5 Amazing Mac Apps for Getting Things Done (Plus a Custom-Rigged Setup)
The ideal for anyone interested in Getting Things Done (more on GTD, and more)– or just being productive and organized, for that matter — is to be able to quickly add things to your to-do lists without interrupting your work; to be able to see what you need to do right now, without worrying about everything else; to be able to organize stuff without too much work.
And of course, GTD fans like tools that are just cool.
Since switching back to the Mac OS a couple months ago, I’ve been playing around with GTD apps for the Mac. I’m looking for something very simple, something nice to use, something that I don’t have to play around with a lot, something where I can add stuff instantly. And what did I find? The are some amazing GTD apps for the Mac. Seriously.
When I used a PC, the only real desktop GTD app I saw was for Outlook, which I do not like at all. So I used online apps (recommendations at the bottom). But the Mac GTD apps are just great! It’s super hard to choose — you basically have to play with all of them and figure out what works for you.
What did I end up with? I like iGTD a lot, but I’ve settled (for now) on a custom setup that is the height of simplicity. More about that in a few. For now, let’s look at some great Mac GTD apps — remembering that you don’t need to actually do GTD to use them.
1. iGTD. While all the apps below are great, this is my personal favorite. It’s simple, and you can add tasks and other items very quickly through Quicksilver (my all-time favorite app) or other methods. It’s easy to organize stuff, and you can just look at what you need to look at. Plus, the interface is really nice. It works pretty much exactly how you’d want a GTD app to work, and the clincher is that there’s some cool integration with Mail.app so that you can email tasks to iGTD from anywhere. This may be the most popular GTD app for the Mac (though I’m not sure, so don’t quote me). The current version (1.4.5.6) is donationware, and there’s a free alpha version of iGTD2 (which I think might require payment once it’s officially released).
2. Kinkless GTD. If iGTD is the most popular GTD app for the Mac, then for a long time that crown was held by Kinkless. It’s an ingenious workaround for OmniOutliner, a popular outlining program for the Mac. Using a well-written script, Kinkless automatically sorts and updates stuff. This simplicity and automation makes for a lot of power, once you get used to the system. Takes a little bit of learning, but it’s a great system. The Kinkless script is free, but you have to own OmniOutliner to use it.
3. OmniFocus. If you liked Kinkless, you’ll love OmniFocus. The creator of Kinkless was hired by the OmniOutliner folks (The Omni Group) to create a true todo list and product-management app, a la Kinkless. It looks and works great, but the drawback is the high price: $79.95. It’s a must-buy for Kinkless fans, probably, but for the rest of us there is free or cheaper software out there (like the other things on this list) that work great.
4. Things. Things caused a bit of a splash in the Mac GTD community when it came out a few months ago, mostly because it looks so cool. A preview version has been out that works pretty nicely, although it was a bit limited when I tried it a little while ago. The full version (for $49) is scheduled to come out sometime this Spring, and it’s something to look out for. It’s not a strictly GTD program, so it can be used for a variety of setups. Really slick.
5. Midnight Inbox. While there’s a version 2 coming out soon, version 1 is already pretty great. It has an interface that’s just as slick as Things, works great, and is perhaps the easiest to understand of all the apps on this list, right out of the box. You don’t need to learn GTD or try to figure out the interface — it’s readily apparent. Definitely worth a look. Has a free 14-day trial, then costs $35 for a single license — which will get you free upgrades to versions 2.o and 3.0 and everything in between.
My Custom Setup
While I love the apps mentioned above, I personally look for super simple. So I’ve settled on a setup taken from Gina and Adam’s articles on Lifehacker (read the tutorials: Geek to Live and Hack Attack).
Text files: Basically, I organize my tasks in a series of text files. That’s because they’re super simple, easy to manipulate, and small. My four files:
- @today: my three MITs for today, along with calls, batch tasks, and an inbox for new things added to the list.
- @ideas: any ideas for projects, posts, or anything really.
- @errands: includes regular errands and my shopping list.
- @todo: my list of 3 projects I’m working on and any other todo items I’m not going to do today.
Quicksilver append: I use the glorious program Quicksilver to quickly add things to any of my lists with the “append text” command. So let’s say I think of a task or errand or idea to add to my list. I call up Quicksilver (Cmd-Space), type the text of the idea or task (hit period first), tab to the next pane and start typing “append to” (it pops up as soon as I type the letter “a”), tab to the next pane and start typing the list I want to add it to (@today, for example). Basically takes just a few keystrokes, and then Quicksilver disappears and I continue whatever I was doing. It’s simple and super fast.
Geektool to display: For myself, I forget to use whatever to-do list program I’m using unless I see it all the time. So I wanted a way to see my lists easily without having to open a program all the time, or go to a website just to see what I need to do or add something. So I use Geektool to display my files on my desktop — always available, and I never forget them. It updates every 10 seconds. See the Geek to Live tutorial mentioned above for more.
