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contents/articles/wunderlist.html

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-----
title: "Getting things done... in Wonderland!"
content-type: article
subtitle: "Why Wunderlist is the only Todo List I'll ever need"
timestamp: 1312063673
tags: "productivity|review|software"
pdf: true
-----

<section class="section">
	<p>I don't remember the exact day when I started using a todo list in a serious way. It definitely happened at
		work, but I can't remember when exactly. The point is that, once I started working (and getting paid for
		what I love doing &ndash; writing), I slowly turned into a real <em>productivity freak</em>.</p>
	<p>I write <em>everything</em> down. My colleagues know that if I say that I'll do something <em>right
			now</em> but I don't do it within five minutes, they have to assume that I forgot about it altogether
		and they'd better send me an email.</p>
	<p>I am not a paper person. Never been one. When I got a job which consisted in working on the computer for eight
		hours a day, I started looking for todo list programs. That turned into an endless quest: I tried X for a few
		weeks, then I discovered that Y was better, used it for months, then moved onto Z, and so on.</p>


	<section class="section">
		<header>
			<h3 id="h_1" class="toc">What's wrong with 90% of digital todo lists</h3>
		</header>
		<p>Over the past five years, I must have tried dozens of different digital todo lists, and every single one of
			them had something wrong with it. Here are the most common flaws I encountered in many applications:</p>
		<ul>
			<li><strong>Too many fields</strong> &ndash; I don't want to specify (or see, either) a due date, a
				start date, a completion date, priority, effort, risk, tags, categories, sections, flags, stars,
				projects, reminder, pre-reminder, recurrency, location, contexts, and finally the actual task. I just
				want to write down what I have to do. Maybe I want to flag it as <em>important</em>. Sometimes I may
				need to set a deadline with a reminder, but that starts getting complex already.</li>
			<li><strong>Too few fields</strong> &ndash; On the other hand, just a title and a checkbox won't do. I
				want some form of categorization and (optional) deadlines.</li>
			<li><strong>Not cross-platform</strong> &ndash; I use Windows at work, Linux at home, my wife has a Mac. We
				both have iPhones, but someday I may get an Android device, too. There aren't many todo lists out
				there that support more than two operating systems, nevermind mobile devices or web access!</li>
			<li><strong>Too fiddly</strong> &ndash; See the first complaint, above. With too many fields almost always
				comes a complex interface. I don't want to wait 17 clicks to save my task. I want to type in what
				I want to do, and press Enter. Is it too much to ask for?</li>
			<li><strong>Made for a particular methodology</strong> &ndash; <span class="caps">GTD</span> is great and
				David Allen is the God of Productivity, but I don't want to use @contexts or specify next actions
				because don't believe in them, therefore I shouldn't be forced to do so.</li>
		</ul>
		<p>90% of the digital todo list suck. Believe me. 10% &ndash; perhaps &ndash; don't. Luckily, I just need
			<em>one</em>, and guess what: I found it!
		</p>

	</section>

	<section class="section">
		<header>
			<h3 id="h_2" class="toc">Introducing Wunderlist: the quest is over!</h3>
		</header>
		<p><a href="http://www.6wunderkinder.com/wunderlist/">Wunderlist</a>, the List of Wonders, you can use it
			anywhere and at any time. It's so awesome that&#8230; I should stop the ass-kissing right now, and get
			to the <em>facts</em>.</p>
		<p>I discovered Wunderlist when my endless quest led me to the App Store. I think I must have installed nearly
			all the damn todo list apps, even the crappy ones. I didn't fall in love with Wunderlist at first tap:
			it took a few install-uninstall cycles, but in the end I settled for it. Here's why:</p>
		<ul>
			<li><strong>Free</strong> &ndash; Not that it matters that much, I would happily pay a few bucks for a
				<em>good</em> app. And yes, I did pay for a few todo lists that I dumped afterwards. Bummer.
			</li>
			<li><strong>Cross-platform</strong> &ndash; iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, OS X. And Linux? Not really, but
				who cares: the web app is fine and it probably plays well <a href="http://haiku-os.org/">Haiku</a> as
				well.</li>
			<li><strong>Simple and Efficient</strong> &ndash; Two clicks to add a task to any list. No compulsory
				extra-fields, optional deadlines, unlimited lists. Got something important to do? Tap the star on the
				left of the task to move it to the top of your list and bookmark it.</li>
			<li><strong>Amazing email integration</strong> &ndash; Create tasks via email, share tasks with others via
				email, get reminders via push&#8230; or email. They even email you if you have overdue tasks.
				Like&#8230; everyday! I was so happy when they implemented this feature that I nearly cried when I got
				the first few emails.</li>
			<li><strong>Everything is sync'ed</strong> &ndash; On your iPhone, iPad, Android device, Windows PC,
				Mac, web, etc. It's all there, always, everywhere.</li>
		</ul>
		<p>When I finally realized how awesome this app was, I started using it for chores, and as a shopping list. Then
			I figured it was good enough as a backlog for my open source projects and my web site, and then&#8230; Then
			my wife discovered it.</p>

