A plea to smartphone & web 2.0 developers

Posted by MontrealFan
May 12, 2011 at 02:35 PM

I’ve been lurking on this list for a while, but finally had to post to add my two cents worth about My Life Organized.

I am really pleased by this program - I had tried many of the other packages recommended on this forum, and this is the one that finally meets most of my needs. The outline view allows me to create project folders; each folder includes my tasks (and subtasks) as well as other information about the project. The ToDo view displays my tasks organized by date, by priority, etc. (The user can force a sort-by-context in the Todo view by using a context-specific symbol at the beginning of each task.)

I have added specific days of the week as contexts, which allows me to plan my week. I can quickly filter to see all my tasks for a particular day, and I can see when I have too much on my plate by looking at the the number of tasks for each context (day). I would love to see a second context field or a user-defined field that allows me to separate GTD contexts from day-of-the-week contexts, but right now I just attach two contexts for each task.

I have access to my tasks on-the-go by syncing to the iphone/ipad version of the software (cloud based synchronization; a wi-fi sync is also available now). The mobile versions are not as powerful as the desktop version, but they allow me to reference my lists when I need them. Printing filtered todo lists is also easy, although there are few options for changing the formatting of the printout.

In response to Ken’s other requests, there is a reminder function. I believe you can also have durable lists; checked-off todo items are still available in the outline view (they are usually filtered out in the to-do view). If you set an advanced option for do-not-archive this branch, the items will remain accessible. When you need to reactivate the list, uncheck the completed box to make the tasks active.

I also synchronize my MLO tasks with Outlook (desktop-based synchronization). I have just started using MLO with some of Michael Linenberger’s strategies for using Outlook (Master your workday now!) and the ClearContext Outlook add-in. MLO’s Outlook sync makes the integration pretty easy and the system seems to be working. I feel more on top of things now that everything is in one system (MLO) rather than having emails piling up in my inbox with implicit tasks hidden throughout, plus a separate task list.

MLO’s interface is not as slick as some of newer programs, there is no direct access to your database from the web, you can’t embed links or browse files or web pages (as far as I know),and I would love to see a real integrated calendar view that shows appointments and tasks (similar to the view in Outlook 2010). But I am quite willing to live without these in order to have a stable, reliable system with great functionality.

Best,
Lisette