ForumsTips & TricksTodoist vs Toodledo -- Why I'm back.
Todoist vs Toodledo -- Why I'm back.
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BobOkie |
I wanted to share my experience of using Todoist and why I've come back to Toodledo.
The last year I've being using Todoist after several years of Toodledo. I keep my subscription to Toodledo because I wasn't sure about the change. I got almost to a 10,000 score with Karma which is what originally hooked me in Todoist. I liked having that as a driving force to increase it each day or week. It is a feature that I would love to see incorporated into Toodledo with the information and graphs it won't be hard -- I've thought of doing my own with exporting into excel but decided it wasn't worth my effort. Naturally you couldn't call it karma but it would be a great feature to have. :-) Todoist looks great and has some good graphics but I'm more interested in a tool. Todoist was very limited and didn't have the flexibility that I've come to enjoy with Toodledo. I use the various fields that Toodledo has to help organize things. Most of the time I don't use them all but when I do, I want them, and they help me. Todoist has 1/2(?) the amount. I also like Toodledo feature of importance, it makes it really easy to pick a few items and add a star to get done today. Todoist is very date driven, which is very anti-GTD. I tried playing around with flags and sorts but Toodledo was just much more powerful to help in that area. It helps me find the important things to do. I also put everything into my "list". Many are ideas and someday/maybe items that very quickly clog up the reviews and daily action. YOU CANNOT EXPORT OUT OF TODOIST! That ultimately was the deal breaker. I will routinely export my list into a separate list to be reviewed quarterly/annually and only have the truly active items in Toodledo. It is easy and I have them in excel/google sheets to sort delete etc. I could email/print a list in Todoist but it is totally unusable except to scan down. I can export in Toodledo in under 15 minutes, have a clean action list, and keep my ideas, dreams, someday, maybe out of my daily/weekly reviews but still have something useful for those deeper reviews later. It also very easy to transfer them back into Toodledo at the right time with the multiple add function -- lacking in Todoist. Summary: * Todoist -- great graphics and loved Karma score * Toodledo -- much more powerful, flexible, and helps me be more effective and efficient. |
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Ann M |
This post is most appreciated as I too have looked at switching from time to time due to the cleaner interfaces, but at the end of the day I have stuck with TD. It's mainly because of its flexibility to morph in whatever fashion I need and I can do it quickly. I am hopeful that the soon to be update of the task module will be worth waiting for making this the most effective and aesthetically pleasing tool ever.
Ann |
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coolexplorer |
Thanks BobOkie & acc.mcpherson,
Very timely reviews/comments on Todoist vs Toodledo. I too was seduced into installing and having a one week affair with Todoist, mainly because of the colors and smooth integration with other programs. I found the desktop/web layout wasted a lot of screen space (unlike the rich detail of TD). The Todoist Android mobile app is however well designed. The inability to Export ones tasks out of Todoist in a useful manner was the real bummer. TD's and Jake's approach of transparency and full anytime export (coming from an abundance mentality) shows a certain largeness of heart that I have grown to trust. I guess if you make it easy to leave, people loiter around. I find that my approach to handling tasks, the details I require, and my workflow keeps changing over time, and TD has the most variables and is the most flexible if you are willing to learn how to use it and bend it to your needs. I keep tinkering specially with the Custom Searches/Views. Most other programs I grew out of or hit a wall and had to abandon. More power to TD! |
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Ummagumma |
Toodledo graphics suck. Plain and simple. Which likely costs them first time users. Toodledo folks need to get some of the Wunderlist graphic designers ;)
I tried Todoist and Wunderlist at least a couple times and I just can't get past the lack of functionality. There's really very little to distinguish them vs Google Tasks. No Start date is the biggest killer for me. Most of my work related tasks take more than a couple hours to complete and often require 2-3 days to complete, with breaks for meetings etc. so it's vital that I can schedule both the start date and the due date for each task based on the amount of work it may require. The lack of "Today" feature (e.g. Starred tasks) is another thing. I want to set a list of 2-4 tasks that I will work on today regardless of their due dates, and star is a perfect use for this. Wunderlist has this feature but I don't believe Todoist does. Another big advantage of Toodledo is the Pocket Informant sync, which along with Notes helps me maintain both my task lists and my plain text notes on any of iOS or Android devices I use. I actually moved all of my notes from Simple Note to Toodledo because of this (now I only need one program instead of two on each device). What Toodledo suffers from is the ugly GUI as mentioned above, the disconnect between different modules (can't link notes to tasks, can't create tasks from outlines), and some functionality quirks (can't export plaintext notes in plaintext format, can create a task by email but can't create a note by email - you'd think this should actually be easier). |
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fiona.c |
Personally - I like Toodledo's interface. Its simple and efficient (IMHO).
