This is my favorite Things (lovely Mac todo utility!)

I'm all about getting stuff done. When I moved to Mac, one of the big lures was finding elegant utilities that help me accomplish actions more effectively. While I appreciate cross-platformness, a number of these apps are Mac-only, since they're dependent on the operating system, or otherwise inextricably linked to Apple's appreciable Human Interface Guidelines.

Things is one of those apps, and while it took me awhile to find it at first due to its generic name, I've been using it in prerelease for weeks. And I just purchased a copy. Tip: if you buy it, make sure to use "THINGSPRESALE20" before Jan. 15, 2009 and get 20% off.

On Windows, I used Google Desktop's Todo, but then I found out they didn't have sidebar support on Mac, nor was Todo ported over. I felt this was a grand opportunity to move up, because as venerable as Todo was (I'd been using it for over 2 years), it lacks features like tags to classify various things-to-do. Guess what? Things has that and much more, but not so much more that entering things takes more time than doing them.

I didn't even read  the manual. Things was a snap from the get-go, and for you perpetual rushers like me, Things even features a Quick Entry: when it's in the background, you press a hotkey and it allows you to enter a new todo with a few keyboard taps and a Return press. There. It's saved. If you want, you can press Tab to enter a tag. And tags autocomplete, which is sheer simple brilliance.

Someone who isn't acclimated to moving so quickly might ask, "Saving a few keystrokes? How does that matter?" Let me enlighten you and insist on the joy of being action-thrifty while I emphasize that all those few add up to many, resulting in a mass cumulative advantage in the long run. And Things has become a forerunner in my journey. I use it several times a day to enter stuff as-needed, capturing even stray idea-seeds which may result in greatness later. (It's happened before, will happen again!)

Things, in all its lightweight and flexible glory, even allows for due dates. It doesn't replace a full calendaring system (of which I use Google Calendar), but keeps scheduling intact without having to rely on another tool. Sweet.

If you're wondering about what else I considered: Omni Software has mounds of great stuff, but OmniFocus has more than I actually use, and is too GTD-system-oriented. (I draw inspiration, but also liberty). So it doesn't jive the best with my flow, tho Ugress likes it just fine. And for raw note-archiving, I use EverNote, which is fine to dump stuff in (and delightfully cross-platform, even if the Mac version lacks features like recording audio notes), but isn't meant for quick action.

As is a trend with me, I tend to buy from nice people, and Things has friendly support. I haven't posted in the forums yet, but did get a nice note back after I wrote to them. They've paid so much attention to detail — their website is just as well-designed as their app, a rarer consistency than you might think — it gives me hope for others to follow their lead.

Only feature suggestion for Things for now: wish I could default Quick Entry stuff to Today instead of Inbox.

So if you're looking for a lovely Mac todo utility, try out Things! And don't forget the money-saving coupon. Put that in your todo list, wontcha?

Tagged as: General