Law Students

Review of Things 1.1.3 for Task Management

By Erik Schmidt

Things is a task management tool that fits into the same general category as iGTD, Midnight Inbox, and OmniFocus. Like many apps these days, there’s a companion iPhone app. I’ll cover both flavors of Things in this review.

It is important to note up front that while Things can be used as a very effective GTD (Getting Things Done) application, it is not explicitly tied to GTD methodology. For me this is one of its key strengths. Over the years I’ve continuously streamlined my approach to GTD. As a result, an app like OmniFocus, which is excellent if you’re following a straightforward GTD path, can be a bit cumbersome. I’m fairly confident that as my GTD process continues to change, Things will accommodate such experimentation. If you’re scratching your head at all this talk of GTD, check out John Infante’s excellent GTD for Law Students post at Fearfully Optimistic.

The Things interface is uncluttered and polished. Cultured Code, the creators of Things, have resisted the urge to add more chrome. The resulting aesthetic is clear, to the point, and comfortable. This does not come at the expense of functionality. You can assign due dates to tasks, bundle tasks into projects, create repeating tasks, and even coordinate tasks with other people. Things also seamlessly integrates with iCal to do lists.

Task sorting is straightforward. You can examine the tasks that are explicitly due today or at some other date in the future, your full task list, your tasks by priority, and tasks by user-defined tags. The latter ability is particularly useful. Things implements tagging better than almost any other client application I’ve used. Often times tags feel like a feature that’s been bolted on. In Things tags can be used to assign priority, group tasks into contextual chunks (home, library, etc.), and define logical groupings (law review, financial aid, etc.). Thankfully the flexibility provided by tagging doesn’t impose a user interface burden. This means that I actually use tagging all the time, rather than sporadically.

Entering tasks into Things is fast and easy. This is another area where less is more. You can quickly jot down the basics, then add more detail later if necessary.

I’m also fond of the way Things handles tasks you’ve accomplished. The same sorting and filtering mechanisms are available in the Logbook, which is where tasks go when you’ve completed them. For years I’ve searched for a task manager that helps me keep track of what I have to do now and in the future while also giving me the ability to mine my task history. It’s not something I have to do very often, but when I need to zip back in time to examine a completed task, it’s quite handy.

As an iPhone user I’m particularly happy that Things lets me enter and manage tasks when I don’t have my MacBook Pro available. These days I find myself doing more and more traditional computing tasks with my iPhone, so this ubiquitous access is extremely valuable.

The iPhone version of Things manifests the same attention to detail and elegance of the standard version. It’s responsive, and synching with the laptop is quick and easy. You do have to have your iPhone and laptop on the same network, and you can only sync to one Mac (though there are apparently workarounds if you use more than one).

As you may have already surmised, I’m quite taken with Things. After using it for just a few days it wiped the other task management systems I’d been playing with clean off the map.

Things costs $49.95 (wait, isn’t that really close to $50?), so before you buy you should definitely try the demo. For an app you’ll use every day, I think it’s money well spent. The iPhone/iPod touch version costs $9.99 (again, this figure is suspiciously close to a double-digit round number of $10).

If you’re intrigued by Things but want more info before giving it a spin, check out Shawn Blanc’s in-depth review.

Full post as published by Mac Law Students on August 13, 2009 (boomark / email).