Why I Switched to Todoist from Toodledo

Hi, everyone.  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today's video, I'll tell you why I switched my task/reminder app platfrom from Toodledo to Todoist.

Of all of the apps and systems that I use to keep my life straight, I one I look at the most throughout the day is definitely my task/reminder system.   It serves as a checklist during the day to ensure that get things done and it helps me to remember things that I need to do in the future.  Up until recently, I had been using Toodledo for task management.  Toodledo was basically fine for my needs.  It is highly configurable and has great options for recurring tasks.  There were a couple of issues, however.

• First of all, it is pretty basic looking.  The interface looks like it got stuck in the early 90s.  It really doesn't try to hide the fact that it is really just a big spreadsheet.
• Second, the mobile app, while fine, is pretty clunky, not slick at all, and doesn't update quickly on it's own.  I constantly found myself switching screens just to get it to not show completed tasks.
• The next issue is that the developers at Toodledo haven't updated their APIs to use with third party apps.  For example, Toodledo doesn't have updated APIs that allow you to create automations through Siri Shortcuts or IFTTT.
• None of these are deal breakers, but this last one really started to bother me.  Toodledo doesn't allow for manual sorting of tasks.  So, on any given day, I may have 15-30 tasks.  You can sort by lots of things, but I wanted to sort my tasks manually into the order that I was going to accomplish them -- and that is not an option for Toodledo.  As a result, I started using lots of workarounds to accomplish this.  You can see my Trello workaround video if you are interested.  But in the end, I started looking for another app that would meet all my needs AND allow me to manually sort.

I tried out a bunch, but I ended up choosing Todoist.  I'll go through the things I love about Todoist and some things I would change.  

Pros:

• Interface - first of all, the interface is great.  It doesn't look like a big clunky spreadsheet and it shows both tasks and projects (even in the mobile version if you turn it landscape).
• APIs - it's developers do have APIs that are available to use to create your own automations, so that is a “nice to have.”  
• Manual sort - I wouldn't have switched without this, but Todoist DOES allows you to sort your tasks for the day into whatever order you want just by dragging and dropping the tasks.  Perfect.  And then there were some nice additional things that I wasn't necessarily looking for, but that I'm really enjoying
• Inbox - Todoist has an inbox.  So, any task where there is no project assigned goes into the inbox.  This is new for me.  Toodledo doesn't have an inbox, so you basically only know about tasks when they hit your hotlist -- which means they are either due today or overdue.  For this reason, in Toodledo, I would have to give every task a date.  I got used to this, but I can see now that there are many tasks that I would procrastinate about putting into Toodledo since I hadn’t figured out a timeline for doing them yet.  Todoist allows you to get the thought out of your head immediately and then you can go into your inbox and assign those tasks to specific dates or projects.  It helps to clear your mind and capture everything without forcing you to pick and manage arbitrary due dates.  Similarly, I really like the way Todoist handles
• Projects - Toodledo kind of psuedo handled projects through Tags.  But that was really just a way of grouping tasks together.  Todoist has a view for projects that is practically as important as your view for daily tasks.  The idea is that you will be checking in on your projects fairly frequently, adding new tasks, and assigning dates.  It offers a way to plan things out without having to assign every task a date at the outset.  You can add tasks or subprojects to projects, and also subtasks to make mini-projects.  Here's an example, let's say I have a project that I want to call some insurance companies for new auto quotes.  This is not something I need to do on a specific date, but just something I want to do when I have time.  I can put in a project called Auto Insurance and plan out some tasks.  Say, I want to call Geico, State Farm, and Met Life.  You'll notice none of these have dates assigned to them.  I could certainly assign them -- I could make them all due next Tuesday.  That would ensure that these dates show up on my Today task list on Tuesday and it would give them a little urgency.  Alternatively, I could NOT assign dates and just have this project scoped out a bit so that when I do have some time, I can make a call or two.  I'll do a video later on showing how I use Todoist, but I no longer have to make project lists in Evernote and am getting A LOT of use out of the project views. And finally, 
• Labels and filters - Todoist offers some other ways to tag and view tasks using Labels and Filters.  I confess I haven't entirely determined how best to use these, but I think they will make Todoist even more helpful.  For example, for any task where I need to leave the house, I use the tag Errand.  That way, I can pull up every task tagged with Errand when I'm out and about and get all of those things done in one go.  So, those are all of the great things about Todoist.  What are some of the drawbacks?

Cons:

• No Compact View - Other apps including Toodledo give you some options on how much white space there is on your screen.  Todoist doesn't.  I'd like my tasks to be a little closer together so that I could get more of them on one screen, but that is not an option they currently offer.
• Premium features - I don't mind paying for apps that I use frequently, particularly one that I rely on as much as Todoist, but it is worth noting that some of what I would consider basic features like Notes and Tags are only available if you upgrade to Premium, which was $36 a year for me.
• Sorting for Today View - You cannot change the way that Todoist sorts it's Today screen except to change things manually.  And even then, some things supercede manual sorting.  For example, if you put a time on a task, it will sort to the top.  So, let's say you are making a run to the grocery store at 4:30pm.  If you put that time in the task, you can't sort anything above it — even manually.  I work around this by putting the date in the task name, but not actually adding the time.  You can only sort tasks manually with other tasks that are like them.  So you can't mix up tasks that have different due dates or priorities.  And finally, and this is not a small thing for me, I hate the way Todoist deals with
• Recurring Tasks - This is a big deal for me since 70% of my tasks repeat.  But as far as I can tell, there is no mechanism to add recurring dates other than using Todoist's so called "smartdate" entry.  Which means you have to spell it out in natural language in the task and Todoist figures it out.  For example, if I want a task to repeat every Monday, I would enter into the task name "Call Grandma every Monday."  Todoist then figures out that this is recurring date.  The problem is that it doesn't always get it right and it's very hard to go back and adjust or edit.  There is no actual interface to clearly enter the recurring pattern you want.  Instead, you have to play this game with Todoist using different phrasing until you think it might have it in right.  It's maddening.  In addition, you can't simultaneously put in a future date and a recurrence.  For example, if I want to remind myself to call to negotiate my Internet package in August and I want to remind myself to do this every year, you have to first say the date you want it done, save it, then go back in and tell it the recurring pattern.  The other thing that drives me crazy is that tasks recur from the date they were completed as opposed to the date they were due.  This creates work for me and maybe there is a way to change this, but I haven't found it yet.

Based on my decision to switch, the positives for Todoist far outweigh the negatives for me.  Let me know what you think!  Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching!