Things 3

I purchased this on my MacBook and on my iPhone. I was hesitant to purchase because I have bought countless things to help me get organized — planners, calendars, to-do lists, sticky notes, and utilized countless modalities — paper and pen, GoodNotes5, Google Keep, Google Tasks, YOU NAME IT! Nothing has really helped me, and I have probably wasted hundreds of dollars. Let me start off by saying that I am a very type A person and extremely productive, but I am also obnoxiously busy every day and have ADHD. It is hard for me to focus on what is the most important thing to do to because there’s just so much of it. I am currently a teacher, planning my wedding, I own an apartment building, and have so many other things on my plate. So, when my to-do list gets too long (AKA at about noon everyday), I become completely overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start or how to prioritize. This app is truly life changing for me. There’s no thrills and it only has what’s important. I can focus on what needs to be done without distractions. It helps me prioritize, I can schedule things out in advance, remind myself of things, organize projects, break difficult tasks into smaller steps, etc. I am SO beyond impressed with these apps and there features, and I am thrilled to have found them to start my year off right!

I have tried numerous apps to try to stay on top of what I need to do, reoccurring tasks, upcoming events, and my accomplishments each day. I’ve used free apps, one-time fee apps, and subscription based apps. I end up either deleting them immediately, or I eventually stop using them due to how inefficient they are, or I end up with several apps to cover all my needs. I tried just using a regular physical journal, which I do recommend and I still use; but it doesn’t help me with reoccurring tasks or my incredibly long list of things I need to do for a specific category. An example would be, I have a special needs child who needs specialized schooling and assistance with every day tasks. Getting him the help he needs is covered by various government services but requires numerous steps on my part to get each need of his covered. It would require me to have a large desk planner to have something like this (which is basically a project but a one person, non paid project) planned out on a physical planner; but this app eliminates that necessity. I’m still new to this app, and I’m certain that I’m not using it to its extent, but as of now, it has been the best to-do app I’ve come across; paid or free! I have my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to delete some of my other apps and replace them with Things3!

Instead of boosting my productivity, my previous task management app had so many customization options that it actually ate away at my time. It became a procrastination tool. I could spend an hour entering dates, setting up filters, and customizing views only to realize at the end of that time that I hadn’t actually gotten anything done. In contrast, Things 3 is wonderfully simple and clarifying. It’s as powerful as my previous app, but it strips out all the distractions and the fussiness, leaving pure, easy-to-access essentials: tagging, scheduling & project organizing. The scheduling feature has been the real game changer for me. The app tracks due dates (if you have them) but—more importantly— you can also add a schedule date for each task. The interface makes it very easy to add, move, & view tasks in the schedule (while keeping due dates fixed). So you can plan your time (and easily rearrange that plan as needed). If you’re a GTD person, you can still use that methodology with Things 3 projects & tags. But I find that I do better by adding the accountability of a scheduled list of things that I want to get done on a particular day or in a particular week. Things 3 helps me organize and manage that schedule better than anything else I’ve found. And it gives me the powerhouse organization tool I need without sucking me down a rabbit hole of customization options.