Struggling to keep track of everything you need to get done? Whether in a professional setting or a personal one, we’ve all got to remember several big and small tasks that we need to finish by the end of the day.
To-do lists have the unique ability to make us feel accomplished when we tick off the tasks we’ve completed. We’re confident that many of us even add ‘already done’ tasks that we’ve forgotten to add to the list to check them off so you can feel like you’ve been extra productive that day.
From notepads to bullet journals, there’s no dearth of physical ways to note your to-dos for the day. But if you’re looking for a digital alternative that’s simple to use and helps you manage your daily tasks with clean UI, we’ve got some options for you:
1. Any.do
Used by 20 million people over the world, Any.do is a simple app that lets you add your tasks and when they’re due to be done (this evening, tomorrow morning, tomorrow night). It also syncs with your Calendar, so you can see everything due to be done on a day-to-day basis.
Whether it’s small work tasks that contribute to a larger project or simple household and personal tasks, you can create multiple to-do lists organized by categories, projects, task type, and share the same with others.
The best part about Any.do? It offers reminders, unlike other static to-do list apps, so you know exactly when something is due. It also syncs across your devices as well as with Slack, Alexa, so you can add new tasks when you’re on the go.
2. Google Tasks
For those who want to stick to Google apps, you can use either Google Keep or Google Tasks depending on what you need. Google Keep, the more popular app, only allows you to make quick notes but without any checklists or timeboxes — both on web and mobile. Google’s foray into task management and to-do lists has led them to create Google Tasks, a mobile app that quite simply, allows you to add tasks to a to-do list. With over five million downloads on the Play Store alone, Google Tasks is rising in popularity.
You add tasks and smaller sub-tasks, access them across your Google apps: Gmail, Calendar, and even your Google Workspace. This makes it easy for you to add tasks off your Google Calendar. While there isn’t a viable web option yet, there are several third-party chrome extensions that help you capture your tasks from your desktop. It doesn’t have any features that can help you prioritize your tasks or add time blocks, so it’s effectively only a level above your phone’s Notes app — it’s the sync across Google apps that makes it a competitor to the others on this list.
3. Remember The Milk
Another app that boasts Google integrations is Remember the Milk. The app was first created in 2004 when most of the world was still using actual sticky notes to note down their to-do lists. Time and experience have only made the app better, offering Google Assistant, Zapier, and Google Drive file attachment integrations.
Used by over 20 million people around the world, the app is simple to use: add your tasks, delegate tasks, invite others to view your tasks, and get reminders across platforms — an effective strategy to help you remember to get the milk.
4. Brutask
If you’re not a fan of all the additional aspects of making a to-do list digitally and just want a sticky note feel, Brutask is the perfect option for you. Brutask was created with a clean and simple design, keeping in mind the needs of small teams.
With Brutask, you can allocate admin & manager roles to oversee the entire team’s tasks — that way supervisors know what’s on everyone’s plate. Paired with frequent stand-up calls throughout the week, managers can supervise their teams and team members can work autonomously by adding time blocks to their tasks.
Private tasks allow you to add your personal errands like grocery shopping or paying utility bills to the same daily to-do list as your professional tasks so you can see everything on one page. Brutask’s prioritization function allows you to focus on what’s important while the time blocks help you manage your time more effectively.
Checking off your daily tasks at the end of the day gives you a feeling of accomplishment and the clean slate you see the next day motivates you to work better, improving your overall productivity.
5. Notion
While the first four on our list are basic to-do apps, we can’t help but include Notion, a monster app for almost everything, including to-do lists. Even if you don’t want to tap into the many, many things Notion has to offer, using it to create to-do lists. Using Notion isn’t for those who want to simply add things to a list and have them disappear when marked done.
Notion doesn’t allow recurring tasks or time blocks so it’s a bit tricky to use it as a to-do app. But the ability to create infinite tasks, add due dates, and categories, check them off makes Notion an attractive choice for those who want to spend some time perfecting and customizing their digital to-do lists.
You can share your project to-do pages (create new pages for projects and break them down into smaller tasks) with your supervisors and invite team members to collaborate, making it easy to work on high intensity, quick turnaround projects.
Using a to-do list app frees up valuable brain space — space that you can use to be creative and store other important information. Adding your tasks to a daily to-do list helps you visualize what you need to get done, especially the tasks that need to be prioritized. This helps you manage your time effectively, leaving more time for leisure and loved ones.
Want to try out the power of to-do lists for yourself? Check out Brutask here.
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