Things is a task management tool that fits into the same general category as iGTD, Midnight Inbox, and OmniFocus. Like many apps these days, there’s a companion iPhone app. I’ll cover both flavors of Things in this review.
It is important to note up front that while Things can be used as a very effective GTD (Getting Things Done) application, it is not explicitly tied to GTD methodology. For me this is one of its key strengths. Over the years I’ve continuously streamlined my approach to GTD. As a result, an app like OmniFocus, which is excellent if you’re following a straightforward GTD path, can be a bit cumbersome. I’m fairly confident that as my GTD process continues to change, Things will accommodate such experimentation. If you’re scratching your head at all this talk of GTD, check out John Infante’s excellent GTD for Law Students post at Fearfully Optimistic.
The Things interface is uncluttered and polished. Cultured Code, the creators of Things, have resisted the urge to add more chrome. The resulting aesthetic is clear, to the point, and comfortable. This does not come at the expense of functionality. You can assign due dates to tasks, bundle tasks into projects, create repeating tasks, and even coordinate tasks with other people. Things also seamlessly integrates with iCal to do lists.
Task sorting is straightforward. You can examine the tasks that are explicitly due today or at some other date in the future, your full task list, your tasks by priority, and tasks by user-defined tags. The latter ability is particularly useful. Things implements tagging better than almost any other client application I’ve used. Often times tags feel like a feature that’s been bolted on. In Things tags can be used to assign priority, group tasks into contextual chunks (home, library, etc.), and define logical groupings (law review, financial aid, etc.). Thankfully the flexibility provided by tagging doesn’t impose a user interface burden. This means that I actually use tagging all the time, rather than sporadically.
Entering tasks into Things is fast and easy. This is another area where less is more. You can quickly jot down the basics, then add more detail later if necessary.
I’m also fond of the way Things handles tasks you’ve accomplished. The same sorting and filtering mechanisms are available in the Logbook, which is where tasks go when you’ve completed them. For years I’ve searched for a task manager that helps me keep track of what I have to do now and in the future while also giving me the ability to mine my task history. It’s not something I have to do very often, but when I need to zip back in time to examine a completed task, it’s quite handy.
As an iPhone user I’m particularly happy that Things lets me enter and manage tasks when I don’t have my MacBook Pro available. These days I find myself doing more and more traditional computing tasks with my iPhone, so this ubiquitous access is extremely valuable.
The iPhone version of Things manifests the same attention to detail and elegance of the standard version. It’s responsive, and synching with the laptop is quick and easy. You do have to have your iPhone and laptop on the same network, and you can only sync to one Mac (though there are apparently workarounds if you use more than one).
As you may have already surmised, I’m quite taken with Things. After using it for just a few days it wiped the other task management systems I’d been playing with clean off the map.
Things costs $34.95 for students and $49.95 (wait, isn’t that really close to $50?) for civilians, so before you buy you should definitely try the demo. For an app you’ll use every day, I think it’s money well spent. The iPhone/iPod touch version costs $9.99 (again, this figure is suspiciously close to a double-digit round number of $10).
If you’re intrigued by Things but want more info before giving it a spin, check out Shawn Blanc’s in-depth review.
7 Comments
One major caveat for users of Things on the Mac and on the iPhone/iPod Touch:
http://www.macmacken.com/2009/07/16/wi-fi-vulnerability-in-things-for-iphone-and-mac/
In a nutshell, the synced data is transmitted as plain text, there’s no encryption.
Thanks for the link, mds.
I’m not sure how many random packet sniffing crackers hang out at law schools in hopes of finding out law student task lists, but if you’re concerned about this, only sync your Things desktop and iPhone apps while on an encrypted network.
Things is not only used by law students. In addition, especially students like to play with their IT toys and wi-fi packet sniffing has never been easier before.
Wi-fi encryption only solves the problem if you’re the only user in the particular network. It’s security 101 to encrypt all data transmitted over the air and in potentially public networks, so Cultured Code should 1. admit the security flaw and 2. provide encryption ASAP.
As a lawyer, I’m obliged to protect my client’s privacy and I take software security therefore very serious. Cultured Code fails with security 101 and I can only assume what that means for even worse security flaws in Things …
I like Things, but it felt odd and didn’t stick. Things is in a sort of uncanny valley between “simple and straightforward” and “powerful yet hard to wrap your head around.” Things has some very nice GTD-focused features, but the obsession with the daily task list and the open-ended tagging means it wasn’t a true GTD app. And that’s not a knock on the app, it was never intended to be a strict GTD workflow.
In the end, I see Things as the middle child between Omnifocus and The Hit List. Omnifocus will capture the GTD purists and the people who want lots of structure or scaffolding. And the Hit List will capture people who want something very simple and/or very flexible, while still be able to craft a GTD workflow out of the app. I don’t know what’s in the middle of that market for Things unless Cultured Code is going to come up with a unique workflow for Things that catches on.
I get where you’re coming from, John. Being the app in the middle is not a good place to be.
But for me Things is very appealing precisely because it doesn’t enforce the strictures of GTD. My first attempt with Things, some time last year, was brief. I took a look at it and thought, “Meh, this is not a real GTD app, and it’s got too much to be a simple list-style task manager.”
My experience with OmniFocus made me revisit Things. OmniFocus just kept getting in my way. In particular I’ve never really found contexts all that useful. It bothers me to have to think about what context applies to particular task, particularly when I have to go to a fair amount of effort to shift, replace, or otherwise modify my set of contexts. With tagging in Things I can assign meaningful associations that go beyond the strictures of GTD’s contexts.
The second time around, Things had changed, and my task management preferences had changed as well. I’d call it modified GTD or perhaps even GTD-inspired, but it is definitely no longer pure GTD. I don’t have scheduled daily and weekly reviews. I still break tasks down into manageable chunks, but I don’t obsess over cutting my life into slices of five minutes or less. After a while I found that I was directing too much attention to the system, and not enough to actually getting things done.
That said, my philosophy has long been that there is no such thing as a silver bullet. My needs are not your needs, and judgements about software built managing something as personal as day to day tasks is inherently subjective.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of finding a task management process of any kind (pencil and paper, software, consulting an oracle), is figuring out really works for you, as opposed to what should work for you.
Erik,
Great write up. I really like Things as well. Just thought you should remind your readers that actually it only costs $34.95 when you buy it from the education store.
Ah! Thanks for that, Joshua. I was going to check on educational pricing and obviously forgot.