How I work: In case you’re curious, my basic workflow: I set up my MITs every morning in my @today list. I add smaller tasks and stuff to this list as the day goes on, but the only things I really care about completing are the MITs. If I have an idea or errand or other todo item, I’ll quickly add it to the appropriate list. I’ll take my errand or shopping list with me if I go out. If I need to write a post, I’ll check my @ideas list. Anytime I want to check my lists, I just minimize whatever program I’m using (usually either Firefox or a text program) and look at my desktop.
Recommendations for non-Mac users
If you don’t use a Mac, I recommend an online GTD or todo program. There are many good ones. Some of the best, that I’ve actually tried: Vitalist, Nozbe, Backpack, Tadalists, Tracks, SimpleGTD, Mojonote, Tasktoy, Todoist, Remember the Milk, GTD Gmail.
Further Reading
- For more on Getting Things Done, see David Allen’s excellent book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
- For an alternate method of productivity, organization and simplicity, try my ebook, Zen To Done.
- Also see the Zen Habits GTD FAQ and the Massive GTD Resource List.
If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or on Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)
- Posted on 5 March 2008 in GTD, Productivity & Organization, Technology |
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Comments (101)
Mike OD - IF Life Says:
March 5th, 2008, 22:31 pm
This is just a tease for us Windows people! lol. My next laptop will probably be a Mac, although I am fond of all the open source linux apps out there for windows. Does Mac also have the ability to run linux?
Leo Says:
March 5th, 2008, 22:38 pm
@Mike OD: Sure, the Mac can run Linux, but I haven’t tried it myself. That’s on my to-do list! :)
I know what you mean by tease — one of the reasons I switched to Mac (among others) is that I really wanted to use Quicksilver and iGTD after reading about them so much! Quicksilver itself is almost worth the price of my Mac, imo.
Esra Says:
March 5th, 2008, 22:44 pm
Yay for nice and useful applications for us Mac users!
Thanks Leo.
Brett Legree Says:
March 5th, 2008, 22:52 pm
Leo, thanks for that list, and especially the tip on Geektool - that is one, er, geeky tool that looks very useful.
Irmagination Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:00 pm
Loved it! And I love my Mac! Can’t wait to try Quicksilver and iGTD.
Love your super simple task list. I’ve got to work on simplifying mine. I think I’ll start now…. Thanks!
Thomas Herold Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:03 pm
I just have to add the ‘Dream Manifestation Wizard’ to your list. Just in case someone has a need to fulfill their life dreams. Of course you can use it also for any other goals in life…
Cheers
Thomas Herold
Kyle Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:08 pm
Since you’re into simple lists have you checked out TaskPaper?
It’s not for me, but it might be for you with some added functionality.
Kyle Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:09 pm
Oh, and I forgot to add that my favorite is Things. Hands down. I’ve tried every other one and Things is the only one to stick. I think because it’s not as rigid as the other programs.
Corey - Simple Marriage Project Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:16 pm
Thanks for the info. I just switched to a Mac for the first time a week ago. I guess I now have to check out these apps as well.
Clay Collins | The Growing Life Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:27 pm
Some of these look interesting, but often I find that the solution is less technology, not more of it. It really differs a lot from person to person, and many of these applications would be a good starting point for someone with little GTD technology. For an entertaining look at GTD vis-a-vis The Four Hour Work Week, check this:
Durb Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:28 pm
I want to echo Leo’s preference for simple and plain. I’ve been using Stickies (Mac OS X standard) and have four small strips ALWAYS floating in front of all windows. They are: Today, This Week, This Month, This Year, Someday. Everyday I simply drag tasks from This Week to Today. Every week I drag This Month to This Week. The point is to keep it simple, avoid the temptation to fuss with it, and have the very small stickies title (not the full windows) always visible. Works great.
Nuruddeen Lewis Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:28 pm
Great post Leo! I began trying out some of those applications and found that I spent way too much time making a list. So, a while back, I made a few txt files and began maintaining my lists that way. These are my files: inbox, MITs, projects, next actions, someday/maybe, and waiting for. I don’t really use the someday or the waiting for lists. I usually just dump all that stuff into the next actions file.
The challenge I’m facing is to actually use the list on a regular basis. Using the Geektool display may actually do the trick, but I don’t want to lose my desktop picture.
David Chunn Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:30 pm
I use Simple List. Works great for me. I keep one for my three projects for the day. Another for bills to be paid each month. And a third for goals and long-term projects.
Nuruddeen Lewis Says:
March 5th, 2008, 23:34 pm
I wanted to add this: I’m using xPad to manage my lists. I like it because it has a drawer next to the text file showing all of your other text files so you can easily select and edit them. You can get it at getxpad.com.
Adam Fortuna Says:
March 6th, 2008, 0:01 am
Funny timing! I’m reading GTD now and research led me to a few of these. So far Things is at the top of my list, although since it’s missing a few features that aren’t in the current alpha release, that might be a dealbreaker for some people. But with syncing and iphone integration on the roadmap that might make people give it a bit more of a look.
Tom Arnold Says:
March 6th, 2008, 0:36 am
Excellent post. I would like to add Toodledo, if for no other reason than its iPhone support. It’s wonderful to be able to add a task while out and about, and have that task be on my desktop when I get back. The work flow design is very conducive to those trying to implement GTD.
