This FREE Alternative to Todoist & TickTick Solves 4 Big Problems

Summary

This video compares task management apps Todoist and TickTick, highlighting their limitations in integrating notes and tasks. It introduces AmpleNote as a superior, free alternative that seamlessly connects notes, tasks, and calendar. AmpleNote's unique features include task creation from notes, direct calendar integration with time estimates, dynamic task scoring for prioritization, and the ability to hide tasks until a set date, enhancing focus and productivity.

Takeaways

• 📝 AmpleNote integrates notes, tasks, and calendar in one place, providing a more natural workflow from brainstorming to task completion.
• 🔗 AmpleNote allows direct conversion of notes into tasks, streamlining the process and eliminating the need for separate tools like Evernote or Google Keep.
• 📅 A key feature of AmpleNote is the ability to add tasks directly to the calendar, enhancing time management and visualization of tasks alongside other events.
• ⏱️ Time estimates for tasks in AmpleNote are preserved when moved to the calendar, avoiding the need to re-enter duration details.
• 🎯 AmpleNote introduces a 'task score' system that dynamically prioritizes tasks based on urgency, importance, and other factors, providing better decision-making for task execution.
• 🟥 The task score in AmpleNote is visually represented in the calendar view, making it easy to identify high-priority tasks at a glance.
• 🛑 AmpleNote offers the option to hide tasks until a specified future date, reducing distractions and keeping the focus on current priorities.
• 🗂️ Todoist and TickTick offer basic priority levels for tasks, but AmpleNote goes beyond with a more nuanced scoring system that considers multiple factors.
• 🆓 AmpleNote is offered free of charge, making it an attractive alternative to other task management tools that may require premium subscriptions for full functionality.
• 🔄 The video suggests that AmpleNote's comprehensive approach to task management can save time and improve efficiency, encouraging viewers to consider it for their workflow.

Q & A

What is the main advantage of AmpleNote over Todoist and TickTick according to the video?

AmpleNote offers a more direct relationship between notes, tasks, and calendar, allowing users to convert notes into tasks more seamlessly.

How does AmpleNote handle the integration of notes and tasks differently from Todoist?

In Todoist, notes are added within the task description, which is seen as backward since tasks are often generated from notes. AmpleNote allows tasks to be added directly within notes, and these tasks then appear in the task list and can be moved to the calendar.

What feature does TickTick offer that Todoist does not have by default?

TickTick provides the ability to create lists, including notes, which is a step further than Todoist's note addition within task descriptions.

How does AmpleNote facilitate the addition of tasks to a calendar?

AmpleNote allows users to drag and drop tasks directly onto the calendar, providing a visual context of tasks alongside other events and meetings.

What is the significance of the 'task score' feature in AmpleNote?

The task score in AmpleNote is a dynamic metric that helps users prioritize tasks based on factors like importance, urgency, and time estimates, providing a more nuanced approach to task management than simple priority levels.

How does AmpleNote help users avoid distractions from tasks that are not immediately relevant?

AmpleNote allows users to hide tasks until a future date, reducing distractions and keeping the focus on current priorities.

What is the main difference between Todoist's and TickTick's approach to calendar integration?

Todoist offers a chronological view of tasks but lacks a true calendar integration without using extensions. TickTick has a calendar view but requires a premium subscription to use it.

How does AmpleNote's approach to task management differ from Todoist and TickTick in terms of task visibility?

AmpleNote provides the option to hide tasks until a specified future date, which is not a feature mentioned for Todoist or TickTick in the video.

What additional functionality does AmpleNote offer that is not available in Todoist's free version?

AmpleNote offers a true calendar integration and the ability to hide tasks until a future date, which are not available in Todoist's free version.

How does the video suggest using the task score in AmpleNote to improve daily planning?

The video suggests using the task score to quickly identify and prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency, allowing for more efficient daily planning.

What is the benefit of being able to add tasks directly to a calendar as mentioned in the video?

Adding tasks directly to a calendar allows for better time management by visualizing tasks alongside other events, which can lead to more effective planning and execution of daily activities.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Task Management and Note Integration

The paragraph discusses the limitations of popular task managers like Todoist and TickTick in integrating notes with tasks. It introduces AmpleNote as a superior tool that combines notes, tasks, and calendar in one place. AmpleNote allows users to create tasks directly from notes, which then appear in the task list and can be scheduled on the calendar. This feature is lacking in Todoist, where notes are only added as task descriptions, and TickTick, which allows note creation but not easy task conversion.

