Why I Don't Use Todoist (And What I Use Instead)

Todoist continues to be one of the most popular to-do list apps in the world. And for good reason. Todoist is a great task manager that helps millions of people to be more productive. So why doesn't Scott Friesen use it himself? Find out why Todoist isn't Scott's app of choice and what he uses to manage his to-do's instead.

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Let's Connect!

Scott Friesen is a productivity specialist and founder of Simpletivity training and consulting. He is also a prolific public speaker, workshop leader, and time management coach.

#simpletivity #todoist #productivity

[RyanSparkmandbf]

Hey Scott,
For 2017 and 2018, I was a Todoist fanatic. I followed Carl Pullein's teaching on how to use it and boy did I use it. I love the organizational aspect of the clean method of listing projects and their tasks under them and integrating with Google Calendar. It is very clean, ...but...I don't want to contradict myself but it is also very cumbersome...and I found myself spending too much time inside it trying to find a better way...trying to formulate a better system. That was frustrating. Then I watched your video on "Why your calendar should be your to do list" and I have never looked back. I had a paid account with Todoist and cancelled it after setting up my google calendar with my tasks. Unbelievable! How much more cleaner and simple is my system now! I use Google Tasks to list my projects with tasks under them and then I will schedule next tasks as needed during my reviews. THank you for making sense. It is a wonderful tool but I have chosen a simpler system. Thanks for all you do, Ryan S

[daviddoget]

Scott, one of my mentors said manage by results, not process. My advice to everyone, use the tool that works for you.

[elgabenedicta]

Hi Scott, just like you, I don't use any particular *to do list apps* I mostly do all of my planning on *Google Calendar*, *Google Task* and sometimes *Keep Notes*
I do use *Trello* for planning/managing bigger projects and that's it.
I find it easy, simple, quick and no distractions for me to customize every single thing.
At the end of the day, the DOING the task part is the most important thing for me.

[Niconelli]

Ironically, this video produced the opposite effect: now I want to use Todoist. Of course, this comment will be totally subjective.

1- Calendars in the main view? Personally, I don't like that, it's quite overwhelming. I prefer to keep things separate.

2- Features with good built-in AI? Sorry, but in what universe or dimension is it a disadvantage? They are recommendation models, based on both personal and collective statistics of the users... no one is spying on you or storing personal information.

3- Do you have an exclusive button to move a task to the future? That is fantastic!! Making it difficult to send tasks to the future I do not think it influences what you mentioned, it would only generate a worse User Experience. I am a professional procrastinator unfortunately and even if I did even handwritten notes, that will not make me not move the notes for tomorrow, and I must solve it by improving my productivity, one less button will not change this.

Well, that's my opinion.

[colinwendt]

I think you highlight some good points, especially the one about having a productivity system in multiple tools. I can't tell you how many times I've made a list of to-dos in an app only to never look at it again. My calendar however is something I reference daily, so maybe I try your system. This is probably why bullet journaling is so popular, serving multiple purposes and being a natural part of a daily routine.

[chitsb]

“Call mom and tell her you love her.”
“Read article on cute kitty cats.”

Boy I needed to laugh 😂

[ServantStatusMinistries]

I love the Todoist and google calendar integration. I think easily deferring tasks is easier for when you have tasks that are not priority but you want to get it done someday but don’t want to waste time planning a type C, D or quadrant 3 task. Also I’m more visual. I need to see all of what I have assigned in blocked form in google calendar but at the same time when I don’t need that visual overhead and just need to insert quick tasks in priority folders Todoist is the quickest way to enter everything in the system and easier to jump straight to whatever priority tasks you need. For random calendar inserting I don’t think Todoist is needed but I have multiple projects on top of personal life to juggle and while google calendar has it to where you can make separate calendars for each theme it still doesn’t function well with organization of given tasks or when you want to sit and plan a date and time before entering it in the calendar.

