The Best To-Do List App

“To do” by Nikki Buitendijk, found on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons

What’s the best to-do list app? Lots of people have opinions about that.

• In September 2014, Casey Newton of The Verge said, “Wunderlist is the best to-do list app for the average person.”
• Robert McGinley Myers of The Sweet Setup says that the best simple to-do list app for the Mac, iPad and iPhone is Clear; the site also recommends Wunderlist for shared lists and Omnifocus for those who want a GTD suite of apps.
• In March 2014, Lifehacker asked its readers for the best to-do list manager; the top five nominees were Google Keep, Any.do, Wunderlist, Todoist and HabitRPG.

And you’ll find plenty of recommendations for other apps, too.

But I was just listening to a podcast (Cortex, episode 7) where CGP Grey perfectly captured my feelings on the subject. He said:

If you look on the App Store, there are a bazillion different to-do apps. And you have to find a to-do app that just fits with your mind very well. ... People think about their to-dos in very different ways, where one app is good for someone and it’s just a terrible fit for somebody else.

And this idea applies to more than just to-do apps. Grey also spoke about various email apps. Regarding Gmail, he said, “It does not work with the way I think about email, for whatever reason.” And what about the popular apps that work in combination with Gmail?

I think a lot of these Gmail apps like Inbox or like Mailbox — if they happen to line up with the way you think about email, then they’re amazing. But if they don’t fit the shape of your mind, then they are terrible.

This is exactly what I’ve found. It’s like every other organizing challenge; what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another. It might take some trial and error, but when you find the apps (or paper solutions) that fit with the way your mind works, you’ve got the right ones for you.