Over a year now I’m using Nozbe as core of my GTD system. This todo app became my productivity booster. Why am I stick with it after multiple attempts to use other products of this category? Read on to find out.
First thing worth to notice is Nozbe’s multi-platform ability. You can use this to do list app on desktop - Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile - Android, iOS, iPad and web. Yes, there is official Nozbe for Linux package! They even have an app for Apple Watch.
Nozbe has a free plan as well as a premium one.
This article contains affiliate links - when you decide to register to Nozbe please use link from this article, so you will get a free month of premium account as a gift! Moreover, this way you let me know that this content is interesting and support this blog.
There are two programs that are geared directly toward GTD that have both an iPhone and Mac application: Things & OmniFocus. The desktop programs for both are shareware and I'd recommend that you start there to get a feel for the two. There are a plethora of GTD apps for the Mac, however sadly there will not be many for Windows. In case you’re a Home windows consumer, you’ll be able to contemplate one of the apps within the Cross-Platform section under. Wanderlust is designed around the Getting Things Done (GTD) system of working, but you don't need to adhere to GTD and can use it as an ad-hoc task manager, or a basic project management tool. Nirvana is the best of the GTD options out there on the web. It adheres very closely to the GTD philosophy and lets me get through my tasks with minimum effort. The pricing is quite reasonable too. Unfortunately, I have to take off one point because the app feels more like a website than a native iOS app at times.
1. Mobile and desktop quick add widget
Absolutely my top reason why I’m stick with Nozbe for longer. My previous to do app experience usually finished within few months of using. Simply adding a new task was too energy consuming.
It takes single tap on mobile or one shortcut on desktop to see quick add widget. It appears on top of your current window, so you can add task immediately when it pops into your head. Shortcuts described below.
For iPhone and iPad you can use quick add directly in Spotlight search box. On Android I use widget on my main screen and it pops up Quick Add input field.
It’s the fastest and best optimised way to add a task to a to-do app I have ever seen.
2. Nozbe hashtag syntax - stay focused on your work
Second thing that makes my life easier and I especially love this as a programmer is a hashtag syntax. Simply type task in a specific format and it is sorted, prioritised, commented, set due date and more… It limits the number of clicks you have to do to accomplish your goal - which is adding task to your system.
Described above quick add widget supports this syntax as well as main input field inside the app.
Why do I like it? Because I don’t like when I’m forced to click, drag, select etc. form UI. It slows me down and distracts me from what I was going to do.
For example assume that we want to add a task to publish this blog post and
It would be lots of clicking in other apps. With hashtags, we can accomplish this with one liner:
Publish post about Nozbe #Blog #Tomorrow #1 h #Computer ## Remember to write something nice about hashtags . Nozbe autocompletes those keywords so user don’t need to remember any of this! You can type # and choose with arrows option that suits you best. Keyboard only!
3. Nozbe keyboard shortcuts
Back for a while to the keyboard context. Here are useful keyboard shortcuts:
Missing shortcuts:
4. To do list app for couples
Shared list of tasks can improve your relationship. I’m not joking right now - using productivity tools and knowledge doesn’t need to narrow only for business purposes. We have started using Nozbe for household tasks and it works amazing. Another example is planning a journey together when you divide some tasks between two of you.
Creating a project “Home” with you and your partner as participants is natural and not interfere with your private projects. Simply “invite people” to desired project and that’s it. Both of you see only shared projects.
Beware that it will limit excuses about “forgetting about something” so use this tool with caution! :)
5. Push notifications with plan summary to prepare one day ahead
Small, yet highly mobilizing feature. You can set up mobile app to send push notifications not only when task is going to happen next few minutes. Nothing is permanent - user can set according times or even disable those notifications.
In the evening you can receive notification with tasks for next day to prepare your mind for upcoming challenges or modify it.
Next summary notification can arrive in the morning with all tasks that you need to complete today. This is your ally. You can briefly plan this day in your mind with one look at notification or go into detail clicking on it.
You can also think about sync with google calendar - it is a quick process and gives nice view for calendar planning. Consider setting up notifications properly to avoid double reminders. There is a special checkbox in Nozbe settings for it.
6. Community and productivity resources
Nozbe is not only the app. It may be your whole productivity ecosystem if you let it.
Creators of the app are people focused on productivity. They record podcast, write a blog, course, moderate facebook support groups, record youtube videos and more. There is a book about productivity! (Book is described below).
I highly recommend not only download the app but also gain knowledge from creators about workflow with Nozbe or tasks in general. All functions are here for some reason and additional reading may give you “Aha!” moments that will change your way of dealing with to do lists.
The materials that they create are universal. If you decide to switch to another app you will take the knowledge with you.
7. Book from the creator of Nozbe added to subscription
10 Steps to Ultimate Productivity by Michael Sliwinski. This book is essential set of good productivity habits. I recommend reading it whether you are interested in the app or not.
