Today I’m going to look at Todoist, a clean, streamlined task management application that has undergone some excellent improvements as of late.

At first glance, the minimalist interface might give the impression that its features are limited but this is not at all the case.

The Environment

The Todoist screen is composed of 3 main parts: the forecast section in the upper section of the Sidebar (which allows you to see your upcoming tasks), the Projects, Labels & Filters areas in the lower portion of the Sidebar and the Content area in the right pane.

By default, the forecasting portion of the window displays the Inbox (those tasks to which you haven’t assigned a project), project due today and projects due in the next 7 days. Click on the Inbox or Next 7 daysto display details about the project in the Content area.

Creating Projects

To create a new project, click the Add Project link in the sidebar, type the name for the project and press Enter and Return. Your project now appears in the Sidebar under the projects tab. Clicking on the project’s name displays any tasks for that project in the Content Pane.

When you click in a project on the Sidebar, 3 small dots (…) appear to the right of the project name. Clicking on the dots displays extra options for that project. For example, you can:

• Change the name of the project (edit project)
• Add project below the selected project
• Add project above the selected project
• Share your project with others
• Email tasks to the project (you are provided an email address to use when e-mailing tasks to the project)
• Archive it
• Delete it

Creating Tasks

There are a couple of ways to add tasks to a project: Click the Add Tasks link on the bottom of the Content Pane, click the + symbol on top of the Content Pane, or by press the q key on your keyboard.

From the new task window, enter a name for the task and then press Tab to jump to the Due Date box. From here, you can either choose a date from the pop-up calendar or you can manually type in the date. On top of the calendar are icons which allow you to schedule the task today, tomorrow, next week, next month or to reschedule the task for tomorrow, all with one click.

A handy feature is the ability to set repeating dates in plain English. For example, in the due date box, you could type:

• every Friday
• Every mon at 4pm
• Ev day at 3pm
• Ev 2nd Friday
• Ev weekday

…and more. I found the repeating dates feature to be extremely flexible and easy to use.

Task Icons

When you click a task in the content pane, a row of icons appears below the task, allowing you to modify the task further. From left to right, these are:

*add a label to a task
* set a reminder for the task (options include e-mail, SMS or push)
* Set a priority flag for the task
* Outdent the task
* Indent the task

Subtasks and Subprojects

Speaking of indent and outdent buttons, Todoist also allows you to break up big projects and tasks into smaller subtasks and subprojects, a feature that is lacking in many task management applications.

To create multi-level tasks, click the indent or outdent icon. For projects, click the options icon to the right of the project, choose Add Project Above or Add Project Below and then use the indent and outdent icons.

Premium Features

Todoist is a free application but it does contain extra features, should you decide to opt for a Premium subscription. Opting for Premium will turn on task reminders, color coded labels, task notes and file uploads, the abilitiy to sync with your calendar, project templates, automatic backups, and productivity tracking. The best part is, is that a Premium subsciption is quite affordabe at $29 a year.

Another feature of ToDoist that I really like is the daily Todoist Digest which displays your due tasks, overdue tasks and productivity in a beautifully-formatted report that is e-mailed to you daily.

Available Platforms

Todoist has an application or plug-in for a wide variety of platforms, make it an even more attractive option, especially if you are a multi-platform user. As of now, platforms include: Android Phone, Android Tablet iPhone, iPad, Gmail, Chrome, Firefox, Outlook, Thunderbird, Mac OS X, Windows and on the Web.

Verdict

Love it! If you’re looking for a powerful task management application with a minimal interface, you might want to check out Todoist. Once you take a peek under the hood, you’ll see how versatile it really is. You can download Todoist from their Web site at: http://todoist.com.

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