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Appsumo discounts on two organizer/planner/to do apps -
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Posted by Leib Moscovitz
Mar 24, 2026 at 05:24 AM
For Journal It! and Bydesign - in case anyone is interested.
BTW w/ regard to Journal It - the program has a learning curve, but definitely worth persisting to properly appreciate its features.
Posted by Ken
Mar 30, 2026 at 04:02 AM
They both look interesting, but there is little information or reviews on ByDesign, and almost no information or reviews on Journal It! Has anybody used either program?
—Ken
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 30, 2026 at 12:36 PM
I have tried ByDesign, just because I can’t resist. I don’t need such a full featured task management app, so my testing was just for the fun of it. I think it has a lot of promise. As I said, it packs a lot of features that many people will find useful. I would certainly say that if that appeals to you, give it a try.
Ken wrote:
They both look interesting, but there is little information or reviews
>on ByDesign, and almost no information or reviews on Journal It! Has
>anybody used either program?
>
>—Ken
Posted by Franz Grieser
Mar 30, 2026 at 01:28 PM
Hello Ken.
I tested Bydesign last year. I liked the task planner but decided against it because there was no bidirectional sync between Bydesign and Outlook (looks like there is now).
With Appsumo deals you usually have 30 to 60 days to test the app and get a refund if you’re not satisfied. There is no problem getting a full refund from Appsumo.
Best wishes
Franz
Ken wrote:
They both look interesting, but there is little information or reviews
>on ByDesign, and almost no information or reviews on Journal It! Has
>anybody used either program?
>
>—Ken
Posted by Leib Moscovitz
Mar 30, 2026 at 02:00 PM
The Appsumo site features between 25-30 reviews for each of these apps; check them out!
With regard to Journal It! (which I bought and am currently using), a few comments -
1. As numerous users have pointed out, the interface (and its general approach to managing things) is quite unconventional, and the learning curve is steep; even though I am an experienced CRIMPER, I initially felt lost with this program. Even now, after using the app for more than a week, I feel like I have barely scratched its surface. Indeed, as the developer points out, this program is not for everybody; many people will prefer their good-old Ticktick and Todoist. I might add that the “help”/videos are not very helpful; what I did find helpful was playing around with the app using the Demo data it provides if you try to “give it a spin” without logging in.
2. That said, if one is willing to put in the effort to learn the basics, this turns out to be not only an extremely powerful app, but also one which ultimately makes planning and managing one’s life much easier, quicker, less stressful, and above all efficient and effective. In particular, the following features of the app ought to be noted IMHO (and I’m being very brief here, perhaps too brief):
3. The program features multiple frameworks for inputting and organizing data, e.g. areas and projects, calendar and to-dos, and notes, and all of these frameworks are integrated with one another.
4. The Dashboard, properly configured (and, as intimated above, this may take some time and effort), gives the user an incredible handle over all aspects of life. Using it, I immediately and simultaneously - and, I think, for the first time, even after using numerous other apps - see clearly everything going on in my life: major tasks, all upcoming tasks, projects, and life areas. The Dashboard thus enables the user to see, at once, both the “big picture” and the micro view.
5. The use of blocks (or “time blocks”) in which tasks can be included is paradigm-shifting. (These are reminiscent of, though not identical to, similar blocks of the sort used in the now defunct Achieve Planner.) What is so terrific about this - and again, only after trying this out for some time did I really get the hang of this - is that in contrast to the “classical” approach of rigidly scheduling tasks, where the sudden occurrence of something unexpected causes one’s whole plan/schedule to fall apart, with Journal It! the time-blocks and the tasks scheduled within them are, by their very nature, flexible. Therefore, if something changes suddenly, rescheduling and restructuring one’s plans in Journal It! is quick and effortless. Only after using this for some time this did I realize what a game changer this was.
6. The phone sync is quick, reliable and effortless.
7. Bottom line: definitely worth trying to learn the basics of Journal It! and and devoting some time to seeing what it offer. And while Journal It! is not suited for all users, as the developer himself points out, other users, including myself and similarly many of the reviewers, found this to be a truly stupendous piece of software.