A to do list software helps you keep track of your to do list in a more elegant way than pen and paper. There are two main variations of to do list software:

• Web to do list software: A web to do list software is a hosted service, where a company offers to host the to do list software for you. There are various web to do list software. Please refer to our previous post about why you should not use a web to do list software.

Desktop to do list software: A desktop to do list software is software that runs on your desktop PC. The most important advantages are:

• Desktop to do list software is cheaper than web to do list software: Once you buy a desktop to do list software, there are no more running costs. Most of the desktop to do list software have a fixed cost which you pay once. This is unlike web to do list software where you have to pay a subscription fee every month or so. This advantage helps business to reduce cost of ownership and faster return on investment.

• Desktop to do list software offers maximum Security: Security should always be given maximum importance especially in a business environment. Businesses must definitely avoid using web to do list software. If the hosting server is hijacked, the business plan may be revealed leading to disastrous situations.

There are several online todo list (also known as task managers) such as RememberTheMilk, Ta-da Lists, Bla-bla List, VitaList and voo2do. Four of these web based todo list were even compared on the much respected TechCrunch. In this post I am going to point out why you should shun away from such services. Yes…. we recommend you not to use them.

First of all for your own privacy. We give great importance to privacy, yet why would you be willing to provide detailed information about which tasks you are planning to do, when, with whom and where. Giving such information to third parties is a privacy invasion. Your tasks should be kept to you and shared only with people who you trust. One should avoid divulging such sensitive information to third parties when you can have the same functionality by using a desktop application. A desktop application has the advantage that all the tasks and related information is safely kept on your computer without allowing anyone to peak through your task list.

Most (if not all) of the web based todo list services start as a free service. This is a marketing technique used to gain popularity and users will start referring other users. Once the service catches up, they will make premium accounts. Such a move will force users to either pay a subscription fee or else to seek another service. To perform the latter the user would need to export the tasks (if an exporting feature is implemented) and import all your tasks in the new service. See the comments of sad users of VitaList when they got to know that they have to pay to keep on using their current service.

The last point is: “Why should you pay a subscription service for a simple todo list?” With the cost of a one year subscription for an online todo list service, you can get a todo desktop application that does the job efficiently and more securely. Having a desktop application as your todo list will free you from any dependancy on the quality and availability of service, change in subscription agreements, change in pricing and other problems that online todo list tend to create.

The only advantage I can think of that an online todo list service offers over a desktop application is that you can access your task list from anywhere, as long as there is an internet connection. But this point is nowadays not that valid since most desktop todo list applications support installation on a USB drive. This allows you to carry your task list with you without having to worry about an internet connection.

A todo list application is great when it matches the following basic requirements.

1. Simple Stupid. A todo list application is there to make my life better. Any extra complications in the todo list application tends to put me away from it. The user interface should be simple, intuitive (that is, it is self explainable) and requires a smooth learning curve.

2. No complicated features. It is not about quantity but quality. It is not how large is the feature list of a todo list but which features does it have. Also, the todo list application should be sound and complete, that is, the features should not be isolated on their own but they should all fit together smoothly.

3. Stores my tasks in accessible media. I will refuse to use a todo list application that stores my tasks in proprietory format. This is very common in todo list software and I think it is done for a reason. Basically there will be no way how you can retrieve your tasks from a propritory store. This will make it the biggest nightmare for you to move on to another todo list software. I tend to favour a todo list application that stores my tasks in an open store such as an XML file. This will allow me to take the open store and import it in another todo list software if need be.

The above are the three points that I check for when considering a todo list software. I will ignore any todo list application that goes against any one of the above points. For isntance, most of the online todo list goes against point 3. That is why I don’t recommend the use of online todo list applications.

I would like to start this post by quoting from my earlier post:

“What is a task list? The short answer to this question is: a list of things that you need to do to accomplish something.“

If you would like to read about what a task list is, please refer to my previous blog post: What is a task list?.

There are several reasons why a to-do list makes you more productive. In this blog post I am only going to focus on the most important benefit that you get from a to-do list.

Continue Reading »