Leo Says:
March 6th, 2008, 0:40 am
@Nuruddeen: Just to clarify, with Geektool, your text goes on top of your desktop picture … you can still see the desktop picture. The screenshot I have in the post just shows one black corner, but the black comes from my desktop picture, not from Geektool.
Evan Says:
March 6th, 2008, 1:13 am
Thanks for this list! I’ve been looking for applications like these for my iMac.
Miss Gisele from myBeautyMatch.com Says:
March 6th, 2008, 1:17 am
Leo,
You’ll have to create a list of us who don’t have a MAC, but have a PC!
Gisele
Leo Says:
March 6th, 2008, 1:45 am
@Miss Gisele … the list of online apps at the bottom are for non-Mac owners. :)
Larry Says:
March 6th, 2008, 2:05 am
I tried Geektool to show my todo list also in my work mac, but I never did get it to refresh after I updated the lists (and I’m sure that it’s simple todo). I never did put it back on there after I upgraded it to Leopard.
Joel Says:
March 6th, 2008, 2:11 am
Amazingly, I’ve tried all those 5 but ended up not getting things done — not because the apps are not that good but because I ended up exploring their respective features.
What works for me though, is Actiontastic. What won me over was Actiontastic’s simplicity leading me to actually get things done.
Teresa Says:
March 6th, 2008, 3:23 am
I started using OmniFocus last May, while it was still in alpha and honestly I can’t remember how I lived my life without it. I used to keep simple lists in OmniOutliner, but I spent a ton of time scanning lists. The part of OF that I love, is that I can view a context grouped by when things are due. This keeps me from scanning lists over and over again. I just focus on the next most important thing.
I realize some of these other tools may support the same process. But for some reason OmniFocus hits the spot for me. To each their own. I think the key is to find something that works that you’ll stick to.
Get it out of your head and get on with life.
Simon Townley Says:
March 6th, 2008, 4:54 am
I’m using the Things beta, but my set-up looks nothing like yours. You’ve added stuff to the sidebar and customised it ways that look great. But how? I can’t seem to add the high level areas you have to the sidebar, such as ‘Review’ and ‘Archive’. Perhaps I’m just being a klutz. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Dan Says:
March 6th, 2008, 5:33 am
Hmm for those of us operating in a Mac dominated (but cross platform environment) I have to say that I really like ‘Thinking Rock’.
http://www.thinkingrock.com.au/
Dead easy to keep my lists synchronised across multiple platforms (for it is a Java application with an XML file containing all the records), there’s even a plugin for transferring (and synchronising to) PocketPC machines.
There is always of course the GTD wiki approach:
http://shared.snapgrid.com/index.html
which you can stick on a thumb drive and lug around with you so that you can update your tasks on any machine.
Evan Meagher Says:
March 6th, 2008, 5:53 am
Anyone using Linux should definitely check out Gnome-Do. It’s basically Quicksilver for Linux.
Gafroninja Says:
March 6th, 2008, 7:40 am
ive used all of these, but when it comes down to it. macs own mail client does it for me.
Crystal from www.jewelfaerie.com Says:
March 6th, 2008, 7:45 am
I love gadgets and tools but I confess, after trying many, I still love my paper to-do list…there’s just something so gratifying about crossing it off the list when I’m done! :-)
Peter Says:
March 6th, 2008, 7:46 am
Being a writer yourself, I’m very surprised that you forgot the very Zen, Writeroom… “the ultimate spartan writing utopia.” — Virginia Heffernan, New York Times”
http://hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom
DScotch Says:
March 6th, 2008, 7:55 am
I’ve tried many of the above, and always go back to ThinkingRock. I guess it just works the way I do.
Check it out!
Grizzly Adam Says:
March 6th, 2008, 7:55 am
I use Stickies too.
I love my 24″ iMac!
Anita Lewis Says:
March 6th, 2008, 7:59 am
I love the idea of the text file on the desktop. I use Windows at work, but I just found something called Samurize that might work. Here is a HowTo on setting it up: http://lifehacker.com/software/plain-text/geek-to-live–incorporate-text-files-onto-your-desktop-213280.php
Balfour Says:
March 6th, 2008, 8:48 am
I have my beloved Mac at home, but odious Windows at work. Plus, I synch to my trusty old Palm m515. I’ve been using the To Do lists in Palm in combination with a daily paper list and a work-only list in Google docs. I don’t really like the Palm To Do lists because it’s not very flexible for customizing your own priorities (at least I haven’t spent time figuring out if there’s any more I can do) and I think that’s why I have the other lists. So, in short, I don’t want a system that’s tied only to one computer or to something online - I want it in my Palm (go ahead, try talking me out of it!. I don’t have an iphone (yet), but the last I heard, it lacked its own To Do system. Which GTD systems can meet these preferences?
