The Ultimate ToDo list and Project tracker- Things 3
I have used a lot of Todo List apps in the past, ToDoist, Microsoft ToDo, TickTick, Google Tasks, Google Keep, Wunderlist, Evernote, OmniFocus, and I even tried to make Notion my to do list. I actually also used Things 3 early on but went and tried all the others and ended u coming back a few months ago. Let’s review Things 3 a little and during this I will point out the reasons that I love it and came back to it.
First of all, if you are part of the PC master you won’t like Things 3, in fact, you won’t even be able to not like it because it’s only on Mac and iOS 😜. So you can use this on your iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac. So it is great that they offer a dedicated app for each device (iPhone and Apple Watch are tied together) but that comes at a literal cost. Each app has its own price and it may seem steep for some but I think this helps them avoid a subscription service but I think I would prefer a subscription service but I have already paid for all the apps so at this point I would be pretty upset if they moved to a subscription service…now the prices:
iPhone/Apple Watch- $10 USD
iPad- $20 USD
Mac- $50 USD 😳
To use these in your total Apple echo system you are all in at 80 bucks, again that is a lot but I think it’s worth it if you can afford it. If you can’t there are great free alternatives (not as good overall but on a budget they are good) like Google keep or Apple’s own Reminders app.
So we have covered the cost and where you can get the apps, let’s now talk about the features. I use mine with a little hint of GTD (Getting Things Done) in it and it’s set up like this by default as well. There is an Anytime (things that do not have a due date but need to be done), Upcoming (things with a date that is not today), Someday (Again things without a due date but have no urgency to be done and can also be dreams) and then ⭐️Today (this is all the items that need to be completed today). There is also the Inbox which is where everything goes that you add and can be then distributed to the other sections when you do a review of your Inbox weekly. I do my review on Sundays but you can do it at the end of the week on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday…do what works for you but make sure to always review the inbox and assign things in there to their proper spot within Things 3 so that the inbox doesn’t become out of control, that is why the weekly review is SOOOO important. There is also a way to make custom Areas and Projects, I use areas for the pillars of my life like Work (my 9 to 5 job), Personal (Family, house, cars, etc.) and the Podcast, Blog, and info (where I keep things like things I share a lot that I can copy and paste easily like social media links) and Projects is where you can track a project (anything with more than one step to compete).
There is also a great Chrome extension for sending links right to your inbox, weird there isn’t a Safari extension when it is an Apple-only app. There is a pretty good widget for the iPhone and iPad. The Apple Watch app is pretty good for quick add and to check off from the Today view. The Mac is pretty similar to both the iPad and iPhone apps but with one awesome exception…the Quick Entry which is universal so I can hit Control + Spacebar while doing anything on my Mac and add a quick note or idea to my Inbox. This quick action is fantastic and you can also use Siri to add items to the Inbox quickly which is also awesome.
Chrome extraction is clutch for saving links to the Inbox in Things 3
There is also something I use very often which is Repeatable Tasks so you can add daily, weekly monthly, really whatever you want. I use this for reminding me to take medicine weekly, garbage day, monthly expense reports to send in and I have a daily habit tracker that repeats daily.
There are even more features that I have highlighted here and I plan on doing an in-depth video on my YouTube channel showing those features and a walk-through of exactly how I use it on all my devices so make sure to sub to the channel if you haven’t already. Also, I am going into a little more depth on this week’s podcast with Things 3 as it is the main topic for this week.
Larry
