What task and project management software do you use?

I’ve been looking into task and project management software. I really like the GTD (Get Things Done) productivity method. I’m leaning towards Todoist and Evernote as the backbone of my system. This is for “everything”. I like Trello but Todoist seems to be the best fit for my needs, which is personal biz and small creative project management.

I would like to build a solid and scalable system from the start. Collaborating on video projects is an issue for me. So today I’m looking into Frame.io. Any comments on that service or an alternative is welcome.

What management system/software do you use for personal, business, and projects? Is it scaleable? Pros and Cons? Any tips or horror stories to share?

Workflow and pipeline discussion is gold for many of us but even just a quick list of software would be great if you can make the time to post it up.

Thanks!
-Larry

Lifehacker.com - A Primer to the GTD Philosophy
Todoist.com
Evernote.com
Trello.com
Frame.io

I have tried a few different tools for task management in the past, but it just felt like organizing the task management software become another task… rather than getting those tasks done. Maybe It’s just the way my brain works, or maybe I’m old school, but I prefer an office cluttered in sticky notes. There’s something satisfying about trying to clear em out. I do use my google assistant to set reminders and appointments, though.

At home, I also have a really odd trick of placing random objects on the floor in the middle of a room to remind me to do something the next time I’m in said room. You can’t possibly walk into the living room, for example, without remembering why there’s a picture frame sitting in the middle of the floor. :smiley:

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I use Wunderlist. Fantastic lite app for general “to do” check lists. If you opt for the paid version it expands your capability including the ability to work with teams and assign tasks to members of the group.
Wunderlist

Wunderlist was my first choice until I found out Microsoft bought them out and will probably kill it for MS To-do (which is being banner advertised on the Wunderlist site now). I got the impression many are jumping to Todoist now. They both more or less have the same features, except Todoist is really crippled in the free tier.

@cgCody yeah me too. I set it in the way so I have to deal with it. Or step over it -lol. I also like doing things on paper. I have a mound of paper stretching back to the 90’s. It’s all “back burner” projects and ideas. To the ceiling. I have another huge pile in digital form on my hard drives. Organized into folders just like the paper is. That’s not good enough when there’s a mountain of it. Things get buried and forgotten.

Instead of working on one of the many little projects I could work on I end up staring at the mountain and doing nothing. Overwhelmed and paralyzed. With a LOT of work this software will help me get it all organized, prioritized, and broken down into manageable tasks. Actionable prioritized tasks available at a click or swipe (mobile). Easy to bring in other people too.

I should’ve looked into this stuff long ago.

Thanks for the replies. -LP

I think these task management solutions are way overrated. Every time I look into them, I get the impression that the people developing them don’t know how to manage anything. But they know how to code software and websites to make it look like it is something you need to manage things. But when you try to use it, it is more cumbersome - and expensive - than using just simpler cheaper solutions.

It is kind of like the motivational speaker who makes millions motivating people on how to get rich. When in fact, if honestly examined, the way to do it is to become a motivational speaker and charge admission and sell DVDs and books. People who are actually successful and rich are either not good at teaching it, or they don’t have time, or are afraid of competition, or whatever. But a guy who could not put two pieces of business common sense together, can “talk the talk”. Of course he had all kinds of time on his hands to write all of this stuff, because, well, he was a looser.

So related back to this, in order to write business software you’d have to first be a successful business person, in which case you would not have time to write the software. The most useful business software then is simply software versions of the real thing. Accounting, Data Base etc. Tired and true, years and years of time for people to have sorted out what works in the real world, then simply converted into a software solution of the same thing.

And on that note I finally myself, settled on Realtime Board. A virtual whiteboard. It can get as organized or sloppy as you want it. You can quickly knock out your own designs on how you want something organized and/or tracked and collaboration is real time. I pay about $10 USD a month and it gives me unlimited boards with 3 collaborators per board. I have been using it with one of my clients now for a couple of months and I think it is real useful and flexible.

My 2C

As Richard put it, task management is overrated. Unless you have an actual organization to distribute tasks to ofcourse. For a few people, it probably makes no real difference how you do it.

Asset/shot/production management on the other hand can make or break a project. I use Shotgun for holding together projects that have more than a handful of shots or whatever entities because managing the mess that comes with all this data is just too overwhelming without a clear system. Good thing with Shotgun is that it is very flexible and doesn’t really care what kind of data you are tracking. For example I have used it for holding together a database of GIS data and with some python scripting I could generate all kinds of views and outputs from that dataset.