Nico Deblauwe Says:
March 6th, 2008, 8:57 am
It costs a little bit of money (10 bucks), but for me the manual by David Allen where he explains how to tweak Outlook to use your task list in a GTD way, was all I needed. No more procrastination in (un)installing new tools. And I keep (without problems) my work pc and private laptop synchronized by synchronizing to both of them with my Windows Mobile phone. I know, maybe not as fancy as Apple or online tools, but for sure effective. And that is what its all about, no?
Ah, the manual: check http://www.davidco.com/store/catalog/GTD-and-Outlook-NEW-Contains-a-supplement-for-Outlook-2007-p-16173.php
Mary Says:
March 6th, 2008, 9:10 am
This is a great post. Off topic, I love my mac - would love a post about how to keep it safe for kids. Most of the programs out there are for the PC. Would love your ideas. Thanks.
Martin Says:
March 6th, 2008, 9:38 am
May I add another useful application which has the advantage to be cross-platform (Mac, Windows, and Palm). It’s Life Balance from Llamagraphics:
This application could help you to stay focused on what really matters. Sound ZTD to me!
One suggestion to complement this great article could be to examine notebook applications for reference material. Stuff like VoodooPad, Mori, Journler, DEVONthink, Circus Ponies Notebook, NoteTaker, etc. The choice is so vast that I find it difficult to choose one from a ZTD perspective…
Louise Says:
March 6th, 2008, 10:08 am
Getting things done seems to be the hot topic of the times! Here’s another application that may interest you guys – an online password manager based on host-proof hosting that you can securely access from anywhere. I work for PassPack and some of the cool features we offer are:
• 1 Click Login (making logging into sites as easy as 1 Click)
• disposable logins (so your security is not compromised when out and about)
• strong password generators (so you don’t have to do it yourself!)
Choose and use a password manager:
PS It is compatible with all operating systems!
Louise Vinciguerra
Craig Says:
March 6th, 2008, 10:18 am
Is there a “mark as spam” option for comments? Very annoying.
graeme Says:
March 6th, 2008, 10:20 am
@ Evan Meagher - thanks for the tip! i was just looking for something like that, gnome-do is awesome!
@ Leo - great post as always! finally bought ZTD the other day, great work!
dokidok Says:
March 6th, 2008, 11:01 am
I tried this one:
http://lifehacker.com/358564/make-and-take-your-sticky-notes-with-hott-notes
Ryan Says:
March 6th, 2008, 11:13 am
Leo,
I have been using samurize on both my setups at work and home for quite a while now but do you know of any program for windows that allows you to make quick appendages like quick silver. 6 months of opening every text file has definitely become tedious. =)
On a side note, thank you for creating ZTD. I am a mortgage consultant and corporate trainer for a large finance company in NY. Most of my loan officers and underwriters have some sort of implementation of ZTD in place. I ordered your ebook when it first came out and gave it to my VP and all of a sudden, everyone started ordering the book! Thank You!
Khürt Says:
March 6th, 2008, 12:40 pm
I used both iGTD and Things. I decided on iGTD because it syncs to iCal and integrates with AddressBook. I can also sync back to my Motorola KRZR.
korinthe Says:
March 6th, 2008, 13:27 pm
I started using ThinkingRock a year ago or more, and haven’t needed to look for anything else. It runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux (and more — it’s a Java app) and the 2.0 version added some terrific features, like recurring actions. I can’t speak for the calendar synchronization as I don’t use that feature, but everything else is terrific.
The final 2.0 version is “coming soon”. I have been using the Epsilon prerelease for months with no problems.
Patrick Useldinger Says:
March 6th, 2008, 13:49 pm
The problem with iGTD is that the author has dropped all support on version 1 - it is NOT completely Leopard-compatible, despite lots of complaints. I wouldn’t trust this application, although you’re right - it would be the best application if it worked as advertised.
Since I don’t use “pure” GTD but more of a blend of GTD with Covey, I do need priorities. iGTD has them, but see above. The only application that comes close to ideal for me is Remember The Milk.
Joe Kunin Says:
March 6th, 2008, 17:13 pm
Leo:
Have you ever considered using Remember the Milk, with quicksilver and jott integration? I used to be a big user of iGTD but have since switched. The reason for this is:
1) Remember the milk (RTM) is available online, anytime, so I may access my to-do lists from anywhere.
2) Jott integration : this is the biggest selling point for me. Anytime I’m on the go, and need to jott something down (and I dont have my moleskine or a pen perhaps) I simply call Jott which I have set to speedial on my phone, say the name of the “contact” (that is, tasklist in RTM [inbox,@work,@home, etc]) and speak my message, which then gets transcribed into word, and added to my RTM lists.
3) quicksilver integration: I can add tasks from my mac, non-intrusively, anytime I need and want, by simply using a few keystrokes.
4) Google integration: there is a widget for iGoogle, and plugin for Gmail, so I can see my entire to-list, beautifully formated, whenever I see my homepage (iGoogle) and check Gmail.
Its an excellent system, take a gander if you havn’t yet!
