I've been using emacs org-mode (http://orgmode.org) for a little over a year. It makes it easy to capture notes, todo-items, and agenda/calendar items. I wanted to learn how to use emacs and it gave me a reason to run emacs every day. Now org-mode has become part of my routine for keeping track of what I have to do and what I've done.
Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
41–50 of 77 posts
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#42Do you use a Mac? If so, I recommend Things for Mac http://culturedcode.com/things http://culturedcode.com/things/mac/appstore ($49.99) Edit to answer to ralfy's reply below: I recommend it to Get Things Done [1], for its versatility (projects, scopes, labels, scheduling and repeated tasks), its excellent user interface and aesthetics, and the seamless synchronization across multiple devices (Mac, iPhone and iPad). […
I also recommend Things, because it's an app that makes you feel good if you're into OS X and iOS style user interfaces. I bought it years ago, but truly started using it when they got the Things Cloud sync working. So now I always keep it open on all my Macs (I switch between 3). It's always up-to-date, shows the number of tasks pending for today in the Dock icon, and it's comfortable to very quickly switch to the a…
Have you tried OmniFocus? The Mac client is just fantastic (if you take the time to learn and customize it). And v2.0 (due in seversl months) is even better.
Of course, you have to learn GTD system to get the most out of OmniFocus. It's something that'll greatly improve your efficiency in the long run, so I think it's worth the time you invest.
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#43We launched http://taskmessenger.com in January. It's a shared to-do list for personal and team use. Sign up is free and if you need any features or help getting started drop me a mail at alan@taskmessenger.com (I'm a co-founder)
We have a search function for keeping track of tasks, an activity feed showing tasks completed while we also track stats such as tasks shared, picked up and completed.
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#44- For simple personal things, a Chrome extension I made that gives you a simple localStorage backed textarea. I can share if anyone's interested.
- For code, Github issues/pull requests
- For team tasks that need to be delegated, Teambox (http://teambox.com)
- For scheduled things, Google Calendar
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#45Since you said a great desktop interface.. check out MS OneNote, integrates with Outlook for schedule/reminders, very good drag/drop support of anything.
If you can pay $, Atlassian JIRA is the best for programming, you can schedule/plan tasks, get reminders, much better sorting of issues/categories, phases, have them automatically close with commits (JIRA is just like github only way more advanced in what you can do)
Now if you are doing an open source project for the community then hands down stay on github
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#46nvAlt
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#47I've used a lot of web and desktop based todo lists.... Turns out it's pretty hard to beat pen and paper.
What would you add or change on previous apps you've used?
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#48I currently don't use anything for personal task tracking, since I am a part of a large team and we have project management. However, in college I explored this quite a bit. Here is what I would recommend:
* Text-based *
If this appeals to you, Taskpaper is a really good format with a lower barrier of entry than org-mode. There is a Taskpaper major mode for Emacs, a plugin for Vim, and even one for Sublime Text 2 (though the author didn't credit Taskpaper or Hog Bay except as "inspiration" at the bottom of the README): https://github.com/aziz/PlainTasks
* Simple but GUI *
Literally anything that allows you to create individual items, tag them (or add them to multiple named lists - same thing), and then filter by tag or list. Tags are all you need to implement anything from pure ad-hoc task management all the way up to strict GTD. Priorities are not essential and can actually get in the way; I've always found it much simpler and less of a mind burden to categorize tasks by project ("project" here meaning anything that takes more than one discrete task) and then simply tag the "Next Action" for any given project. You can then filter by "Next Action" and decide for yourself at any given moment what task will be best to do with the resources available to you (time, tools, location, energy).
Some examples of solutions that will do this:
- A directory of text files with #hashtags in their contents and grep
- Notational Velocity / Simplenote
- Any todo list app with real tags (not Wunderlist, for instance)
- Outlook
- Taskpaper or org-mode
I actually used Gmail for this for a while. I could expound on that if you're interested.
* The Full Monty *
OmniFocus, plus the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. It's cliche for a reason. It's not a silver bullet (obviously, I hope), but it is an effective system, it works for a lot of people, and you will probably get at least a few takeaways out of reading about it.
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#49I launched StartHQ, a web app directory, this week. You can see a list of todo apps here: https://starthq.com/apps/?category=productivity I will also add all the ones mentioned here. My personal favorite is https://starthq.com/apps/wunderlist .
By the way, you can vote for your favorite apps on StartHQ by liking or tweeting the app profile page and that will count towards its popularity score and ranking.
Re: Ask HN: Your favorite to-do list or task manager?
#50If you have the discipline to use pen and paper I'd recommend that. Else Asana!