spend a lot of time at the computer without connectivity then you might want to divide it. But make sure there is a need before being that specific. If your list is not long (<10) or it is rare that the distinction matters it is not a problem so keep it as one. Alternatively you might look for ways to remove the distinction, such as if I can't do a bunch of tasks at work because they need SoftwareA maybe I should install SoftwareA at work.
@Agenda is really @PersonName. Use the person's name or perhaps the reason for the meeting like @StaffMeeting.
The purpose of contexts are to filter out those things you cannot do in this context not show you all the things you can do right now. Another purpose is to promote a flow. For example you decide to make a call from your @Phone list. When you are done with that call and still have the phone in your hand and list still up it is easy to just move to the next item in the list and do that as well.
It’s true, the GTD book have few details about contexts, that’s annoying.
Since I started with GTD (2 months ago aprox.) I’ve been using Astrid, but the last week I migrate to Toodledo + DGT GTD (android). I’ts great that Toodledo have good filters, so, I can implement contexts the way we are talking about. Anyway, I’m only using Toodledo for a short time because I’m waiting an android application of NirvanaHQ, wich I think is a GREAT GTD software implementation.
I’ve read about “star” tasks that you want to do today, or in the next hours. It’s great, I’ll give a try.
About my context list, I did a quick review on my Next Actions (NA) List and I managed to organize them in this reduce set of contexts:
@Any: My NA system is in software and I can check it on my Phone or on a PC, so, if I need to be on my Smartphone or PC I use this context.
@PC: I require any computer (online or offline)
@Desk
@Home
@Office
@Errands
In the future, I will split this contexts only if I need it.
You gave me great advice about contexts and tips to maintain the flow of “doing”, THANKS!!.
For curiosity, which software do you use?
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the reviews, great reading. I’ve been an avid Apple (Mac, iPad, iPhone) user, but am moving to Android with my next phone. I’m now needing to review my todo apps as they are currently Apple specific (Using Things). I would be interested to know your current setup.
One of my criteria really is tags or multiple contexts. Although I appreciate what folks have been talking about broadening contexts, but this does not work for me. I deal with a lot of people and need to be able to tag all tasks/projects related to an individual so that when I meet them I can easily call up everything related to that individual, but I still need these tasks also having the general GTD tags such as emails and call.
Also, did you ever check out todo-txt?.
Really good article! Great job! Maybe You’ll be interested in new GTD app fully synchronised with Evernote – http://www.everdo.it. It will be available on the applications’ market later this year.
Update ;)
We would like to mention that EverDo.it is available on the App Store. We would like to encourage you to download it and give it a test drive.
Those of you who are interested in further details about the application can follow us on Facebook or look up for more information at EverDo.it page.
I was looking on the app store and couldn’t find it until I realized that you meant that other app store for worthless i devices. In case you hadn’t noticed this thread was kind of focused on Android apps.
Great review! Can I use Astrid or Producteev without syncing on the web? Only syncing between my Android phone and PC? Which is the best app for this kind of use? Thanks! Valeria.
Thanks :) That’s not possible, they both use Producteev as the backend to synchronise with. I don’t know anything about apps that do.
You don’t have to use the web interface but the apps sync to the “cloud” which means its available on all the platforms.
Great analysis!
Would like to suggest IQtell.com for you – I don’t work for them or anything, but I’ve just a fan of their approach of creating (still beta) a semi-modular system that bring to one place emails-tasks-evernotes-calendar-projects.
I mean, often we need to use our emails for our projects, that might also need content we curated from the web (using Evernote in this case) and have quick access to our calendar and more.
That’s what they are trying to do there. The mobile apps are still rather basic, but it’s getting there, and at the moment I feel like IQtell offers the most complete solution on the web.
Like a desktop power-station for all (most?) needs.
Other than that I personally use Toodledo together with Pocket Informant. Most powerful app imho (though a bit slow/sluggish).
Wow… a great time saver for me… thank you for taking the time and effort for such detailed reviews and comparisons
Thank you for posting your review. I am currently looking for a good GTD and project management system. Since your review 2DO has a nice Mac app that I was previously using, but your list is still a fantastic foundation for people to go through and see what works for them. THANKS!
