Cultured Code recently posted to their site about a new app they are working on called Things, it is a GTD application, but is very different then all the other GTD apps. The moment I saw the interface, and organization structure, I knew that it would be an amazing application to help me get more organized! So I quickly sent them an email. Right away I got a reply by Jürgen, the lead developer and founder, who ever so kindly added me to the alpha list. At that point I was so happy, and I couldn’t wait to try it out. So I went ahead and downloaded Things. After a few minutes of conversation with Jürgen, and some questions, I began to love the application. I created projects, for all my various projects I am working on, I made some team members, and I began to write out tasks I need to do.
So, What is GTD?
Getting Things Done™ (commonly abbreviated as GTD) is an action management method of The David Allen Company, and the title of the book which describes the method by David Allen.
GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks. What distinguishes GTD from other time- or action-management systems is the idea of grouping tasks by the context (defined as a place or set of available resources) in which they are to be performed.
What is different about Things than other GTD apps?
First of all, Things is not just a GTD app. In fact, users don’t even have to know what GTD is. First and foremost, Things is a task management application with a very gentle learning curve that nonetheless scales very well when entering hundreds of to-dos. I believe that the scalability of Things is a direct consequence of us trying to follow the spirit of Allen’s book instead of the cult. There is an interesting trend in today’s GTD apps where contexts are presented as dual to projects, forcing unintuitive changes of view modes upon the user. We don’t do that. The way Things helps in making best action choices is actually closer to the book than to the current interpretation on the web. But the beautiful thing is, users who know little to nothing about GTD will just see familiar interface metaphors.
As you can tell, Things is not your ordinary GTD app. It combines an amazing interface, tons of unique features, and a dedicated development team. I continued to ask the Things team about the app, here is another one of my questions;
What is your favorite feature of things so far?
Some time ago we were joking that the most important features of Things are those it doesn’t need. So my answer would be “Simplicity”. We worked incredibly hard to make it simple. I cannot remember how often we revised it significantly, even completely starting all over again. Often we made features obsolete by changing the fundamental approach. And we are not finished yet. There will be more powerful stuff coming, but not at the expense of simplicity.
So there you have it, Things, an amazing, simple, and beautiful GTD app for Mac. I can not wait to see the development of Things continue, and I congratulate the Things development team on their amazing progress. And make sure to check out the Cultured Code website, and signup for their mailing list to get some exclusive looks and betas of Things.
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Interface looks pretty nice and so does the concept.
I love it..
Can’t wait to get my beta now!
What a load of crap — “getting things done” is trademarked? Give me a break!
iTunes = iThings
I find that the GTD methods are very well supported in the Ajax interface at http://www.toodledo.com, and the openness of the site (check out the import/export options) is a godsend if you worry about handing vital data to a web based application.
I’ve also found that the people running site listen to comments, and enhancements are streaming in pretty steadily.
Interface looks okay.
look just kinda sorta like omni’s focus…..
Everyone should check out Vitalist. http://vitalist.com — I stumbled across it one day and it’s a truly amazing task organizer
Look’s nice. For a limited time - anyone can check out the beta version of Omni Focus at http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/ Then compare it to things and see which is best.
Flickr says the screen shot is not longer available to me. Is the link now broken?
Beside this, using GDT or similar tactics to get more organized is an good idea.
polarizers 2 cents
hi there,
i try “Things” since some days and the different between “OmniFocus” is the simplicity, there is no special feature and hidden buttons you have the folders for “today - next - sometime and postponed” and that´s it.
Iam very happy with this, because in OF for example i spend a lot of time to create the right structur and new views for this.
And the next easy thing are the Tags …
I think it´s worth to try it and it´s not to compare with online GTD Tools (in my opinion)
regards V.
Maybe because its for the Mac that makes it special, but on the windows side, there have been fantastic GTD apps for a while. All easy to use and very intuitive. I personally still use achiever despite not being supported anymore.
Looks interesting. But I am still looking forward to the next version of the really excellent iGTD… http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/iGTD2/page83/page83.html
Interesting app. But I’m using Wrike for my GTD and it would be hard to make a change. And the change is not necessary, cause I’m happy with Wrike. It lets me get rid of “waiting for” and “next actions” lists. I’ve made my choice of Wrike after reading this post http://www.wrike.com/blog/7/10/2007/Wrike_helps_you_get_things_done
This Things looks like an interesting concept, I look forward to trying out the beta version and giving my feedback.
Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles.