nathanb wrote:

Same. I go through that cycle of my brain telling me I need more
complexity to get a good handle on my tasks, then my habits prove
otherwise as the complexity just becomes another unmanageable project.
Looking back, it's been the most simple tools that I've used more
effectively for longer periods than the powerful ones. Wunderlist is
probably the best example of that. I've been with ToDoist for over a
year now but I keep abusing the nesting and struggle with keeping the
right simple/complex balance.

Because of the desktop outlook integration, I've started using Microsoft
To-Do for work tasks and I'm really digging that 'my-day' feature. In
theory, it's no different than just putting a date on a task to ear-mark
it for today. But in practice it works much better for me. Manually
dating tasks to force them to be on my 'now' list always created the
extra task of re-scheduling the uncompleted ones at the end of the day.
This was annoying to keep up with. I also generally have a separate
'now' list to dump all the random work stuff that comes up every. Stuff
that's generally too small and quick to bother with putting on a master
list. Dumping into 'my-day' is a pretty solid fusion of combining these
two flows.

So now I'm trying to decide if I want to use it for personal tasks too.
Generally, I try to be on one platform to minimize the friction of the
little interface differences. I'm starting to think that's a bad reason
since most tools these days so learning or forgetting an interface isn't
much of a thing anymore. I deal just fine with personal gmail and work
Outlook. I don't think I want the two worlds showing up in the same
'today' views anymore. So with To-Do, I think I'd have to switch
between work/personal accounts to make that happen. That doesn't work
when wanting a 'quick capture' option for both worlds at all times.
I'll likely roll with To-Doist for personal, and To-Do for work and see
how that goes.

The irony about that is because my home task situation is MUCH simpler
than work. Work is a constant stream of new inputs (tens per day), home
is a trickle (tens per week). Work projects are more numerous and
complex. So if I try to flow work through a complex task system (like
todoist can become), it quickly becomes just too much to manage. I can
only manage fast and simple and can't take the time to define and
categorize every next step or I'll just drive myself insane. This works
out because I'm able to have longer times to focus on these projects.
Personal tasks aren't as numerous, but they are more disjointed where I
have 15 minutes at a time a few times a week to deal with them instead
of a whole day of work dedicated to that list. Like a medical bill
where I keep asking for and forwarding dumb info over the course of a
few weeks. That's a good application for defining the next steps and
putting in contexts because it's not an overwhelming thing to manage and
it's actually an efficient workflow.

So yeah, feature-rich task managers for low frequency work, simple and
dumb for an overwhelming task situation. Makes total sense. I'll
probably change my mind in six months.

Well said, and I concur. I am not sure my level of new tasks and subtasks is as bad as yours, but I would agree that anything too complicated can get in the way. That was one reason that I wanted to see about switching from MLO to RTM. I really like MLO, but the UI is a bit clunky and it creates just enough "friction" that I do not want to use it. I was hoping that RTM might be a bit more conducive to quick entry, but as I said above, all of the usual suspects seem to have a fatal flaw or two for task management the way that I like.

--Ken