We previously covered the list of top task managers geared toward teams and advanced project management. However, we at Brief are all about ease and simplicity, and sometimes all you need is a simple to-do app to handle your personal work tasks. Or, you might want to keep your grocery list separate from your work tasks. We get it. Here are our favorite to-do apps that help you get organized and stop procrastinating.
Any.Do
For a simple, elegant to-do app that lets you set reminders and add notes, subtasks, and attachments, Any.do is a great choice. If you upgrade, you get recurring tasks and some other features. Any.do’s best feature, available in the free version, is the ability to switch between list and Kanban views. You can also sort all your tasks into lists.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos √ (Premium only)
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels
- Custom Labels/Tags
- Smart Lists/Custom Views
- Attachments √
Bear
If you’re a Mac/iOS user who’s more of a note-taker than a list-maker, you’ll love Bear, a simple, beautiful app that will allow you to sort your to-dos and notes by adding hashtags. One massive advantage to Bear is that you can link notes to each other. That means that not only could you use Bear to link your project notes together, but you can also create a note for each task, attach files and subtasks, then link it to another note as a dependency. Bear doesn’t offer reminders or due dates, but if that’s not how you work and you instead prefer verbose to-dos, Bear is perfect for you.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √ (if you add checklists to a note-as-task)
- Due Dates
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based)
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Smart Lists/Custom Views
- Attachments √
Evernote
Another note-taking app that doubles as a to-do manager, Evernote is particularly robust, allowing you to capture notes from your menubar, from the web, from your email, via text, and in the app. You can set reminders for any notes and add checklists to any note. That said, Evernote might be overkill as a to-do app, although its reminders do integrate with a range of third-party apps.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks
- Due Dates
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels
- Custom Labels/Tags
- Smart Lists/Custom Views
- Attachments √
Google Keep
If you’re a Google fanatic, you might be keeping your to-dos in Google Docs. But did you know that Google also offers Keep, a notes service that can provide a delightful visual display of your to-dos? Plus, it accepts voice commands, and you can draw on any note! If you’re a visual learner, Google Keep is a good option for you. And to stop procrastination, it provides reminders that you can set to a time or place.
- Lists/Folders
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based) √
- Priority Labels √ (if you color-code)
- Custom Labels/Tags
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √
- Attachments √
Microsoft To-Do
As you may have heard, Microsoft bought Wunderlist and created Microsoft To-Do to replace it. While that ended up not happening, Microsoft To-Do is still elegant, if simpler, version from Wunderlist. If you use Outlook, though, Microsoft To-Do better integrates with it and the rest of Office 365. It’s also slightly easier to set reminders, which makes it slightly better than Wunderlist at helping you cut down on procrastination.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels
- Custom Labels/Tags
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √
- Attachments
Remember The Milk
If you’re already a terrible procrastinator, Remember the Milk can help you kick the habit. One of its top features is the ability to postpone a task and track the number of times you’ve done so. You can then view the tasks that you’ve postponed three times in a “smart list” to shame yourself into getting them done.
Other great features include the ability to set time estimates and locations for tasks. However, to add subtasks, attachments, or reminder notifications, you must upgrade to Premium. RTM offers a friendly mobile app, as well.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √ (Premium only)
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span √
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √ (Premium only)
- Reminders (Location-Based) √ (Premium only)
- Priority Labels √
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √
- Attachments √ (Premium only)
TeuxDeux
If long lists make you crazy or you tend to procrastinate, TeuxDeux offers a flexible week-view, as well as a customizable spread that could double as a Kanban board or. The best feature is that if you miss a task, TeuxDeux shifts it to the next day. TeuxDeux is very low-frills: you can’t add subtasks, attachments, or labels to your tasks. It’s all text-based, which will likely appeal to some people. (That said, you can use Markdown to add links and formatting to tasks.) TeuxDeux can double as a content calendar or workout log. Unfortunately, TeuxDeux has no free plan, but it’s also not expensive. It does offer a mobile app, as well.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based)
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels
- Custom Labels/Tags
- Smart Lists/Custom Views
- Attachments √ (links only)
Things 3
If you’re a Mac user and want a clean, beautiful to-do interface that responds to natural-language input and integrates with your calendar, look no further than Things 3. Its top feature is its ability to sort your to-dos according to what time of day you’ll do them. Things 3 seems to cater to homemakers or freelancers(or just extremely busy people), but can easily be hacked to help anyone feel more in control of their to-dos. Sadly, it is pricey, and there is no free version or even a trial.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span √
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based) √
- Priority Labels √
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √
- Attachments √
TickTick
If a lot of your to-dos span multiple days, you use the Pomodoro Technique, you’re on the go a lot, or all of the above, TickTick might be the perfect to-do app for you. TickTick limits most of its best features, such as reminders for subtasks, integration with your (Windows) desktop, and enhanced calendar views, to the Premium plan, but even in the free version, it provides folders, lists, subtasks, tags, reminders, due dates, and notes. All in all, a robust app that’s great for procrastinators on-the-go.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span √ (Premium only)
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels √
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √ (Premium only)
- Attachments
Todoist
Todoist is a flexible, robust to-do app with enough ready-to-go templates to help you get all your to-dos on the same page. Todoist helps you bust procrastination by rewarding you with “karma” when you complete tasks, and it makes it easy to schedule and prioritize your to-dos so that they don’t languish on your list.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels √
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √
- Attachments
Toodledo
If you’re old-school or you dig a spreadsheet-like layout, Toodledo is perfect for you. You can list all your tasks and assign a folder, priority, length of time needed, status, tags, and start/due date. Toodledo also offers a notes app and a habit tracker, so it’s really more of a personal project management system. Indeed, it asks you which system you use when you set it up (it’s particularly geared toward the GTD methodology).
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span √
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Attachments
Wunderlist
If you like natural language to-dos, the ability to attach reminders, due dates, subtasks, files, notes, and comments, and the flexibility of using both tags and lists to organize, Wunderlist is an awesome FREE option. Its primary drawback is that you cannot set estimated time or multiple priority levels. However, it’s still an intuitive yet robust app that will help you avoid procrastination by providing reminders and keeping everything you need in one place.
- Lists/Folders √
- Subtasks √
- Due Dates √
- Time Estimates/Date Span
- Recurring To-Dos √
- Reminders (Date/Time-Based) √
- Reminders (Location-Based)
- Priority Labels √ (you can star tasks as a priority)
- Custom Labels/Tags √
- Smart Lists/Custom Views √
- Attachments √
Conclusion: Find an App That Matches Your Workflow
We’ve tried to identify which work style works best for each app. If you’re on the go a lot, you’ll want a to-do app with a great mobile app and easy input. If you have a lot of different projects, you’ll want an app with customizable lists and views, as well as the ability to set priorities. And if you are terrible about procrastinating, you’ll want an app that not only reminds you to do things but also makes it easy to see what all is on your plate. We at Brief hope this list helped!
