Getting Things Done

With More Than Mail

2008-06-04

Getting things done apps are over-complicated to-do lists, in my mind. As I said in a previous post, I enjoy using iCal/Mail To-dos for three reasons. Speed, simplicity, and I already have one of those applications open already. However, I was evolving and growing in my workflow. I needed to find a few more features in my to-do tracking. Some original ideas included "archiving" instead of deleting completed to-dos and a better way to display the information, if only in showing which is the next to-do in different orders. Sorting to-dos in Mail is fairly simple, and iCal is even worse.

Between TUAW and MacApper I was able to select two applications to try. The first is called Things and is a full-blown application. Things has a fantastic user-interface, a great feature-set, and is under constant development. At the same time, I did not use all of the features the application already had. Things is still new software. As such, some of the polish is missing at this time but, it is still very usable and very beautiful. The largest negative point for me is that Things is an application unto itself. I already have plenty of windows open and I do not wish to find myself spending more time tracking my to-dos than actually doing them. This is a very minor issue and one that I will likely live with as my needs evolve further. Lastly, the price is a little steep at nearly $50.

The second application is called Dejumble. Unlike Things, Dejumble lives in the menubar only. Although I don’t like to clutter my menubar the ease of access is phenomenal and instantaneous. The feature set is not as complete as Things but, given my needs, that is just fine. The application and interface have a few flaws. First, the included themes are all beautiful except when the description font is impossible to see. Second, the search box would be extremely handy if it did something. When I first tried to search I typed in a word I knew was in the descriptions of a few to-dos and waited for a live search. Nothing happened so I hit enter. Unexpectedly, this created a new to-do using the form just below the search. Deleting this new to-do required I open iCal or Mail and, the delete would not remove itself in Dejumble’s list. Lastly, a to-do with none of the fields filled in should not be made a to-do without a warning message or some other notification.

Neither of these applications scratches the itch completely but, both are close enough that they may warrant use. I will probably use Dejumble for the trial period, monitor the improvements made and then make a decision. I am absolutely certain that Things has or will have all that I need but, I don’t want to spend $50 without a need. I am thankful for Leopard because without its features, none of these applications would be as useful. As always, Mail still gets the job done.