Book is quite short - my printed version has 145 pages full of content. No fillers just ready receipts to improve reader’s ability to have meaningful time.
For me the best advice was “Step 8: Review your system regularly” with my favourite quote:
Weekly Review must be done at least once a month.
It was so much fun to read this for the first time. https://breakyellow695.weebly.com/mac-pro-apps-education.html. Weekly reviews were a game changer for me. Previously it was like a single piece of puzzle that I was missing.
I’m a big fan of productivity apps and I have experience with several of them. Usually those apps got stuffed with items and system was slowing me down. Then I was moving to another app - sometimes with exported tasks from previous one that never ended well.
Answer to my problems was regular review of the system and this book explained to me why it is so important. I highly recommend reading this chapter and the whole book for your own benefit.
You can get the book as a gift from Nozbe when you decide to buy a paid subscription. I think it is the cheapest way of receiving the book. Nozbe premium gives you unlimited number of projects, productivity reports and other goodies - when you decide to go premium you can feel the whole power of the program.
You can also order only the book. Simply visit it’s Amazon listing
8. To-do app is not enough? Check Nozbe HOW templates!
There is a mechanism of creating public project templates for others to use. It is called Nozbe HOW and is often used with hashtag #NozbeHOW on Twitter. Great opportunity for content creators to engage the fans. For regular user - ready to do lists with common problems divided into easy steps.
Examples? Here you go:
Above examples are from the official Nozbe HOW website.
Interested in the app?
Are you the kind of person who makes a list at the beginning of the day and then crushes it before the sun goes down?
Or, are you the kind of person who wants to be that kind of person but ends most days with a handful of half-finished projects, missed deadlines, and emails awaiting responses?
Let’s be honest: We all want to be like the person in the first scenario, but most of us are fighting a constant battle to avoid being the second person.
Well, I have a secret for you.
“Getting Things Done” isn’t about being superhuman. It’s about having the right tools and using them effectively. It’s more Batman than Superman.
To get things done efficiently, both at work and in your personal life, you need a system that works. And as a project manager—either by title or by accident—organization and time management are essential skills.
After all, if you can’t keep track of your own priorities and schedule, how can you lead your team in those areas?
But sifting through thousands of productivity apps or trying to juggle projects between a dozen different apps on your phone is counterproductive. So, I’ve done the research for you and have found five apps you can start using today to get your “Getting Things Done” process in order.
What is the ‘Getting Things Done’ process?
If you’re not familiar with the “Getting Things Done” system, here’s a quick primer: “Getting Things Done” is a productivity philosophy based on the best-selling book of the same name by David Allen.
Since the book was first published in 2001, the “Getting Things Done” movement has become a phenomenon, with certified trainers franchised around the world and a global summit in 2008.
Like Elvis Presley’s mantra (taking care of business, or TCB), “Getting Things Done” is known in shorthand as GTD.
The GTD system can be summed up by this principle: The more productive you are, the less stress you’ll have.
In other words, get more done in less time so you can relax more.
The key to this, according to Allen’s system, is to prioritize your inbox so that you can remove clutter and focus on your task at hand, while moving incomplete tasks into a reliable queue until they are your task at hand.
The “Getting Things Done” process requires the following tools:
In 2001, those tools were still physical—an actual file cabinet and desktop calendar. But in 2018, you can access versions of all of those tools on your phone.
For some people, having a physical calendar or to-do list is their most reliable way of getting organized, and that’s fine.
But technology has come a long way since the early 2000s, and apps are here to stay.
A GTD tool on your smartphone includes features—such as automation and collaboration—that your trusty old notebook or daily planner calendar just can’t compete with and can save your business time and money and help your team stay connected.
5 GTD apps to save time and reduce stress
Focusing on the GTD system’s five key tools--inbox, trash can, filing system, checklist, and calendar—we’ve come up with the five options below that address all of GTD’s steps.
I chose these options after reading through a handful of GTD message boards to see what real practitioners recommend and use themselves. These five tools came up over and over again. Some are iOS only (after all, there are quite a few Apple users out there), but I have also included cross-platform options so that everyone is covered.
Apps are listed in alphabetical order.
1. G Suite
Android | iOS
A Gmail inbox alongside the G Suite ecosystem of apps (Source)
The GTD system starts with the inbox, and G Suite—Google’s GTD-friendly ecosystem—has that covered with a little program called Gmail. You may have heard of it: It’s only the most popular cross-platform email client on the planet.
From there, you can archive old emails or file them away into sorted folders, for ongoing projects that you need to come back to.
G Suite also has Google Docs (or Keep) for taking notes and making checklists, and Google Calendar for keeping track of your team schedule. Collaboration is a strength in G Suite: Team members can comment and reply on everything from documents, to spreadsheets, to presentations. And of course, everything is integrated.
It’s almost like Google built G Suite with GTD in mind.