	</section>

	<section class="section">
		<header>
			<h3 id="h_3" class="toc">Why your wife shouldn't use it...</h3>
		</header>
		<p style="float:right;"><img src="/images/pictures/wunderlist/wunderlist-list.png" /></p>
		<p>One of the relatively unusual features of Wunderlist is the possibiliy of sharing lists with others. All you
			have to do is click a button, specify one or more email address, and send invitations out. People will then
			signup for a free Wunderlist account and they'll be able to access (as in read/write access) your
			list.</p>
		<p>Because Roxanne, my wife, has an iPhone, she was the most obvious candidate to try out this collaborative
			feature. First I shared my <em>Shopping</em> list with her: we needed to make a list of things to get for a
			party, and that was fun. Wunderlist worked perfectly: we went around the supermarket and ticked things off
			the shared list, which updated in real-time!</p>
		<p>All went great until I decided to share the infamous <em>Chores</em> list. You know the one: bills, fees,
			errands&#8230; I used to say things like &#8220;it's on my list, honey, I'll do it&#8221;, or
			even &#8220;Yes&#8230; I'll add it to the <em>Chores</em>, just gimme a minute&#8221;. Little did I
			know that my beloved liked Wunderlist so much that she started using it frequenly, constantly updating the
			damn chores list with things like &#8220;Take the rubbish out&#8221; or &#8220;Collect the package from the
			post office&#8221;.</p>
		<p>I realized she became a true Wunderlist ninja when I found a task called &#8220;Flowers for Roxanne!&#8221;
			&ndash; starred and with a deadline set to <em>two months ago!</em></p>

	</section>

	<section class="section">
		<header>
			<h3 id="h_4" class="toc">My five work lists</h3>
		</header>
		<p>After months of trial, I decided to use Wunderlist at work as well. With caution, of course: I made sure not
			to write down any sensitive information in my tasks, because you never know. I started off with just one
			list, but it got crowded very quickly. I now use <em>five</em> lists for work only:</p>
		<p style="float:right"><img src="/images/pictures/wunderlist/wunderlist-work.png" /></p>
		<ul>
			<li><strong>Work [!]</strong> &ndash; This is the most active one, I use it for things to do <span
					class="caps">ASAP</span>. Starred tasks are urgent and important, and should be dealt with within
				the day. At work, that's my default list.</li>
			<li><strong>Work [~]</strong> &ndash; This is for things that in progress, for tasks I delegated to other
				people, for keeping track of emails waiting for a reply, etc. I tend to check it at least a couple of
				times per day (if something is really urgent gets moved to the first list).</li>
			<li><strong>Work [&#8230;]</strong> &ndash; This is for someday/maybes. Something that is most definitely
				not urgent, and not too important either. I normally review it once a week, except in the middle of
				August when I won't be able to do anything because everyone will be on holiday&#8230; It will
				become my default list for a week or two, then.</li>
			<li><strong>Work [CoP]</strong> &ndash; I also work as the coordinator of a Community of Practice, and I
				want to keep CoP-related stuff separate, so that I know where to look when I can allocate some CoP time
				during my day.</li>
			<li><strong>Work [@boss]</strong> &ndash; This is a special list for my boss only. We email each other
				frequently, but rather then sending her long emails she can't afford to read, I write down
				discussion topics in this list, which I'll then load up at the following status meeting.</li>
		</ul>
		<p>The next step? Maybe sharing lists with my boss and collegues, who knows&#8230;</p>

	</section>

	<section class="section">
		<header>
			<h3 id="h_5" class="toc">The bottom line</h3>
		</header>
		<p>Saying that Wunderlist is the <em>perfect</em> todo list for <em>everyone</em> would be pointless: there
			would always be people who wouldn't agree with that. Wunderlist is not perfect, but close enough for
			me: it has most of the feature I need, and &ndash; most importantly &ndash; very little features I
			don't need. In the end, this is what makes an app truly awesome.</p>
		<p>I give it four stars out of five. Why not five? Because in this way <a
				href="http://www.6wunderkinder.com/">6Wunderkinder</a> can make Wunderlist <em>even a better
				product</em> by surprising its users with something they didn't know they wanted. That's
			what Steve Jobs does at every Keynote, isn't it?</p>
		<p><img src="/images/pictures/wunderlist/wunderlist-done.png" /></p>

	</section>

</section>