The one aspect of my ‘personal’ productivity system that is currently letting me down is also a biggy; tasks.  Tasks at work are handled by a paper-based system and I’m pretty happy with that.  Personal tasks however are currently in a number of places and I really need to get them all together if I ever hope to do another weekly review.

So with that in mind, I thought I’d take a good hard look at what I’m using to make sure it is the most efficient for me.

The Story So Far…

I currently have a Vista-based PC, a WinMo 6 smartphone and a number of paper-based notebooks and online task and calendaring accounts.  I use Outlook on the PC (only for syncing with the Smartphone) and Pocket Informant on the WinMo phone for handling calendar appointments, contacts and tasks.

Some of my tasks are in the phone.  Some are in my Remember the Milk account (mostly shared task lists for shopping and housework) and some are floating around in a less than helpful fashion in my head.

So what do I want…?

The ideal task system:

  • Online so I can access it from anywhere – I want to be able to see my contexts and tasks from either home or work.
  • Import/Export Capabilities – for dragging my current tasks in and out (less of an issue if I get my next wish).
  • Syncing/Mobile Access – My phone is my primary device so it must have at least a mobile webpage for access.  Ideally a Winmo client.  Double-bonus-points for a syncing client that integrates with Pocket Informant on my device.
  • Sharing – I share task lists with other people.  I want to be able to keep doing this.
  • Intuitive/Easy to use/Pretty/Easy – yadda.  All the things everyone else wants.
  • Functionality -  I’d love to be able to set up larger projects containing multiple tasks and have tasks unable to start until another task is completed.  If nothing else, then reminders, the ability to set due dates and priorities and a percentage complete/status are a must have.
  • Cost – I’m not against paying (although I really enjoy free) however a trial period is essential for paid services.  Cost should be reasonable and double-bonus points for multiple currency payments.  I don’t operate in US Dollars much and at the moment the exchange rate makes everything twice the price.

So what am I prepared to do?

Test.  Trial.  Experiment.  Review.

I intend to trial a number of online task lists over the next few weeks to find the one I really like.  I have a list of task list applications I have found already and will be expanding it as time goes along.  I’m really hopefully that I’ll be able to find an application that will fulfill at least most of my requirements while keeping the downsides to a minimum.

I’ll report back on my results and provide some feedback and scoring based on my wish list above.

The list (in no particular order)…

  • Vitalist (I’m beginning here as I reviewed this application quite some time ago and felt it needed another look)
  • Task2Gather
  • Goals on Track (Thanks for the rec, Harry)
  • Remember the Milk
  • Toodledoo
  • Todoist
  • Doris
  • GTDagenda
  • Doitdoitdone
  • Wipee List

I expect to expand this list as I find more but if you have an application you love that isn’t on the list, let me know and I’ll put it into the mix.