The Hit List - Another TODO Manager
There are a lot of programs for managing tasks for Mac. Here you have simple TODO lists and a whole range of software in the style of GTD (Getting Things Done), starting from the well-known Omni Focus and ending with the new, but already popular Things.
But recently another competitor loomed on the horizon - The Hit List (hereinafter THL). The program is still in beta testing and does not have some important features (for example, syncing with the iPhone), but the author promises that by the time of release everything will be at its best.
One would like to start comparing THL with other similar solutions, however, according to the author, he began to develop it without looking at what was done by competitors and much earlier than the outwardly similar Things appeared. In addition, upon closer inspection, we understand that the program is unique because It does not impose any restrictions on the user, gives him the opportunity to form and carry out tasks exactly as he was accustomed to without following any one paradigm. It organically combines a system of tags, projects, task lists and a hierarchy of subtasks.
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Tasks in THL can be organized:
Thus, the user is given complete freedom of choice. Depending on whether you prefer to use lists / folders or tags, the left Lists panel switches between two modes.
In the folder mode, the Today and Upcoming sections are also available, which are based on the start and end dates.
In the case of working with tags, two types of tags are available to you: regular and so-called areas are tags starting with '@'. In practice, they differ only in visual presentation and color. You can mark your tasks like this: “@ work / meetings”.
The right side of the screen is occupied by a sort of lined notepad, where we write down our tasks. If you click on the field to the left of the task, you can set its priority from 1 to 9. Next comes the description and the list of tags, which is actually part of the description. Regular tags begin with a slash '/' and the field labels begin with '@'. Right below the main description, there is a place under the notes. And then three familiar columns Start, Due and Estimate.
List mode is great for viewing what we have to do. But what if we want to work thoughtfully on one task, throwing ideas into notes? Then switch to Card View mode. Here we have a large field for recording everything related to this task.
Managing the TODO list becomes much more comfortable if you do not have to poke the mouse for a long time on the menu and set different parameters for the new task. Of course there are shortcuts in all such programs, but THL brings them almost to perfection.
We will not need shortcuts for working with tags; Any word in the description starting with '@' and '/' is considered a tag. It is also worth noting that it is not necessary to use the calendar for the Start, Due, Estimate fields, you can simply write the date, even in free form, for example, 'tomorrow'.
Finally, to create a new task it is not at all necessary to switch to the THL window at all. In the settings you can set a global shortcut calling the quick task creation window.
If it is important for you to know exactly how much time you have spent on a particular task, then THL provides a timer. Just highlight the task and click Begin to start it. On the information panel in the line of actual you can always find out how many hours / minutes the task took.
IPhone users will be disappointed by the lack of a mobile client, although the author promises to write it as soon as possible. Something to brighten up the wait should sync with iCal, and quite powerful.
Attention! Before iCal sync setup, back up both iCal calendars and THL library. I had cases when the installation of synchronization killed tasks in one of the places.
Between the two computers, synchronization can be easily configured through services like Dropbox or iDisk. It is enough to keep pressing when starting THL and the program will ask you which library to use or where to create a new one. In this case, you need to ensure that the program is not running on two computers at the same time.
There was no cost to THL, of course, and without flaws. First of all, these are, of course, synchronization problems. Hopefully, they will be repaired and released by an iPhone client by the release. In addition, the Russian interface is not yet available. Finally, the price of the program is $ 49.95, to someone it seems a bit tall, however, if you are serious about productivity, then it is worth it. In addition, until the beta testing period ends, the program remains free.
But recently another competitor loomed on the horizon - The Hit List (hereinafter THL). The program is still in beta testing and does not have some important features (for example, syncing with the iPhone), but the author promises that by the time of release everything will be at its best.
One would like to start comparing THL with other similar solutions, however, according to the author, he began to develop it without looking at what was done by competitors and much earlier than the outwardly similar Things appeared. In addition, upon closer inspection, we understand that the program is unique because It does not impose any restrictions on the user, gives him the opportunity to form and carry out tasks exactly as he was accustomed to without following any one paradigm. It organically combines a system of tags, projects, task lists and a hierarchy of subtasks.
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Organization of tasks
Tasks in THL can be organized:
- By lists and group them into folders
- By subtasks
- By tags
Thus, the user is given complete freedom of choice. Depending on whether you prefer to use lists / folders or tags, the left Lists panel switches between two modes.
In the folder mode, the Today and Upcoming sections are also available, which are based on the start and end dates.
In the case of working with tags, two types of tags are available to you: regular and so-called areas are tags starting with '@'. In practice, they differ only in visual presentation and color. You can mark your tasks like this: “@ work / meetings”.
Work with individual tasks
The right side of the screen is occupied by a sort of lined notepad, where we write down our tasks. If you click on the field to the left of the task, you can set its priority from 1 to 9. Next comes the description and the list of tags, which is actually part of the description. Regular tags begin with a slash '/' and the field labels begin with '@'. Right below the main description, there is a place under the notes. And then three familiar columns Start, Due and Estimate.
List mode is great for viewing what we have to do. But what if we want to work thoughtfully on one task, throwing ideas into notes? Then switch to Card View mode. Here we have a large field for recording everything related to this task.
Keyboard control
Managing the TODO list becomes much more comfortable if you do not have to poke the mouse for a long time on the menu and set different parameters for the new task. Of course there are shortcuts in all such programs, but THL brings them almost to perfection.
- ↩ start writing a new task
- 0–9 set the appropriate priority
- ⇥ make the task nested. A further press switches between the Start, Due and Estimate fields. If we are not in edit mode, go to it.
- ⇧⇥ if the task was nested, return to the top level
- mark blank as complete
- 'proceed to editing the notes of the current task
- T set the start date of the task on today's date.
- F move the task to the desired list (supports autocompletion)
- B track the task execution time
- ⌘R configures task repetition
We will not need shortcuts for working with tags; Any word in the description starting with '@' and '/' is considered a tag. It is also worth noting that it is not necessary to use the calendar for the Start, Due, Estimate fields, you can simply write the date, even in free form, for example, 'tomorrow'.
Finally, to create a new task it is not at all necessary to switch to the THL window at all. In the settings you can set a global shortcut calling the quick task creation window.
We track the time spent
If it is important for you to know exactly how much time you have spent on a particular task, then THL provides a timer. Just highlight the task and click Begin to start it. On the information panel in the line of actual you can always find out how many hours / minutes the task took.
Synchronization
IPhone users will be disappointed by the lack of a mobile client, although the author promises to write it as soon as possible. Something to brighten up the wait should sync with iCal, and quite powerful.
Attention! Before iCal sync setup, back up both iCal calendars and THL library. I had cases when the installation of synchronization killed tasks in one of the places.
Between the two computers, synchronization can be easily configured through services like Dropbox or iDisk. It is enough to keep pressing when starting THL and the program will ask you which library to use or where to create a new one. In this case, you need to ensure that the program is not running on two computers at the same time.
Conclusion
There was no cost to THL, of course, and without flaws. First of all, these are, of course, synchronization problems. Hopefully, they will be repaired and released by an iPhone client by the release. In addition, the Russian interface is not yet available. Finally, the price of the program is $ 49.95, to someone it seems a bit tall, however, if you are serious about productivity, then it is worth it. In addition, until the beta testing period ends, the program remains free.
For the transfer to Apple, there is not enough karma
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/58711/
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