Stop the “I Forgot” Excuse. Here Are Some Popular To-Do List Apps
When it comes to lists, things can get ugly if you did not keep them up to date. The more tasks are added, the more time you need to check them out of the list. It has been proven that a person can achieve a lot in a short period of time. Having a to-do list is important for tracking tasks and keeping a reminder to do them.
The more you adapt task listing, the less you would get overwhelmed from all the daily tasks, whether you are a student, employee, freelancer, doctor, or entrepreneur. You will need to have a list of some sort to organize and track your tasks. Depending on your memory is not a good idea. You will forget something along the way and will usually blame it on the blue.
The Tools
There are many tools available — some are completely free — to track tasks and have what everyone calls(to-do list). I listed some popular suggestions, and keep in mind that they are all free. Some of them have paid monthly subscriptions to get extra features like backup, sync across devices, and more.
(1) Microsoft To-Do (free)
This is a great option if you are looking for an easy-to-use app for your iPhone/Android device. It has all the features that you might need in a basic to-do app. If you use Microfost Outlook as your email client, then you might want to pick this tool as it is integrated with Microsoft Outlook.
(2) Google Tasks (free)
This is the choice for people who use Gmail web, as it is already available in the right side menu of the Gmail web page when you are logged in to your Gmail. Google Tasks is also available on iPhone and Android.
(3) TickTick (free or premium)
TickTick is my favorite tool for task management. I use the premium version for the following reasons:
- Calendar integration — including Google calendar. This is important for me as I need all my tasks to show in a calendar view and be added to my google calendar at the same time.
- Customized automated lists (Smart lists). This feature is awesome, as you get to create lists and filters for your tasks, and the tasks would be automatically moved to these lists based on your rules. For example, I have a list for “late tasks”; the tasks that are 3 days late and have a “high priority” tag will automatically be moved here to reschedule.
- Pomodoro timer for the tasks.
- Sub-tasks. This is important for me, as I need to have sequential tasks and check the small tasks one at a time.
- Tracked changes and logs. This feature is greater if you are working with a team and sharing a list of tasks with them to know who and when.
- Progress statistics, where you get to see your progress and the number of tasks done, pending, and delayed.
(4) Todoist (free or pro)
This is another popular option. The free version is limited to 5 active projects only though.
(5) Any.do (free or premium)
I used Any.do before, and it is a great to-do app. One of the newest features is the WhatsApp Reminders, where you get Whatsapp bot messages to remind you of your tasks and send Whatsapp messages to set tasks — found it quite annoying, to be honest. Another feature is the Location Reminders — it works on mobile only. This is cool if you want location reminders. For example: when you are near the grocery store, you get a notification reminding you to pick up your groceries.
That’s all for this post; I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, it would be great to share it with your friends and family. Also, if you want me to write about a particular topic/method in productivity, I would be more than happy, reach me @alounpro on social media — click my name at the bottom.
Have a lovely day!
— Ahmad Aloun
