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On the state of task management apps Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diver T View Post
So for an alternative to OF, I have to acquire Organize:Pro, a heavy duty tool meant for professional project management and control. Ironically, it is well designed, contains unique advanced features, and yet is a lot cheaper than OF. @Omnigroup: this should get your attention. OP is less flexible, but in terms of functionalities and UI you are being outclassed at a lower pricepoint.
Very interesting product which I'm surprised I've never heard of, they are thinking outside of the box and doing some super cool things. The mind mapping is great, and so is the ability to filter on "actions" or "information" only, most apps, OF included, aren't any good at letting people enter lots of notes (which are part and parcel of projects) and easily filter them out using a built in feature.

I noticed a couple of quick downsides.
1. No user forum. I absolutely despise doing business with any software company that in the year 2013 does not have user forums. I don't want to be stuck writing support every time I have a question.
2. One of the things I love about OF is being able to assign a context not only to actions (which all the GTD programs do), but to projects themselves. Does not look like OP supports that.
3. It does not appear as though the user can easily select all projects or all contexts and progressively filter down as desired, as can be done with OF. A parent project must be selected. I suppose the user could use a workaround of creating one master project that holds all other projects, since it appears you can create a project tree with as many levels as desired.

Anyhow as always no product gets it perfect. I'll stick with OF, but Organize:pro is one of the most interesting products I've seen in a while.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NickHibma View Post
As I said, I've got 1200 actions...
OT, but I would absolutely love to see the database from someone that has 1200 actions :). Because you're either detailing things at an amazing micro-level, not finishing most of them, or are the most productive person on earth. I am sincere in saying I'd really like to see it (which I of course realize is not possible), it might give me ideas.
 
I'm guessing that not all of those 1,200 tasks are "active". Some projects may probably be set to "on hold" status or deferred to a later start date.

Setting some of my projects to "on hold" helps me to manage things. My "on hold" projects are what is called "Someday/Maybe" projects. I'm putting these on the back burner and will review it in the future to see if I should activate them in the future. I've had quite a few projects that have been on hold for some time. Oftentimes, I'll just delete them and record them in an OmniOutliner document that is called "Projects that I decided not to do." Then I put the date of deletion and the reason why I decided not to do it.

This gives me a sense of history. I might get interested in restarting a project. But I will look at this outline document to remind myself why I deleted it in the first place. Then I can decide whether to continue or just keep it in "Projects I decided not to do."
 
I am creatieve with ideas popping into my head at short intervals, and want to get stuff out of my head, that's what I am trying to use OF for. I'm trying to stop myself from going off on a tangent every time my brain goes 'how about this?'. Perhaps I am looking at too micro a level, but that is not for you to decide unfortunately. You have your own life to mess with, I have mine.

I get lots of stuff done. Lots. But I want to focus more on my priorities. That's why I want to slice and dice better.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diver T View Post
...
This is what happened when I applied my criteria.
1. Subtasks: exit Things and FireTask.
2. Working link back to email: 2DO bites the dust.
3. Customer support, no abandonware: THL falls through, according to forums, dev never responds.
4. Syncing: THL goes down again: it’s a payed service, not too expensive. But pay recurring subscription fees to a dev who never ever answers an email or support request? Never!
5. Stable and no ugly bugs: Organize:Pro had one problem, not serious.

Then there is the so subjective issue of the user interface.
- Things: slender and elegant. Features stay out of sight until needed.
- 2DO: functional, but you need to like dull blue-gray. Start and due dates are too hidden, causing extra mouse-clicks.
- THL: great and efficient interface. Good use of icons, colors and fonts. The tab system is fantastic.
- FireTask: ugly, childish, almost comical.
- OP: huge, unique designer dashboard, interesting features, very different from the rest. A lot of attention went into that. Task bars are too bulky and attributes buttons on them are too small and greyed out.

So for an alternative to OF, I have to acquire Organize:Pro, a heavy duty tool meant for professional project management and control. Ironically, it is well designed, contains unique advanced features, and yet is a lot cheaper than OF. @Omnigroup: this should get your attention. OP is less flexible, but in terms of functionalities and UI you are being outclassed at a lower pricepoint.
The rest of the pack worries me. The other apps are seriously priced and the devs clearly aspire to go beyond hockeymom level. The underlying concepts are well known and no rocket science. Why then is it so difficult to do EVERYTHING right and build a real good ToDo app and service?

Anyway, I found my Plan B candidate.
So have you found your nirvana yet, or close to it? Serious question.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by David_Haddad View Post
So have you found your nirvana yet, or close to it? Serious question.
I am getting closer, but perhaps this is all about the journey, not the destination......😏. This is where I am:
For simple errands and single actions that I used to push into my OF inbox, I started using the native Reminders app. Works fast and well enough for that, instantly syncs between OS X and iOS.
For work I now use an app that is a bit more business oriented than OF: Organize:Pro.
And OF has become the great repository for all the rest. You know, house maintenance, that dream holiday, the someday ideas. I look at it when I have time to spare. Or sense that I missed something.
I did try Pagico too, and although the idea of gathering all project related information in a project space is nice, it was not for me. Sometimes a client sends me dozens of files that are relevant for a project. Keeping them all in a project space is not ideal, too much clutter. So I use a dedicated document management app for that: Devonthink Pro.
 
On the iPad side, if you use Reminders, you might consider Taskboard for Reminders. It will give you a Kanban view of your work load.
 
 


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