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JM McCoy |
I've been using Todoist for over a year, but it's a disaster if you have a couple of weeks where you can't get things done. Then, even when you click "Today", you get an enormous list of tasks from the past as well as the ones that are actually due today. It's confusing and there's no way to filter it.
So I took a look at Toodledo, which I've used in the past but felt had more features than I needed. Now I'm thinking features like the ability to tie tasks to goals and see if I'm spending my time where I should be would be a big help. The Toodledo interface is actually a little sleeker looking than it used to be. While it doesn't have that lovely whitespace Todoist has... the whitespace is part of what makes Todoist overwhelming. What kills me with Todoist is the feeling that there are all these tasks a scroll or six down the page that I'm missing. With Toodledo, quite a few tasks show without me scrolling. And I can filter to hone the list down even more. Todoist is prettier, and it has apps for every platform, and they work together seamlessly. But those are the only advantages I'm seeing, and they're not worth it. An upgraded membership costs the same with both, and you get a lot more features with Toodledo. |
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Christoph Dollis |
Todoist was nice enough, but I found its syncing and saving very very flaky. As in absolutely unreliable. I've never had a sync problem with Toodledo.
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Ummagumma |
Todoist is - in my opinion - nowhere close to Wunderlist.
And I still prefer Toodledo over Wunderlist. |
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a.reinhold |
Hi there,
I just moved to Toodledo from Todoist (I was a long-time and dedicated user). The last update of Todoist bascially broke the whole workflow for many users. They made the big mistake to focus more on design and "showing-off" than on functionality. I looked and tested more than 10 days extensively for another Todo app and I'm happy that Toodledo meets almost all of my requirements. Cheers Andreas |
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coolexplorer |
Posted by a.reinhold:
Hi there, I just moved to Toodledo from Todoist (I was a long-time and dedicated user). The last update of Todoist bascially broke the whole workflow for many users. They made the big mistake to focus more on design and "showing-off" than on functionality. I looked and tested more than 10 days extensively for another Todo app and I'm happy that Toodledo meets almost all of my requirements. Andreas Andreas, A personal request to you: As you use Toodledo in your work-flow, kindly continue to review the two (Toodledo vs Todoist) for some time so that Toodledo users, as well as the designer gains objective clarity on the relative features (both strengths and weaknesses) from a real user of both apps. |
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a.reinhold |
Posted by coolexplorer:
Andreas, A personal request to you: As you use Toodledo in your work-flow, kindly continue to review the two (Toodledo vs Todoist) for some time so that Toodledo users, as well as the designer gains objective clarity on the relative features (both strengths and weaknesses) from a real user of both apps. well, here are my observations from getting all my existing tasks from Todoist over to Toodledo (basically a full weekend working for hours on this): - I'd prefer if daily tasks on TD would not show up every day on my calendar feed in google calendar, only on the current day (today) - projects or sub-sub tasks would be useful. This is just based on my workflow and how I've handled projects in the last years. I know there are workarounds and I'm trying to get used to them. Todoist allows several levels of sub-tasks (sub-sub-sub-tasks...). I have projects that sometimes last for years and a tasks can have several sub- and sub-sub-tasks. - I find the outlines and lists to be redundant or maybe I'm not fully understanding them yet. For me, an outline can be a list as well. - It would be nice to somehow transfer an outline to a set of tasks (would be great for brainstorming), that being said, I have been using Workflowy for outlines and lists for years now. - The Karma feature at todoist actually helped my motivation. I found it challenging to daily increase my karma-level by working on my tasks. - I'd like to define a fixed set of tags to have them always available - tab to the "tags" field and choose them from a drop-down list. Right now, if a tag has no task, it is deleted. - entering tasks with "#" for tags and "@" for context would be nice and would save me time (instead of navigating through the fields) - I'm not sure I like the way attachments are handled. Looks like I manually have to clean them up every now and then? I understand that there are limitations in regards of storage space. - I'd like to have a dedicated place for tasks templates so they don't clutter up my task list This message was edited Sep 27, 2015. |
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coolexplorer |
Hey Andreas, Thanks for the comparison.
