I’d heard of Todoist. I didn’t know that much about it though for some odd reason. I was though, for the first time in years, looking for a good, solid cross platform task manager to add to my system. I had just recently decided I was going to return to the BlackBerry in the form of a z30 BlackBerry 10 device which changed the dynamics of my requirements. Unlike many, I was ho-hummed by a recent upgrade to the iPhone 6 and had heard some good things about my old favourite device, the BlackBerry.
In discussions with many, my own blow by blow analysis and I suppose almost the fun of using something different than an iPhone, I decided to go with a a white BlackBerry z30. This, of course, presented challeges not the least of which was software or apps. Fortunately, I’ve started to notice a trend towards cross platform and realized that much of this has to do with technological barrier that had to be bridged to make cross platform a doable reality without putting undue burden on we, the end user.
My Breathrough with Todoist
I don’t read Macstories religiously, the site of Federico Viticci, but I do read Zite without fail. I happened across a story of his on why he gave up Reminders for this program called Todoist. I always found it curious that Viticci never really bought into the more mainstream Task Management systems such as Things, Omnifocus or The Hit List but I fully understood it.
In his article “Why I Left iCloud Reminders for Todoist” the article not only struck a chord it became my answer also. I found his article fascinating on more than one front but it solved my problem of **cross platform to a tee.
The Hit List
I was happily using the Hit List on my Mac and iPhone but when I switched to the BlackBerry I wanted a task management system that rivaled the Hit List. I found it. In fact, I feel Todoist is better so I couldn’t have been happier. I was relating to everything Federico Viticci was saying in his article plus.
The Hit List is a fantastic app if you live in the Apple ecosystem. The thing I always found problematic with OmniFocus was it was too busy for my tastes. The Hit List was spot on and with its Smart Folders you had tremendous control over a powerful app but in an easy fashion. Omnifocus was anything but easy.
Todoist a Rising
Remberering Viticci’s article it was time to give Todoist a ride. I had tried everything and some things, such as TODO Cloud, were pretty good. However, Todoist was more than I was expecting. It was cross platform so the major criteria was met. However, it is a powerful app that is fully GTD yet it’s presentation was not busy and it was very powerful.
I think the presentation of Todoist won me over. I would say it is more powerful than OmniFocus yet it presented on the BlackBerry and the Mac and iPad beautifully. In fact, the iPad was just updated to meet some criticisms. So this was not only an inventive company with a dyanmite of a product but they were sensitive to feedback. Another big plus.
The Plus’
Here I’m just going to simply lay out the plus’ of the product:
- Cross platform – basically runs on everything
- Nice presentation – not overly busy
- GTD
- Priorities
- dates
- Reminders
- Indentation or levels
- Tasks
- Projects
- Contexts
- Powerful Queries (this really makes the product very powerful)
With these plus’ there was no further looking to do. I was sold and still am. This is a great product and you know that whether it is just you or a group that might be involved everyone can participate as pretty well all platforms are covered off.
Task Management Programs are very Much an Individual Like or Dislike Thing
I can easily say that task managers are very much a personal preference item. Whether you like them highly sturctured or very loose is one based on personal preference. Yet, within this statement, another person’s perception can be very important. It can help in terms of leading you to that which might fill your bill.
Such is the case with Todoist. I knew little about it when I started but am happy I approached the product. It was spot on for my needs. In terms of growth, it will more than fill the bill. Whereas at one point a product might meet your needs, such as Reminders, at another not only is it not geared for your new needs it’s incapable of growing with you.
Todoist is not such a product. It has both depth and breadth. I feel it can meet not only the current needs but can grow to meet any future needs. It’s cross platform capability alone makes this somewhat inherent. However, when you look at the product in totality, it is as robust as any task manageent system can be today.