Much of the work we do as knowledge workers requires some related information. The ability to document: this may be a factor that not all people consider, but documentation is a need in this space.

Flexible organization: not everyone needs tags or folders, but for those who do, it’s usually essential.This is a tricky one as we don’t want too much customization, lest we succumb to fiddling. Various methods of view: the best task managers allow the user to configure a view of their tasks that fits their needs.While how you focus your time may be better suited to using a calendar, we still need a place to document all the required tasks for a specific goal. Multiple types of work: a good task manager handles everything from large complex projects, to smaller projects, to single recurring tasks, to management of your personal or work calendar.Easy input: no matter what productivity method you practice, getting tasks, reminders, and ideas into your system must be as smooth and frictionless as possible.

Here are the criteria we considered in more detail. Do we need to look for support of iOS’s features like Split View, or Drag & Drop, or Shortcuts support? No matter - all the best contenders support the best iOS and iPadOS features available.Īnd although some of the newer alternatives to this space deserve a look, our recommendation will be limited to those tools that are genuinely focused on managing projects and tasks. Do we need to look for apps that offer syncing? It’s pretty much a solved problem now and implicit in all our favorite tools. However, other considerations have melted into the background. A task manager needs to be easy to get our ideas into, it should offer several organizational options, and it needs to be available on all our devices. In many ways, our list of criteria has not changed much since 2014 when we first published our recommendation for this space. What We’re Looking for in the Best Task Management App Needless to say, choosing a tool to meet your needs in 2020 requires a level of self-awareness about how you do your best work. And no matter what system you use, Pomodoro timers can help maintain your focus and energy levels while you work.Īnd let’s not forget the resurgence of pen and paper - do you bujo? Or are you into the new Scribble features in iPadOS 14? While others advocate that habits are more important than goals and projects. Some folks make a case for ditching your task manager and using the calendar instead. It turns out that not all knowledge workers care for GTD’s long list of lists and specific processes.Īs a result, there are a lot of styles of tools available to choose from today. However, over the past 17 years, there have been numerous other types of “systems” and methods shared online. Since David Allen first published Getting Things Done in 2001, personal productivity became a household term. Second, how knowledge workers manage their work has had a lot of attention. And, as a result, we’ve all benefited from having more than one option. Teams like the OmniGroup, Todoist, Cultured Code, TickTick, and even Microsoft have taken turns making the products of choice for many app users. There are a couple of factors to keep in mind when choosing the best task management app for Apple users. And for those of us who naturally focus more on process than outcomes, it can be downright debilitating to land on the best task management app. In fact, the options are plentiful enough that choosing just one task management app to use is not easy.

But, even better, this is a category of apps that are well-represented by Apple developers. There are several cross-platform and web-based task management tools we can use. There are numerous contenders nipping on Things 3’s tail - such as Todoist, which has made the biggest strides of any GTD app in the last few years - so we’ll continue to watch this space in the coming days and months.Īs Apple users, we’re spoiled when it comes to managing our tasks. As a result, we’ve spent days and months (even years) testing as many of the best GTD apps as we possibly can.Īnd no matter how many times we test these apps, we come back to believing Things 3 is the most well-rounded, best designed, and easiest-to-use GTD app available for iPhone, iPad, and the Mac. The “Get Things Done” methodology and all the apps that work in the GTD methodology are near and dear to our hearts here at The Sweet Setup.

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