I recently switched from Todoist to Things 3. I really liked Todoist – it worked great on every platform I used it on, and I liked the karma feature. However, I kept forgetting the deadlines of specific tasks, and this meant that I never knew when I had to hand it in. This is where Things 3 comes in – it allows me to set both a date I want to do the task, and a deadline. This means that the task can show up in my tasks list a few days before it’s due in, and will only turn red on the day I need to hand it in – this means I never lose track of a due date anymore. Cultured Code also introduced an advanced URL scheme that I’ve been using.
I use areas for all large aspects of my life – I have an area for each subject I take in college, and then also an area for this site, personal and then general projects. Each area for my subjects has an emoji at the front of it, so I can easily identify and tell what subject a task is for. When I get projects, I put them under the appropriate area – and if they do not fit any, I just put them under the projects tab.
Cultured Code, the team behind Things, recently released an update allowing you to link to Things from other apps, allowing you to do powerful actions such as create a new task in a certain project, view tasks and many more. I use this to create quick tasks in my college areas in Things. I’ve always found the input for Things a little clumsy, but the quick links allow me to tap on them, and create a task in a certain area with tags already applied. I therefore just need to fill out the title and notes, and I’m ready to go. The new linking system has really helped me quickly and easily create notes.
The major pull of Things to me was the ability to add a date for when I want to do the task – when it will show up in the today view – and the ability to set a deadline. This is great as often I want to do assignments and work in advance to when they are due, and I can always see how many days until the due date of that work I have left. This is the feature of Things which really pulls it towards me – no other task manager I have found has the same feature.
I’m not a big user of tags – I only really use tags called ‘College’, which I tag homework and assignments in so I can sort my today view to remove unrelated tasks and only see my college tasks. I also use tags occasionally to assign the time a task will take.
One issue I encountered is the absence of a way to set priority of tasks – however, I got around this by adding the exclamation mark in front of the task title, so I can easily see tasks which are urgent and require my attention. I also use Windows on my computer, but Things 3 allows you to email tasks to a certain address which allows you to add tasks to your Things inbox complete with notes and a title, which allows me to work around this feature. Besides, I only really use my computer at home, and I have my phone next to me so it doesn’t really matter.
I’m really glad I switched to Things 3 – I love the ability to set a deadline as well as a day as I want to do it, so I will always be on top of homework, and the app looks great on my iPhone and iPad.
If you want to check out an in-depth review of Things 3, you can do so here. I really recommend the app – its beautiful interface makes sure that you don’t stress over your tasks, and it’s a great buy for anyone looking for a new task manager.
