Why I Switched to Things from OmniFocus

The very first post here at The Mac Student was about todo managers.  I personally hold that a good todo manager that fits your brains style of organization is the most important part of an optimized workflow.  In that post I didn’t really commit to using any one task manager over the other.  The point was to share 2-3 of my favorites of the time and let the audience decide which was right for them.

However, shortly after using that article I did finally commit to OmniFocus, which I used up until 2 weeks ago.  Maybe it was simply me getting bored with software and looking for a change, or maybe there was something else there.  I switched to Things, coincidentally the first task manager I used on the Mac right before reQall and OmniFocus.  Yes, I went back to my first and I have to say, it feels go to be home.

OmniFocus is such a great task manager, and I still wonder why it is that I felt compelled to leave the confines of the OmniSphere, and take my tasks elsewhere when things were really working just fine for me there.  One big reason, and perhaps the least relevant as far as function is concerned, is the user interface.  By and large, OmniFocus is ugly.  It is cluttered and complicated.  Now, like I said earlier, it works great and it does its job well, however, there is something to be said for the clean lines and sleek design of Things.  It is just a program that I want to spend more time in, plain and simple.

I eluded to the complexity of OmniFocus earlier.  It is a power user app for the power user.  While a regular Joe might be able to get the right kind of functions out of it, the price tag isn’t worth it for that person.  What you really pay for is the complexity which is great if you know how and or want to go there.  For me, someone who mentors to other students and needs to find the best happy medium between functionality, price and usability, OmniFocus had developed into the red headed step child that really didn’t fit in with the rest of the tools in my arsenal.

So what do you loose when you switch to Things?  Quite a bit actually.  There are many layers of complexity in OmniGroups app to discover, and many layers I probable never took full advantage of.  However, these losses haven’t really bothered me.  There were some features in OmniFocus that I used in order to standardize my entries that I am doing just fine without.  Using Things is different.  After about 20 minutes with the app you have pretty much seen it all, and as such, it is very easy to wrap your head around it and get to work.  I feel like a task manager should really get out of the way and let you get to your tasks.  Isn’t that the point?  Sometime OmniFocus was a task in and of itself.

The HUGE missing feature in Things that is almost a deal breaker is the lack of over-the-air sync.  You have to be on the same local network when you launch the app to get your updated tasks.  This is such a problem, and has almost had me switching back to OmniFocus in the few short weeks I have been using Things.  If I have added 5 tasks for the day on my Mac, I don’t want to have to remember to pull the iPhone out and sync things before I leave the house.  I should not have to do that.  OmniFocus can sync via WebDAV and MobileMe so you can make changes on the iPhone or Mac and they are automatically synced from anywhere.  Cultured Code developers have said that they are working on this, but it has been far too long in my opinion.  I think they should roll out some kind of awesome Things web service and provide over-the-air sync and web access to tasks through that for free just for all the trouble.

So there you have it, I switched from the more robust OmniFocus to the simpler and more elegant Things.  While Things does have some issues, I feel that it is a better fit for more people, and so far I have been very happy with the move.

Filed under: GTD, iPhone, Mac, Organization

Tell Me What ToDo

As someone who works really hard to stay organized, I sure do waste a lot of time switching between to-do managers.  Each time you make a switch it usually means you have to re-enter EVERYTHING you need to do.  Because most of these solutions have no way to work together (and why would they), this can be a long and painful undertaking especially if you have been using managers for a long time and have many future projects in the pipeline.  Still, the wasted time doesn’t seem to bother me enough, and I have been wandering through multiple tools over the last few months. A few that come to mind are Things, The Hit List, myHomework and, most recently, reQall.

While The Hit List and myHomework were interesting to use, especially the intelligent text features, but for my money (and possibly for your money) Thingswas always the clear winner for me.  its gorgeous interface, simple and sleek controls, and just the right amount of features coupled with an impressive iPhone app made it the clear winner on my Mac and iPhone for a long time.  That probably while it has won so many awards and is held by many to be the greatest to-do manager on any platform.  Even better than the all powerfulOmniFocus from Omni Group.

Oh I haven’t forgotten about THE task manager on the mac.  However, I have always strayed away from the well know client for one reason: $$$.  The price tag for a single user license of OmniFocus is a whopping $80.  Combine this with the iPhone app coming in at $20 and you have a $100 package.  That is a hard pill to swallow for anyone, especially for student who just need to stay organized and focused on their important tasks without going broke.

Things is barely any better.  To get the mac software and iPhone app you are looking at dropping $60.  Still not an easy sell.  So what is a productivity conscious student on a budget to do?  Take a look at reQall.

I will be honest right up front.  I have been using reQall for about 3 weeks now, and it is by no means perfect.  The upside is that they boast a great (and free) iPhone app.  While it is not as polished as some of the afore mentioned options on the iPhone it isn’t too shabby (and its free – did I mention how free it is?).  The big selling point of reQall is its voice transcribing features.  To add a task you simply launch the app, push a big blue button and speak a phrase like, “Remind me to pick up my paycheck at work every Monday at 3:00pm”.  The text is then sent off to be analyzed and returned to your phone.  However, it comes back far more useful than it left.  reQall will have decided not only what kind of task you were talking about (to-do, buy, meet, etc.) but when and where and how often you need to do it.  That is of course if you need to do it at home or work as those are the only supported locations.  You can go into the task and add a location manually to the task manually.  However to use the location aware contextual to-do list (a feature of the pricey OmniFocus) you will also have to program those locations into the “location” section of the app.  The app will also give you random reminders of near and far items throughout the day to keep you on your toes and aware of all the things in your pipeline.  I would say I get about 2 of those a day.

So what about on the Mac?  Sadly, there is no software application for the mac although it is rumored to be in the works.  There is however a web interface that you can of course bookmark and visit for access to your to-dos in the cloud.  In some ways this is superior to an application because the sync is done via the cell network to the cloud rather than over a wifi network the way Things annoyingly requires.  However if you are without a connection to the internet you are out of luck, especially if your most recently spoken to-dos haven’t returned to the phone (which can take up to 10 minutes or longer sometimes).  Also, if you are in class or a meeting and you don’t want to be seen or heard giving your phone orders to remind you about something, you can optionally add your tasks by text and reQall will still work its magic.

It is very important to stay organized in whatever way first your style.  For some it may be pen and paper or sticky notes while others may need the full featured solution of OmniFocus and its $100 price tag.  There may also be a happy medium for those who want to take their task management digital but don’t want to pay for it.  reQall may just fit that bill.  And, if you feel like you need a few more features, there is of course a pro account available (free can only give you so much it would seem).  This freemium service does give all users a full pro account for the first 14 days so check it out.

Filed under: GTD, Mac, Applications, Focus, GTD, Mac, Productivity, Review, To-Do