05:01

📅 Enhancing Productivity with Calendar Integration

This section emphasizes the importance of integrating tasks with a calendar for effective time management. While Todoist offers a chronological view, it lacks a true calendar experience, and TickTick requires a premium subscription for full calendar functionality. AmpleNote, however, provides a seamless calendar integration, enabling users to drag and drop tasks onto the calendar, set time estimates, and adjust task details directly from the calendar view. This feature enhances productivity by allowing users to visualize their tasks alongside other events.

10:01

🔍 Prioritizing Tasks with Task Score

The paragraph highlights the challenge of task prioritization in Todoist and TickTick, where simple priority levels might not be sufficient for decision-making. AmpleNote introduces a 'task score' feature that dynamically calculates the importance and urgency of tasks based on multiple factors, such as creation date, importance, and urgency. This score helps users determine the next tasks to tackle, providing a more nuanced approach to prioritization than traditional priority flags.

🚫 Minimizing Distractions with Task Hiding

The final paragraph addresses the issue of task visibility and distraction, particularly for tasks that are not immediately relevant. AmpleNote offers a solution by allowing users to hide tasks until a specified future date, effectively decluttering the workspace and maintaining focus on current priorities. This feature is absent in Todoist, which lacks a mechanism to hide non-urgent tasks, potentially leading to distraction.

Keywords

💡Task Manager

A task manager is a digital tool or application designed to help individuals organize and prioritize their tasks and to-dos. In the context of the video, the speaker compares different task managers, Todoist and TickTick, highlighting their features and limitations. The video suggests that a more integrated approach, as offered by AmpleNote, can better link notes, tasks, and calendars, thus improving productivity.

💡Todoist

Todoist is a popular task management application that allows users to create, organize, and prioritize tasks. The video script mentions Todoist's limitations, such as the inability to seamlessly integrate notes with tasks, which the speaker finds counterintuitive since tasks often originate from notes.

💡TickTick

TickTick is another task management application that the video discusses. It is noted for providing a step further than Todoist by allowing users to create lists, including for notes. However, the video points out that TickTick still lacks a smooth process for converting notes directly into tasks without upgrading to a premium version.

💡AmpleNote

AmpleNote is the tool highlighted in the video as superior to both Todoist and TickTick. It is praised for its ability to centrally manage notes, tasks, and calendars, and for allowing a more natural progression from note-taking to task creation. The video emphasizes AmpleNote's unique features like task scoring and the ability to hide tasks until a specified future date.

💡Notes

Notes, in the context of the video, refer to the written records or ideas that often precede the creation of tasks. The video argues that most task managers do not effectively integrate note-taking with task management, which can lead to a disjointed workflow. AmpleNote is presented as a solution that bridges this gap by allowing tasks to be created directly from notes.

💡Time Blocking

Time blocking is a time management technique where you allocate specific time slots for different activities throughout your day. The video underscores the importance of time blocking for effective task management and how AmpleNote facilitates this by allowing tasks to be easily added to a calendar view, thus providing a comprehensive overview of one's schedule.

💡Calendar View

A calendar view in task management applications provides a visual layout of tasks and events over a period of time. The video contrasts the calendar views of Todoist and TickTick with that of AmpleNote, highlighting how AmpleNote's calendar view allows for a more intuitive drag-and-drop interface to schedule tasks, enhancing time management.

💡Task Score

Task score is a feature of AmpleNote that dynamically calculates a score for each task based on various factors such as importance, urgency, and duration. The video explains how task score helps users prioritize their tasks more effectively by providing a more nuanced measure than simple priority flags.

💡Priority Levels

Priority levels are used in task management to indicate the relative importance or urgency of tasks. The video mentions that both Todoist and TickTick offer basic priority level settings, but AmpleNote enhances this with a task score system that considers multiple factors, offering a more comprehensive approach to task prioritization.

💡Distraction-free

A distraction-free environment is one that minimizes interruptions and unnecessary stimuli, allowing for focused work. The video discusses how AmpleNote's ability to hide tasks until a future date contributes to a distraction-free workflow, helping users concentrate on the tasks that are immediately relevant.

Highlights

Comparison of task management apps Todoist and TickTick with a focus on a new tool that outperforms both.

The new tool integrates notes, tasks, and calendar in one place, unlike Todoist and TickTick.

In Todoist, notes are limited to task descriptions, which is counterintuitive for task generation from notes.

TickTick allows note creation but lacks an easy conversion of notes into tasks.

AmpleNote enables task creation directly from notes, streamlining the note-to-task process.

Tasks created in AmpleNote's notes automatically appear in the task list and can be added to the calendar.

AmpleNote facilitates time blocking and time batching by allowing tasks to be added directly to the calendar.

Todoist lacks a true calendar view, requiring integration with other calendar tools.

