A good computer organizer saves more time and effort than you need to use it, and it also combines two opposing properties - ease of use and rich organizational capabilities. Things have become such an organizer for me.
The main thing that a computer organizer should be able to do
Quickly creating new tasks is the main thing that a good computer organizer should be able to do. Different TM systems offer different tools, but almost all of them said from the doorway: do not keep anything in your head, immediately transfer it to the incoming ones. It took me a long time to do it, because at first I was too lazy to carry a notebook and pencil with me, then I was too lazy to take out my smartphone, open an application, and type text. In addition, it was not always convenient. Things in conjunction with the voice assistant Siri solved this problem.
Things integrates with Siri through the Reminders app. You just need to call Siri. There are several quick ways to do this:
- long press on the Home button;
- holding the pause button on the headphones;
- the phrase “Hey Siri” if the phone is charging.
With Air Pods, Siri is activated by double tapping. Works even through a winter hat and hood. After Siri is called, it remains to dictate the problem or idea that has come to mind. All. Now the task is in driving, and the brain will not overheat, constantly reminding about it.
It takes less than 10 seconds to create a task in Things using Siri
The desktop version of Things has hotkeys for quickly creating a new task. It takes me 5 to 10 seconds.
You can create tasks in Things even from a device where the application is not installed. To do this, you just need to send a letter to a special address, which can be viewed in the settings:
By clicking Manage, you will see the Inbox address in your Things app
Convenient and understandable structure
When there are many projects and tasks, you need a computer organizer that allows you to quickly organize the structure and freely navigate in it. Things provides a balanced experience: limits nesting so that the user is not lost, but gives enough options so that projects and tasks can be clearly assigned.
There are projects and areas to create a structure. Projects can be ambitious goals that need to be broken down into small step-by-step tasks. Areas bring together projects by subject matter and areas of responsibility. There is a box icon in front of the area name, and in front of the project name there is an active pie chart icon showing progress. Within the project itself, you can create sections to help you sort tasks into categories or stages.
Things application working window: left sidebar - sections of all tasks, areas and projects; right side - tasks and sections of a specific project
In the upper left sidebar, there are sections that display tasks not by project, but by their status.
"Inbox" (Cmd + 1)... All tasks from the "Reminders" application go here, if you have configured that.
Setting up import from Reminders
In the "Inbox", tasks created using quick input, if they have not been assigned a due date, project, or tags, are waiting for their distribution by projects. You can distribute tasks by projects or areas by dragging and dropping or using the Cmd + Shift + M combination. If you move using a key combination, a window will appear where you can select a project with the mouse or by entering its name:
If you need to transfer a task from the Inbox to the Video Mood project, press Cmd + Shift + M, start typing V and press Return
"Today" (Cmd + 2)... Collected tasks of two types:
- the start date or due date of the task falls on today;
- the start date or due date is in the past, but the task has not been completed.
Here we see the events from the "Calendar" application and below them the tags of the tasks that got into the "Today" section:
Today Section Window in Things
"Plans" (Cmd + 3)... Here are events from the Calendar program and tasks with a start date or due date in the future. They are sorted by day until the end of the month. From next month, all tasks for the month are shown. I plan my day in the morning, so in “Plans” I mostly have repetitive tasks.
The Plans Section in Things
Anytime (Cmd + 4)... Tasks without a start date or recurring tasks are displayed here. They are grouped by area and project.
Section with tasks without a start date in Things
"Someday" (Cmd + 5)... Drag and drop here all tasks and projects that you do not plan to do in the near future and may never do. This will make it easier to navigate your current projects, but you will not worry with thoughts: “What if you need it? What if time appears? "
Postponed projects and tasks in the "Someday" section
"Journal" (Cmd + 6)... All completed tasks and projects appear here. You can configure the transfer to the "Journal" immediately, once a day or manually. Tasks are sorted into sections "Today", "Yesterday", "Current month" and "Last 4 months".
"Basket"... If you deleted a task or project, but then changed your mind and decided to restore, you can do it from the "Recycle Bin".
Working with Tasks in Things
Tasks in Things have eight properties: title, note, start date, reminder, tag, checklist, due date, and recurrence.
Name... I advise in the title of the problem to put the first word a verb that answers the question: "What needs to be done?"