-Joe
oakling Says:
March 6th, 2008, 17:37 pm
I’d love to know how the apps compare to the online stuff, since Mac users can use the online options as well. I can’t tell from your quick reviews what makes any of these apps different from each other - in terms of functionality, I mean. I can tell which ones you think are slicker or more popular, but that doesn’t help someone who’s never used a GTD app before.
Leo Says:
March 6th, 2008, 19:10 pm
@Ryan: For PC users, there is a way to append text to your text files without opening them … of course, the great Lifehacker came to the rescue:
http://lifehacker.com/software/keyboard-shortcuts/windows-append-to-text-file-finally-112643.php
@oakling: It’s really a matter of personal preference and usage needs. For example, if you work online all the time, and need to access stuff from different computers, an online solution might be better. But the quickness of the desktop apps, and their nice interfaces, and their customization options, might be more powerful for other users.
Which of the desktop apps is better (other than nicer interfaces)? You might be able to tell from some of the comments above that everyone has their own preferences. I really don’t want to do a feature-by-feature comparison, so I was hoping that you guys would give the ones that sound good to you a try, and see which you like best. I’m not going to make a recommendation, other than to say I personally liked iGTD the best — for my workflow, not anyone else’s. :)
@Joe Kunin: I’ve tried different combinations of RTM and Jott and Quicksilver, but not with the setup you seem to have. Very interesting! I think I’ll stick to my text files for now, but I think you’ve got a nice setup. Personally, I don’t tend to use Jott as much as I thought I would, after giving it a try, so I will stick to my quaint and antiquated methods until they wear thin. :)
@Patrick: You’re right … the author has dropped support. That hasn’t been an issue for me, and I haven’t had Leopard-compatibility issues myself, but I just use it for basic things. However, I’ve found my text files to work a little better.
blogrdoc Says:
March 6th, 2008, 20:16 pm
Though I’m an engineer and linux user, I *love* going low tech when I can. My GTD system: A single sheet of paper. One side I put 7day printout of my Calendar from outlook, on the otherside, I divide it up into 8 boxes for my different contexts (@computer, @home, @grocerylist, @phone, etc..)
Doesn’t go stale, no bootup time, foldable, portable, easy to input.
_phred Says:
March 6th, 2008, 20:40 pm
Glad I’m not the only lo-fi textfile user. :-)
I’ve tried using GeekTool, and found that I lost the sense of “clean Desktop, clean mind” when I closed all my applications. Now, instead, I bind a Quicksilver hotkey (command+option+home) to pop up my “TODAY” textfile which holds all of my running lists.
TextMate is the bomb for text files.
Stijepna Blazevic Cabach Says:
March 6th, 2008, 23:45 pm
If you could find the same thing in windows i think a lot of us will apresiet very much that.
thanks
Adam Fortuna Says:
March 7th, 2008, 0:15 am
I so so so wish someone would create an Adobe Air GTD app with a centralized server. It’d being even one better if they made that centralized server public so people could host their own gtd server. Web site could even be made to pull from the site, and with Air it’d be possible to do offline mode with syncing.
Ah well, maybe someday.
Jeff - Science Says Says:
March 7th, 2008, 1:12 am
I still can’t get the hang of Quicksilver, but I constantly find myself with the problem of trying to start these new things, then feeling like I have too much work to do to spend the time on it!
That said, your custom set-up looks awesome, I’ll have to give it a shot.
Glad we’ve got you to clue us in to the Mac tricks.
Techitorial Says:
March 7th, 2008, 1:20 am
I’ll have a go at Omni Focus - I too was not able to get hooked long-term on QuickSilver - and after Leopard was released I dropped it all together as Spotlight works great as App launcher and that was mainly what I ended up using QuickSilver for.
Thanks for a good article.
Derek Martin Says:
March 7th, 2008, 2:08 am
I’ll second that TaskPaper nomination.
It’s basically just an excellent interface for text files.
Highly recommended!
BuzzCritic Says:
March 7th, 2008, 2:09 am
Good list, I use quicksilver for a lot these days. I find it can be true that some of these ‘time saving’ apps actually take more of your time than they save.
Yoshi Nomura Says:
March 7th, 2008, 2:26 am
These time saving apps are just wanking tools.
StephenP Says:
March 7th, 2008, 2:37 am
For those of you looking for QuickSilver’s “Append to..”, here’s an article on how to “enable” it:
http://www.43folders.com/2005/11/21/qs-redux
I couldn’t seem to find the “append to” option, but in a nutshell:
1) Quicksilver prefs
2) Advanced Mode
3) Enable “Text manipulation” plugin
Thanks for the great article!
Nicholas D. Heer Says:
March 7th, 2008, 2:54 am
I personally use Anxiety (http://www.anxietyapp.com/), because it’s super lightweight and has just the right amount of features for what I need. It’s just about perfect. Even better: it’s free.
