March Tech Tip – Todoist
Having a task manager that is easy and works for you is the most important element in determining a tool, resource, or application’s effectiveness. I have been a long time OmniFocus user; in fact, I believe I have been using that for my task management tracking for at least six years now. I have written more than one article on how effective it has been for me. It is still an excellent, top-of-the-line task manager. However, I have made a change. I’ll chalk this up to part research for what I write here at Effective Retail Leader, and part nerd wanting to try new applications. I gave Todoist a try as my task manager. It stuck.
I had read many articles and heard from several people within the tech space and Apple-verse that raved about Todoist. It was easy to use, integrated well with other Apple products, was available on all platforms (including Windows and web), and that it was a modern interface that anyone could use. I decided to give it a try. Oddly, I had excluded it from the comparison of task manager applications I did last fall. I had included Tick Tick, a similar app in design to Todoist, but failed to explore Todoist. By the end of the year, I realized I really need to give this one a try. The user base appears to be broad, so there was a lot of information about how people were using the app and many videos on YouTube to explore in setting out to understand the best way to set up the application. I dove in, started using it to get a full experience, and I have not looked back. I have just completed the final moves in taking everything from my OmniFocus projects and plugged them into Todoist.
The Layout
The layout of Todoist is very clean and simple. It is a basic two-pane view with your quick navigation points along the left side, with the main tasks window situated in the right two-thirds of the screen. In most instances, you can make your task window full screen when you do not need to navigate between projects, labels, or other filters.
Within in the navigation pane, the top has your inbox, today, and upcoming pre-set filters. The inbox is where any task will go that is not assigned to a specific project. The ‘today’ view is exactly what it implies, and will show any tasks with a due date of today. The view within that can be adjusted (see below). Below those are your Favorites and Projects. ‘Favorites’ allows you to add specific projects, tags, or filters that you create to have quick access to the ones you need or use most. I have created a combination of tags and filtered views to make it easy to find what I use most often in one place. The Projects section is a list of all of your projects and subprojects. Both the Favorites and Projects sections can be collapsed to create a very clean view of your navigation panel.
Entering Tasks
The ease of entering task information into Todoist is one of its best features. Arguably, it was a key reason for me to make a switch. I found adding tasks to OmniFocus (OF) more cumbersome than it needed to be. There were ways to make it a little easier in OF, and I could have automated some of it, but for everyday tasks, I just wanted something easy. Todoist allows for that via use of natural text task entry. If I want to add a task, it's a single press, and then I can type in what needs to happen. ‘Work on email every Monday at 5pm’ will create a recurring task for every Monday at 5pm. It’s that simple. I can then add in the project it is connected to, any tags that make sense, and even prioritize that item. That can all be done without taking my hands off the keyboard or clicking anywhere else.
For larger, more complex tasks, you can add sub-tasks to any task entry you have. For example, a task to ‘pack for the trip’ could also include a list of items you want to include as part of your packing. Instead of having a task for each thing, use a sub-task list for those items. This adds many options for how you choose to manage your task entry. With templates available also, this can be useful for recurring tasks that have multiple items to complete (like a packing list). You can find many pre-made templates on the Todoist website.
Organizing and Navigating
Like most task management applications, Todoist allow you to create multiple projects, with the ability to create multiple levels within a project. Beyond that, any task can have sub-tasks as well. The structure is such that it will accommodate almost any need a user would have in organizing the project and file structure needs.
Todoist uses labels (read: tags) to help in organizing your tasks as well. In OmniFocus, these were called contexts at one point. And for anyone using the Getting Things Done method, Todoist supports that through these labels. It is a perfect way to assign and group tasks that may involve other people or places that you need to have quick access to. Since these labels can then also be used to filter and create different quick views, they can be an important element to add to every task. You could use these for energy levels, time of day, person, estimated time, etc. I have found them to be a very handy way to help organize tasks, especially for whom they may be assigned to.
Note: Todoist can be used in a team environment as well. You can assign tasks to other people who also use Todoist. That would become another way to organize your to-dos. Since I have not required people from my team to use Todoist (yet), I label tasks by person, so I can quickly see what they would be working on or items that I want to follow up on with them.