The note... Task notes can contain: a short description of the task, links to pages, files, other tasks, and any active links.
date start... Date when the task will appear in the Today section. This is not a task deadline. If you do not close the task on the day of the appointed date and do not set another date, it will remain in the "Today" section the next day.
Reminder... The time at which Things will remind you of your task notification. The reminder is tied to the start date.
Tag... I use tags as context to quickly find the tasks I need. For example, I have tasks that need to be discussed with a colleague. All these tasks are tagged "Alexey O". When we intersect with him in one place, I need to go to Things and start typing this tag. Already on the second letter, the text will be in the first position:
To search in Things, you just need to start typing
Now all you have to do is press Return, and Things will show all tasks with the tag "Alexey O":
Displaying all tasks with a specific tag in Things
Check list... There are routine tasks in which we can miss something, because we are used to doing it automatically. Or, for example, my evening ritual consists of small tasks that I don't want to set as a separate task so as not to bloat the list. In both cases, I use a checklist:
In the task "Conduct an evening review" I use the checklist as a list of small subtasks
Extreme term... It differs from the beginning of the task in that it is shown to the right of the title and turns red if the task is not completed on time.
Deadline Tasks in Things
Repetitions... You can customize repetitions in Things to suit every taste and need. The simplest thing is to repeat the task after completing it after a certain number of days, weeks, months, or years.
Choosing a repetition logic in Things
You can configure the task to repeat after a certain number of days, weeks, months or years, but specifically, for example, on the twelfth day or the second Sunday of the month.
Multiple windows
In the desktop version of Things, you can open multiple windows at once. On the big screen iMac 21 open 3 windows at once. The "Plans" section is always open in the left one to see the load for the next days. On the right - "Today" so as not to lose the focus of the day. Medium window for searching tasks and projects. It is open with a left sidebar for easy navigation:
Three Things windows on one screen
Things mobile app
In a mobile application, the structure, task properties and logic are identical to the desktop one. But the way we interact is redesigned for the smartphone. All repetitive actions can be quickly performed using swipes and the keyboard.
To go to the desired section, project or find a task, just pull the screen down. The app will open a quick search. Usually the first few letters are enough to find the one you need:
Quick jump to the desired section, project or task in Things
To set a start date for a task, a reminder, or, conversely, clear these properties, you need to swipe across the task from left to right:
Changing the "When?" Parameters in Things
To change the properties of several tasks at once, you need to swipe from right to left one task at a time, mark the necessary ones and select an action:
Multi-task actions in Things
When I used other computer organizers, because of the inconvenience of use, I opened the mobile version only to see the list of tasks. Things have changed with the Things app: although the desktop version is always more convenient than the mobile one, I quite often open Things on my smartphone to create new tasks, adjust the schedule, move and edit.
Things automation
Things make things faster and easier not only through usability, but also through automation. There are two options, Siri integration and Things URLs.
Siri integration
At the beginning of this article, I described how to use Siri and the Reminders app to create a new task. But tasks can be created without the Reminders app. You can also watch lists with Siri. The Things list refers to areas, projects, and tags. For example, if I tell Siri "Show my list I am writing in Things", the application will automatically open the project "WRITE".
If I need more than just the tasks of this project, but with the tag "draft", I create a new quick team. I already wrote, ". With Things, it's easier and faster. In the Things app: Settings⟼ Siri and shortcuts⟼ Show list:
Create a quick command in Things for Siri that will show all tasks of the project "WRITE" with the tag "draft"
Now it is enough to press the desired command on the widget panel or speak it to Siri, and the application will do everything for you.
URL-addresses of Things
The Things url scheme allows you to create tasks, browse lists, and search for items using links.
Enabling URL Scheme in Things Settings
These links are the same for desktop and mobile versions. They can be inserted into other tasks, any text, and assigned hotkeys. I often get ideas on topics for articles for work and personal projects. In order not to forget the idea, you must immediately create a task. These tasks have one project, the same tag and reminder time. Only the name is different. In order not to fill the project, tags and time every time, I create a link by which Things opens the creation of a new task with already filled data. It remains only to drive in the name.
URL scheme is a separate topic. The automation capabilities through the link will pull you over several longreads. If you know a little about programming or algorithms, read the Documentation from Things on this topic. There is also a link builder that anyone can use:
The only drawback of Things is the price of the app: $ 50 for the desktop version, $ 20 for the iPad, and $ 10 for the iPhone. But there is also a plus. Things don't have any subscriptions or additional purchases. In my opinion, this is a fair price for such a powerful tool that saves time, effort and nerves.