Most of the points you mentioned were about what you had in Todoist and don't have in Toodledo, necessitating workarounds. By the way I agree with your analysis on all the points, some of which can be taken up for development in TD. What are the features in Toodledo that made you shift here from Todoist? Here is how I workaround some of the problems you mention : 1. A daily recurring task (with any setting in TD) does fill up every day in GCal .... to the end of time. To avoid this I created a Custom Search View of Folder "!Pinned Daily Routine" that presents a sequential list by Primary Sorting on Tags (1, 2,... a10, a11... a20). Try avoiding any dates, but put Start Times (no date at 9am, etc). To prevent the tasks from popping up in other Views I assign a priority of Low and all other Custom Views filter for "Folder is not !Pinned Daily Routine" Of course it is overworking TD filters (can just make a list, or sub-tasks) but works, is a one time setup and a click away. Doesn't show/clutter in GCal but on TD web and my Android App "Ultimate ToDo List". 2. To prevent certain Tags from disappearing if all tasks having that tag are deleted : I have a couple of Tasks (dummy templates) that are assigned all the tags in them and the task is given a negative priority so that it doesn't show in any list but prevents my Tags from disappearing even if all real tasks are deleted. This workaround is ridiculous and may be easily fixed by TD i.e. only Delete Tags via the Organize setting. Many of my Checklists (groceries, travel packing things, things to do at my vacation house, etc) are marked Negative or Low and referenced in two ways (a) by clicking on the Folder (b) by Starring a few items which immediately pop up in my Custom Hotlist for the Day. I prefer to use one Task tab with its awesome search and filtering rather than moving to Lists and Outlines. Hope it helps......someone. :) This message was edited Sep 28, 2015. |
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huwevans projecthelm.com |
Posted: Nov 13, 2015
Score: 0
Reference
I had a quick look at the Karma feature, and you can approach this using the Toodledo habits section. I track some key stats on this, and it give me motivation to try to be better:
At the start of the day, I plan my tasks for that day. I star anything I think I MUST do on that day. Then I have two habits setup, one for Star Tasks Planned Today and one for total Tasks Planned today. Then, I have two more habits setup for Star Tasks Completed today and Tasks completed today. So at the end of the day (or, more usually at the start of the next day) I record how I actually did. Then, once a week I transpose these numbers into a spreadsheet (probably a better way to do this, but that's what I'm currently doing) and over time I can see if I can get closer to completing 100% of what I plan, and I can also feel good (or not) about the volume of tasks I've completed. I also use PI, and I have two smart filters set up to give me the counts for the completed measures. |
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Salgud |
Posted by huwevans projecthelm.com:
I also use PI, and I have two smart filters set up to give me the counts for the completed measures. Interesting you should mention PI. I've been looking for a personal task manager (I use TD only for work, I can't find a good way to keep personal and work truly separate in TD other than having 2 accounts.) I'd been using Reminders for a while, but my life has gotten more complicated and Reminders wasn't cutting the mustard anymore, so I gave Todoist a try for a few days, but it didn't have some features I wanted and seemed overpriced. I looked at Things again (I used it for a few years a few years ago, but remembered it has no alarms/reminders, something I have become very dependent on as I get older). Finally, I tried PI, and I have found mobile task management nirvana. It has more features than I need at present, a very similar feature set to TD, minus the fluff (Lists, Outlines & Habits), and a much better mobile interface than TDs iOS app. And only $10, one time! How can you beat that. It even has a feature I've wanted since I used PI on my Palm back in the oughts, the ability to link tasks and appointments to my Contacts list. Finally! I agree that Todoist has a prettier interface than TD, but in terms of functionality, it can't compare. Looking at TDs current interface, I find it very nice and very practical, with all the information I need at a glance. And if I get tired of the clutter, in a couple of clicks and can switch to Multi-line, hide the task details, and have a nice clean, simple list. While I seldom do so, it's there if I want it. At this point, I think TD is the whole enchilada. I think it's unfortunate that the development of the task management aspect has stopped, but these thing happen in this business. TD has most of what I want at this time, and will suffice until I retire in a couple of years. I believe it's the best out there at present, even without further enhancements, and will remain so for a while. And it has some of the best, most open and honest support in the business. It's a hard combination to beat. |
