TECH: My New Task Management Tool: Todoist

Last year, Yahoo purchased the task management site I’d been using for months and then shut it down shortly there after.  I was incredibly annoyed – despite the number of task management apps, sites and plugins available online, it seems incredibly difficult to find one I like and can make work for me without getting fed up.  But now, after a frustrating search, I think I’ve finally found a place to settle.  The site is called Todoist and though I’ve only been using it for a few weeks, I’m loving it.  It works so much better for me than the site I was last using and last week Todoist underwent an upgrade that has made the site even better and more powerful.  The major addition is that you can now share lists and collaborate on projects.  While that’s not an aspect I’m currently using, I wouldn’t be surprised if I try it out soon.  What’s more fun than assigning tasks to other people?

This video does a nice job of showing the interface (which I love!) and how the collaboration feature works.  It’s short, but Todoist has other videos on their YouTube channel if you want to see more.

And now, without further ado,

the layout – it’s hard to be specific about this, but I just like the way the site looks and how easy it is to navigate.  I’m a sucker for good, functional design

Chrome, Firefox, Web and Android apps that all work well – between work, home and my phone, I’m on a lot of different internet browsers.  Todoist has apps and extensions for all the major browsers and operating systems and all of them work together and sync wonderfully

the list is mine – some previous task management tools I used were designed more for businesses and groups, so every time I added an item I had to “assign” it to myself.  Todoist knows that the items I’m adding are things for me to do and there’s no time wasted typing my own name

one spot for setting the list item, due date and what list it belongs on – some sites I tried required way too much clicking just to set up the due date, I just can’t be bothered.  Repeating items are super easy…just type “every Wednesday” in the date box and Todoist will add it to the list for each Wednesday

one click “postpone to tomorrow” and “postpone to next week” buttons – I often add things to lists with my own personal deadlines, but don’t get to them.  It’s nice to be able to instantly move items to the next day or week.  I do this more than I’d like to admit, but at least Todoist makes it easy

completed tasks are automatically archived – this is probably self explanatory; when I complete an item, I want it to disappear.  Forever.  Some sites only archive manually which makes me crazy

Todoist sends a daily agenda to my phone, even when it’s not online – I’m one of those strange people who often has their phone off the mobile network/internet.  But I still get a daily notification on my phone with the most recently synced version of my list for the day

I can view and update the list offline on my phone – along with the above item, it’s nice to be able to add items while I’m out and about, and not on the internet.  Not all task management apps let you do that.

one touch adding of emails to lists using the browser extension – I’m a lot more likely to follow up on an email if it’s on my to do list.  Todoist has an “add email to task” option within the extensions that adds it instantly with a cute envelope icon next to the item

If you’re in the market for a free, awesome, user-friendly task management application, I highly recommend Todoist.  Check it out!