Been using Kanbanflow and it combines 2 of my preferred productivity setups. A simple Kanban board with 3 columns (To-Do, Doing, Done) and Pomodoro Timer so it reminds me to get off my ass and take a break every 25 mins or so. (There are times I work past the beep, but best thing is until you hit the “Take A Break” button, it keeps counting your minutes. So no time spent on a task is lost.)

You can use it as a group/team project management system as well, but I’ve been using it mostly for personal use. And it definitely helps having a place to visually see what I’ve got going now, coming up next and the completed section is a nice confidence boost + motivator. We humans need at least some level of organizing to work efficiently. :smiley:

Pomodoro technique is a really fun way to work and not feel burnt out. But I don’t stick to it religiously. Sometimes when there are those last 7 verts that need pushing, I’d rather finish it and get out of my seat than stop mid way. Lol But health wise, I love that it reminds me to get up and just stand or walk around for 5 mins. Helps my mind re-focus on any problems I had in the previous session and gives my back, brain, eyes 'n legs a break from being seated + glued to the screen. Those strains add up plenty after a full day of 3d work.

Also, Rainy Mood When it’s humid AF in summer and you need some rain in your life to not feel like you wanna kill someone. Doubles as some A+ white noise when you wanna power nap or sleep. :slight_smile:

Similar to your putting things in the floor, I often put my keys with something I don’t want to forget (often lunch) Can’t leave home without them!

I’ve used trello, it’s alright, but not game changing.

Project management is frequently overkill for personal, single-person work. However once you get several people involved and/or you work on a complex project with a lot of “moving parts” “phases” etc. it becomes highly useful. Software designed for this isn’t targeting the sharp-end-of-the-spear type people, it’s more for those who are doing mostly project-related work like scheduling, auditing, and reporting.

Finally a Frame.io alternative. I must not have googled hard enough.

Kanbanflow is half the price of Trello. The features seem the same at first glance. I’ll have to look closer at that one.

A task management tool is just a time-saver. It’s only useless if you have no need for it or you’re not using the tool in an effective way. You have to use some sort of system (pipeline) with it or it’s just a bunch of lists piling up.

The perfect task/time management tool for me would include a small flame thrower to mount under my chair. Pointed up.

Thanks everyone.

-LP

Yeah, I went through the motions looking for a good Productivity/Task Management App/Site in the past too. And nothing really did it for me other than Kanban. Found it through a Lifehacker piece that led to a YT vid on Kanban and extended to Kanbanflow in another sidebar vid. So I didn’t find it easily on google either. :smile:

Those other Apps/Sites do have their uses for big projects/teams for sure. I know the StarCitizen Devs use Jira and it’s somewhat similar to the Blender Dev Portal. So for big projects and teams with lots of issues and tasks it definitely provides certain benefits & services.

But as a single user or even if working on small-medium group projects Kanbanflow, I believe can be extremely simple and straightforward to use. The timer helps keep me focused and a health reminder to take breaks so I’ve always loved that.

I used to keep a Pomodoro timer app on my phone every time I sit down so it rings 'n reminds me to get off my butt and take a break. But Kanbanflow helps to that + track the time I spent on a particular task, so it’s a Win-Win. Can’t do this job for long if you’re struggling with health risks by 40. So even the small things count. Especially when you’re working solo and can get sucked into your screen for hours on end.

The paid features for Kanbanflow seem to be really geared towards working with a team. Making it easier to assign tasks and share/track work, etc. I’ve never really had the need for it cause I use this for personal use. But at $5 a month, definitely seem affordable and I’m glad that package is available for users who need all that functionality, but also without taking away anything important from a free user. :slight_smile:

Totally agree with you. Sure, Project/Task Management Apps/Sites can be quite the fluff. (Expensive too.) But there is a reason big projects use them. And sure, as a single user or small team you might not require all those features but for me personally it helps keeps things in perspective when I’m working. When you can clearly see what tasks you have for today and what you have after that. Let’s you get to work and focus on working rather than spending too much time wondering what should I do next and after that and so on…

Love that Kanban board doesn’t let you have more than 3 tasks in-progress so you won’t end up overwhelming yourself with a whole heap of tasks and not doing anything. Was my struggle for the longest time. I just had to-do’s everywhere but couldn’t focus and get started on anything. :smiley:

Not to say everyone is like this. So if this sort of workflow helps you, then by no means should you not make good use of it. Some people use sticky notes, some use a notebook, some are just productivity beasts and can GTD just with a mental map + coffee. :sweat_smile: Whatever helps you focus, get your work done and keep track of other members/tasks in a team. You should use it.

