[Editor’s Note: This is part of the “To-Do or Not To-Do: My Search for To-Do Task Management” series.]
For the past week, I’ve been using Todoist to manage my tasks as part of my quest to search for just the right solution. (If you want to find-out what I’ll be using this next week and make a recommendation of a great to-do task management app, read here.)
I had mixed feelings going into Todoist.
There website wasn’t very glamorous, so I hoped Todoist’s performance and functionality would make up the difference.
My Impressions
After using it for a week, I found it to be very solid, unlike Wunderlist. I use Wunderlist in a pinned tab in Google Chrome, and twice this week it puked and lost my list! I hope this was just a fluke. Just like Wunderlist, Todoist keeps your tasks in a cloud. I could have used Todoist in a pinned tab, too, but I saw that they offered a Chrome extension.
Yes, please!
I was really impressed. Normally, you would have to jump to a different tab, but by using the handy Todoist extension, I could access my todo list, projects, and every other function Todoist provides, straight from my toolbar. Very handy. Very slick. Very solid.
The look and feel reminds me of Google stock. Very clean and uncluttered. You can assign colors to different projects and so-on. Nothing fancy, but very functional.
I’ll pick function over looks every time, but I certainly enjoy having both.
Todoist
Todoist has a simple, but powerful interface.
- Sort tasks by date.
- Sort tasks into projects.
- Create sub-projects.
- Create groups.
I really liked how Todoist uses a hierarchical system. You don’t have to use it, but depending on how deep a project is, this is a solid feature. Adding tasks is super easy, and you can add due dates, notes, links, and even Gmail emails. Slick.
If you want to rearrange your tasks, you can enable drag and drop, and then when your finished, lock them back into place. At first I thought it was a little lame to unlock them first, but it saves you from accidentally moving them around by mistake.
When you’re done with a task and mark it complete, it moves it into the project’s history. It’s not deleted, so you can review your projects history.
Todoist has a built-in calendar with recurring dates. Set due dates on your tasks and get an overview of what needs to get done today, tomorrow or next week. When you use the Chrome extension, it displays the number of tasks due for the day, right next to the icon.
One thing that Todoist does that’s very unique, is it accepts common English commands. At first, it might seem a little contrived or difficult, but once you get it figured out, you can command Todoist really easy.
For example, I wanted to add a reoccurring task. Normally, you would fly through some selection boxes and a calendar. Instead, Todoist gives you a cheat-sheet or help popup that gives you the rundown of the commands. Once you learn them, there’s no reason to pull-up the cheat sheet anymore:
You can also query tasks by date, giving you an overview of everything that needs to be done today, tomorrow, or next Thursday. Whenever you pull-up your tasks, whether by date or project, you can easily edit individual tasks that are listed, without having to jump to a specific screen.
If you’ve created a butt-load of projects and tasks, don’t worry, Todoist will collapse them together. This is another one of those instances where Todoist looks and feels a lot like Google. It’s exactly like nesting labels in Gmail.
Who uses Todoist?
I was surprised.
With these kind of users, Todoist is encrypted with SSL and all your data is stored on three different data centers.
Nice.
I’ve mentioned the Google Chrome extension a number times, but they have it available for other programs, too:
- Firefox
- Outlook
- Mac
- iGoogle
- Mobile
- iPhone
- Android
If you see anything missing, feel free to grab their available API.
Todoist has a few other features I didn’t use, but are worth mentioning. Todoist has built-in keyboard shortcuts and labels can be applied to any task.
The Todoist free version works great, but there are a number of solid features that only come with the Premium version ($29 per year).
- Email & SMS reminders.
- Add tasks via Email.
- Add notes to your tasks.
- iCalendar support.
- More label options.
- Improved SSL security.
- Task search.
Todoist is a pay as you go, so you can also opt in for the $3 per month plan.
Want to see Todoist in action?
Watch this:
[tentblogger-youtube bZT-sC-gXFU]
Conclusion
I was pleasantly surprised by Todoist, and would certainly recommend giving it a try. The browser extension impressed me the most, and I came to appreciate the clean and plain interface as the week progressed.
On a scale of To-Do or Not To-Do, Todoist is rated: To-Do
Learn more about Todoist and sign-up to start using Todoist straight from the Todoist website.
Cliff Seal says
I’ve been using Todoist for years and still love it. ‘Doings’ is a great iPhone app for it as well.
Eric Dye says
Sweet!
Good to here from a regular user. Thanks!
Micah says
I used todoist for a long time, mostly thanks to it’s gmail-like keyboard shortcuts and ease of use. I haven’t used it in a long time, but this has got me thinking of jumping back in. Thanks for the reminder!
Eric Dye says
You bet, man!
It really is a solid tool.