I had brain surgery 3 years ago and had my memory and cognitive skills reduced significantly. While in rehab I investigated which GTD or Task systems I should use to compensate for my new dissabilities. I got very frustrated for the lack of one affordable system that would sync my Android with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Tasks while still having enough of the needed features that were missing in Google Tasks or Gtasks. It just seems that there really is not one turn-key solution. I liked the Astrid/Producteev solution but then there was no Windows Website for updating on my Desktop. Producteevs 3 year postponement of a native Android app was also unacceptable. I basically gave up and am hoping that at the start of 2013 there are better solutions that will really help. Maybe I am missing something but if anyone can help me find the right solution I would greatly appreciate it. At the present (after trying Gqueues for awhile) I am using Google Calendar, Google Tasks, and Gmail on my Windows XP Desktop. I have an HTC EVO (first version) that I need to be automatically synced with my Google Desktop apps. I had been using Jorte for calendar and Gtasks which both seem to sync well with Google but are 2 different apps. Why Can’t I get 1 Android app that will allow me to see a full monthly calendar with up-to-date tasks on the right date and time, as well as provide for a task or project list that I can edit as needed by date and time? If anyone can help me please contact me. It would also be nice to set up my daily tasks without switching lists as in Google Tasks. Thanks in Advance,
Carlos Blanco
I’d like to hear if you get any emails from other people. I have Android phone and need remote access, but must also be able to use the solution offline, like when on long plane rides, and synch back to the cloud later. 80% ofthe time I’d be using this at a PC desktop with internet access, but want the details to be in the cloud so fully accessible and synched with Android phone. But sure do want offline use for non-internet times.
Ideas anyone?
I have fun with, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
Just read today that Yahoo has bought Astrid, which I’m using. The communication the company is doing implies that they will probably be shutting the service. I guess I’ll be on the hunt soon again…
Yep – That’s Yahoo – shutting down the web one app at a time!
Been unsung Producteev for months. Would pay for it, but don’t need the premium features. But after the latest update I’m on the hunt again. They botched the transition and the new UI doesn’t work for me. Just stumbled across your site while weighing up the current alternatives and wonder how you’re finding it?
Not long after deciding to use Producteev, I kind of switchd to using just Astrid. They didn’t sync too well.
Astrid is now on its way out, so I’m on the lookout again. I really like Wunderlist but I think it needs tags so you can use contexts. DoIt.im looks good too.
I used Producteev for months and loved it. What I liked most about it was that I was able to view tasks in list format as well as calendar format. Unless this is a glitch that is still being resolved, it seems that it is no longer possible to view tasks in calendar format, which completely ruins it for me! :( I’m also looking for an alternative now.
Producteev does not have projects (workspaces and subtasks are not a replacement for projects) and does not support start dates which make it a non-starter.
IQTell is definitely one to look at, but I cannot switch to them until they fix recurring tasks with no due date (which is the common case).
Thanks so much! I will definitely have a look at IQTell. Others that look interesting are ToDo, hiTask and getitdone. So many choices! It’s a pity though that there is no one clear winner.
Thanks for a great article!
Having spent countless days testing perhaps 20-30 different GTD apps, I chose Producteev, and was quite happy about it untill they recently changed focus from personal task management to collaboration. The UI is now awfull, and the app is absolutely pointless. There are so many issues about this strategy that Jive has chosen for Producteev, but the what leaves me completely speechless is when they completely overhaul the application, without notifying anyone!!
I had to get back into the GTD market and see if there was any good solutions out there, and to my surprise I found that the Nirvana GTD app had been upgraded to a very cool platform. I’m now running on Nirvana (with a few minor adjustments), and it is the best alternative I have found to the old version of Producteev. The new one is a joke..
Also Doit.im was cool..
Just my 2 cents.
It is a shame about Producteev. I switched to using solely Astrid as the 2 didn’t sync that well together. Now that’s going too! So I’m on the lookout for a new one. NirvanaHQ has an Android app in the making, which brings them into contention. I love Wunderlist, if it had tagging for contexts I’d consider that. Then doit.im seems a complete solution. Time for another post I think :)