Table of Contents
Throughout the past decade or so, I have dabbled with using “to do” applications with limited success due to either a limiting feature set, nagware in free versions, or me simply forgetting about it. In this post, I’ll go into apps and services I tried out in the past, what worked for me more recently, and where I am at now, having successfully implemented a functioning setup I use and don’t forget about, as well as having a brief discussion on how I manage and access my calendars.
Early Days
Although a long time ago now, so the exact details are fuzzy, I do nonetheless remember using Wunderlist, Todoist and Microsoft To Do, finding the latter most successful for me. Nothing too complicated here, just simply creating lists, filling them with tasks, and ticking them off when done.
At the time, I didn’t need reminders or reoccurring tasks, so this was enough for my use, though I later wanted to try out something more.
Tasks
I started with Tasks, probably the most popular Android FOSS application in this field. It’s a clean application with the ability to use filters, tags and add notes to each corresponding task. However, I struggled to get this to sync at the time with all my devices, not understanding at the time how to get it on my desktop. As such, it remained something only on my Android phone, and I started to look elsewhere.
todo.txt
I somehow came across todo.txt, probably through Reddit somewhere, and liked how it was a single, easy to read, file that I could keep easily in sync between my devices with SyncThing. The premise is having tasks in a plain .txt file, with lines like:
(A) write blog post +website @desktop due:2024-05-20
- (A) ranks the priority for the task
- The next section is the content of the task
- +website is the project or tag
- @desktop is the context
- And then it ends with the task’s due date
However, although aware its simple premise was a key feature, I was not drawn to having a text file open and typing out these lines every time I wanted to create or modify a new task.
Sleek and SimpleTask
However, I did not have to! There are various applications with a graphical user interface to aid in task management involving the todo.txt system. Sleek was my favoured desktop application as it had cross-platform compatibility on Linux and Mac. It nicely lays out the categories of priorities, projects and contexts, allow for filtering, and lists due dates. On Android, I used SimpleTask, which while not as attractive as Sleek, was functional in its purpose.
CalDAV
Although more targeted towards calendar use, CalDAV, a protocol to manage and sync calendar information, can also (dependent of the version used) handle tasks too. As a well established protocol, a significant benefit of using CalDAV was knowing pretty much all major calendar applications would work with it, though I was less sure about the tasks aspect.
I was successful in setting this all up inside my Nextcloud installation on my Raspberry Pi server, with tasks working as well as calendars, though I experienced inevitable issues when the server went offline, or when I left my home network, as I do not want to expose my server publicly.
(I have since become aware that I could use something like Tailscale to safely connect to my home devices via a virtual private network!)
Around this sort of time though, I migrated my email services to a new provider to save on costs, and was pleasantly surprised to see they also included CalDAV, CardDAV and WebDAV. Though not too interested in the latter two, I decided to give its CalDAV offering a go, and found it worked flawlessly. With more application support for CalDAV than todo.txt at the time, and wanting something nicer on my phone to manage my tasks, I migrated my to do lists over to CalDAV.
CalDAV Applications
On my Mac, I’ve integrated CalDAV simply through the Internet Accounts section in System Settings, and could access it through both the built in Calendar and Reminders applications. However, I was grandfathered into most features inside Fantastical a few years ago through a bundle, and am using that for my calendar needs, though I am currently using an application I got for free a few months ago, Memento, to access my tasks.
On my Android phone, I am using DAVx5 to bring the CalDAV account into my device, and then Etar for calendar use and Tasks (hello again!) for the to do lists. I like how I can use the widgets from Tasks on my home screen to quickly see my to do lists and check off tasks when completed, and enjoy the interface more than SimpleTask.
Finch
Lastly, for a moment after Microsoft ToDo, I tried out the well acclaimed TickTick, and while I felt restricted on the free tier, I liked how they had lists and tasks related to wellness and personal life, rather than just those related to work, study and productivity.
I’ve spoken before about using Finch, a self-care app that while focused on journalling also has exercise, quizzes, relaxing music and goals. These goals have become a sort of to do list for my personal life, as doing healthy and restorative tasks are rewarded with currency for you to spend on improving the life of the finch you care for.
Finch is unique as part of my setup I don’t want to replace despite not being locally controlled (though no data leaves your device without your permission). However, I would be neglectful in writing this post if I didn’t mention this significant part of my daily use of to do lists!
Tags: Applications Setup Productivity WeblogPoMo2024