TickTick's calendar view is a premium feature, unlike AmpleNote's free access to calendar integration.

AmpleNote's drag-and-drop functionality for tasks onto the calendar enhances time management.

Tasks in AmpleNote carry time estimates, simplifying the scheduling process on the calendar.

AmpleNote introduces a 'task score' feature for prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance.

Todoist and TickTick offer basic priority levels, but AmpleNote's dynamic task score provides more nuanced prioritization.

AmpleNote's task score is influenced by creation date, importance, urgency, and duration, offering a comprehensive view of task priority.

Tasks in AmpleNote can be hidden until a future date, reducing distractions and improving focus.

AmpleNote provides a way to snooze tasks, making them invisible until the specified return time.

AmpleNote's filtering options allow users to toggle visibility of hidden tasks for future planning.

AmpleNote is offered for free, providing an effective alternative to Todoist and TickTick.

A link to AmpleNote is provided for viewers interested in trying the app.

Transcripts

- There seems to be a constant debate

as to which is the better Task Manager.

Todoist or TickTick.

And while both of these apps are great,

in this video,

I'm going to show you a tool that does four things better

than both of those apps.

And best of all, it's free.

Number one,

let's take a look at the relationship between our notes

and our tasks.

For most of us, our tasks are generated from our notes.

Either we are doing a brainstorming session

or perhaps we're taking notes during a meeting

and then we're generating our tasks and our to-dos

from that collection of notes.

But most of our task managers are not built around notes.

Here within Todoist, the best that we can do

is add a note within the description,

but that's within the description of the task

that actually seems kind of backward

because chances are we are taking those notes first.

This might force you to use another tool such as Evernote

or Google Keep or some other scratch pad

off of the side of your desk,

and then converting it to a task.

Now over in TickTick, they've gone one step further

and they've given us the ability to create lists.

And in this case, we can create things such as notes.

Here I've created something titled a new note

and I've jotted down some bullet points

but that's essentially it.

I can't quickly

and easily convert anything here into a task.

Now, I could come up here

and set a reminder for the entire note

but chances are there's only a few items

or pieces of key information that I actually want to convert

into a task.

But here within AmpleNote,

we have access to all of our notes, tasks, and calendar

all in one centralized place.

And best of all, there is a direct relationship

between all three of these components.

For example, I was taking down some quick notes,

some quick thoughts earlier today.

Here you can see

I've got a few different bullet points here,

and then I decided to add a task directly within my note.

Now the best thing is that this task

is not going to reside only here within my note area.

If I switch over to my tasks, here you can see that

research a new training to attend

is now with all of my other tasks,

which may be a combination of tasks that I've created

as a one-off or tasks which I've created within other notes.

So in this case, it follows a much more natural progression

from brainstorming or note taking.

And then if I do want to convert this, for example

into a task, all I need to do is highlight it

and suddenly it has become a task

which I will now see on my task list

and which I can now pull over onto my calendar as well.

Number two, adding tasks directly to your calendar.

Now, I've talked about time blocking and time batching

for a long, long time

and the importance of giving a time estimate

and making sure that you're able to accomplish

what you set out to do.

And if you only keep your tasks in a list format,

that is very, very difficult.

You want to be able to see it in the context

of all of your other meetings and all of your other events.

Here within Todoist,

we can view sort of a chronological view of all of our tasks

but this isn't really a true calendar.

Yes, Todoist does allow us to integrate

and has an extension for other calendars,

but there's certain pieces of functionality

that you just can't do outside of Todoist.

So you're going to find yourself going back and forth.

TickTick on the other hand, does have a calendar view.

However, you do need to upgrade to their premium version

in order to make use of it.

But here within AmpleNote,

not only do we have direct access

to our calendar and can easily toggle back and forth

but we can drag and drop

any of our tasks here on the right hand side

directly onto our calendar so we can see the relationship

between other things that are going on and the other tasks

which perhaps we've dragged onto our day already.

So for example here on the right hand side,

I want to send out this invitation.

I'm just going to drag it over and put it here for 10:00 AM.

Meanwhile, maybe I'm going to drag this recording a podcast

and put it over for tomorrow at 11:00 AM.

So already I'm being that much more actionable

as I put tasks directly on my calendar.

Now you'll notice that the two tasks

which I just added have different lengths,

and that's because I set that up ahead of time.

When I created those tasks, I gave them a time estimate

so when I pull them onto my calendar, that stays with it.

I don't need to recreate it

or give it some type of default value,

which you sometimes find with other calendar

or to-do list extensions.

