A to-do/note-taking/productivity/workflow-type app for the remote worker
March 17, 2020 3:11 PM Subscribe
Currently I am using Trello to manage my projects. It is quickly getting out of hand (too many boards, maybe I am using them wrong?). I'm looking for something that provides at minimum to-do list functionality with tasks and subtasks and ideally have the ability to create and organize notes. It would be awesome if there was tagging/search functionality. I would also like to be able hide "done" projects or put them away in a folder without deleting them entirely. Also: free? Does something like this exist?
I don't really need fancy visualizations, just a way to keep track of what I'm doing and what I need to do next. Also I don't like the inability to create subtasks in Trello unless you create cards for your list items so a subtask function would be great. I don't need the ability to share anything.
I don't really need fancy visualizations, just a way to keep track of what I'm doing and what I need to do next. Also I don't like the inability to create subtasks in Trello unless you create cards for your list items so a subtask function would be great. I don't need the ability to share anything.
I use Wunderlist and like it. It's fairly simple and covers everything you're asking for. Desktop, app, and browser capabilities.
posted by greta simone at 3:22 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by greta simone at 3:22 PM on March 17, 2020
OneNote can be used this way and if you have Office installed, you have it already but you actually want OneNote 2016 and not the one that comes preinstalled. The reason is that 2016 lets you save the entire Notebook as a file )or folder, not sure which) but the preinstalled one tries to put everything into One Drive.
posted by soelo at 3:36 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by soelo at 3:36 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
Whenever something is too big for me to wrap my head around, I put it into Dynalist and break it up into smaller and smaller nested sub-chunks until everything makes sense.
You can add checkboxes to items (or groups of items) in the tree, so it's easy to keep track of what's done and what's not. You can also assign due dates to any item. And it's easy for notes to live right alongside your to-do items.
posted by /\/\/\/ at 3:42 PM on March 17, 2020
You can add checkboxes to items (or groups of items) in the tree, so it's easy to keep track of what's done and what's not. You can also assign due dates to any item. And it's easy for notes to live right alongside your to-do items.
posted by /\/\/\/ at 3:42 PM on March 17, 2020
I use Asana for just this. SO MANY SUBTASKS
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:28 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:28 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I use Notion (Notion.so), and I love it. I use it for color-coded to-do lists (with subtasks that toggle between hide/view), calendar management, team collaboration for writing projects, organizing my web clippings and quotes so I can search by keyword, and much more. Here's a beginner's guide. There are many great instructionals for Notion on YouTube also.
For me there was a bit of a learning curve, but it was a fun learning curve - something about the color and layout combination options appeals to my art & design sensibilities. Once I got familiar with it and discovered how powerful it is, I quickly got hooked and opted for the paid version. I think it's worth every penny, and I've used it happily for about a year now. But the free version also works well for many people.
posted by velvet winter at 4:38 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
For me there was a bit of a learning curve, but it was a fun learning curve - something about the color and layout combination options appeals to my art & design sensibilities. Once I got familiar with it and discovered how powerful it is, I quickly got hooked and opted for the paid version. I think it's worth every penny, and I've used it happily for about a year now. But the free version also works well for many people.
posted by velvet winter at 4:38 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
+1 for notion, though I pretty quickly ran out of "blocks" and had to start paying. It's pretty affordable, though.
posted by thebots at 5:59 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by thebots at 5:59 PM on March 17, 2020
Org mode ticks all your boxes except perhaps being able to use it at work if you aren't allowed to install Emacs in your work computer.
posted by Bangaioh at 6:07 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by Bangaioh at 6:07 PM on March 17, 2020
I’ve tried nearly all the to-do services mentioned here and more (several others now are dust in the wind), and I ended up with Omnifocus. It’s really powerful, but mostly intuitive, and just list-y and not graphic-y. Does everything you mention, including being accessible by webpage — it’s just not free.
For me, it was expensive, which kept me from trying it for so long. But at the time, it was a only one-time fee and not a subscription model — it’s now a subscription for the web version — so I justified the purchase that way. In my case it paid for itself. But they have a 30-day trial, so you could give it a go that way.
posted by cluebucket at 4:50 AM on March 18, 2020
For me, it was expensive, which kept me from trying it for so long. But at the time, it was a only one-time fee and not a subscription model — it’s now a subscription for the web version — so I justified the purchase that way. In my case it paid for itself. But they have a 30-day trial, so you could give it a go that way.
posted by cluebucket at 4:50 AM on March 18, 2020
Response by poster: Does Notion have a webapp version? I can't install anything on my work computer, so this absolutely must work as a web page. Unfortunately it looks like I need to install Omnifocus to use the web version.
posted by Anonymous at 6:10 AM on March 18, 2020
posted by Anonymous at 6:10 AM on March 18, 2020
Yes, Notion can be used in your browser - as long as it's Safari, Chrome, or the standard edition of Firefox, and not IE. Check their Help & Support page for more info (here's the direct link to the Windows info).
posted by velvet winter at 11:38 AM on March 18, 2020
posted by velvet winter at 11:38 AM on March 18, 2020
I am way more into Freedcamp than Trello (I've used both).
Freedcamp has nice checklists and subtasks, and you can have multiple projects - all on the free account.
posted by kristi at 3:30 PM on March 18, 2020
Freedcamp has nice checklists and subtasks, and you can have multiple projects - all on the free account.
posted by kristi at 3:30 PM on March 18, 2020
Oh, and Freedcamp has a Discussions feature that I've used to store notes.
posted by kristi at 3:31 PM on March 18, 2020
posted by kristi at 3:31 PM on March 18, 2020
TickTick. Free, has a web app, subtasks, has both search and tagging. Free will do everything you need, paid at $30/year adds more organization and tracking features.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:42 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:42 AM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Anonymous at 3:21 PM on March 17, 2020