Ian Says:
March 7th, 2008, 3:10 am
Another little organizational tool that I find super amazing is called Hazel from Noodlesoft (www.noodlesoft.com) I highly recommend you try it out… basically, it’s a pref pane that let’s you create really simple to complex workflows sort of like Automator but way easier to use. You set it to monitor certain folders on your hd and do something to the files within whenever the trigger is activated (a new file is created or modified for example). I have it monitor my Completed Downloads folders and have it organize whatever is plopped in them for me. It will put all pictures, videos, text or word or pdf documents, etc into their respective folders, looking out for specific keywords as well (so when the most recent episode of Lost is downloaded it’ll put it in Movies/TV Shows/Lost for me automatically). I also use it to monitor my whole hard drive for whenever I create a file with certain “tags” on it… If I’m writing an essay and append -rf to the file name, it’ll put it in a homework rough draft folder, and give it a red color label which automatically is taken away after a weeks time. You can even attach applescripts to the triggered event which really makes the possibilities limitless. I love this tool and totally encourage everyone to try it out and post their workflows in the Noodlesoft forums! (and no, I’m in no way associated with noodlesoft =P) (P.s. there’s a 30 day trial but if u wanna buy it I think it’s like 20 bucks)
Peter Says:
March 7th, 2008, 3:56 am
One word…. “Scrybe”.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr1YE_xS_n8
Especially the “PaperSync” feature is really amazing
Michael Says:
March 7th, 2008, 4:22 am
Basically, I organize my tasks in a series of text files.
I was text-o-phile for some time but became to cumbersome and difficult to organize for things outside your four files.
Then I found this incredible app called iOrganize ($20) and never went back to text.
It’s setup similar to iGTD but works more like a text editor. You can add graphics, email yourself notes, and search all notes.
I tell ya, I love this thing and couldn’t live without it.
gafroninja Says:
March 7th, 2008, 5:12 am
to Crystal
You’re absolutely right. I’m a web developer and my lists are always huge. Seeing my to-dos on paper really hits it home for me. I know I need to get these done. And marking them off is satisfaction in itself.
There is a browser app called scrybe, it has all sorts. It even has some sort of spread sheet that has a calendar, lists etc you can print off. It even has fold marks to allow you to fold it down into pocket size and turns it into a small booklet. i don’t really use it but it seems like a great app.
ravaza Says:
March 7th, 2008, 5:13 am
You forgot to mention LAZYTODO, which can do the same but online.
(I will not say how good it is since I made it)
BlogManiac Says:
March 7th, 2008, 7:31 am
Most of the times, it happens that you are so engrossed with the pretty displays that you forgot why you came to look at this - While all these apps are good and oh so pretty, I also settled for a simple approach using the $10 utility - GideonSoftworks’ Jotter. (http://www.gideonsoftworks.com). It is a nonintrusive menu bar utility that allows you to jot multiple notes and it autosaves etc. Really useful to scribble anything and then organize them into multiple notes. Until Things come out, I think I would use it extensively.
JohnFromChicago Says:
March 7th, 2008, 7:50 am
I was looking for an app like this several years ago. I stopped looking when I realized how efficient a notebook is. I start my day with a list of To Do’s. I cross them off as I finish them. I love my Mac, and I and a technology fan, but sometimes nothing beats a pencil and paper.
Balfour Says:
March 7th, 2008, 8:26 am
I’m going to be lazy and not look this up, but what do people mean when they say they organize tasks in text files? I have no idea what that means.
SanzoGhenzo Says:
March 7th, 2008, 8:49 am
Great setup Leo!
The simplest things are always the best.
I also got a Mac and I love it.
I heard about quicksilver thanks to your article some months ago: a wonderful app, thank you so much to letting me know about it!
I have to learn more about QS because I mainly use it to launch applications and open my bookmarks, but with this article you open me to a bunch of other potential use… gotta check some quicksilver tutorial!
Did you know of a way to use quicksilver to control google notebooks? I use it as my minimal ZTD system, so I can control it even when I far from my mac…
Best regards!
Dennis Says:
March 7th, 2008, 12:30 pm
When I am at home I use Things but in my work I have to use my thinkpad and for windows I haved found a nice application called Tudumo : http://www.tudumo.com.
Evan Says:
March 7th, 2008, 13:25 pm
Can someone explain to me what advantages these programs have over a pad of paper and a pencil?
Just seems like a lot of effort for something that is less versatile and useful than the good old pencil
Chris Auma Says:
March 7th, 2008, 15:02 pm
I used Omni for a little while when it first came out but it just didn’t jive with my way of doing things. Plus it was not web-based
so I could access it from multiple computers or off-site or via my iphone. I finally settled on http://www.toodledo.com/
This is impressively packed with EVERYTHING you need to manage your to do list and as
an added bonus, it’s free.
kL Says:
March 7th, 2008, 16:21 pm
Inbox has some kick-ass features:
* reminder every few minutes “are you shaving a yak?” to keep you focused on task (I need it!)
* review of tasks. You decide whether you do it now or file for later, and it has slick workflow in the program
However despite nice features, I found Inbox to be slow, buggy and I couldn’t figure out how to make fonts more readable.
Now I use OmniFocus and it’s very good. Solid, stable, fast. It’s easy to move tasks around and efortlessly supports nesting of tasks (I’m a recursively-thinking person ;)
Dave Nofmeister Says:
March 7th, 2008, 16:56 pm
As a new Mac user, I very much appreciate the info. Thanks!
Peter Ewan Says:
March 7th, 2008, 17:20 pm
Great post. I’m just getting into organising my life. Are any of these optimised for use with the iPhone as that’s where I will be adding a lot of my tasks?
guthrie Says:
March 7th, 2008, 18:39 pm
I love some of these apps, but I either use the notebook metaphor of Circus Ponies Notebook, or the truly wonderful Remember The Milk, which integrates with every platform, works on and offline in Firefox, integrates with Google and even has me using my Dashboard. It also sends txt message reminders! Wonderful system.
Steve R. Says:
March 7th, 2008, 21:00 pm
Another vote for Thinking Rock. I keep playing with the various Mac GTD apps, because they look so beautiful and they integrate so well with the Mac environment, but the Thinking Rock model of how to identify “what to do” just works a lot better for me; specifically, the fact that I have lots of “thoughts” which are random and scatter-brained and not a “to-do” and I need to spend time contemplating the thought to make it an actionable item. All the Mac apps seem to believe that I generate to-dos, when really what I do is have stupid thoughts which need to be turned into to-dos.
My current process is to use Quicksilver to capture thoughts as I have them, and append those to a text file. Later, I import the text file of thoughts into Thinking Rock and turn them into projects, to-dos, etc.
I really wish Thinking Rock were as pretty or as well-integrated into the Mac environment as any of these, but it works much better for me.
Lynn O'Connor Says:
March 7th, 2008, 23:42 pm
Great post. Except it sent me back looking at all the great programs I stopped looking at a year ago when I realized I was doing nothing but fooling around with the latest and greatest and getting nothing at all done. Now I want to try them all again..the worse of my productivity porn habits. Maybe it was a year and a half ago that I declared abstinence and settled with Vitalist, open all the time on my desktop/browser, for input whenever. I print it out twice a day, lists organized by context, first context (@@@MIT) with three or max four things, followed by @@@Urgent incase I run out of the MITs, followed by @@@Calls in case I feel like using the phone. Problem, I spend the whole day responding to students on email, or reading my academic listservs which keep me up to date in the areas I need to keep up to date on… and I still end up mainly absorbing the incoming information with little time to note sources of data, so when I’m lecturing I spout off “Such and such a study showed X, Y, and Z” and I can’t find the source of the data. I am in information overload, I know everyone else is in the same place. I bought ZGT as soon as you put it out, guess I should stop in my tracks to night and read it (should that go into Vitalist in @@@MIT, top of the list printed out tonight?
I need a new idea for how to manage my life. I don’t think its going to be a new list manager, but I sure enjoyed this post, and all the comments that followed. thanks to Leo and thanks to all the commentators. Now I should look at my Vitalist print out.
physio Says:
March 8th, 2008, 0:09 am
http://toodledo.com here to. …though I do wish it was a little prettier.
I used to be an iGTD user but need access to my lists from more than must my MBP.
samu Says:
March 9th, 2008, 7:44 am
Frustrated Windows users like Mike OD can mimic Leo’s method using Slickrun in place of Quicksilver and Samurize instead of Geek Tool.
Arcadio Rubio García Says:
March 10th, 2008, 15:20 pm
Hi Leo,
I’ve been an avid reader of your blog since last year, but never posted anything so far.
There’s a GTD app for Macs which is great but rarely mentioned: Actiontastic. (http://kaboomerang.com/blog/category/actiontastic/)
I think its worth a try. I used other apps for a while, but never felt comfortable due to their complexity.
I like it because its very simple and it has a workflow that matches GTD. Plus its free both as in free beer and as in freedom.
Mark Says:
March 10th, 2008, 18:52 pm
I really like the GeekTool/QS system for managing MITs. However, I’m having trouble with GeekTool not updating my text file consistently. I can’t determine why - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Is there a certain place the file should be located on the hard drive? GeekTool doesn’t have a refresh preference for files, either, so I’m not sure how I can tell it to keep checking the file. I’m running Leopard, and I’m trying to append plain text files (with .txt extensions) on my desktop. Anyone know what I’m doing wrong?
John B. Kendrick Says:
March 10th, 2008, 19:44 pm
I’ve written about my favorite GTD app after just recently discovering the system. I know, where have I been for the last five years? Well, I’ve been an entrenched Covey fanatic, but now I’m a switcher. You can read about my experience at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com
Rub Says:
March 10th, 2008, 21:57 pm
Although I use Mac at home and on the road most time I spend at the office in an absolute windows environment. For my GTD I therefore use windows application called MyLifeOrganized. http://www.mylifeorganized.net
It also has a PocketPC add in. Unfortunately no iPhone one yet. Guys who created it are very responsive to comments and new features are regularly introduced. So I would recommend it to all Windows users.
Chris Payne from lifetools.com Says:
March 11th, 2008, 4:13 am
Great article. I use OmniFocus which I found a bit confusing at first, then I discovered the Due filter, and then up came a beautifully formatted list showing what’s due for completion today, tomorrow and so on.