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Adrien Beau |
Posted by Salgud:
it's unfortunate that the development of the task management aspect has stopped Considering all the UI improvements that happened in the past few months (and which were a factor in getting me to migrate away from Todoist), I think it is very unfair (to say the least) to claim that the development has stopped. Improving the UI is important and was very much needed, and correctly prioritized. |
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Salgud |
Posted by Adrien Beau:
Posted by Salgud: it's unfortunate that the development of the task management aspect has stopped Considering all the UI improvements that happened in the past few months (and which were a factor in getting me to migrate away from Todoist), I think it is very unfair (to say the least) to claim that the development has stopped. Improving the UI is important and was very much needed, and correctly prioritized. Good point. I should have said that feature development has stopped. Thanks for pointing that out. |
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CP_1392446718 |
Posted by Salgud:
I've been looking for a personal task manager (I use TD only for work, I can't find a good way to keep personal and work truly separate in TD other than having 2 accounts.) I use TD locations to separate personal from work tasks within one TD account. |
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Adrien Beau |
Posted by Salgud:
I've been looking for a personal task manager (I use TD only for work, I can't find a good way to keep personal and work truly separate in TD other than having 2 accounts.) I don't know what "truly separate" means to you. I use tags ("pro" and/or "perso" on all tasks) and contexts (@home, @work, etc.) to help categorize my tasks. I have custom searches to only look for some tags and contexts, so I can easily get a list of professional tasks with no single personal task in there, and the opposite of course. Granted, in some other Toodledo views, I can see both kinds of tasks at once, so this may not be "truly separate" to you. I find it is more important to have all tasks in the same tool (and be able to review them all sometimes, and find tasks that fell between the cracks (forgot to tag them properly)), than to sometimes see personal tasks at work, or work tasks at home. To stay on topic, I had essentially the same setup in Todoist, and was able to bring it to Toodledo without trouble. (Except sub-folders.) |
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Mike |
I also tried Todoist and was initially in love with the app. I also got my Karma up to 10,000 and i liked idea of having a personal motivator I could look at regularly for inspiration but my honeymoon with the app started to fade...
I am back simply because of the lack of a start date in Todoist. My list started to buildup because I was "overdue" on a bunch of my tasks. You could argue that I needed to change my workflow but start date without an end date is what works for me... I love Toodledo but I struggle with the interface at times. I ultimately just want to see all of the views I like in one place. Ultimately for me the only way to make Toodledo sing is to make my own views via custom searches so I have one page with all the stuff i want to see. Building all those custom searches can be a bit tedious and I really feel at a loss when I am using the Android client which doesn't show the search page... ...but those are small loses compared to the power and customizations available to me. This message was edited Nov 23, 2015. |
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Bridget K |
Posted by Mike:
I ultimately just want to see all of the views I like in one place.. Hey Mike, I would love to hear some insight from a user's perspective on this topic. I have a few questions that may help me to better understand your dilemma. 1. By saying you want to see all of the views you like, can I assume that means that you want to eliminate views that you do not use? 2. Or does this instead mean that you want to see all of your desired tasks in one single list? 3. If you could pick and choose which items show up in the ribbon would that be a viable solution that would allow you to eliminate unwanted views? 4. Are there any undesirable actions you have to take, or unnecessary items on the page that detract from what you want to see? 5. If all of this is off track, do you have a vision for how you wish the app could help you see only the views you like? Please feel free to share any thoughts on this topic. You can also send an email to [email protected] if you are more comfortable providing this information over a private email channel. Thanks, :) Bridget |
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