Another cry for geeky help today.
Recently these two online “to do list” and task management web apps have come to my attention. And well, you know how much I love lists, and also how I need extra help these days getting myself organised, so I had a look at both of them. At first glance it’s hard to see if one is better for me than the other, so I thought I’d ask if anyone here is using either of them and if you have a preference.
One person I know using Remember The Milk said it was tricky getting to know the layout and how to use it, but after that she thought it was very helpful. My main concern is that it uses Google Gears, which I had to uninstall from my computers awhile back because it was causing problems (though now I don’t remember exactly what … interfering with some other programmes).
Both also have iPhone apps, which would be useful for me. But before I spend a few hours “getting organised” I would like to have a better idea about which app would be best for me. So … feedback? Pros & cons? Help?
casa azahar 
I’ve not used Evernote but RTM works fine for me. I use it via Thunderbird though, which is probably different to how you’d use it. Also, I only use it in a very unsophisticated way, like a post-it note.
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I used to use Evernote to “remember everything” and RTM to schedule daily to dos. Evernote is more designed as a capture tool while RTM is to organize your day/week/month. That said, Evernote is a must have for me. With some minor tweaking, and detailed tags, it works really well as a planner as well.
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David Allen says there are 7 categories of information we need to “keep track” of. Here are the seven and here are the ways I track them:
Reference = EverNote
Project support material = EverNote
Projects = Some type of collapsible hierarchical list manager like CheckVist or outliner.carbonfin.com
Waiting for = Gmail (stars)
Calendar items = GCal
Next Actions = RTM
I use EverNote to capture everything, and I do mean everything. With the numerous ways (Fujitsu ScanSnap, my camera on my iPhone, voice recorder on my iPhone, forwarded message from GVoice, email, web clipper, screen clipper, etc.) to get information into EverNote, it is easy for me to dump all the stuff in my life in there. From there, I filter DOWN that list to see if that bit of information should stay at one of those higher levels or move down to the one bellow it. That’s pretty much my method of GTD processing.
Remember The Milk is a great task manager. With the ability to search, I can slice and dice my amorphous blob tasks into ad hoc lists that fit any context, location, project, or priority at any time. This means that once the big rocks are in, all the gaps between can be easily filled instantly with the other stuff from my list at any time.
I hope this helps.
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I hadn’t heard of either of these apps before – having now had a look, Evernote, despite its boring name, looks like the winner to me, mainly because the feel of it is better – nice clean graphics.
But I think I’ll still continue to use scraps of paper stuffed into purses and pockets!
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not used either of those but recommend PocketGod to anyone who will listen š
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Thanks for the feedback guys. As Raincoaster quipped the other day, she doesn’t have time to get organised. I am feeling somewhat the same, though in my case it’s more an inability to focus on things long enough to get them done properly. I think getting back to work will help.
Think I’ll start playing around with Evernote until … oh look, a butterfly!
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Hmm. I don’t spend that much time on a computer. In fact, I read Jawn Lam’s comment and much of it made no sense to me at all.
In order to stay organized I have a Franklin Covey organizer/datebook, it is paper based and sits next to my phone, which lives on the counter and actually has CORDS that attach it to the wall and the handset to the base. It always works, even when the power is off. For lists I use paper — usually old envelopes or the like (which you can see posted on my blog).
Considering how vulnerable computers are to viruses, lightning, lack of power (a real problem in this area), hacking by criminals, their possible use as softwarebots by “Bad Guys” and just general malaise, I wonder exactly how smart we are all to have them controlling every aspect of our lives including our to-do lists.
Frankly, I believe “being organized” is more of a state of mind than a software problem. Having a software thing that you can put every thing on sounds to me like you have just created another task you have to stay on top of — managing a computer software to-do list. My list is easy to manage. It sits on the counter and when I complete a task I cross it off. When the envelope gets full, I retire it and start a new list. If there is a power surge in the night, my list is still ungarbled and intact. It is not vulnerable to my computer deciding to crash and exhibit “The Blue Screen of Death”.
By all the above you can deduce that I have no opinion on the relative values of the software you inquire about.
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Oh right, and I bet you grow your own tomatoes too! š
Actually, I have also wondered about the real benefits to be gained from mastering one of these apps. But I do like that I can also access everything from my iPhone, in case I’m not at home and near my full-of-scribbly-notes notepad.
And it isn’t just a simple to-do list. It’s also about organising bookmarks, calendars, and research material for my projects. At the moment I have a bunch of stuff for my ebook, Sevilla Tapas, English, computer classes … all over the place. And when I find something of interest on Twitter it would be good to be able to copy it directly into a specific online file I can easily find later.
Well, maybe I’ll make some headway with Evernote this weekend.
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Life only gets more complicated if we let it. I use a plethora of things, like envelopes (notes from phone calls), my PDA — yeah, still have one, wanna make something of it — for immediate notes of things to look up or check into, usually from the radio or something a friend says. I suffer from the same memory problems you do (part of the reason I’m on disability), so I also have a small notebook and pen which I carry in the little purse on a string I wear when I go out, to keep my bus pass in. Notes might be in any of those, and so manage to make some progress. Good lcuk on your search, and let me know how it turns out.
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