I'm a todoist

I’m kind of a nut when it comes to nit-pickiness in applications.  I have always wanted to use Office Tasks as my todo list, however it was never effective enought to stick with.

The lifehacker recommended todo.txt is as lo-fi you can get before going completely non-tech, but I really don’t want to manage a text file.  I want the computer to work for me.

I recently discovered todoist.com, a minimalist, but oh-so-flexible todo-list application that really has me using it.  It’s got more umph than the excellent tadalist.com, and this is why it’s more useful to me.

Here’s a screenshot of my current list.  I have top-level projects called Work, Home, and Leisure and I drill down from there.

Todoist

Notice how I have recurring tasks in the @Home project.  (Also, notice that I didn’t mow the lawn or sweep the driveway this weekend.  Oops!  I guess this goes to show you that no matter how fancy your todo list is implemented, you still actually have to DO stuff to accomplish anything)

I also jot down little notes and things, such as what movies to rent or buy next, or what my reading list looks like.

Todoist has a pretty simple API as well.  Everything is token based, so you have a long token that serves as your credentials for making a call.  This is similar to the way that google does it.

Speaking of google, todoist integrates with GMail with a simple bookmarklet or firefox plugin.  Just open an email within GMail and click the bookmarklet and the email shows up as a task in todoist.

Another awesome feature is the Launchy plugin.  Everyone knows I loves me some Launchy, but now I can type todo | add “get some milk” to “Shopping” and todoist will pick it up.  Slick.

Anyway, I’m smitten with this tool.  What do you use to manage your todolist?  If it’s not Outlook, then I’d like to hear about it in the comments.  (If it is Outlook, I suppose you can comment as well, I’ll forgive you)

#1 Dave avatar
Dave
9.10.2007
2:27 PM

rmilk.com is fantastic (nice keyboard shortcuts), i'll have to give this a go though.the real measure (seems you agree) of a task list tool's efficacy is 'do I use it more than once or twice?'


#2 Rhonda Tipton avatar
Rhonda Tipton
9.10.2007
8:06 PM

I like Todoist at first glance.Are you using the free version or did you take the step of becoming a premium member.I notice you need to be premium to have reminders emailed.Thanks for the information.I am always looking for something to help me be more productive.


#3 Ben avatar
Ben
9.10.2007
10:30 PM

rmilk.com is nice (and a pioneer of the usable todo-list) however it just doesn't jive with me.I'm not sure why.Rhonda:yeah I'm using the free version for now.I'm not certain that the reminders are worth $3 /month, but time will tell.


#4 Paul Squyres avatar
Paul Squyres
9.11.2007
5:59 AM

Ever since you told me about ta-da list, I've been using it religiously on my iPhone.I wonder how well todo-list works with the iPhone?


#5 shey avatar
shey
9.11.2007
8:25 AM

nothing's simpler than the the to-do list plugin for iGoogle


#6 Ben Scheirman avatar
Ben Scheirman
9.11.2007
9:41 AM

I would favor an iPhone targeted application over a generic Safari web page any day, because the experience on the iPhone is so much more seamless.The mobile access I'm talking about is wap.It's ugly but it works.


#7 _howard avatar
_howard
9.12.2007
10:58 AM

One other thing to remember is that a tool in and of itself won't get you there in the long run - without a mental framework for using tasks/email/etc..., you'll still burn out and stop using any tool.I started using the McGhee system a while back and while I'm still re-programming myself in some areas (getting rid of bad habits like obsessively monitoring my inbox), the system has worked pretty well for me.Here's the link: www.amazon.com/.../105-1271774-758