Review: Toodledo Task Manager
First, let me share a little secret with you. I am a master procrastinator. I always manage to get the job done, and often to the best of my abilities, but if I don’t have that looming deadline, sometimes time slips through my fingers. I blame YouTube, Twitter, FreelanceSwitch, WorkAwesome, and lifehacker. If it weren’t for them, I’d be massively productive whenever I sit in front of the computer.
As I started to get more clients, I realized that I needed a task manager to help me stay on top of the various projects. After trying a few of the free or freemium options, I opted to take the plunge and pay the annual fee for Toodledo.
What I like about this product:
- Web-based – Doesn’t matter which computer I use, I should be able see my tasks.
- Simple – It only takes me a few seconds to enter in a new task, but I can add as much detail as I want/need.
- Ubiquitous – There’s an iPhone app, Firefox Plugin, iGoogle widget, Windows gadget. Pretty much anywhere I am looking I can be constantly reminded of my outstanding tasks. Funny how at the moment, that seems to be a good thing.
- Helpful – One of my current favourite features is the “Scheduler” button. If I’m sitting at my computer with only an hour or two available, I can click this button and Toodledo will suggest the project that I work on.
- Smart – I really like the feature of forwarding my emails to a top secret email address, and they will automagically become tasks. Putting special characters in the subject line will give the task priority, due dates, context, and more. And even better than email, I can tweet myself new tasks with the same special characters. There’s a feature to retrieve your tasks via email or twitter, but I haven’t had a need to try that yet.
- Cheap – $15 per year for the web based tool, and $1.99 for the iphone/ipad app. And it’s a business expense!
- Shared – With the pro subscription, you get the ability to share tasks with others. I will be using this with my virtual assistant, but I haven’t explored it in depth yet.
- Subtley nagging – I’ve got it set to send me a daily email of any items on my hotlist. Toodledo will add any overdue projects to the list, so a quick glance can help me figure out what the priorities for each day should be.
- Supported – Sometimes it’s not practical to assign tasks by typing them in. Like when you’re leaving a client appointment, you can use the time on the road to enter the new tasks you need to complete while they’re still fresh in your mind. By integrating with Jott.com, you can call in and they will convert your voice to text and send it to your Toodledo account.
There are many other features in Toodledo, like folders, notebook, iCal support, and statistics. If you prefer a hipster PDA – you can even print off your task list, and with some fancy origami, create a hard copy of your to dos.
What I’d like to see
- More integration – There’s an option to use a 3rd party app to integrate with Outlook, but it comes with a warning that it might “accidentally delete all of your tasks” – not quite the feature that I am looking for.
- Time management – You’ve got the ability to enter how long you estimate each task will take, but there’s no timer feature yet. And if there were, I’d like it to be able to integrate it with Freshbooks, to ensure I am billing for all of the work I’m doing.
- Contacts – My folders are all named after each client, but it would be great if I could have this synch up with my current contact list. I try to keep the notes together, so if one app has everything I need in one spot, I think it might be a bit more useful.
- Native voice-to-text conversion – I like the integration with Jott, but I’d rather not have to pay one service to use another. Love to see this feature available directly from Toodledo.
So far, I’m quite satisfied with Toodledo. There’s a lot of it that I haven’t discovered yet, but based on the parts that I’ve used so far, it’s a great tool for me and my procrastination habits. Now all I have to do is remember to enter everything I need to do. I’ll probably start doing that – tomorrow. You should see this great YouTube clip that just came in….
Thanks for the product review, my only concern is that your data (confidential client passwords and such) is hosted and stored on another persons server. Not sure how that would play into a privacy policy.
yes, exactly. How can you trust someone with your confidential data.
If it would have been a product of google , there is a Trust bond.
@Jordan – I only see this product as a task manager – not sure why I’d try to store confidential data on it.
@hitesh – Google’s policy of “do no evil” is just a company policy – and policies can change.
Have you tried Activity Tracker Plus (http://code.google.com/p/activitytrackerplus/) . Its a free online todo task manager and time tracking tool that stores data in your Google spreadsheet. Interesting is that you can create an anonymous Google account and use it with Activity tracker plus. You will have full control of your data in this case. You remain anonymous as Activity Tracker Plus doesn’t get your information and Google doesn’t know who is accessing the data
As a ToodleDo user.. I find the “Scheduler” tool quite useful when I dont know what do to next ! ( basically.. you tell ToodleDo how much time you have available.. and it will tell you what tasks you should tackel.. based on due-date/priority.