Reminders
With the paid version of Todoist, you can set different types of reminders for any task in Todoist. This can be handy to support different needs. Todoist offers time-based reminders as well as location. You can have Todoist remind you at a certain time on a specific day to complete the task. In fact, you can even create multiple reminder times or days. You can also assign a location to your reminder. So, if you always go to the same grocery store, you can have Todoist remind you about your shopping list when you arrive at the store. This could also be perfect for any location-based reminders or notes you have when visiting specific stores. The items which you left for the team to complete could be pulled up when you arrive back to that store, so you don’t forget what you discussed during the last visit. (Side note, you can also add attachments and links to a task. If you have notes from a previous visit, you could link those to the task and have access to both when you arrive again in that location.)
Changing the View
Behind the ease of task entry, being able to change and create custom views was high on the list of requirements for a task manager. OmniFocus is very customizable, perhaps too customizable. It could be tricky to figure out exactly how to set up the view the way you wanted it to. Todoist offers a robust set of options for creating new views for your projects and tasks. While not as option heavy as OF, it offers everything a typical user would want. You can group tasks together the way you want by selecting from the dropdown list. You can then sort your tasks in the order you want, within that grouping, if you choose. This begins to make the view options very powerful. It ultimately led me to realize, I could get exactly the views I wanted without too much fiddling and could be adjusted later if necessary.
Another view option that Todoist offers, that probably sealed the deal for me, is the ability to see projects as a list or a board. A board view is similar to what Trello offers in a Kanban style data card. This is a great way to visualize tasks or work that needs to get done, especially if there is progression to that work. For certain projects, I love having this option to create sections for the project and then align tasks under key headers for steps along the way. To be able to do that within the same application as all of my other tasks is a huge benefit to me. This view can be applied on a project by project basis, so where some projects may not work for a board style view, you can still use a list view. That is great flexibility within an application.
Integrations and Automation
Getting tasks from different places into Todoist is easy. Todoist has enabled many automations and integrations. You can ask Siri to add a task to Todoist, and it will appear in your Todoist list immediately. Just say, ‘Hey Siri, add Sample Task to Todoist on Saturday, March 5th at 2pm.’ That task will be added directly to your Todoist Inbox. There are web browser plug-ins for all major browsers to allow you take a webpage and instantly pull up an add entry for a Todoist task. You can assign the project, due date, priority, and time directly from the quick entry window it brings up.
If you are really into automations, you can connect Todoist to your IFTTT or Zapier account to connect almost any application to Todoist quickly. For example, I can take my planning calendar I have for these articles in AirTable and when I select schedule, it will add the task of writing that article to my Todoist on the appropriate date I have set up. No further action required on my part. It allows me to assign the project, priority, day, date, and time in the set-up process, so I only have to do it once.
Tasks can also be sent directly to Todoist through other in application integrations as well. For example, Microsoft Outlook has a plug-in that allows you to send a link to an email as a task. It works very well and is available on all versions of Outlook (desktop, mobile, and web). The link will open Outlook online and take you directly to the email itself (assuming you have not moved it since you created the link).
Versions
Todoist does offer a FREE version of their app and is an excellent tool within that framework. If you do not have a lot of different projects and details you need to manage, this entry version may be all you need. To take full advantage of Todoist’s full complement of tools, it is a paid subscription model. It is very reasonable for what you get, but you are committing to $36/year. You can see the full comparison and pricing list for Todoist HERE.
Wrap Up
Todoist is an excellent app in many ways. It is well-designed, pretty to look at, and well thought out for a task manager (or any other app for that matter). I am almost sorry it has taken me this long to start using it. What I have shared above is only scratching the surface. There is a lot to Todoist, but one of its beauties is it can be as simple or complex as you require it to be. Todoist will work just fine as a simple task manager without a lot of complexity needed. The build in ‘Today’ and ‘Upcoming’ views are perfect for the casual user who really just wants to manage a few items day by day. The free plan for Todoist would be more than adequate for many users who want a simple app.
Overall, this is a well-balanced application for managing tasks and activities. It offers a lot of flexibility for users to determine how managing information and actions will work best for them. I have added everything from ad hoc tasks, to big projects, daily routines, and even goals into Todoist. I made a switch in an area I didn’t think I needed to and have it has simplified my management of tasks and made it even, dare I say, enjoyable?
Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!