There is definitely no shortage of personal productivity apps out there. I’ve used ClickUp for years to help keep my work tasks organized. But it did not work out for me when I tried to also use it to manage my personal tasks.
I do not have ADHD, so I kind of give the side-eye to how a lot of productivity apps market themselves as being a solution for those who do. With that being said, I really felt myself longing for the days when back in high school and college, I made sure to always have a personal planner; usually in soft feminine colors where I would track important due dates and notes with multi-colored gel pens.
But I don’t have a desire to return to the days of having to put pen to paper — I definitely wanted a digital option. So in February, I downloaded the ToDoist app. Initially I was really excited about it. I even shelled out the $48 for the annual premium plan. But after using it for a few weeks, I found myself not even bothering to open it. Mainly for the following reasons:
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- The notifications both on my phone and via email were annoying
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- While the user interface was clean in appearance, it’s robust features came across as heavy handed.
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- The templates were numerous and easy to launch — but I found that I didn’t have the patience to customize them for my own needs
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- The gamification efforts of completing tasks seemed forced and unnecessary
So I stopped adding tasks to ToDoist. But I still was on the hunt for something. Here’s where I landed:
| Sunsama | Very nice — but expensive! (almost $200/yr) |
| Akiflow | Looked nice, but felt too all-encompassing |
| Remember the Milk | Very ugly aesthetic – sorry, hard pass on this |
| Evernote | Feels more work focused than personal |
When I found TickTick, I was instantly drawn tho the minimalist style of the website. Yes, any YouTube comparison of the two (I linked one below) will show that the they are very similar. But in the end, I am sold on TickTick.
Why TickTick?
Conclusion
So if you want an affordable, robust, but minimalistic productivity app, seriously consider TickTick. Especially if you don’t need an app to micromanage your life and sap your time away it setting up and marking tasks as complete. Highly recommended!
