well i like it

How I use Wunderlist

Or at least, how I am using Wunderlist right now. 

I am constantly looking for that “better” todo app; it’s a sickness, I know. Lately, no matter how many I try I keep coming back to Wunderlist. The others are either too complex or too simple and nearly all of them look nowhere near as good as Wunderlist does. Even Wunderkit, what the Wunderlist guys have been rolling out of late, is too much for me. I don’t need all the social aspect, I just want to get my stuff done. So, Wunderlist it is. 

The Lists

I somewhat subscribe to the school of Getting Things Done, at least to a degree. I am on board with the idea that anything that has more than two actions is in fact a Project, and have found it useful to group my tasks by Context which is the place, thing, person or tool needed to get the action done. As such, I have the following lists set up in Wunderlist. 

These lists let me know what tasks I have to choose from based upon where I am at the moment. Once I am again gainfully employed the list will grow, but as for now this is it. 

“Tags” and Search

I have all my projects tagged with a short descriptor, such as #taxes or #job as examples. I then also tag any associated tasks with the same tags at the end of the task. Using the search feature of the desktop or web app, I can see all tasks associated with a certain project. I use a couple other indicators to help me remember the status of a task or project with some simple codes: (w) = waiting; (fu) = follow up; (h) = hold. Otherwise the item is consider to be active. 

Why It’s Not Perfect

There are a few of things I wish Wunderlist would do, that it does not and one of those is tags. I’ve got a half-baked system to get them in, but it would be much nicer if they were implemented as in Todoist or Toodledo; tags are visible in the task but at a lighter font and clicking will initiate a search for that tag. Sub-tasks are another thing I’d like to see. It would allow to have a project task broken down even further and make for better grouping of related tasks. Another area that would be great are notifications in the desktop apps. Mobile does do notifications, sure, but having it at the desktop level would be useful when that is the tool I’m using. And speaking of mobile…

The iOS App Needs to Catch Up

The iOS Wunderlist app is nearly as great as the desktop, except (for me) in two areas. The first is search. That’s a big, gaping hole in my opinion. It should be integrated right at the top of the list via pull down or a click at least. The other area that differs is the all tasks list. In the desktop and web versions looking at all tasks gives you an overview with the tasks grouped by their list. In iOS you just get a long list of tasks with no relation to their originating list. 

So it’s not perfect. What is, right? For me, between the desktop and iOS apps it’s still the best option I’ve found. I just hope that Wunderkit development doesn’t slow down or kill altogether any possible enhancements to Wunderlist