I believe in working smarter so that you have more time for the things in life that really matter (or for general laziness, if that is your bag). But for a while now, I’ve been trying to get my multitude of tasks in hand and managed. After much frustration with NUMEROUS methodologies and applications I think I’ve come across something that works for me, maybe it will work for you as well.
Here is what I needed:
- REAL TASKS, not calendar entries, real tasks.
- Online synchronization and access
- Outlook synchronization
- Mobile synchronization
- Multiple lists for separating personal and work tasks (as well as several other categories)
- Reminders
I will refrain from going into the myriad of things that DIDN’T work and instead go directly into what did. This solution provides synchronization between my Outlook in the office, my Android phone, my Android Tablet (iPhone/Pad will work just fine) and is accessible from any web browser.
First, I set up my task lists in Google Tasks (this is in Gmail) and transferred all of my tasks into these lists (dividing for Personal, Work, etc). However, I really like the enhanced Google Tasks interface directly from this link.
Secondly, I wanted to get my phone and tablet syncing. This is where the excellent app Any.DO comes into play. There are a number of applications out there but Any.DO’s minimalistic interface is both attractive and easy to use. It also has several other enhancements that I didn’t know I couldn’t live without. For example, when a phone call is missed, Any.DO gives you the option of adding a task to call the person back later. On Android 4.0, Any.DO monitors your meetings and pops up an option for you the option of adding action items arising from that meeting… I mean COME ON… THAT IS HANDY. But most importantly, Any.DO syncs to Google Tasks. This is simple to set up just head to the options and select sync.
Finally, I needed to get the tasks in Outlook syncing with my work list in Google Tasks. While maybe it isn’t for you, this is an important step for me. I deal with a significant volume of work emails and many of them I convert into tasks by flagging the email for followup. I tried a number of different sync applications and settled on gSyncIt. There is a 20 dollar price tag attached to it, but considering its flexibility, it is really pretty great. Along with the task syncing I get calendar syncing to Google Calendar as well as the ability to sync any Outlook notes to Evernote. gSyncIt’s flexibility is top notch and allows me to select the specific task list/Outlook label I want to sync.
Even if you don’t have the desire for a all-inclusive task management environment like this, give Any.DO a try, it really can help you get your **** together.