Apr 27, 2020 Really opens up some new possibilities, though a few things didn't carry over Microsoft To Do. For example, tags don't seem to cross over. Nor did the 'Flagged Email' list. That said, you can now show planners and To-Do lists together which is pretty cool. I'm not sure what a GTD flow looks like though- still working that out. The core of Outlook GTD is to work on one thing at a time without distractions. Disabling features that interrupt or distract you allows you to work with full attention on the item at hand. Check your GTD email and messages set-up at specific intervals that you have scheduled, so that you manage your own time. Great App for GTD Method Best app I have found for use with the GTD method. I originally used Wunderlist and it was great. But this one is getting the latest and greatest updates that allow it to work much better with ios shortcuts so you can program your iphone so that you can add a task to a specific list by voice on the go without even looking at your phone. Outlook: T asks in Outlook sync to To Do, you can also flag your emails and see them in your Flagged email list. Microsoft Launcher: T he native Tasks widget and To Do widget in Microsoft Launcher on Android sync with To Do. Cortana: The Lists section in your Cortana notebook syncs with To Do. You can also tell Cortana to add tasks to To Do. Jan 21, 2020 My personal favorite feature is the ability to view all flagged emails inside Microsoft To Do. My email inbox is effectively a second task list that feels like an impossibility to complete. Using To Do’s flagged emails feature, you can flag an email inside Outlook, archive the email in Outlook, and still view the email as a task in To Do. Once you unflag the email in Outlook, To Do automatically picks up the email’s status and marks the task as completed.
Finding a good cross-platform GTD app is hard. Within the Apple eco-system, the options are plenty and I wouldn’t even bother looking beyond Things. But outside of it, the search could go on forever. I’ve tried many options, from very specific GTD-implementations — like FacileThings and NirvanaHQ — to mainstream todo-apps like Todoist and Google Keep. I’ve settled on Microsoft’s To-Do in the end (meaning, of course: for now). Here’s why.
Gtd Con Microsoft To Do
Disclaimer: By GTD I’m referring to the methodology as coined by David Allen. This article is about finding the perfect app to go with that methodology. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s probably pretty boring.
What I need in a GTD app
Being a very happy Things user, here’s the wish list I set off with:
- Seamless sync between mobile and desktop (preferably with native apps on both)
- A clear distinction between projects and tasks and the possibility to group and archive projects
- A single list with ‘next’ tasks from all projects and lists
- A single list with ‘today’ tasks to be selected from next tasks and to be freely organised
- The option to add reminders at specific times
- A clean UI
Where other apps failed
Like I said, I tried many apps and was disappointed in all of them.
Todoist: too many options
With some messing around, it’s very well possible to recreate a GTD-like environment with Todoist. Both projects and tasks can be nested. A ‘next’ list can be created with filters (e.g. all tasks without a scheduled date). However in the end I completely lost control over my tasks because of all the options. The most important thing I want is a simple list with all my ‘next’ tasks and a way to quickly mark them to be done today. Todoist just isn’t GTD-focused enough to achieve that.
NirvanaHQ: outdated
Nirvana is often named as the cross-platform Things alternative. Although it’s very similar and I’ve been using it on-and-off for years, it never really stuck. For one thing, it doesn’t seem to be actively developed anymore (the Android app was last updated in 2017). Also the lack of reminders is a deal-breaker for me, forcing me to use separate reminder-apps alongside Nirvana.
FacileThings: too strict (and outdated too)
For those who are close followers of the GTD-method, FacileThings is often recommended. Unlike other apps, FacileThings has the entire method (including all the review-steps) implemented. That’s nice, but it also makes it lack ‘snappiness’. Most of the time, I just want to quickly add a few steps to a project rather than walking through every step of the GTD-methodology. Also, I’m more than capable of doing those reviews myself.
Google Keep: suprisingly good
The most unorthodox of all todo-apps turns out to work pretty well for GTD. Google Keep is just made for GTD’s inbox-principle. From there, it’s easy to create projects (task lists) or archive your information. It has apps for every platform and great reminder-options. The biggest deal breaker is the lack of ways to split projects into tasks and plan those tasks separately.
Microsoft To Do
Then there was Microsoft To Do. First hated for killing off Wunderlist. Then loved for becoming even better.
MTD used to be a pretty basic app. There were lists, tasks (with subtasks) and reminders and that was about it. From very early on however, there was the ‘My Day’ section, which allowed adding tasks from all different lists to one list meant for working on that day. Also, from very early on the app was developed to work on many different platforms. Combined with a clean UI and reminders, that already ticked four of my boxes, so naturally I tried it out.
It quickly turned out to be too limited. Lists alone are too limited for GTD. There was no way of organizing or archiving them, leaving only the option of deleting when you’ve finished them. It tried using tasks as projects and subtasks as tasks, but that gave me the same limit as Google Keep: no way to separately schedule or collect them. So off I was again.
Until last christmas. In the same month Wunderlist announced they would definitively (be) shut down, Microsoft released a huge update for To Do, bringing a slick new look and, finally, list groups. This allowed me to not only group lists (projects) by area of responsibility, but also archive them by moving them to a group called ‘Archive’.
The set-up
So how do I go about my daily and weekly reviews? And where do I put stuff like the inbox and ‘next’ tasks?
Inbox
Newly created tasks automatically go to the list ‘tasks’ in MTD, so naturally that’s the most suitable candidate for the inbox. By using the list for inbox only, it’s easy to empty it daily and move tasks to the right list.
Projects
Projects are just lists grouped by area of responsibility. As said, when a project is finished, I simply move it to the ‘Archive’ group.
The nice thing about MTD is that it actually allows for a little more freedom than the strict interpretation of Things. I can now easily create special lists like errands or things to do in my free time without having to list them as projects or areas of responsibility. Using colors and emoji, visual planning becomes even easier than it is with Things.
Next actions / someday
Microsoft To Do And Gtd
One of the biggest challenges was the ‘next actions’ list. Things has a very easy way of collecting all pending tasks (i.e. those not in scheduled or someday) from all projects in one list. MTD doesn’t have something similar, however I managed to recreate a very similar functionality using MTD’s important tasks. By ‘starring’ each next action as important, they can all be listed easily. Those not marked as important are either scheduled or meant to do someday. Works like a charm.
Scheduling and reminders
MTD can mark tasks as due for a certain date (also repeated) and can separately add reminders at certain times. This is all I need from a GTD app, though it can be a little limited if you’re a big fan of using a tickler file.
Contexts / tagging
Using Microsoft To Do For Gtd
Except for a list for ‘spare time’, I’m not a big fan of using contexts. The context is pretty much always ‘at the computer’ and when it’s not, I’ll set a reminder.
If you want to use contexts or other kinds of tags however, MTD makes it very easy to gather tasks and subjects from different lists by simply typing #hashtags.
Weekly and daily reviews
Microsoft To Do Gtd Online
Every week I simply go through all open projects to check if they have pending actions and to see if new tasks should be ‘starred’ to be added to the ‘next’ list. For my daily review I only have to review the ‘next’ list to see which tasks I want to mark to be done today. It won’t get much easier than that.
TL;DR
Microsoft To Do has become seriously useful for those following the GTD method. By using lists as projects and marking next actions as ‘important’, there’s little separating it from the greatness of Things. Add great cross platform support and colored lists and you’ve got an almost perfect GTD app.