Of course, if I want to change the details

of any of my tasks, all I need to do

is select it and I'll have access to everything here

on the right-hand side, including changing the duration,

choosing the ability to give it a custom reminder

or adding any other details that I like.

But I can also do that directly from my calendar.

Maybe I know it's going to take me about two hours

to record this podcast episode.

All I need to do is drag it over like that

and everything is set.

As you've heard me teach before, I can't emphasize enough

how valuable it is having your to-dos

on the exact same screen as your calendar.

Think of the following scenario.

You've already planned out

what your most important tasks are.

Now you can plan out your entire week in advance

making sure that you're making the best use of your time

and all you need to do is drag and drop those tasks

in the appropriate place on your calendar.

Now speaking of deciding what's most important

and what you should do next, let's take a look at priority.

Now, of course, the ability to set the priority

for your tasks is a basic feature of any task manager.

Here within Todoist, we can come over here

and select one of a number of different priority levels.

So if red is high urgency priority level number one

then maybe I'm going to set this

to priority level number two

and you can see the different color shading here.

This also gives me the ability to filter

or sort by these different options as well.

Within TickTick,

almost the exact same rules apply where I can quickly

and easily set a number of different priority levels

for any of the tasks which I've created.

But just having a simple priority level is often not enough.

How often have you applied the highest priority

to dozens of your tasks?

Now, which one should you tackle first?

Well, here within AmpleNote

they've created something called a task score

which can be a great way when you're determining

which of the next three, four

or 10 tasks you should embark on next.

And the great thing is, is that it's dynamic

based on a variety of different factors,

not just the length of time or due date,

but also if it's important or urgent.

Here's a task I created quite recently

so it only has a task score of one.

However, if I say that it's important

suddenly that task score increases.

If I say that it's urgent as well,

well that task score jumps up as well.

And if I base it on the start date,

or how long it's going to take,

that task score will continue to change.

But if I scroll down here and let's say open up this task

you can see that it has a task score of 12.5.

What are the differences here?

Well, it's also looking as to when I created this task

which I think is really valuable.

It's taking into account and assuming

that I've been meaning to do something with this

for a very long time,

even though I have not given it a start date,

even though I haven't chosen it as important or urgent,

maybe this is something I need to revisit next.

And best of all, that task score translates

to other parts of AmpleNote.

Here we are back in the calendar view

where I have a number of my tasks

listed on the right hand side

and I've chosen to sort it by task score.

So you can see these first three are red,

the next one is yellow, then a number of blues

and then a few that may not have

a very high task score at all.

Now I can identify which ones should I be looking at next,

or which ones do I need to revise.

Maybe the due date has changed,

maybe something else has changed and I can edit that task.

But this gives me so much more and better information

than simply adding my own flags and my own priority level.

And even though tasks

with the same color may look very similar

I don't even have to dive into them to know

that this one has a higher task score

than the one down below.

So I can be more efficient

and quickly make better decisions

when it comes to planning my day.

Next, let's take a look at something

that continues to distract us

whenever you are working with your to-do list.

And that has to do with constantly seeing tasks

or things that you don't need to engage with

for some time in the future.

Here within my Todoist account,

I have a task that says it's very important

but I don't really need to think about this

for another six to nine months.

However, there's no real great way

for me to hide or minimize this task.

It's always going to be visible to me

and often very distracting.

What if there was a way

in which I could hide my tasks until I want to see them?

Well hear within AmpleNote,

we can do that for any single task.

It may look like I have a very long list of tasks here

but there's perhaps a number of things

that I don't need to think about

and therefore I don't even want to see it

until sometime in the future.

So here on the right hand side

you can see that every single task has a little icon

which allows me to hide until sometime in the future.

So let's say,

I don't want to engage with this for another week.

Well, I don't want to see this.

I don't want to see it in my calendar view,

so I accidentally drag it onto this week.

I don't want to see it here

as I'm analyzing or grouping my other tasks together.

I'm going to say one week and now it's gone.

It's vanished.

It's almost like hitting the snooze button.

It will return in its normal state exactly at that time.

Now, of course, at any time

we can always choose and change our filtered settings

and we can choose to show our hidden tasks

if we want to go back

and see what is waiting for us in the future.

But this feature alone is a fantastic way

to keep our focus and also keep us distraction free

as we strive to be more efficient

and more time effective with all of our to-dos.

So if you'd like a more effective way to bring your notes,

tasks and calendar all together in one place,

and take advantage of all of the features

which I showed you today absolutely free,

go to amplenote.com

or click the link in the description down below.

And if you want to save even more time

as a part of your day, be sure to watch this video next

where I show you seven Google Drive tips and tricks

so you can be more effective

and spend more time on the things that you want.