What iOS apps directly support a complete, "catholic" GTD workflow?

[DanielBaird]

There are lots of list managers and to-do apps around. Most of them can more or less support a GTD workflow.

But, finding a clean, by-the-book GTD workflow in most of the commonly used apps in kind of a chore. Apps generally don't specifically or easily support GTD features such as:

- an action has a Project (chosen from a project list) AND a Context (chosen from a Context list)
- some actions are Next Actions, some aren't
- you usually want to see only Next Actions in a given Context
- in a review you want to see certain reports, like Projects with no Next Action
- making a project Someday/Maybe should keep it from showing up in certain views (but it should still show up for reviews)
- Next Actions generally don't have due dates or priorities associated with them
- inbox items aren't like actions, they're just notes, and might become projects with multiple actions
- inbox items can have ticker dates, which aren't due dates, they're just when you want that thing to pop back into your inbox

Anyway the question is: are there iOS mobile apps that actually implement GTD workflow without me having to carefully fiddle about mapping the app's idea of tags and priorities and whatnot into proper GTD concepts?

[PeterW]

Hi,

Check out NirvanaHQ. It was built specifically for GTD and the developers seem engaged in making it a close fit with the 'canon'. It is a web-based solution and has a native iOS app. Last I heard they were developing an Android app too.

I don't use it myself but did try it out during the beta and it looks good. It has an active community of users too so there is decent support for it.

www.nirvanahq.com

[DanielBaird]

... Check out NirvanaHQ. ...

Yes that's the kind of thing I'm after. Max 5 projects in the free level though, which makes it impossible to try out.

Any other apps? Does OmniThingy have proper GTD support?

[PeterW]

It only costs $5.00 a month for unlimited projects (~$0.17 a day) so maybe it's worth a trial for a month or two if you think it's a good fit?

I don't know of any others that were designed from the ground up for GTD although many apps claim that they are compatible. You will have to try them out to see what works for you.

I'm using Appigo's Todo Pro. You can get the iPhone, iPad & Mac versions for free. If you want to sync across devices or use the web-based version then you need to subscribe but it's inexpensive... $2.00/month or $20.00/year (and a 14-day free trial). It's more basic than NirvanaHQ but that's what I want. I've found that the more complex the system is, the more time I spend driving it rather than getting things done.

[DanielBaird]

It only costs $5.00 a month for unlimited projects (~$0.17 a day) so maybe it's worth a trial for a month or two if you think it's a good fit?

I'll probably give it a go eventually -- I guess I mean if I have to pay to try it, I'll tend to exhaust other options first

I'm using Appigo's Todo Pro...

I'm currently using Todo (not Pro).. which is great, probably the best thing on my phone. But I find it hard to properly manage projects and next actions etc. How are you marking next actions as separate from projects? By making them high priority or something? Or are you using an external GTD process and just adding actions to Todo as necessary.

[PeterW]

I'm currently using Todo (not Pro).. which is great, probably the best thing on my phone. But I find it hard to properly manage projects and next actions etc. How are you marking next actions as separate from projects? By making them high priority or something? Or are you using an external GTD process and just adding actions to Todo as necessary.

I have folders setup for Next, Someday and Waiting-for which I use for standalone tasks, and one folder for each project. So project tasks live in their own folder.

I generally only have one task (the next action) in each project folder. I used to populate project folders with all of the actions I could think of that needed to be done, like a project plan, but that just felt overwhelming to me. Now I just have the next task that needs to be done and when I do that, I create the next task. Sometimes I put notes in the task about future steps as a reminder.

I like to use the Focus list in Todo - it's set to display tasks that are due today and tasks that are starred. This is my daily work list. It display standalone next actions, project next actions and waiting-for tasks if I've set a due date as a tickler to chase up.

I use the Todo Pro web interface at work (on a Windows PC), the iPhone version while mobile and either the Mac version or iPad version at home. The iPad version has a beautiful user interface and is fun to use.

[MarkDillon]

I have been using Nirvana now for several months. I've found it to be the best tool as my GTD system...hands down number 1.

As mentioned it is either five dollars per month or $39 per year. It is worth every penny. I can't believe how perfect the system is for implementing GTD. I can say it is the best $39 business investment I have ever made!

For example, my weekly review went from just over an hour using Evernote to now well under 30 minutes. And because they have an app for the iPhone which works on the iPad and they are web-based so it's available for Droid and PC the access is everywhere.

Imagine sitting at your desk and a thought arises and you simply add into Nirvana at your PC and you've captured that information. Or, you're out walking the dog and an idea pops into your head... you take your phone out...boom, captured. Everywhere you are your capture tool, your GTD system, is right at your finger tips.

My suggestion… skip Starbucks for a week and invest that money in what I feel is the best GTD capture tool on the planet! (No I do not work for Nirvana! But if I did I'd really get on the bandwagon and tell you how wonderful it is).

[mcogilvie]

Anyway the question is: are there iOS mobile apps that actually implement GTD workflow without me having to carefully fiddle about mapping the app's idea of tags and priorities and whatnot into proper GTD concepts?

Things and Omnifocus are close to what you think you want. However, there are always trade-offs. If you have a large number of projects, for example, you may find it tedious to assign each next action to a project. The requirements for a minimal gtd list app are much less that what you list. In this regard, I might point out that "catholic" means widely inclusive, while "canonical" means according to recognized rules.

[JodieFrancis]

Built from the ground up to support GTD... zendone.com

Available on web and iPhone - Android is next to come.

No support for Someday/Maybe (I handle that in Evernote) but it may be worth a peek...

[JodieFrancis]

I just realized NirvanaHQ is a Canadian company - guess I'd better have a look at it, eh?