Surprisingly, the AppStore (iOS application store) has practically no quality tools for taking full-fledged daily notes. In theory, there is, but in practice, alas. That is, the programs themselves are present, but it is inconvenient to work with them for various reasons. Either the graphics are annoying, then there is no functionality, then the stability is not happy. Of course, it is difficult to find the ideal in general, and not only in the AppStore, but something close to it sometimes comes across, it is close, and in a very rough approximation. But this “something” is still better than outright nonsense, therefore, for lack of a better one, we choose it.
I wrote such a long and confusing introduction solely in order to take and express one simple idea right now. There is no perfect (and even just good) diary for the iPad. I foresee a flood of angry objections, so I humbly add: "in my opinion." And now the phrase will sound like this: "In my opinion, there is no perfect (and even just good) diary for iOS." Here. Does not exist. I cannot find the reasons and explanations for such a mysterious phenomenon, so I just take it for granted, and I strongly recommend that you do it. Solely to make it easier to perceive this particular review of this particular application. Daily Notes.
The app only works on the iPad (in the sense that it does not work on the iPhone / iPod Touch), costs quite a lot in the AppStore, $ 4.99, and in my memory it has gone through only one major update, after which it was officially called Daily Notes + ToDo. What does this very "tudu" have to do with it, we will talk a little later, but for now, a little about the main functionality. So, the appearance of the application resembles a spread of an expensive leather diary, for which this appearance, in my opinion, should be given, if not "bad", then "oud" so surely. I don't understand the tendency to draw iPad interfaces in the spirit of real notebooks, diaries, etc.
It is like this: if the skin is real, you can touch it and, sorry, smell it. Then this is good and cool. And when it is drawn, even if it is the skin of a deep-sea midnight iguana, it is not at all impressive. And annoying. Show your imagination, gentlemen, developers, come up with something interesting and in the spirit of an electronic device, which is a tablet! It's a pity, but the creators of the Daily Notes did not show such imagination. As a result, we have a "leather" interface ", on the left side of the screen we have a calendar (you can go to any day to choose from), on the right - notes for notes. That's funny too.
Why are these leaves of such an idiotic color (there are generally several colors to choose from, but all as one are quite idiotic)? Do you like writing notes on soft green pages? And on soft pink? Or soft blue? Well, for the last two options, I can still imagine, so to speak, the target audience, but for the rest - not really. All this is strange, but we must move on. So, we settled on the recording pages. For each day, you can keep an unlimited number of records, each will be located on one page, and these pages can be scrolled back and forth using the arrows at the bottom of the screen. It is strange that the application does not implement the method of scrolling by means of a gesture or clicking on the lower right corner of the page, which is usual for other software products. Strange, but not critical.
With the pages sorted out, let's move on to the actual notes. To create a note, click on the corresponding area of \u200b\u200bthe page (labeled Title) and enter the name of the note. You can do without a name, in principle. To enter the text of the note, move to the main field of the page and write whatever your heart desires.
If just the text does not seem enough for you, you can add a photo or a picture from the tablet's photo gallery to the note, for this you need to poke into the icon with the picture of the picture with a string at the bottom of the screen. Pictures are not added to the body of the note, but in a separate field below, where they are displayed as preview icons.
Go ahead. In the application, you can create various notebooks, they are displayed on the screen as tabs. Clicked on the tab - went to the corresponding notebook. Simple and convenient. Adding tabs is carried out in the application settings, to enter them you need to click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Here you can choose one of the idiotic colors for the pages in each individual notebook, as well as the type and size of the font, well, and other distinctive features.
Here you can also set up synchronization with the Dropbox service, turn on / off the display of "Tasks" (here it is, the ToDo), password request mode and some other little things.
Now about Tasks or ToDo. When any day is displayed on the screen (it doesn't matter if there are notes for that day or not), you can click on the tab on the left labeled "Tasks" and add a task with a reminder. For any day and for any hour. Well, for example, you are looking through notes from a week ago, and suddenly you remembered that you did not do something so important there. We pull the tongue, create a task, indicate the deadline for its completion, as well as the date and time of reminding about it - oops, done. This iPad reminder will always come in handy. The only problem is that this function is not suitable for maintaining a full-fledged task list, and if you already use some advanced task manager, then now you will use two - one advanced, and the second in the Daily Notes application. Do not get confused.
