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Toodledo and ADHD
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TowardVictory

Posted: Jan 22, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Dear folks –

I am trying to create a task list/reminder system to manage both the ordinary chaos of a busy life with a lot of projects and the special additional burden of severe ADHD, inattentive type. I am switching from a Blackberry to either an iPhone on an android phone, and I am trying to figure out whether I can get the special features I need on either one. I have been doing a lot of research and so far have not found the combination that I need, and am appealing to this list for help and advice. I am hoping to make Toodledo the center of the system, with local apps that sync to it, but I am not yet sure that I can make it do what I need.

Basically, I want a system with the usual task list/priority/date stuff that Toodledo does well, but it must also have three special features that I feel I need to manage my distractibility. These are:
1. It should nag me, so that the people in my life do not have to. Specifically, it should have audible and popup nag reminders at both my windows desktop and on my phone, at intervals I can set, that repeat until I tell it to stop. Sometimes this is called a “snooze” feature, but not everything called a snooze can actually do this job.
2. Delivery of reminders must be highly reliable, so that I count on them. In particular:
a. The software must provide the reminders (audible and popup) whether or not the application is open or active. This means some part of it must run in background on both computer and phone, or that the reminders must be driven externally, like push email or SMS messages.
b. The desktop must work when there is no internet connectivity (which is often, since I work on a laptop) and the phone app must work when there is no wireless signal. I believe this means that each must maintain a local copy of my tasks and calendar.
3. I need one system, not two. I know myself well enough to realize that I would get hopelessly tangled If I tried to maintain two separate with different procedures or different databases. Whatever I enter into the desktop has to synch frequently and automatically with the phone, and visa versa. In addition, it would be a benefit, though I do not say it is absolutely essential, if the interfaces to the desktop and phone version of the system were reasonably similar in logic, capabilities, and visual icons and metaphors.

Do people agree that this is a sensible set of special feature demands for a task/GTD system for someone with ADD? Does anyone know of an application that will do these things, or a set of applications that will do them jointly?

I would be very greatful for any advice or pointers anyone has to offer. Iwill post whatever I settle on here, and then offer an account of my experience after I have worked with it for a while.

Sign me RedRacer
(because it it takes all the running I can do, to keep in the same place)
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Jan 23, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Toodledo does not yet have a "nag" feature where you get repeated alarms on a task until you do this. This is a good idea and it is on our to-do list. Right now, you can have one alarm per task.

The iPhone app will work without internet connectivity and if you want offline support on the desktop you can get a 3rd party tool from our "Tools" section.
.Jay

Posted: Jan 25, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by TowardVictory:
Dear folks –

I am trying to create a task list/reminder system to manage both the ordinary chaos of a busy life with a lot of projects and the special additional burden of severe ADHD, inattentive type. I am switching from a Blackberry to either an iPhone on an android phone, and I am trying to figure out whether I can get the special features I need on either one. I have been doing a lot of research and so far have not found the combination that I need, and am appealing to this list for help and advice. I am hoping to make Toodledo the center of the system, with local apps that sync to it, but I am not yet sure that I can make it do what I need.

Basically, I want a system with the usual task list/priority/date stuff that Toodledo does well, but it must also have three special features that I feel I need to manage my distractibility. These are:
1. It should nag me, so that the people in my life do not have to. Specifically, it should have audible and popup nag reminders at both my windows desktop and on my phone, at intervals I can set, that repeat until I tell it to stop. Sometimes this is called a “snooze” feature, but not everything called a snooze can actually do this job.
2. Delivery of reminders must be highly reliable, so that I count on them. In particular:
a. The software must provide the reminders (audible and popup) whether or not the application is open or active. This means some part of it must run in background on both computer and phone, or that the reminders must be driven externally, like push email or SMS messages.
b. The desktop must work when there is no internet connectivity (which is often, since I work on a laptop) and the phone app must work when there is no wireless signal. I believe this means that each must maintain a local copy of my tasks and calendar.
3. I need one system, not two. I know myself well enough to realize that I would get hopelessly tangled If I tried to maintain two separate with different procedures or different databases. Whatever I enter into the desktop has to synch frequently and automatically with the phone, and visa versa. In addition, it would be a benefit, though I do not say it is absolutely essential, if the interfaces to the desktop and phone version of the system were reasonably similar in logic, capabilities, and visual icons and metaphors.

