Do you like Things?
June 7, 2009 6:24 PM Subscribe
[ProductivitySoftwareFilter]: I'm thinking about using Things both on my computer and iPhone. If you've used it I'd be interested in hearing the good, the bad and the ugly about your experiences. Help me decide if I should shell out 60 bucks or not. Thanks.
Personally, I found it too complicated, but I can see how some people would love it. To each their own, I suppose.
posted by reductiondesign at 9:15 PM on June 7, 2009
posted by reductiondesign at 9:15 PM on June 7, 2009
I've paid for it, and have come to regret it. It looks better than it works, although I don't remember what specifically made me quit using it. I'm happy with RememberTheMilk now.
posted by dhoe at 9:26 PM on June 7, 2009
posted by dhoe at 9:26 PM on June 7, 2009
I'm a strict GTD guy. I played with Things and found it lacking where OmniFocus was solid. Yup, both desktop and iPhone version.
posted by filmgeek at 9:30 PM on June 7, 2009
posted by filmgeek at 9:30 PM on June 7, 2009
Why not see if evernote suites you more - it's a really nice app and it's free for the desktop and the iphone app. If you are using to it to organize text/ideas - you won't ever come close to needing to pay for the extra tier of service.
posted by bigmusic at 10:38 PM on June 7, 2009
posted by bigmusic at 10:38 PM on June 7, 2009
I use Things and love it. (iPhone and Mac versions.)
For me it's more of a "giant to-do list that I choose a few urgent things from and stick them in the Today list" than a proper GTD tool. But I could be more organized if I want to.
Syncing is a pain, and it's entirely Apple's fault for not including a 3rd-party sync API.
I tried Omnifocus and found it difficult to work with. I liked Things better.
posted by mmoncur at 10:46 PM on June 7, 2009
For me it's more of a "giant to-do list that I choose a few urgent things from and stick them in the Today list" than a proper GTD tool. But I could be more organized if I want to.
Syncing is a pain, and it's entirely Apple's fault for not including a 3rd-party sync API.
I tried Omnifocus and found it difficult to work with. I liked Things better.
posted by mmoncur at 10:46 PM on June 7, 2009
Another Things lover here.
In my opinion things is cleaner than any other GTD application out there and the only app I actually have continued to use after the initial excitement wore off. I tried iGTD, Omnifocus, Taskpaper and a few others.
Since this is a [ProductivitySoftwareFilter] I'd also recommend you DevonThink Pro for all things knowledge related. DT is another piece of software dear to my heart. You will find that there is a slight learning curve but if you get through that you might enjoy it very much.
posted by mathiu at 2:42 AM on June 8, 2009
In my opinion things is cleaner than any other GTD application out there and the only app I actually have continued to use after the initial excitement wore off. I tried iGTD, Omnifocus, Taskpaper and a few others.
Since this is a [ProductivitySoftwareFilter] I'd also recommend you DevonThink Pro for all things knowledge related. DT is another piece of software dear to my heart. You will find that there is a slight learning curve but if you get through that you might enjoy it very much.
posted by mathiu at 2:42 AM on June 8, 2009
I like Things. I am not in any way a GTD person, but I enjoy the organizational structure of Things and the relative ease of saying "Not Today" or of scheduling a reminder to pop up 2 weeks from now. The drag and dropping and tagging are nice, too.
I only use the computer version, but Things and Papers are the 2 applications pushing me to get an iPod Touch.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:31 AM on June 8, 2009
I only use the computer version, but Things and Papers are the 2 applications pushing me to get an iPod Touch.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:31 AM on June 8, 2009
I only use the iPhone version and like it very much. Only drawback for me is that it takes a leetle too long to add a new task or edit an existing one, if I'm trying to do it on the run. If I'm sitting down with a cuppa and getting organised, it's just fine. I like being able to have Projects with tasks attached, with space for notes on the tasks. I like the Someday list. It'd be nice to have the ability to get recurring tasks happening properly, but it doesn't really bother me.
posted by harriet vane at 5:19 AM on June 8, 2009
posted by harriet vane at 5:19 AM on June 8, 2009
I might also recommend The Hit List. I used Things for a while, but found the Hit List through the last MacHeist and have been using it to good effect since then. I don't believe it yet does iPhone syncing, but I think they're planning to do so.
posted by Inkoate at 7:27 AM on June 8, 2009
posted by Inkoate at 7:27 AM on June 8, 2009
I love using Things on my Mac... it looks great and (for me) works perfectly. I split my life into various "Areas of Responsibility" (i.e. jobs for clients, household projects, creative projects, follow-ups, etc...) where I collect both short and long-term to-dos and tasks. Then I assign the most pressing items to the "Today" list, which I glance at throughout the day (whenever I'm ready to tackle something new). I love the way that the Today view lets you see the urgent items from all Areas combined in a clean, sortable list... but if I want to specifically spend some time focusing on completing tasks related to just one Area, I can just click on that Area and focus on those tasks.
