This free to-do list app keeps me organized and sane

For a very long time I questioned if I used to be merely proof against the productiveness advantages of to-do listing apps since they didn’t truly assist me full my targets within the long-term. It appeared like if I wasn’t capable of full a job immediately, it might disappear into the ether, by no means to be seen once more or finally accomplished.

Then a colleague recommended TickTick to me in 2018. The app impressed me a lot that I take advantage of it to at the present time though newer productiveness apps have launched in the marketplace — it has develop into one of many free apps I can’t live without.

A standard downside I encounter when utilizing productiveness apps is that they attempt to do an excessive amount of directly and it truly takes a while to set them up and get acquainted with their options. Contemplating I’ve ADHD, an app that may assist me maintain organized makes my life simpler. However on the identical time, I get overwhelmed when there’s an excessive amount of info to absorb and an excessive amount of to be taught in a brief time period.

It additionally signifies that when a job shouldn’t be front-and-center, I’ll usually neglect about it. You may’t rely on me to open an app day by day to test my reminders if it’s not already in my day by day routine.

And that’s the place TickTick excels — it’s easy and intuitive and doesn’t drive you to familiarize yourself with all of its options directly. The truth is, you don’t must even create an account to get began. You merely set up the app and begin including duties immediately. These duties may be as easy or as difficult as you need them to be. For instance, I normally set my duties to be a easy textual content observe that pops up at a sure time. However if you wish to categorize your reminders, you possibly can add tags, subtasks, precedence flags, and attachments. You too can assign them to particular lists if you wish to arrange your duties additional. For instance, I’ve lists for Buying, Work, and Private gadgets.

Different options embody a calendar view (although some calendar views are locked behind a paywall), a behavior tracker, an Eisenhower Matrix tab, and a newly launched countdown characteristic. However I largely use it for the reminder options, at the side of different free apps that keep me organized.

Once I set reminders, additionally they reside in my notification bar, even when I dismiss the preliminary popup. This takes care of the issue of needing a job to stay front-and-center. Each time I test my cellphone, the listing of day by day duties is there ready for me.

Apart from its easy but highly effective interface, there’s one other characteristic that retains me coming again to TickTick — the power to snooze my notifications. That is the very first thing that set aside the app for me and it ensured that even when I couldn’t get to a job immediately, I might be reminded of it later.

You could possibly argue that this simply feeds into my behavior of procrastinating, however as a rule, it provides me the time to arrange for the duty and get began. For instance, I could get a reminder to e mail somebody after I’m not presently at my desk — so I can snooze it for quarter-hour whereas I end my espresso and switch my PC on.

If I understand I gained’t be attending to my job that day, I can snooze it to ping me the following day as a substitute. That is excellent on days the place one thing interrupts my schedule or I find yourself with an sudden migraine and might’t full my duties for the day.

On the identical time, the app doesn’t consistently ship me notifications for decrease precedence duties. If it did, the notifications would truly hamper my productiveness relatively than bolster it. I’ve a reminder for a weblog put up that has been sitting in my TickTick inbox for weeks, however that’s not because of me forgetting it, however me struggling to search out the time to finish it. So I let it sit in my inbox in order that it stays within the periphery of duties I need to finally accomplish, with out it changing into a nuisance that causes me to prematurely dismiss it.

So if TickTick is such a fantastic app, why don’t I subscribe to the premium plan? This largely has to do with my very own private preferences and protecting my software program subscriptions to a minimal. There was a time I used to be subscribed to the app’s premium plan, however I ended up canceling my subscription as a result of I wasn’t utilizing the premium options sufficient to justify the fee.

That mentioned, I do assume that TickTick’s premium model is without doubt one of the higher choices on the market if you happen to’re searching for a to-do listing app that may combine with different software program and sync a number of calendars. The annual plan prices $35.99, making it extra inexpensive than lots of its alternate options. With the premium model, you get entry to extra calendar views, the filter characteristic, extra lists, extra energetic duties, the Fixed Reminder characteristic, and extra attachments per day.

Since I worth TickTick’s simplicity, its free plan does greater than sufficient for me. I’m additionally capable of sync my smartphone’s native calendars while not having the premium plan. However if you happen to like TickTick and also you simply wish to lengthen its performance, then I’d suggest attempting out its premium model.

Whereas TickTick is ideal for my wants, you may nonetheless be looking out for different to-do listing apps which have sure options or integrations. Whereas the premium model of TickTick helps integration with calendars and extra calendar views, not everybody needs to should pay for a reminder app.

If TickTick isn’t for you, take into account one among these alternate options:

• Todoist: Whereas some folks may discover Todoist a bit overwhelming, it consists of loads of options in its free model. One in every of Todoist’s finest options is the provision of templates, which you’ll be able to copy over to create duties from. For instance, the Buying Listing template provides you classes and gadgets you possibly can edit after which test off. Its calendar view can be higher at getting a days-long overview of what you have got forward of you. I additionally like which you can allow morning and night overviews on your duties, which might be helpful for those who prefer to check-in with their day by day progress.
• Google Tasks: If you happen to’re searching for a very free to-do listing app, then Tasks includes essential features reminiscent of checklists and reminders. The app is finest suited for many who already use different Google apps reminiscent of Google Calendar and Gmail because it means that you can create new duties from inside them.
• Microsoft To Do: If you happen to’re a heavy consumer of Microsoft’s apps, then Microsoft To Do is a becoming choice to kind and arrange your duties. The app does require a Microsoft account to enroll, however this lets you combine your flagged Outlook emails as duties and sync assigned duties with Planner.
• Any.do: One other sturdy free to-do listing app, Any.do has helpful options like an outline tab on your schedule and an intuitive, categorized grocery listing template. Its calendar view can be extra intuitive than TickTick’s restricted free calendar view.
• ClickUp: If you happen to’re searching for an app that also has a free model, however packs in a bunch of productiveness options, then ClickUp is an effective alternative that features to-do lists and reminders. Along with your duties, you may as well add paperwork and occasions, observe time spent on duties, and collaborate with group members.

Every to-do listing app has its energy and weaknesses, however I discover that TickTick is probably the most feature-rich whereas additionally addressing the particular ache factors I’ve with reminder apps. Then once more, you possibly can at all times get ChatGPT to send you reminders.