Do people agree that this is a sensible set of special feature demands for a task/GTD system for someone with ADD? Does anyone know of an application that will do these things, or a set of applications that will do them jointly?

I would be very greatful for any advice or pointers anyone has to offer. Iwill post whatever I settle on here, and then offer an account of my experience after I have worked with it for a while.

Sign me RedRacer
(because it it takes all the running I can do, to keep in the same place)


Hi.
I have struggled with Toodledo on the Android for while, and was ready to give up last week ( sent a not so nice post - which was promptly hidden with negative reviews lol. )
Since then TD have come out with m.toodledo.com mobile site that works offline ( still in beta tho). Hopefully this should make the Android experience must better. give it a try.
For now my choices are to find something else ( but don't have the time to do all that research again) or stick with a combination of Toodledo ( supported with Got to Do Android clinet and Pure calendar widget to show calendar and tasks together) AND a really good email based system called nudgemail.

Not ideal but as of late 2009 when I last checked , It was the best of bunch.

Also , I am currently putting something together for an ADHD consultant at our local Hospital which if taken on board should make the lives of Adult ADHD folks much better. This includes the tools above and some more centrally organised systems, which is why your post is of particular interest to me.
saskia.x

Posted: Jan 26, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Ah, a struggle I know well!!

I don't have time to post a detailed reply, but I will mention the Android app "Ultimate To-do list" that syncs well with Toodledo & has a decent reminder feature. The one thing I will say about reminders, however, is to use them sparingly; I used to have endless beeps going off to remind me of all of the things I should be doing but I very quickly got in the habit of completely ignoring all of my alarms!! And of course having a constantly beeping phone does tend to annoy those around you. So now I try to only use reminders for really important things and those I repeatedly forget. I do have a reminder every day to tell me to check my task list & calendar, which prompts me to remember some of the thing I might otherwise have had to set alarms for.

Good luck with finding the right system - if I have time (& if I remember!) I'll come back & post a bit about things that have worked for me and what hasn't, but as yet I'm still far from perfect (just when you think you've got things under control ADHD has a nasty habit of throwing a spanner in the works, doesn't it?!).
jeffsa1

Posted: Feb 18, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Greetings fellow ADHDers.

I've long struggled to have a system that provides the memory and organization that I am lacking. TD seems to be ok as long as I check my task list every 15 minutes and update everything so that the next time I check, all my tasks and notes are up to date.

When I'm offline I use my IPhone TD. Then synch when its back online. The big disadvantage is when I am on an airplane for 9 hours I can't really reorganize my day or week, I can just make entries.

I've learned to cling to whichever organizer I am using as if it were a life raft, checking it constantly.

If I weren't able to prompt myself to constantly look at my task list, I'd probably set calendar prompts so that every 15 minutes I'd be reminded to not only look at my task list but to update it.

It'd be great if TD worked offline and if color coding of tasks were available so that I could see the important tasks or folders at a glance.

Hope this helps.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Feb 20, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
You can work offline with Toodledo using a variety of 3rd party tools, as well as our new mobile website. http://m.toodledo.com
jeremiah.moss

Posted: Feb 20, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Humm - if you get a reminder you want to snooze, you could perhaps change the due time. After all, you're simply telling it you want to do the task later.

The iPhone app seems to work reliably as far as I can tell. Just set the alarms to come from the device.

saskia.x does have a good point of learning to ignore reminders - if you keep snoozing everything, you may simply learn to ignore it altogether.

My biggest advice is to notice what works for you, and what doesn't. If something works, latch onto it and use it. If something doesn't work, forget it and see if you can try something else.
SES21

Posted: Mar 03, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I have to echo the "learn to ignore too frequent reminders" so use them sparingly!

For the desktop, take a look at TaskUnifier (on 3rd party list) which will run independently but can sync to TD on its own. It's also in constant development & the dev is very responsive so you could probably request any missing features that you feel you need. I like that it's Java-based so it'll run on Windows/Linux/Mac. (There's even more portability to it but I'll save that until you decide you want to use it & need that feature.)

