Using Producteev

For the last few weeks I've been using Producteev as my task management system, and so far I'm very impressed.

It seems to cater for all my task management needs, if you want to follow GTD you can, if you want to add tags and labels you can. Want to add tasks to a calendar you can.

One thing that has put me off other task management systems is the whole mobile, desktop workflow and how some apps do not sync very well. Wunderlist looks great, but I found that the Android mobile app would sometimes not sync so well between the web and desktop versions.

I tried Astrid, that has a great web app, and the mobile/web syncing was a lot better, but there was no desktop app version and the alerts seemed to go off at the wrong time for me.

I did think about using Evernote, but the task list facility in Evernote is just not full featured for me. I think that Evernote is ideal for a notes or ideas gathering tool, not a task management system.

As a contractor I do like having web based applications that I can set up in Chrome, so when on site using a client’s PC I can access all the apps I need (Evernote, Producteev, Gmail) to stay productive without having to worry about the clients PC administration rules that don't allow you to install certain apps. In the current contract I'm on the mobile reception is terrible, so using the mobile only versions of these apps is not an option.

The web version of Producteev is great, it's laid out well, simple to use and has many great features, including a calendar, labels, tags, send tasks to team members and print tasks. One of the main features is workspaces (which with the free version you only get one workspace, which is another for a single developer), but with multiple workspaces you can set up workspace for your home tasks (family, finances and DIY for example), one for your business (if like me you have a limited company) and one for your current project/contract or work. This separates everything into nice compartments allowing you to separate the different areas of your life.

Finally the other great feature I like is that there is a Mac (and PC) desktop version. That is not simply the web version in a desktop wrapper. These are full native desktop apps; this allows you to have the desktop app running all day as you work.

I'm going to keep using Producteev for a while and if I'm still happy with it in a month or so I'll probably get the Pro version and create the different workspaces I've mentioned.

So if you are not 100% happy with you task management system, and want a good mobile, web and desktop workflow then I suggest you look at Producteev.