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.

A to do list is a brain dump of tasks that need to be completed. A to do list is a very simple yet effective tool in time management. Writing down tasks in a to do list helps you get organised and this will in turn help you focus your energy on what needs to be done first. To create a to do list go through the following steps:

• Think of everything that needs to be done: Focus on what needs to be done and write all the tasks to be done down. Keep refining your to do list until all tasks are written down in proper English and can be easily understood.

• Prioritise your tasks: Some tasks are more equal than others. Hence make sure that you prioritise your to do list, putting the tasks that need urgent attention first. This helps you focus on what is most important, leaving last those tasks that are less important.

• Assign a start date or end date: If a task in your to do list can be assigned an end date or a start date, then do so. This will help you further priotise your tasks, giving attention to the tasks with the nearest deadline.

Creating a to do list requires an initial effort but it will pay off later on. This is because once you have all your tasks written down in a neat to do list, you can easily measure how much work has been done and how much more work is left. Since a to do list is something dynamic, to do list software are developed to help you create a to do list.

A to do list software helps you keep track of your to do list in a more elegant way than pen and paper. Creating your to do list on paper has several disadvantages, such as, you can easily lose your tasks, writing tasks on multiple pieces of paper quickly gets messy, and you cannot edit, filter and sort tasks easily. With to do list software you can do what you do on paper and more and at the same time do it easily, efficiently, securely and with no hassle.

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.

A todo list software can help you remember important stuff and keep everything organised.

Todo list software is your best friend when you want to get your life organised. Basically a todo list software is a computer program that allows you to keep track of all your tasks and subtasks, along with their priority, due date and their progress. In short, it will handle all the details about your task list, freeing you from remembering detailed stuff about what you are working on and what the next step is. If you never used a todo list software I really suggest you try it out. I am sure that you will never regret it.

A todo list software is a very simple yet effective software. Once you start using it you will see the benefits of having all your tasks gathered in one place and you will never go back to paper based todo lists. In this post I am going to give an example of people for whom todo list software would be great.

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The Positivity Blog featured a great article about writing things down. This article focuses on the benefits of writing things down. It puts emphasis on writing our goals down, since it make us focus on them. The act of writing things down is suggested by “a lot of very successful self improvement writers – Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar and so on”.

Apart from the fact of organising oneself, todo list software makes you write your goals down, attaching a deadline and a priority to them. Read more about todo list.

If on your desk you have a task list raise your hand!

I am sure that most of you will raise both hands since they have more than one to do list lying idle on their desk with half of the tasks marked as ready and with the rest either postponed, changed or needing further splitting and clarification. Such an approach to keep track of your to do list is not scalable. That is, writing down tasks in the form of a to do list on a piece of paper works well for a small number of tasks, but as the number of tasks to be managed increase, the solution becomes unfeasible.

To do list software is a simple application that helps you handle your task list. With a to do list software you can enter all your tasks in a list and manage them through a polished user interface. Such an approach scales, you can change tasks’ due dates, task priorities and add and change associated notes. Some to do list software also supports reminders. The to do list software would then remind you of impending deadlines.

With today’s busy lifes, to do list software has become a necessary application to keep up with your tasks.

Remember to do this! Don’t forget to finish off that task by tomorrow! Have you done this? Can you tell me the progress of that task please?

Management expects their employees to answer such questions immediately to enable them to make accurate plans. If not provided with the right tools employees tend to use out of date techniques to handle their to do list. Old technique include:

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FruitulTime is pleased to announce the release of FruitfulTime TaskManager. FruitfulTime Taskmanager is an easy to use to do list software that helps you to keep track of your to do list in a more elegant way than pen and paper.

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