[lewisbarham]

I love the simplicity and project management features of Todoist plus the Premium features are great for optimising workflow. I put all my thoughts into my Inbox and sort them intermittently throughout the day into my projects e.g. General, Personal Admin, Business Admin, Operations etc. The scheduling features are great, I don't use the prioritisation much but the comments and calendar sync is really useful to visually see your week in realtime.

[Ripeka.koperu]

I actually love the rescheduling feature haha. Because I set times for my tasks, I wish I could bump things to the afternoon or in hour blocks. when I use the rescheduling feature, it’s typically to amend when to send an email, and I’m waiting for minutes or apologies for meetings etc.

[hammockmonk]

I just wanted to commend you on the audio in your video. Really great quality and your voice is fantastic!

[haines]

Scott, one thing I appreciate about your videos is you often speak to principles of priductivity and not as married to apps. One of my favourite videos was your daily prioritization video that was just pen and paper. This is helpful because it makes the advice much more broadly applicable.

I am a heavy todist user but have tried a lot of other apps and made some of them my primary app for several months at a time and the key takeaway is NOT that one system "won out" but that the shortcomings were usually in my behaviour... actually using the tool, sticking with it, etc., not the tool itself.

So talking about drawbacks of one app or another is fair game, especcially when you tie it to a principle you think is of value to highlight.

For me I am using todoist and its exellent calendar sync so I can manage in calendar view, and the drawback you mentioned (of switching apps) is acceptable. For me, ToDoist holds my everything, and only key tasks or tasks that are in next 2 weeks get dates and sync to calendar.

What I find missing (or poorly implemented) is the ability to estimate a duration on a task. I would like to have duration as an attribute and then (later) then a start time is assigned, have the duration come through in the calendar, for time blocking.

[lindadslade]

Hi Scott, I agree with your ideals. If I ever make a 'To Do List', of things I need to do, it becomes overwhelming, leading to procrastination. However if I have to go out and know I have a number of tasks to do, I make a list in memos on my phone...as a memory jogger/don't forget/streamline route taken. Psychologically, it is instantly doable/done..

[christiandevos]

Hi Scott, best wishes for 2019. I like to follow your videos. And I'm in favour of 'simpletivity' when it means 'keep it simple'. So I don't like to have too much apps and the Google calendar itself helps me enough. Every task is a daily event, where I can store links, reminders, photo's, comments... Once the task is done I delete it. When it is a recurrent task that is done one day, I delete the event of that day. It remains on the other days. So I don't use Todoist, Trello, Tasks, Keep ... as my to-do list. I have everything in my Google calendar, even my journal (therefore I put comments and attachements in my events). And everything is searchable. Greetings from Belgium.

[mackygreen]

*_Very good point. Thank you very much for sharing. Only after watching this video did I realize that this was already my routine._*

Another general issue with technology is that there are *so many choices* that we don't know what to use anymore. I think it's good to stick to the Google ecosystem if that is where you have invested your data in. Or Microsoft's, or others. Just my two cents.

[TailRecursive]

The amount of Productivity apps that I use is big (almost 10), with almost all of them having the same functionality...

[suzannedawson]

Thanks so much! I am looking for a calendar in which I can see my tasks right along side my daily appointments. There are so many out there! I really don’t want waist an entire week or two trying out the different apps. I’d like to simply make a decisions and then stick to it. Suggestions please.... anybody

[mdsnederland]

I'm thinking of switching to Notion. Using Todoist and Evernote now, but in fact I can do most of the things in Notion. One system for all your business. Notion is growing better and better. They have also a webclipper on their roadmap!

[keepproductive]

Good overview Scott!
Not for everyone...

[dudleyrosenblatt]

Hi Scott, indeed it makes more sense to use Tasks, Reminders and even Keep as productivity apps, once your calendar Is your main dashboard when managing your workflow. You have everything integrated in in one screen. Although they are not perfect, it makes it much simple to have everything within the Gsuite environment.
Thanks for helping us with your videos. I really enjoy them .

[mister_i_want]

Todoist has changed a lot since this video was uploaded, maybe a new insight might be good to see if it's worth it