To quote David Allen[1. A quote I stole from the Taskpaper page, one of the simpler GTD apps out there], Getting Things Done:

For the most part, the applications that are specifically designed for project organizing are way too complex, with too much horsepower to really be functional for 98 percent of what most people need to manage.

[tweetmeme]Task management is big business. As the market gets more and more crowded, software gets more competitive, adding more features, thereby overwhelming the user. When it all comes crumbling down, people go right back to the roots of task management—a simple todo list. And that’s exactly what this post is about.

There are several of these ‘little’ apps, but which one of them is the best? For even the simplest todo app has to worry about workflow, presentation, and mobility. Let’s start with iCal, and see what’s wrong with it.

iCal is an adequate todo list manager if you have timed events to go with it. But why have such a huge window open, when you’re only going to use the sidebar? Second, iCal is not keyboard friendly. You can’t add tasks quickly, instead you have to remember the shortcut Cmd+K to add new tasks. And third, they don’t sync with the iPhone! You would think Apple would add a todo app on the iPhone, that syncs with MobileMe. Yes, we actually pay for that service. Okay enough iCal bashing, let’s see what the third party developers have to offer.

Anxiety

This super lightweight todo app is just a tiny window on your desktop. The thing that makes Anxiety (and many others as we shall see) tick, is that it taps into your iCal database. That means whenever you add a new task, or make an edit, it instantly shows up on both ends. Anxiety also makes it easier to add tasks. First of all, it’s always open as it hardly uses any screen space. Second, you merely hit the Return key to add new tasks.

There are shortcomings though. It syncs with iCal, so you don’t have access to them on your iPhone, or the web. Second, its task handling is pathetic. It doesn’t handle priorities, completed tasks, and you can’t even edit the task name once added (it merely springs out the iCal window). It also has practically no way to organise your tasks, even if a little bit. It’s free though, but then most of these apps are. If it’s a minimal—as tiny as it gets—client you’re looking for, this is it.

SimpleTask

Built to be absolutely simple, no frills, in every way, SimpleTask is one good looking task manager. SimpleTask also thrives on the keyboard. You can rapidly add tasks, add subheads, change colours, all with a few taps on the keyboard. It’s got search, sorting, all while staying minimal and lightweight. Absolutely brilliant.

To make things sweeter, there’s an iPhone app that syncs with the desktop version. However, the sync is local, so you have to be on the same network to move your tasks across. The iPhone app will cost you two dollars, while the desktop version is free.

Spark

The latest kid on the block, Spark. They’ve tried to take the similar task list approach, and streamline adding notes to each task. I’d like to say it’s a good effort, but it’s not. The task list looks absolutely horrendous, and I couldn’t quite figure out the need to go with Marker Felt as the font of choice for the scratch pad—as if we haven’t had enough of that on the iPhone already.

Spark could get better in the future though as it’s still a first release. It’s core concepts are solid (although, it lacks any syncing). It uses the iCal database, so data is instantly synced across. There’s search, to look through present and completed tasks. It’s free, but for now I’d suggest you get SimpleTask.

Today, or Checklist

Both apps made by Second Gear. Let’s start with Check Off. Similar to Spark (both in beauty and in approach), Check Off stays in your menubar. You add tasks, and you can mount them into folders representing projects. Again, it uses the CalendarStore database, so your tasks are available systemwide, but it’s lack of any aesthetic sense on a modern macintosh makes me want to throw things at it instead of recommending it.

Contrasting to Check Off, Today seems to be a far better application to look at. Today is less of a task list, and more of a daily planner. It uses the iCal datastore, to bring today’s tasks in a single window. It also amalgamates the todo aspect of iCal, making it somewhat of a compact version of iCal. Today does cost $15 for a license.

TaskMate

Absolutely barebones todo app, TaskMate takes up minimal space on your desktop. However, apart from its sheer simplicity, it doesn’t have much going for it. There’s no syncing, no iCal store, no priorities. And sometimes that’s just the thing you need. All things considered, it’s a very simple app for those with very simple needs. I wouldn’t use it, but you might.

Doing things in the Dashboard

The OS X Dashboard can be a great way to have quick access to your tasks, while staying out of the regular workflow. The only drawback as it goes with the current breed of widgets, is they don’t have any way to sync up to the web. However, all of them use the iCal CalendarStore database, so if you have a way to pipe those into the cloud, they could really be useful.

DoBeDo

In terms of functionality, DoBeDo seems like a perfectly good client. Quick to add new tasks, prioritization, emailing task lists, and it uses iCal’s database, so data is available across the platform instantly. In terms of aesthetics however, it’s got 6 themes, all of which fail to bring any pleasing aesthetics to your otherwise pretty dashboard.

To Do Widget

Imitating a tiny notebook, To Do is much simpler than DoBeDo, even if only in appearance. It ships with Marker Felt, but you can easily change that to something a little more pleasing. Uses the iCal database to store notes, support for multiple calendars, and can even add notes to Todos.

The problem here however, is workflow. To add a new task, you have to click the + button, then select the calendar you intend this note to go into, then press OK, and then type in your task. It’s got shortcuts, but the workflow is still a pain to go through.

Organised

Coming from the house of slick, Organised is one pretty little widget, that’s way more powerful than you would imagine a widget to be. Organised encompasses a month-view calendar, your day’s events from iCal, your notes (which are not synced with Mail), world clocks, and, todos from iCal. All of this, in one slick package that occupies less space than your average lava lamp widget. They even have a “Don’t use Marker Felt” option.

If you’re an iCal user, and are comfortable with using the Dashboard, this is the best way to go.

Taking it to the Web.

If you’re enterprising enough to take it to the web, there are some terrific apps out there. You’ve already heard of Remember the Milk, the awesome task manager which costs $25 a year to keep working for you. There are also free apps. These web apps can be encapsulated into a Fluid app, and run right inside your menubar, making them feel like part of the system.

Google Tasks

The king of internet services, Google has made its own task manager. It pops up right inside your Gmail account, and with the right settings in Fluid, can be made into a fairly neat task manager in your menubar. It however lacks keyboard shortcuts, and the speed is laggy owing to it being a web application. However, this doesn’t need to sync anywhere as it’s already on the web, and can be accessed beautifully on the iPhone. In fact, it looks exactly the same as you pretty much access the iPhone version on the desktop.

TeuxDeux

We’ve discussed this app on Beautiful Pixels, and for a reason. It’s beautiful. Using the tastiest, most minimal of user interfaces, TeuxDeux goes back to the drawing board when it comes to task lists. Even though it’s a web application, using it feels natural. Slip it into a Fluid app, and you won’t even know the different.

There is however no iPhone interface, making this fairly unusable on everyone’s favourite mobile device. They have, however, promised one as soon as they can get their act together.

Ta-da List

A web service from 37Signals, Ta-da list promises to be a simple list, managed online, with an iPhone optimised interface. You can add tasks fairly simply, although the web-appyness gets in the way of speedy entry as on a desktop application. So far, this is the best web-based todo manager, although if and when TeuxDeux gets its iPhone optimisation, ta-da list will go ta-da!

How would I do things?

First things first, I still use Things to get my stuff organised. If I didn’t have any projects and such, I’d go with SimpleTask. It’s a simple, elegant app, that is built in rich Cocoa not only on the desktop, but even on the iPhone. If you find that you’re not exactly comfortable with syncing your tasks every time you get out of the house, you might want to consider Ta-da, which is free, clean, and works well-enough on all platforms, no matter where you are. If you have found a solution to somehow sync iCal todos with a service in the clouds, do let me know as I’m sure others are too.