The magic of software like this, as opposed to a series of simple text files, is the ‘now you’ve done that, this is what’s next to do’.
In other words, with OmniFocus, I can set up a project, and list several next actions which need to be done first, like this…
Do this
Then this
And then this
Once I’ve created this, the software simply shows me the first task, “Do this”. Then when I’ve done that and ticked the Done box, OmniFocus immediately brings up the next thing to do, “Then this”, which I implement. This creates real momentum, so I stay focused on next actions, all of them being actions I can do in 5,10, 15 minutes, so I tend to get these done rather than getting distracted by emails, calls, interruptions and so on.
If you’re interested in having a strategy to help you determine which projects to focus on, I have an ebook called Stop Your Shoulding at my website. It normally costs $19.95, but I’m offering it as a free gift for the next week or so. The link is…
http://www.lifetools.com
Chris
CrMo Says:
March 11th, 2008, 17:58 pm
I’d love to see a more indepth article about your use of the 4 text files. For example, how do you go about deleting items from the file? Do you process that every morning, every time you complete an item?
Also, for the various text files, are you using ‘cat’ or do you just have it set for the “file”. When I set it just for “file” and then manually open and delete entries from the file the desktop does not update, so right now I’m just using `cat` on the file so that it refreshes every few seconds.
Leo Says:
March 12th, 2008, 6:51 am
@CrMo … I’m not sure if everyone is interested in my usage of text files enough for it to warrant an entire article … each person will have their own routines based on what works for them. However, I can answer your questions:
1. Ho do I go about deleting items from the text files? I open them (using Quicksilver — takes a couple keystrokes), then I just delete the lines needed and save.
2. Do I process that every morning, or every time I complete an item? It varies. I usually review the files about once a day, though a couple of them don’t need to be purged that often. Sometimes I’ll update a file 2 or 3 times in a day if I feel like making sure it’s up to date, especially the @today file as I work off of that more often than the others.
3. I think you’re asking about GeekTool … I should have posted more detail here, but I was hoping you’d get details from the tutorials I linked to. But anyway, I use the “shell” option and use the following command:
curl file:///Users/_____/Documents/@today.txt
Of course, you’d have your username where the blank is in the filename above, and you’d also have to change the name of the text file to your filename. You could also use a shortcut to skip the username and all that:
curl ~/Documents/@today.txt
Other details that might interest you: I have it set to refresh every 60 seconds (I don’t need it to be done more often, and I don’t want it to impede my cpu performance) and the screenshot I show above has my text color set to white.
Craig Says:
March 12th, 2008, 22:16 pm
If you are just moving text files around you might want to take a look at this simple GTD app called Ready-Set-Do!
http://homepage.mac.com/toddvasquez/Ready-Set-Do!/Personal93.html
I have been using it for a while and it’s GTD rather than a program.
Zviki Cohen Says:
March 13th, 2008, 5:47 am
It took me some time to find my favorite, but I found a warm home with OmniFocus.
I started with RememberTheMilk, moved to Vitalist, then to iGTD and ended up doing my lists with OmniOutliner. I started with OmniFocus when it was in private alpha and I’m here to stay.
The main difference is the outlining capabilities. I think in outlines. I like to take a task and break it into smaller tasks and then smaller tasks. And then take a number of small tasks and group them together. This is missing from all the programs and OmniFocus has it.
Highly recommended.
T Says:
March 17th, 2008, 16:04 pm
I’m a fan of this blog!
I am a linux user (because it’s opensource and free, and so are all the softwares I am using ;) )
My favorite GTD app is “BasKet”! It’s user friendly (very intuitive) and can do all in one (to-do list, notes,..)
You can even make it more as you like by adding backgrounds, icons, sounds,..
Here’s a photo to have an idea:
http://www.linux.com/var/slashimages/8958fe8b14dd8e28ad3ecf3127cfa870.png
to learn more:
http://www.linux.com/feature/58526
See you guys, and let’s go on the road of zen attitude!
Hugh Bien Says:
March 18th, 2008, 2:53 am
As a recent reader of the GTD book, I started looking for software and ended up really liking Things. But after seeing Midnight inbox, I thought I might give that a try. Thanks!
hyrcan Says:
March 20th, 2008, 13:33 pm
Here’s a tip to go along with your geektool settings…
Instead of just using file or calling your favorite way to output a text file, pipe it through this perl script:
perl -pe ’s/(.{0,80})\s/$1\n/g’
Change 80 to adjust how wide/narrow you want it to be and poof, no more broken words on long tasks. 80 works well with GeekTool set to 550px wide
So in my case I have GeekTool to set to Shell and the command is:
~/Documents/todo/today.txt |perl -pe ’s/(.{0,80})\s/$1\n/g’
This outputs my tasks with a psudo word-wrap.
hyrcan Says:
March 20th, 2008, 13:35 pm
*facepalm*
So in my case I have GeekTool to set to Shell and the command is:
cat ~/Documents/todo/today.txt |perl -pe ’s/(.{0,80})\s/$1\n/g’
Please note the inclusion of the cat command….