I think it also works particularly well with scheduled and repeating to-dos... I add the task to the appropriate Area of Responsibility, assign the due date, and tell Things how far in advance to move the item to the Today list. It's worked much better than any other solution I've tried for scheduled reminders.
posted by departure lounge at 8:02 AM on June 8, 2009
I think it also works particularly well with scheduled and repeating to-dos... I add the task to the appropriate Area of Responsibility, assign the due date, and tell Things how far in advance to move the item to the Today list. It's worked much better than any other solution I've tried for scheduled reminders.
posted by departure lounge at 8:02 AM on June 8, 2009
I use Things. I think both the Mac app and the iPhone app are great. I used the iPhone application exclusively for a good while, before syncing was available. I didn't find it bad at all. If you don't want to shell out for the desktop application just yet, that might be a good way to see what you think. The iPhone application is excellent, really well thought out. Even now, most of the time I find I add stuff via my iPhone, since i'm not at my computer too much. (I usually enter the minimum info on my phone, and pad out extra info when i'm at my computer.)
posted by chunking express at 9:05 AM on June 8, 2009
posted by chunking express at 9:05 AM on June 8, 2009
I use (only) the computer version of things, and my main complaint is that I have to keep the main program window open all the time to use it (there's no widget or similar lightweight interface for checking my to-do list) and (AFAIK) there's no notification system, like email reminders or even audible alerts when items come due. My frustrations probably result, in part, to my lack of adherence to the GTD philosophy. I'm sure there's some GTD bullet point about finishing tasks one at a time without interruptions, or something.
Anyway it's a perfectly good app for a specific kind of user, but it's not ideal for everyone. For $60 for both versions, I would experiment with cheaper alternatives that might suit me better.
posted by Chris4d at 10:54 AM on June 8, 2009
Anyway it's a perfectly good app for a specific kind of user, but it's not ideal for everyone. For $60 for both versions, I would experiment with cheaper alternatives that might suit me better.
posted by Chris4d at 10:54 AM on June 8, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone, for the comments and suggestions for other apps to check out. Still not sure which way I'm going to go -- I'm getting ready to head back to grad school in the fall (after being out of school for ~20 years) and I know my personal organization system needs a serious upgrade or else I'll go insane. So again, thanks!
posted by hapax_legomenon at 7:24 AM on June 9, 2009
posted by hapax_legomenon at 7:24 AM on June 9, 2009
Oh, hey, grad school is what I use Things for. I find it perfect. I have Projects for each chapter of my dissertation as well as each side project, class I'm teaching, etc. Besides other tags, I use tags like "mindless", "boot to windows", "lab work", etc so that I can pull up a bunch of tasks that fit that category at once. It's also just helpful to know that everything I need to do next on a project is sitting there with due dates attached and will pop up in my Today list on its own.
In general, I would imagine Things is actually more useful for something like grad school, where so much of the work is very self-directed and open ended, than it would be for a job with more external deadlines or where somebody else sets your priorities.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:54 PM on June 9, 2009
In general, I would imagine Things is actually more useful for something like grad school, where so much of the work is very self-directed and open ended, than it would be for a job with more external deadlines or where somebody else sets your priorities.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:54 PM on June 9, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
-It's not as weighty and complicated as OmniFocus.
-You can use it pretty much as a to-do list, no need to sign up to GTD philosophy.
-It's really easy to create a "do today" list with the stars.
-It's well polished.
The bad:
-The syncing requires both apps to be open and on the same subnet, which is a pain. It's understandable because Apple doesn't make it easy, but it's still a pain.
-It's pretty expensive for both apps together.
The ugly:
- It's still slightly too slow to add new tasks. Lots of sliding up and down the navigation
I had it on my phone for a while, and recently retired it. I then tried Remember the Milk, which is fairly good as well, but the website is ugly and confusing. OmniFocus is too heavy. I settled on TaskPaper for my mac, and there are promises of a syncing iPhone version. That'd be my perfect setup.
posted by fightorflight at 6:45 PM on June 7, 2009