In addition to being a Tech Whisperer and crafter, I sit on a very hands-on nonprofit board and a state commission.  I have been searching for years for the best tool to help me keep track of the numerous balls I am always juggling. I have tried Day Timer, a Palm Pilot, a simple notebook and what seems like every task management app out there.  So far I have not found a single solution that meets all my needs and my personal style.  Time management is different for every individual, so I am not at all surprised that I have yet to find the end all, be all solution. Instead, I have a customized solution that uses several tools to meet my individual needs.
I get through my days with the help of 3 apps:

  1. Todoist – In a lot of ways, Todoist is very similar to all sorts of free task management apps out there, like Remember the Milk  and Google’s Task list.  In fact, when pressed, I couldn’t tell you why Todoist works so well for me.  Perhaps it is its simple layout. Maybe it is the way it organizes tasks by project.  But that is exactly my point.  There will always be many task management tools out there because their users are different individuals.
  2. Reminder Guru – Todoist sends task reminders via email.  These never work for me.  I find it too easy to tune them out. I tried leaving them unread until I was ready to deal with them, but they still got lost amongst my other email. Reminder Guru lets you send reminders as texts, phone calls or emails.  I love that it has no pre-set parameters – you get to set the message, date and delivery time and delivery medium.  Since I am the only one who knows what I will and will not tune out, I use Reminder Guru to nag me.  For example, I might send myself a text reminding me first thing in the morning that I need to pay a bill.  I know that I won’t drop everything and get to it then, so I will simply make a mental note of it.  I will have another text arrive right before the mailman comes just in case I haven’t gotten to it yet. Then I will have a third reminder scheduled for the end of the day at which point I will either pay the bill if I haven’t done so already or set up reminders for the following day.  If anything slips into the following day, I set up even more reminders so I will pay the stupid bill rather than have texts pop up at 2 hour intervals.
  3. Evernote – If you don’t know about Evernote, go check it our RIGHT NOW.  Evernote is my spare brain.  I track details, progress, resources, patterns and anything else that belongs in my brain, but that sometimes I can’t retrieve. I put all of my information here because this is a single location with great search functionality. It is my vote for best app ever.