Desks littered with stacks of papers, post it notes hurriedly written in alien shorthand and files named ‘Project – Final Final approved with changes and revisions v2.0’; a freelancer’s life can never be completely organised.
As fellow chronically disorganized humans i.e. freelancers, we have found that task management is key to successful projects. Clear and well set tasks not only help you make sense of what’s left but also assist in devising efficient ways to get your work done.
Although some people still rely on good old pen and paper, for most people smartphones and computers aide in keeping tabs on what needs to get done. While your phone may have a basic reminder application, you might want something a little more robust. Both the Android and Apple app stores are teeming with hundreds of task management apps, but picking the right one for your specific needs can often become overwhelming.
Our team at IndieFolio has gone through a plethora of Task Management apps over the years as we’ve worked on various projects with different people. We have found that there are certain apps which are currently a cut above the rest. These apps are preferred by us because of a host of factors including pricing, design, ease of use, cross-platform support, etc.
Here are nine to-do apps which we’ve found to be the best in ensuring our work gets done a little bit quicker:
Any.do
If you’ve found that standard to-do apps don’t work well for you and you want to try a more proactive organizer, Any.do might fit the bill. Rather than using different list categories such as ‘Home’ and ‘Work’, Any.do defaults to showing what you need to get done today, tomorrow, upcoming and our inner procrastinator’s personal favorite, “someday.” Naturally, you can put items into different lists as well, but the main interface is designed around managing what you want to get done today, regardless of whether it’s personal or something from work.
To add to that Any.do seamlessly syncs with your phone’s mobile calendar. It also keeps your tasks in sync across platforms be it android, iOS, desktop or web. And for those of us who never manage to check everything off, there’s a feature called the “Any.do Moment” that gives you a rundown of your day and lets you reassign tasks to different days. It’s also one of the few to do list apps with Amazon Alexa support.
Evernote
Evernote is one of those hall of fame productivity apps that pretty much everyone knows about. It supports multiple methods of taking notes and reminders, including voice memos, full lists, photos, videos and even the ability to attach word documents and PDFs to your lists. This was one of the first to-do apps to offer security features like password protection for your notebooks as well as the ability to collaborate with other people.
One downside to all this goodness is that it comes for a price. Literally. The free version of Evernote is a bit lackluster and one needs to purchase the premium versions to make the most of this app.
Habitica
Habitica is another of the to-do apps which choose to differ from the norm and offer a completely different take on the to-do list. This is apparent from the moment you open the app where instead of typing in your tasks, it asks you to create your character. Habitica uses a gaming RPG-style to motivate you to complete your daily tasks. Complete tasks and your character gains experience and gold that can be spent on making them more powerful. Not only does the gamification extend to task fulfillment but in case you daily to complete your tasks for the day, then your character will take damage.
While it is a bit more complex to set up compared to other apps, if you are someone who loves role playing games, Habitica might just be the perfect match for you. It truly does make your day better when you think of your daily routine tasks as ‘grinding for experience’ before you take on the boss monster tasks for the loot.
Keep
Keep’s strength is its relatively simple design. The simple card style UI along with the vibrant colours make it instantly attractive. Along with to-do lists; Google Keep also allows for written notes, voice memos, and pictures to be stored and organized with a series of custom tags and categories. You can also invite collaborators to contribute to individual notes which makes it perfect for planning projects together with colleagues.
Changes made on shared notes will reflect on collaborator’s devices almost instantly and everything you’re involved in can be accessed from your desktop as well. Completely free, included with every Google account and available on both Android and iOS devices along with a web and gmail extensions, Google Keep is a great choice if you need something simple and don’t want to fuss around.
Memorigi
Just like Evernote, the free versions includes just the basic features with a plus version adding more features and a monthly subscription for all the features that you’d want to brag about.Microsoft To Do
Organizational tools rarely exist in a vacuum. If you’re wedded to Microsoft’s ecosystem with Outlook emails and Office work, then you might be excited to learn that Microsoft has its own to-do app. Created by the Wunderlist team after Microsoft bought them in 2015, To Do is loaded with all the features that a task management app needs to have while also providing cross platform support with Windows 10.
What makes To-Do stand out is its suggestions engine. There is an emphasis on My Day – wherein the app suggests tasks for you to complete over the day from across your various lists. This makes the app not just a blank canvas to write and tick things off from but closer to a sentient assistant helping you complete tasks. It even has a smart suggestion tool built in that will suggest tasks for you based on your previous record. It’s a neat feature and we really appreciate it.
Microsoft To Do does currently lack any collaborative features but they may be included in a future update. On the other hand, the application is completely free to use.
Todoist
The bottom line is, any feature that you may think a task management app needs to have, a little digging on your end and you will find it already present in Todoist. On top of its mobile apps, you also get native apps on Google Chrome (as an extension), desktop, android wear, apple watch as well as Google Assistant and Siri integration. You’ll need to go pro for all of the features, but this is one seriously good to do list app.
Trello
Wunderlist
While it has been purchased by Microsoft and To do is going to be the app that the team will continue to develop features for, Wunderlist still exists and is a featured filled stable app that is used by millions for their task management needs. It features easy methods for setting up new tasks, simple collaboration between users, and the ability to assign tasks to specific groups.
Wunderlist is a lot more generous compared to other apps when it comes to providing access to its features for free users. And lastly, the notification sound that Wunderlist has chosen for completing a task is absolutely addictive. There is something about it which makes you eager to complete the task even quicker just so you can hear that ‘ting’! Call it a Pavlovian response, but just hearing that sound from our colleagues’ desks is enough to make us work twice as hard at our own projects.