I'd personally recommend Android over iPhone for many reasons that you'd quickly lose interest in following! That said, check into Ultimate To-Do List mentioned above or DGT GTD & To-Do List with the DGT GTD Toodledo extension. Although the latter combo is alpha/beta, it's received very high ratings & is free. There is also a DGT GTD Pure Widget plugin for it, if you're interested, but that costs $1.92 - which is still cheaper than the $5 UTL license. My advice is to try DGT first so you know its capabilities *before* you start the 14-day free trial of UTL...not the other way around.

I've also played with the slim/mini/mobile (they run together in my head!) versions of TD but they drive me crazy because they won't seem to keep their settings, especially sort preference in All Tasks view. I will have to give the new mobile website a good workout, though, since I've not really tried that yet & it looks promising.

Please do post back here with what you decide to use! I'm always curious & very much interested in setups that work cross-platform, not only mobile & desktop, but also Windows-Linux-Mac.

Good luck!


This message was edited Mar 03, 2012.
Disorganised

Posted: Mar 03, 2012
Score: -1 Reference
Posted by Toodledo:
You can work offline with Toodledo using a variety of 3rd party tools, as well as our new mobile website. http://m.toodledo.com

Nobody uses the mobile site anymore. Everyone(who's not living in the dark ages) uses apps these days


This message was edited Mar 03, 2012.
SES21

Posted: Mar 03, 2012
Score: 1 Reference
@Disorganised, the reality is that many "apps" are just web sites with offline storage. You owe it to yourself (& the TD devs) to at least check out the new mobile site before you diss it!
sbolton

Posted: Mar 26, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Toodledo:
You can work offline with Toodledo using a variety of 3rd party tools, as well as our new mobile website. http://m.toodledo.com


Where can I find some of the 3rd party tools to use toodledo offline?

Thank you.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Mar 26, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
At the top of the page, click on "Tools" and then "3rd Party Tools"
sbolton

Posted: Mar 26, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Thank you. I wish I would have noticed that before. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I like GTD but can't see to follow it religiously.

Thanks again.
sbolton

Posted: Mar 27, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
I started using "TaskAngel" and I don't know if I like it but think I will, but I give high praises to Toodledo which I have always liked. Now knowing that I can use something offline and then sync it with Toodledo, makes Toodledo very valuable to me. I can use it on all of my computers and my iPhone.

Thank you very much.

Sbolton
ben

Posted: Mar 27, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Appreciate the distraction challenge!

For my desktop I've started using TaskUnifier on Windows. Jury is not in yet but at least it runs in my restricted desktop (love Java)environment at work.

For mobile, I'm Android 100% and between the application and the application widget options, it can't be beat!

For easy task entry to my inbox I use ToodleTask, wonderful simple application. (Wish there were a windows desktop equivalent to this one!)

I keep gravitating back to Ultimate To-Do List Tablet on my Android tablet for my main processing activities. I also use Due Today my Android phone for its widgets, like them better, but the main program does not seem to be picking up my ToodleDo inbox and I have not had any help resolving that issue.

-Ben
SES21

Posted: Mar 29, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
@sbolton - check out TaskUnifier! You'll find it works much like TD itself with an active & responsive dev who's also open to suggestions. You might also want to consider trying the TD mobile site in your desktop browser so you can use its offline storage capability. It isn't as pretty but it's fairly functional.

@ben - for your Android, check out DGT GTD paired with their Toodledo extension. You may find you like that even better than UTL.

Disclaimer: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in any of the mentioned apps; I'm simply excited by their capabilities!
sbolton

Posted: Mar 29, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Thanks. I will try it out (TaskUnifer). Actually I am really liking TaskAngel too.
sbolton
sbolton

Posted: Mar 29, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Does TaskUnifer cost anything? I can't seem to find the cost.

Thanks

SB
ben

Posted: Apr 02, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
@SES21 - Been looking at it, thanks. Choices...

@sbolton - There is a fee for the ToodleDo sync plugin to eliminate the sync delay. It's free otherwise.

-Ben


This message was edited Apr 02, 2012.
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