A while ago, I said that Sigma Planner was the best planner app for lazy people.
I was wrong - the correct answer is Todoist.
Here’s why (hint: it comes down to one key issue).
Note: as an experiment, the next post will come out on Wednesday morning rather than Wednesday afternoon
About Todoist
First, let’s get a quick overview of the app:
Todoist is an immensely popular app - on the App Store, it has 87k ratings with an average of 4.8/5 stars (as of time of writing).
For those who don’t speak English as their primary language, Todoist has 19 language options: English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmal, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, and Turkish.
Compatability-wise, Todoist has an iPad app (obviously), an iPhone app, and an Apple Watch app.
Todoist does offer a paid plan at $4.99/month, but I don’t currently pay for it (nor do I plan to).
How Todoist Works
Like any other to-do list app, Todoist lets you add tasks and set deadlines to complete these tasks.
What separates Todoist is the wide variety of additional features available.
Here are some of my favorites:
Labels
I love labels.
It makes it easy to organize the work I need to get done.
As a student, my labels are my classes (example: AP Econ or AP Spanish). That keeps it easy for me to quickly see the classes I have to work on and the classes I don’t have any work for.
Recurring Tasks
I also love recurring tasks, though I don’t use them as much as I used to.
At the moment, my main use case for them is to schedule digital marketing tasks each week. I help manage marketing for nonprofits, and I like to check on each account at least once per week to make sure nothing chaotic has happened (which has happened previously).
Additionally, I use this feature to remember my friends’ birthdays.
Widgets
I also enjoy Todoist’s support for widgets.
Todoist’s widgets offer significant customization - in addition to 6 different individual widgets, you can also choose to narrow down the tasks displayed on a widget by filters, labels, etc.
Subtasks
One feature I’m starting to use is subtasks (mini-tasks within one overall task).
Here’s the beauty of subtasks: you get the dopamine rush of checking off a task without being overwhelmed by 50 different tasks on your to-do list (Todoist doesn’t display subtasks on their widgets).
Let me use debate as an example. In each debate speech I write, there are around 4 key points I like to prepare ahead of time:
AGD (attention-grabbing device)
SQUO (what’s going on right now)
Changes (how does the proposed bill change the status quo)
Impact (why does this matter)
With subtasks, I can assign mini-tasks to prepare these points - that makes it easy to see progress on my work, which in turn makes me more likely to finish my work on time.
Why I Switched Back To Todoist
While these features are great, they aren’t the main reason I switched back (though they did play a part).
Better Support
The reason I switched is that Todoist has support.
The last time Sigma Planner was updated was iOS 14. In addition, a comment on this post brought to my attention that the app’s developer will no longer update it.
For most people, that’s probably a small issue.
But for me, it’s different - I love testing out new software (after all, I write a blog about iPads). Todoist gives me that opportunity, while Sigma Planner doesn’t.
And to me, that means a lot.
Ease of Use
A secondary reason behind this change is that Todoist is just easier to use.
This is a small, anecdotal issue, but I feel like there’s a lot more friction when using Sigma Planner rather than Todoist.
Personally, I want as little friction as possible, even if it might come at the loss of some functionality (this may differ for others, however).
Sigma Planner Is Still Great
Despite what I’ve said previously, Sigma Planner is still a great app.
And for some students, it’s probably better than Todoist, especially if you plan to use the planning features (hence why Sigma Planner is still the best planner app in my opinion).
And for those who don’t like being pestered to upgrade to a subscription, don’t forget that Sigma Planner is completely free.
The only reason I’m switching task managers is because I’m interested in future Todoist developments - just imagine what their developers could introduce in iPadOS 16, 17, and beyond.
Final Thoughts
“Even the simplest tools can empower people to do great things” - Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter)
Thanks for reading!
Adi