I was inspired by reading Getting Things Done by David Allen, and since then, I’ve been looking for a task management software for Mac. My life has been fairly chaotic, especially at work. I think that I have had (and still have) too many tasks, and I don’t have any system regarding how to manage them or how I should be prioritizing them. The book by David Allen opened my eyes and my mind to this challenge, and I realized that I had to buy a task management software to help me get things done.
I tested a few first, and Things from Cultured Code, was the one that really got my attention. It was due to some of the reviews I read, the video I watched on their sales page, but also due to the fact that Things was also available for iPhone.
Features
Things got everything I was looking for in a task management software, and then some. I especially like the quick entry, where I can add tasks very quickly, even though I am using a completely different software. Once I get something on my mind, I like to get it off my mind as quickly as possible, and that’s when I add them to Things.
Things makes it easy to add tasks, and it makes it easy to manage them. I think it’s because of how easy it is to view all the tasks, either by viewing the inbox (unsorted tasks), viewing the tasks sorted on a time frame (today, next, someday or scheduled), or by viewing them based on projects or areas of responsibility.
To me, the features of Things when it comes to task management is perfect.
Syncing
With Things on my Mac and on my iPhone, I am able to sync and always stay updated. I use my iPhone to add most of my tasks, because I don’t spend that much time using a computer anymore. It seems like I am always on the run, at least when I compare my schedule now to my schedule about a year ago.
I sync using my WiFi network at home, it took me about two minutes to figure out how. And it works great, all I have to do now, is open up Things on both my iPhone and on my iMac at the same time, and the software syncs right away.
The sync feature is not perfect though. I tried the same at work, but nothing happened. I have been trying to figure out the problem for several days, but so far, I have no clue why it doesn’t sync with my Mac at work. I think it has to do with the WiFi network at work, I’ve had some other minor problems with this network earlier (so, I guess I shouldn’t blame Things for this).
Mobile Me
I really think that Things is an amazing piece of software. I am using it several times a day, and so far it seems to be flawless (except for the part about syncing at work). The only thing I can think of, that needs to be added, is support for mobile me. Because to me, syncing within my local WiFi is not enough.
iDisk
Even though I couldn’t get Things to sync at work using our WiFi, I managed to sync it using iDisk. What I did was copy the library of Things to the local version of iDisk. The iDisk folder syncs automatic with Mobile Me, and when I share the Things library at work and at my computer at home it turns out exactly the way I was hoping for.
Price
I first thought that it was fairly expensive, with $49.95 for Mac and $9.99 for the iPhone . But after downloading and using the free trial for several days, I decided that it was worth every dollar.
Alternatives to Things
I have tested several other task management softwares, but I have only found one very interesting alternative to Things when it comes to task management software for Mac. This alternative is OmniFocus. I am not going to say that Things is better, because I believe that both seems to be excellent. I decided to buy Things, but I know other people that decided to buy OmniFocus… and they are just as satisfied with their software as I am with mine.
Tags: Cultured Code, David Allen, Getting Things Done, Task Management, Things