About safety. The creators of the application have provided for the ability to password-protect the entrance to the program, but the very implementation of the login process brings a smile, and an unkind one. If you set the program to enter the program using a password, then when you start the application, a rather large digital block appears on the screen, poking into which you enter a four-digit password with your finger.
The trick here is that if someone at the moment of entering is standing not far from you, then it will not be a problem for him to see exactly which buttons you press. Do you know why? But because the location of the buttons on this digital block exactly matches that on the keyboards of ordinary mobile phones, with which we all more or less closely communicated in our life. It is enough to watch out of the corner of your eye to which places of the digital block the finger of the person entering the password moves - and all the secrecy is ruined. Proven by repeated experiments. I can advise the developers to make this number block a little smaller and paler, and also make the arrangement of the numbers on it change every time the application is launched.
Ufff .. What else would you tell this. Probably, there is nothing more, and enough for today in general. Oh, well, how! And I forgot about the conclusions! The conclusions are simple. For all its flaws, Daily Notes seems to be the one and only best diary for iPadsuitable for daily work. The rest are worse. So there is no alternative. Therefore, I recommend. What is there to do…
Things, one of the most expensive and popular tasks in the App Store, dropped its price to zero in celebration of Thanksgiving. This holiday is only celebrated in the US and Canada, however, the discount is available in all regions of the App Store and not taking advantage of it means missing out on a great chance to save $ 20.
Things is an organizer that differs from competitors in the first place in its ease of use. The application does not have dozens of unnecessary menus and sections that the user would have to change after adding each new task. At the same time, in terms of functionality, Things are not inferior to other organizers due to the perfectly designed interface.
The secret of Things' success lies not only in the talent of the developers, but also in the level of support. Updates for the application are traditionally released often, for several years now. The creators follow user reviews, trying to make the most popular requests come true as quickly as possible.
Despite all its advantages, Things often frightened users off with its price tag. Not everyone is ready to pay $ 20 for an organizer, albeit almost perfect. All the more valuable is today's discount - you can download Things for free, and given that there are no in-app purchases, nothing can cloud the use of the organizer in the future.
IPhone and iPad versions of Things will be available to download for free until November 28, after which the $ 20 app price will return to its place.
Your iPhone is your helper and savior in a variety of situations. Anyone who is in the “ecosystem” will understand. I dug up a unique application for iOS in the App Store - supplementing the OS with a gorgeous planning tool - LeaderTask organizer (or diary, whatever you want)!
What can LeaderTask do?
Among all similar organizer apps for iPhone in App Store there is no such product that would provide an unlimited number of possibilities for free. And LeaderTask is more than capable of this:
- Make huge to-do lists of work and personal tasks mixed together.
- Thanks to the labels and colors, you will not get confused either in the priority of tasks, or in their "belonging" to one of the spheres of life.
- Turn dreams into goals and then realize them with LeaderTask projects. It's so easy - to paint the way to achieve your dreams step by step!
- Use unique time management tools: Gantt chart , Kanban board , GTD Assistant etc.
- Work from anywhere and control your company right on the screen of your organizer on iPhone!
- Make lists of your employees, hand out assignments and control their execution.
- Keep all documents and files in one place - in one project, in one task.
- All data is stored in the cloud! Even more reliable than iCloud.
And this is just a small part of LeaderTask options. Take your iPhone in hand and download LeaderTask diary right now! You can always display on the chart what things are waiting for you on the selected day - making an appointment is even more convenient and easier than usual.
Are you forgetful? Fix it!
Thanks to the unique reminder system in LeaderTasuke you will never be able to forget about anything important - the application will send you a reminder about the upcoming business exactly as many minutes before the start as you set yourself. With the help of the service, you can achieve more in less time!
What is the basis of a successful person? Planning, of course. Let's talk about this aspect of time management now.
Planning in LeaderTask
With the help of the LeaderTask diary on your iPhone, you can always display all your affairs for the coming day. But also, you can plan the day, week, month and even years ahead!
Enter all tasks in “ Unsorted”And then distribute them to the appropriate dates. It is important to consider a few rules in planning:
- No more than 1 important thing a day!
- The duration of each task should not exceed 1 hour. If it does exceed, then break this task into subtasks.