BEST FOR: Highly collaborative teams that are comfortable working in a Gmail-based environment.
Price: $5 per user, per month for custom email domain, 30 GB storage, and 24/7 support. You can download the component apps individually for free.
2. Microsoft To-Do
Android | iOS
Microsoft To-Do on a laptop and an iPhone (Source)
If you’re already familiar with GTD apps and you’re wondering why Wunderlist (the beloved German task management app) isn’t on this list, it’s because Microsoft bought Wunderlist in 2015 and has promised to replace it with Microsoft To-Do.
As of the summer of 2018, Wunderlist is still hanging in there, but Microsoft To-Do general manager Ori Artman said in 2017 that, “Once we are confident that we have incorporated the best of Wunderlist into Microsoft To-Do, we will retire Wunderlist.”
The good news is that—as Artman said—Microsoft has promised to incorporate all of Wunderlist’s best features (such as a free version, collaboration, cross-platform functionality, notifications, and subtasks) into To-Do.
To-Do also includes hallmark feature My Day that allows users to pull a few tasks off their backlog to focus on tackling that day. If you’re an Agile project management enthusiast, you’ll love this feature.
BEST FOR: Agile project managers comfortable working in an Office 365 environment who are looking for a super-simple GTD tool and don’t want to pay a dime for it.
Price: Free
3. OmniFocus
OmniFocus running on an iPhone (Source)
OmniFocus is available only on iOS devices, so if you’re not an Apple user, you can skip ahead to number five. If you are an Apple user looking for a GTD app, you’ll want to give OmniFocus a good, long look.
Sacrificing hyper-simplicity for horsepower, OmniFocus adds some heft in the features department for users who don’t mind trading a little clutter in the UI in exchange for a few more functions.
The most recent update—OmniFocus 3, released in the spring of 2018—includes new features such as automation, tags, and batch editing. If you’re really serious about GTD, you’ll love the way OmniFocus was built specifically on a GTD foundation, guiding the user from inbox to processing and delegation to organization to action and review.
Keep in mind that collaboration is not a strong point for OmniFocus, which is designed for single users (the developer has a different product, OmniPlan, for team projects). If your projects require lots of collaboration, you’ll need a separate tool.
BEST FOR: GTD power users who do most of their work alone are fully committed to Apple products and don’t mind spending a little money for their GTD tool.
Price: $39.99
4. Things
The lists view on the Things app (Source)
The curiously named “Things” app started as a Mac program by German startup Cultured Code in 2007 and was actually one of the first apps released for iPhone when the App Store launched in 2008.
Things has remained loyal to Apple, helping to launch the iPad and Apple Watch with updated versions of the popular productivity app. It won the prestigious Apple Design Award in 2009 and 2017 and is now in its third generation: “Things 3” was released in May 2017.
How has Things stuck around for more than a decade, gaining new disciples every year? Reviewers find that the minimalist design fits well with Apple’s ecosystem, and the app has just enough features—inbox, filing system, to-do list, calendar—to fully implement your GTD system without extraneous features to distract you.
While OmniFocus excels in customization and depth of features, Things excels through its simplicity and minimalist design. Like OmniFocus, Things also cuts out collaboration, so you can use it to get your own things done but you’ll need another tool to get your team involved.
BEST FOR: Solo users who want a simple, elegant GTD tool that fits right in with the clean, minimalist Apple aesthetic.
Price: $9.99
5. Todoist
Android | iOS
Todoist’s view of a task-free day (w https://breakyellow695.weebly.com/blog/uninstalling-apps-mac-os-x. ouldn’t that be nice? ) running in a browser (Source)
If the last two apps sounded perfect to you, but you don’t have an Apple device, you’re in luck. Todoist takes the best elements of OmniFocus and Things and delivers them in a cross-platform package. It even has a browser version.
Dating back to 2007 (the app was created by Bosnian refugee Amir Salihefendic as a way for him to organize his own projects), Todoist has built a user base five million strong (that’s halfway to Flintstones Vitamins)!
What sets Todoist apart? It has a free option, it includes collaboration tools (unlike OmniFocus and Things, which are designed for one user), and it has a unique gamification feature, rewarding users with “karma” for completing tasks.
It also has all the functions necessary to implement a streamlined GTD process. But perhaps Todoist’s greatest strength is that you can use it on any device with a browser.
Best Gtd App 2020BEST FOR: Brand-agnostic and budget-minded project leaders who just need to get things done.Best Software For Gtd
Price: Free
What are your favorite GTD apps?
There you have it. I hope these apps get your “Getting Things Done” process up and running smoothly and help you declutter. Remember, everyone needs to tailor their own system. So try out a few of these if you need to, and see what sticks.
What are your favorite GTD apps? Please share them in the comments!
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If you’re hungry for more content on the “Getting Things Done” process, follow our project management blog, and check out these other articles:
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