Back in 2022, I wrote about why I kept coming back to Todoist. That is no longer the case.

My work system is dialed in. My personal task/project system is, occasionally, pure chaos. It’s a rotating cast of apps. I realize that switching apps all of the time makes me part of the problem. Shiny new features on a different app pull me away from whatever system I’m currently using. I’m working on it.

The older I get, the more I want to simplify. I’ve been trying to use built-in apps whenever possible. Last year I moved to Apple Reminders for personal tasks. I still stand by Notion for work tasks, because I open the app on my laptop when I start work in the morning and basically live in it until I’m done with work at 5. I’ll probably detail my Notion setup in the future–maybe I can drop a link to the template I’ve built up over the years. This post focuses on personal tasks.

Apple Reminders is fine. They’ve improved the app since the early days, and it does what it’s supposed to do. It’s hard to explain why I keep leaving it for other apps, but a few months ago I went back to…

Things 3.

I know–in the other post I said it was missing a bunch of features. Turns out, I don’t really need those features in a personal task manager. I need a quick way to enter tasks and subtasks. Apple Reminders hasn’t mastered the subtasks thing yet. They’re there… But I live in the Today view, and Things just does it better. In my opinion, taking me out of Today view to view subtasks is inefficient.

What I actually need (now)

My requirements have changed over the years, so here’s my refined list.

1. Easy to enter new tasks
2. Subtasks (easy to enter and review)
3. Simple organization into areas and a few projects
4. Works across all of my devices (Mac, iPad, iPhone)
5. Place to add text notes

What I actually pay

Yeah, the initial price for Things feels high when you look at it, but it’s a one time cost for each platform. I paid once, and it’s still working.

You could argue that Todoist has been adding features, and you’d be right. But I don’t personally need the recent features.

I don’t mind paying for software. In fact, I like paying to support developers that put out good software. What I don’t like is paying for features I don’t use.

Quick sidebar: I’m not against AI. It has its place. But it doesn’t need to be everywhere. Right now, it feels like every software company is adding it as a way to justify price increases. It’s no longer an optional add-on users can pay for if they want it.

How I keep things simple

Getting tasks into Things is easy. If you link it up to your Apple Reminders inbox, you can just ask Siri to add a reminder and Things will import it into its own Inbox. There are some caveats to the Reminders import, but they aren’t a huge deal to me. If I want to quickly type a new to do, long-pressing on the app icon brings up a context menu with an option to add a new task.

Once a task is in Things, I move it to the appropriate area/project. I used to separate my personal tasks into all kinds of different projects, but now they mostly get dumped into the Personal area without being part of a specific project.

The only thing I use the Someday list for is templates. I keep a trip packing list in there and just duplicate it when I need to plan a trip.

Every morning, I open up Things, rearrange today’s tasks into the order I think I want to complete them, and start checking off the boxes.

I have certain habits I want to replicate every morning, so I have a Morning List entry with subtasks. For items that have to be done after work, I mark them for Evening. I think Things is the only task manager I’ve seen that has that feature. It seems simple, but it’s been incredibly useful for me when organizing the day’s tasks.

Things has a setting that allows you to bring in one or more calendars. I have found it helpful to see my appointments at the top of my tasks list. I wish it integrated the way Apple Reminders does–I’d love to see tasks in my calendars–but it isn’t a deal breaker for me.

The Logbook is where completed tasks go. I like seeing when I completed certain things. It’s handy on those Morning List subtasks. I can easily see when I missed one of the habits I track.

Wrap it up already

Knowing me, I’ll switch it up again next year. For now, though, Things 3 is doing exactly what I need it to do. There’s a running joke that we may never see Things 4, and I’m ok with that as long as Things 3 keeps working with Apple’s OS updates. There’s an active Subreddit that is sometimes a good place to find tips and tricks.

Life changes. Your brain changes. The tools you use should change, too. Things 3 is what works for me right now.

What about you? What tools are working for you right now? Have you changed it up recently? Spill the tea in the comments. Half the internet thinks they have productivity figured out. The rest of us can compare notes.