Design and interface LeaderTask for 2018
Speaking of an app for Yabloko, it would be silly not to mention the design. And here is another praise to the developers - the software is made in the best traditions of Apple: minimalistic, beautiful and catchy.
The same can be said for the interface. With great opportunities LeaderTask, each action is performed literally in two taps - so convenient and simple that he himself has already transferred all the tasks from the built-in iOS calendar to LeaderTask.
Summing up, I would like to note: I have tried many organizers for the iPhone, but LeaderTask really sunk into my soul. Mostly because of the syncing and the appearance of my to-do list on my work computer, on my iPad and on my home Mac.
LeaderTask is implemented on such platforms from Cupertino as iOS, Mac OS X, WatchOS... In addition, you can download the program for other software. For example, for a flagship Windows or a great Android program. Or even work in a browser, because recently developers have presented a web version of the service!
Try this very worthy product too! The cost of a paid license is much lower than the market average, but you don't need to buy anything right away - there is an excellent free version for testing and 7-day full trial.
Agree, knowing what day it is is very convenient. It is even more convenient when you know what day is today, what events happened on that day and what holidays are celebrated today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It is good to know what time the sun rose and set, what is the phase of the moon and so on. It is, of course, possible to find all this information on the Internet, but difficult. To do this, you need to study search engines, climb on various sites and try to dig the necessary information from the pile of garbage. It is much more pleasant to poke your finger at the screen once and see all of the above at once right on your mobile device. The possibility of such a convenient and structured display of information is provided by a wonderful iPad application called "iWorkBook". Our today's review will be devoted to him.
iWorkBook is an electronic version of a loose-leaf calendar diary. None of the planned tasks will be forgotten. All information on today, tomorrow and the rest of the day is displayed on two pages of the electronic "book". Everything is simple and convenient.
To understand how this application works, let's launch it. A split second later, an app icon appears on a black background on your screen, and then an iBooks-style window opens with a date and mini-calendar on the left and hourly breakdowns on the right. The window is divided into two parts. The left one provides all the necessary information for a specific day, and the right, as already mentioned, provides an hourly breakdown of cases. In the calendar, the past days are crossed out with a blue "pen", the current day is underlined by two lines, and weekends and holidays are highlighted in red. In addition to the calendar, on the left page you can find a tablet with the phases of the moon, as well as the times of sunrise and sunset. So, today, for example, the sunrise was at 8:53, sunset at 18:35, and the length of the day was 9 hours, 42 minutes. The moon, as is clear from the information in the appendix, is in a state of growth, and the phase has passed only 43%.
Below the moon phases and sunrise / sunset times is the description of the current day. For example, today is the Internationalist Warriors Day, and tomorrow will be just an ordinary day. All information on the day is accompanied by a beautiful picture, interesting quotes, as well as the birthdays of famous people. Actually, to view all this, you need to swipe up or down at the location of the picture, which will change the type of information displayed.
As for the right page, it displays the hourly sorting of cases. That is, on the left is a column with the time, for example, 08.00, and to the right is a column with the tasks themselves. To create a case, you need to click on the "aA" button on top or on the pen in the same place. The first button will allow you to create a print entry from the device's on-screen keyboard. The second allows you to write text with your finger, which will be very convenient if you want to create a picture or draw a certain character that is not available for keyboard input.
When you create a case by typing its name from the keyboard, the screen dims and a blue box appears, allowing you to enter text, prioritize an event by clicking on an exclamation mark, leave a check mark, create an audio reminder, or switch to handwriting mode. To complete, it remains to click the "Finish" button in the upper right corner of the window.
In ink mode, you can draw on top of all hour breakdowns and even "climb" into the fields where the time of the event is written. There are five pen colors to choose from - blue, green, red, black and yellow. Thus, you can separate different types of notes, extract what is needed from text (even printed), or simply create a fun drawing on lined paper.
You can easily view your completed to-do list by simply turning the device upright. A window with green lines with cases will open in front of you. Everything is very simple and convenient. When you rotate the tablet back to landscape orientation, you will again find yourself in a two-page loose-leaf calendar calendar. By the way, the pages themselves can be flipped in the same way as in iBooks and other similar applications - by swiping from right to left or, conversely, from left to right.
Synchronization with the regular calendar and contacts in iOS should also be noted as a useful function.