Sort of a poll: What is your favorite task manager/to do app?

Posted by Hugh
Jan 14, 2019 at 02:00 PM

Lucas wrote:

>
>Hugh wrote:
>One type of task manager that I think nobody has mentioned is the type
>>that not only lists your tasks but also schedules them in the working
>>day. When I used Windows, there were several available (the name “Above
>>and Beyond” rings a bell), but I have seen none for the Mac. Do they
>>still exist?
> >I confess that I have searched somewhat obsessively for such software
>over the last 10 years, and I have tried just about everything. There
>are indeed some options available, although I find all of them lacking.
>I will highlight a few options on various platforms:
> >Windows (old software): In addition to Above & Beyond, there was TimeTo
>and Watership Planner.
> >Mac (old software): SmartDay did this, but never became sufficiently
>polished and was abandoned.
> >Project Management software: Obviously overkill, but I have used
>full-blown project management software for this purpose. Any software
>that includes “resource leveling” can be configured to automatically
>schedule tasks according to priority, deadlines, availability, etc. I
>have used Microsoft Project. On the mac, OmniPlan and Merlin Project do
>the trick. On the web, LiquidPlanner also does this.
> >Recent software:
>—Focuster has already been mentioned here. It’s relatively simnple,
>and it lacks prioritization, but it’s automatic scheduling works well.
>—JXCirrus Planner tries to be a full-blown, extremely powerful
>automatic task scheduling solution (including being able to give tasks a
>numeric priority), and it works on Windows, Mac, and iPhone. I recommend
>looking at it, but there do tend to be major bugs, and it isn’t exactly
>elegant. If the bugs get worked out, it would be my first choice.
>—SkedPal is much more polished and is also cross-platform (including
>mobile). It’s an excellent option, with a highly sophisticated approach
>to blocking time for different sorts of tasks. My only issues are the
>lack of numeric priority and the approach it takes to automatically
>scheduling short-duration tasks ahead of longer, higher-priority tasks,
>but for many people these aren’t problems.
> >DIY approaches:
>—Another powerful solution I have found is Tinderbox, which I have
>configured to be a capable task manager, including with automatic
>priority-based scheduling, but I have stopped using it for that purpose
>because of the inability to sync tasks with my iPhone. I am sure
>InfoQube could also be used.
>—Excel can be configured to do this, but there are severe limitations.
> >As far as which task manager I currently use: Last year I switched to
>index cards, which I loved, but eventually there were too many issues
>with transporting cards and losing cards, so I switched back to
>electronic. But I have grown to appreciate the card metaphor, and I’ve
>been trying various Kanban options. Currently, I’m using Zenkit, which
>is quite powerful but also a bit buggy. I’m still on the lookout for
>better automatic scheduling options that can sync with iPhone.

Many thanks, Lucas. I’m exploring a number of these suggestions (which it’s good to see still exist, at least a dozen years since I first looked at them).