Scheduling myself, Part 2: Whoops on the scheduling part

In this post I said I would make a decision on a task manager/to-do app in a week, then two weeks went by and here I am, sans decision.

Which perhaps underlines the need to start using one of these apps.

Previously, I had considered these options:

  • Things 3
  • TickTick
  • Microsoft to-Do

I’ve tinkered with the trial version of Things 3, and it’s very nice, even fun, but ultimately I feel it being limited to Apple devices only is a dealbreaker. I still do a lot of stuff on my PC and will continue to do so into the future. If they at least offered a web version, I’d probably still consider it. But alas.

To-Do offers good integration with Office 365 and collaboration, neither of which are of any use to me. As one reviewer noted, it’s nice-looking and the ability to set custom backgrounds for different tasks allows you to make them visually distinct, handy for at-a-glance recognition. But this is easily the most basic of the to-do apps (I mean, look at its name), and I feel it’s just a little too simple to make it worth committing to.

TickTick seems decent enough, but in my brief time with it I didn’t really warm up to its interface. There’s nothing wrong with it, I just don’t find it compelling. It’s hard to explain.

This leaves Todoist, which I had toyed with years ago, and was reminded of when it came up in several surveys of to-do software. It’s multiplatform, including a web version, and offers a lot of functionality even before you consider the subscription version. And for whatever reason, I spent more time poking around in it and testing stuff out.

So my tentative decision has been made: I’m going to try using Todoist. Starting next week (for real, I double dog swear) I am going to start scheduling stuff and see how it goes. I expect minimal drama and no more than one instance of curling up in a ball on the floor.

I need to schedule myself

To find a good scheduler.

I’ve come to realize that while I automatically resist using scheduling/to-do apps (which is perhaps odd because I do like to stay organized), I may actually need one, since I am the sole person currently responsible for my schedule, and it’s easy to let some things slip by because I was busy doing important research on something else, such as cats on the internet.

I don’t have any strong leads yet, but my initial look has revealed a few candidates:

  • Things 3: Looks great, but it’s expensive and Mac-only (well, Apple devices-only)
  • To Do: This is Microsoft’s imaginatively-named app, which took the place of the apparently beloved Wunderlist. It has the advantages of being free and cross-platform, but it seems a bit spartan?
  • TickTick. Recommend by The Wirecutter. But Tick Tick is a seriously dumb name. Still, this one is also cross-platform and also has a web version. On the other hand, it requires a subscription to be really useful, which would ultimately make it more expensive than Things 3.
  • Just using the Notes app on my phone or something. Since I could have been doing this all along, I doubt I will actually consider this.

I’m penciling a decision for this in my head for sometime in the next week. Things 3 has a free trial, so I may start with that.

More soon™.