Thought *not* perfect.. it can certainly help get the ball rolling !
Oli
I’ve been using Toodledoo with the Todo iPhone application ($9.99 in AppStore: http://www.appigo.com/todo) for a year now. My wife also uses it and we synchronize our work, groceries, and vacation lists (places to go) through the application. It’s essential for me when I’m at meetings since I can quickly open up the app and make a list.
I’m not much for the online version — too many features can be intimidating, but it’s free and works well since it has a robust API.
I believe they do have a timer (and I’m not talking about their so-called integration with T-sheets, which is incidentally pretty weak). There is a little play button (if you choose to display it among your columns), and it should time your tasks. Let me know if you can’t find it easily, I should be able to upload a screenshot for you.
Oh, and I don’t think there’s FB integration yet. And if you haven’t already, you should consider cross-posting your feature request at their community so it’s heard by their developers
thanks for the tip – found the timer, yay!
great point about crossposting this review – I’ll do it asap
I just started using this product and it’s lacking in visual interface on the website, but the iPhone app is pretty slick. For all of the features and customization that it has….it’s worth the $3.99 (as of right now) for the iPhone app and the $15 per year for the service.
I hope they can cleaning up the UI on the website, maybe use some slick jQuery drag and drop, etc….but it’s well on it’s way!
Thanks for the post!
Well, Like to try this app. and once I compare with my current app. ill post another comment.
btw, thanks for the review for a new app.
I’ve been using toodledo for a while now and have managed to find a Mac app for it which just sits on my dock. Very helpful!
Which Mac app did you find and are happy with?
I’ve never attempted to use anything that sophisticated. Strange, with all tech I’m into I still keep my task list mainly with pen and paper…. how archaic.
actually, i think pen and paper is great. there is a difference between sophisticated and complicated. personally, i found most of these to-do list apps pretty much require so much involvement that they more or less get in the way of just doing things. which, is why i decided to make my own task list app.
i think of it more as blending the simplicity of jotting down to-do’s on a small pocket-sized notepad, but taking advantage of the key aspects of the GTD system in digital form (project groups, contexts, what to do next or far in the future – however, all optional), and then… stopping there.
for myself, and i think most others, once the initial fun rush of “hey, i am organized now, and checking off stuff on my iPhone” is over, and the system suddenly becomes slightly tedious or grabs even one extra minute of your time more than you want it to, one reverts back to pen and paper. but, hopefully, my little app has hit the sweet spot it is aiming for. still planning a few more features, but definitely keenly aware of “feature creep” and will always keep it simple above all else.
Strange.. with all the tech I’m into, I still keep my to-do list with pen and paper. How… archaic.
We had a look at Toodledo and liked it but went with http://www.dooster.net and we’re finding that really good. I’m a pen and paper person too but my boss was at his wits end. Things are definitely easier in the office with these task managers.
I’m not into tech. Not creative that way and it’s only when I really need or am obliged to use that I do. So when my boss declared that we were going to be using a task collaboration manager a few months ago I feigned enthusiasm. He looked at the usual suspects and in particular Toodledo but chose http://www.dooster.net. And it’s been good. He had been getting really horrible and basically blaming me for missed ops and crossed wires. Since we started using dooster.net things have been running smoothly. He’s happy and I have to give the credit for that to Dooster.net. Give it a try too.
I switched from Things to Toodledo about a month ago. Could not be more pleased with Toodledo. I should have switched long before. Recurring tasks were a problem for me in Things but are simple and slick in Toodledo.
Toodledo is the single most underrated task management tool available. I quickly ditched the overrated ‘Things’ app for this killer tool. I have the iPad app, MAC fluid app found here: http://www.toodledo.com/forums/7/9427/0/toodledo-mac-app-fluid-ios-style.html, and Firefore extension. Perfect sync, perfect interface and best of all it’s free–for most of the core function. I will be upgrading just for the file storage and to say thanks to the developer for the killer tool.
We looked at dooster.net and are now using it full time.
Toodledo is OK as a list only tool. But dooster does lists better plus it is fantastic for working collaboratively with others eg clients and our own team / sub contractors. What really sold us was the simple time tracking on each task
thanks for the heads up.
dooster doing affiliated marketing as fake blog comment posters? i have created an app, too, and am also desperate for sales. but, i choose to only comment philosophically on the topic at hand. i recommend not being so strong handed or fake about it.
Thanks for the review. After reading many many reviews about Toodledo, it was yours that finally convinced me to give it a try.