Wunderlist - say what?
If you're a procrastinator like me, Getting Things Done can be tough. I've tried using iCal to organise my deadlines, tasks and to keep various aspects of my life on track, I've tried Google Calendar, and I've even tried a notebook and a pen - but nothing works the way I want it to. Other GTD apps I've tried have all been too complicated and there are far too many unnecessary features that just intimidate me and make me feel like I should be doing more with this app than just making lists, and then I start to feel guilty and avoid using the app, and I try to manage things by winging it, but that doesn't work either.
Another reason why I've not been able to find a GTD app that suits my needs completely is because I need one that can manage several different aspects of my life - GirlGuides.co.za deadlines and workflow, my other writing commitments, my personal life, my domestic admin and my Body Thrills admin too. I need to be able to share various aspects of each different task list with different people, and I need the lists to be as up-to-date as possible, and these people that I need to share with are both Mac and PC users so my GTD must be multi-platform (oh, and a mobile version of the app would be nice, too). I needed notifications of deadlines, I needed it to be flexible, workable and most of all, I needed the interface to be pretty. Don't judge me, but if the interface is too boring, I can't bear to use it.
This is where Wunderlist comes in.
The Ultimate List-Maker
Once you've downloaded and installed the app and it's running, you'll have to register as a user - this is as simple as entering your email address, and choosing a password. You'll then be logged straight into the tutorials - the perfect place to start, as this app is (and only at first) a bit tricky.
The entire basis of Wunderlist is (can you believe it) lists. You'll have two default list categories if you're just starting out - Inbox and Tutorials, and adding more lists as you need them, is a simple matter of CMD + L or clicking the New List button, and naming your list. Adding more lists means more categories (like Bills To Pay, Groceries, Deadlines, and within the lists you can add tasks, which can then be further split down into each item that you need to achieve in order to tick that task off your list. If you're following what I'm saying, I'm sure you can see the potential for complete OCD to take over here, but restrain yourself as much as you can.
Changing your background (this is probably the first thing I did in Wunderlist) is a simple matter of selecting your favourite from the choices on the bottom right bar. As you can see, I'm rocking the purple damask.
The bit that got me confused was setting a deadline for tasks/lists. It took me a long time to notice the little clock icon that appears next to each item when you're editing it. This opens a little calendar and From here you can select its due date, or even choose for it not to have a date. This feature is the perfect balance for the procrastinator that needs to get things done, but needs to still feel like there's room to procrastinate. Putting a few items on this list is guaranteed to make you feel better about all the deadlines that you have to meet.
Once you've added tasks to Wunderlist, you'll be able to view them (and switch between them using the time tabs on the bottom bar) according to what's due today, what's happening for tomorrow, and what you need to do in the next week, and also what you should do later and also those tasks that are undated. (The two procrastinator-friendly lists) This gives you an overview of your workload for the next few weeks, and should help keep you on track. You can also view your lists from the collapsible sidebar (each List shows how many Tasks are on it) or search for items from the search bar or CMD + F. While you can't tag your lists, being able to sort them by date should be enough for most users to go on, and it certainly is for me.
There are a few bells and whistles, but these are kept to a bare minimum. There's the ability to star (and thereby prioritise) certain tasks, and these then appear at the top of your list. You can drag and drop various tasks, move them from list to list or arrange them in order of importance. You can tick something off as "done" and you'll then find it under your Today tab. You can also change the font that's used in the application, which I was rather relieved about, as my default font seemed to be set to Comic Sans, much to my horror.
The sync button makes sure that if you're using the app from more than one location, that all your lists are up-to-date, across all of your devices.
At the top of the interface, above your list name you'll see four little icons in the right hand corner. These are all your share functionalities and you can invite other users to share your list(s), print them, email them, or share them with the cloud app, which then generates a URL that you can share on Twitter or with other people that they can view using their Internet browser. You can, at any stage, also choose to unshare your lists with anyone. It's this functionality that makes it perfect for managing projects with multiple collaborators as this serves as a basic reminder of what everyone needs to do and when they need to do it by.
Simplicity is wonderful, but a few more bells and whistles would be appreciated
There are a few features that I would like to see added the Wunderlist app, that would truly make it the centre of my entire universe.
- The ability to tag people (Twitter/Facebook-style) in certain tasks, and send them an e-mail notification of an impending task deadline. I'm not really interested in tagging tasks/lists with keywords, I just want to be able to tag people. That would be useful.
- There's an app for iPhone, and I see that one for Android is being developed too - one for BlackBerry would make this the ultimate multiple-platform GTD app.
- It would also be useful to be able to link tasks to certain files/folders/applications, so that you could access them directly from your List.
- Lastly, colour-coding. Never underestimate the ability to colour-code things to keep your life simple. A simple feature, missing from such a simple application? Surely not.
The bottom line
I've searched high and low for something simple, something cross-platform and most importantly, something free. Something that's easily shared, updated and something without too many unnecessary features and Wunderlist came out tops (in my opinion) for convenience and ease-of-use. It's this, along with Dropbox, that is going to prove invaluable in organising my life between my work and home computers, and sharing it with others.
