Things 3 makes you want to use it I’d tried Things 2, but OmniFocus kept pulling me back. But OmniFocus is so heavy, so.serious., that it’s not very approachable. Things 3, however changed all that. Things 3 makes you.want. to dive in. It’s beautiful, thoughtful, and spacious both visually and conceptually.
When the first version of Things came out on the iPhone in 2008, followers of David Allen’s Getting Things Done productivity system thought they had died and gone to heaven. While other to-do list apps allowed users to do little more than build lists and enjoy the satisfaction of checking them off, Things came closer to letting users build the 43 folders and multiple list types that GTD recommended. It sold millions and won two Apple Design Awards (one in 2009 and one in 2017).
- She was a cute thing 1 and can be thing 2 or thing 3 or thing 4 or thing 24 when playing dress-up at home, post Halloween.
- 3 Things Lyrics: There are three things I do when my life falls apart / Number one: I cry my eyes out and dry up my heart / Not until I do this will my new life start / So that’s the first thing.
The latest version has been five years in the making, and it takes list apps into a whole new area.
Start with the design. Out has gone the clunky, old look-and-feel that Things used to have and in has come a clear appearance that’s much easier to follow. The circles don’t just tick off a project but show how much of the project has been completed. The flow from title to description to calendar, tag and check list is simple and intuitive. The “Magic Plus” button that adds a new item is draggable, letting you put the new item exactly where you want it. You can also use it to create headings and send an item directly to the inbox.
Start with the design. Out has gone the clunky, old look-and-feel that Things used to have and in has come a clear appearance that’s much easier to follow. The circles don’t just tick off a project but show how much of the project has been completed. The flow from title to description to calendar, tag and check list is simple and intuitive. The “Magic Plus” button that adds a new item is draggable, letting you put the new item exactly where you want it. You can also use it to create headings and send an item directly to the inbox.
In a really smart move, Things also integrates with your calendar service, so when you look at your list of tasks for today, you’ll see a prepared list of engagements arranged in chronological order, followed by the other things you’ll need to do. The addition of a “This Evening” category lets you push off tasks until you get back from work.
The headings turns lists of tasks into complete projects that can be rearranged together, while adding a date to a task is as simple as using a quick popover that pulls up a calendar once it recognizes your typing. Start to write “Buy tickets tom…” and Things will give you a date to select so that you add your ticket buying to the following day. On the desktop, you can also open multiple windows, letting you see different project lists at the same time.
The headings turns lists of tasks into complete projects that can be rearranged together, while adding a date to a task is as simple as using a quick popover that pulls up a calendar once it recognizes your typing. Start to write “Buy tickets tom…” and Things will give you a date to select so that you add your ticket buying to the following day. On the desktop, you can also open multiple windows, letting you see different project lists at the same time.
It all sounds wonderful, and when you’ve spent five years coming up with a way to help people write lists and check them off, it really should be wonderful. But Things does still have a few drawbacks. First, there’s no collaboration. If you’re working on a project with someone else, you won’t be able to share a list. Things is every bit an individual productivity tool. It’s also only available on the Mac ecosystem. You can use it on your Mac, iPhone, iPad and even on your Watch, but not on Windows or on an Android device. Each piece of software also has to be bought separately. Buying the lot will set you back $80, not a small sum when there are plenty of list apps available for free.
But if you’re serious about getting things done, work alone and don’t mind coughing up the cash, Things will have everything you need.
Conclusion
Things is a juggernaut of a to-do list. It’s expensive and only for Mac users but it’s packed with productivity features.
ACCU-RATE:Usability: 9/10 | Speed: 8/10 | Features: 9/10 | Support: 8/10 | Pricing: 6/10 |
I wrote about how I use Things 3 back when I was still working at RescueTime. It's now been more than four months since I left RescueTime to work full-time on Hello Code, so here's an update of how I use Things these days.
Capturing tasks
I mostly capture tasks directly into the area or project where they'll end up. Things encourages you to capture into the inbox and sort tasks later but I don't spend enough time with it for this approach to work for me. I don't remember to sort or review my tasks, so I need to capture all the detail and put them in their place from the start.
Reminders and due dates
I love start dates, which aren't available in many task managers. I use start dates in Things to make tasks show up in the Today view when it's appropriate for me to start working on them, but before they're due (lots of my tasks don't have due dates anyway, so they just show up in the Today view until they're done, without ever being 'due'). For instance, I'll set my monthly goals to start on the first of the month and have a deadline for the last day of the month.
I use deadlines for anything time-sensitive, such as putting out the bins each week or sending my weekly newsletter on time. I have Things set to show a badge on its icon with the number of tasks due today. I hate badges and try to clear them as soon as possible (I also barely use them, so they're very meaningful because they're so rare). For this reason, I don't include tasks with a start date of today in the icon badge number. The badge is just for tasks that must be done today.
I use reminders for time-sensitive tasks because I don't look at Things throughout the day much. I can easily go days without looking at it at all, if there are no badges or reminders encouraging me to do so. I probably get 4-5 reminders from Things each week, mostly for repeating tasks like putting the bins out or making a manual weekly payment. Reminders are a step up from the icon badge, because they're harder to ignore.
Projects and Areas
Here's how I've currently split up my work in Things:
I have an Area for each of the apps I work on, and I make a new project for each new version. When bugs are reported, I generally throw these into the project for the next version. Forecast bar 2 6 2 download free.
![Things 3 3 1 3 Things 3 3 1 3](https://www.triciagoyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/set-your-hearts-and-mind-on-things-above.png)
I also have a perpetual project called 'backlog' in both cases, where I dump all future plans and ideas until they get pulled into a new version project. My Backlog projects are set to be due 'Someday', which makes them stay out of the UI unless I manually make them show up or search for them.
3+3 X 3+3 Answer
You can see that Exist for iOS has a lot of projects right now—I'm working on a big refactor of the app, and the planning for that became too big to keep in a single project, so I've split it up into a project per section of the app. I used to name my projects with a version number, like '1.1.23' but since I switched to Fastlane for automated uploading of new builds, it automatically increases and sets my version and build numbers for me, so I don't always know what the next version will be. Now I just name each project for the major new feature or focus of that version, and use headings to split up the different types of work it will be made up of.
I like to use headings to break up my projects, since I spend so much time in the project view. For my programming projects I use headings for categories of work such as bugs, admin, tests, and new features. This helps me focus as I work through a new version.
For projects related to various blogs, I use headings for categories of blog post ideas, with each task being an idea.
And once a project is done, I complete it. For new versions of my apps, I tend to leave them incomplete but with all their tasks completed until they're fully live and released. Then I complete them, which sends them to the logbook in case I ever want to check up on those completed tasks again.
How I work
I usually keep Things open on my Mac on the Today view if I have anything that needs to be done that day. Things 3 lets you open projects in new windows, so these days I keep a long-running project open in a separate window. If the Today view is empty of tasks I plan to deal with today, I tend to leave the main window open to whichever project I'm currently working on.
![Things 3 3 1 3 Things 3 3 1 3](https://lecinemaavecungranda.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/stranger-things-season-3-poster.jpg)
And that's pretty much it! Things is one of those apps that's got just the right balance of simplicity and complexity, so it feels simple to use, but it does everything you need it to. I'm really enjoying it these days, and I've lost the itch to try other to-do list apps since switching to Things 3.
30 1 3% Of 3
P.S. I make some stuff you might like: Exist, a personal analytics app to help you understand your life, and Larder, a bookmarking app for developers.