Good Luck with Your Life, Health, Work 'n Getting Shit Done LP. :sunglasses:

@JonDoe286 Good post there. Thanks for your time. Good luck to you too.

I think I’ll use one of these for a brother’s upcoming house move. Last time it was a nightmare. Maybe small tasks through their phones will get those kids involved too. A vague todo list hanging on the fridge didn’t work. They love those phones. Maybe they’ll actually be packed before moving day. I’ll be astounded if this works.

That’s another powerful aspect of the software. Not just an organizer. It’s a motivator.

-LP

Thanks and it was a pleasure sharing the experience & benefits of a system I’ve come to use and rely on daily.

Haha. Yeah kids these days just love their phones wayyy too much. :smiley: And can’t say, this just might be that little competitive motivator that gets them packed up 'n ready-2-go this time around. :wink:

Yeah, Even extremely descriptive bullet-pointed to-do lists on my monitor screen and inside windows never worked for me either. I guess they might have worked if I hadn’t overwhelmed myself by putting up too many of them to begin with. You just don’t know where to get started anymore. Lol

I guess the Kanban system really just streamlines the process and works for Me. Somewhat like a personal pipeline. From the, To-Do > Do-Today > Doing > Done. Really puts things into perspective and with a limit of 3 in-progress tasks, I’m forced to finish what I’m doing before dumping more onto my plate. :sweat_smile:

That’s another powerful aspect of the software. Not just an organizer. It’s a motivator.

+1. Couldn’t have agreed more. There’s a lot of discussion about software and workflows on forums like this, but for people like us. ‘Workflow’ actually starts from getting organized, getting motivated, getting started and keeping the momentum, start to finish. All the software and technicalities come afterwards and after getting started.

Apologies for the long posts and hope I didn’t veer off topic too much. Thanks for reading and hope it helped. :slight_smile:

Cheers Bud. Have a good week.

After many days of searching, reading, watching, testing, and comparing, I’ve settled on ClickUp Premium as my main project/task manager. It has a lot going for it. Too much to get into here. Good price. Better or new features. Nice and fast android app. Fast and transparent development. And much more.

https://clickup.com

If you’re looking into project/task managers be sure to check this one out. They sold their company to start this one after being frustrated with the software they used (Asana I think). The business model is based on storage (amazon). They are pulling in Asana and Wrike users with every update, which are coming fast. Their roadmap/request pages are public.

ALL the features are available with unlimited users in the Free Tier (with capped use of custom fields and integrations). 100MB storage. That’s a real good deal. Most all the others are crippled on the free tier.

Premium is unrestricted and has unlimited storage. No seat minimum! Solo at $9/mo or $60/year. Yay!

Get organized. Plan ahead. Sleep well.

-LP

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I use mainly Kanboard and Gitea for my projects , I also use Nextcloud for sharing stuff with clients. I recommend Invoiceninja for finance/invoicing etc.

I self host all this stuff, but if you want most of them offer paid services.

At work and at home I mostly use Git, although it’s mostly used for software development.

Yesterday ClickUp.com sent out an email about the release of their Guests feature. One free guest per member I think it was. Not enough I thought, but better than nothing. Today I get another email. Other users thought the same and I guess they posted their displeasure on the public request/roadmap board. Today they changed it to 5 free guests per member. Guests are collaborators, clients, whatever, who can view, comment, add attachments, etc. in your projects.

Clickup is not as slick as the services like Frame.io but getting closer to the same functionality every month… on the cheap. I have unlimited storage (fast Amazon servers). Can share video with people but they have to use browser or a video player on their device (VLC works good). These shares include a download link btw.

Marking up images is coming soon. That may be in the form of a Chrome browser addon. They are big on Chrome addons. They just released an addon for the notepad built into Clickup.

How they will match the video commenting like Wrike.com and Frame.io I don’t know. Till then you have to use time references in regular comments. Btw comment threads follow attachments, tasks, etc. and can be assigned to members/guests. Nice.

https://docs.clickup.com/clickupdates-release-notes/guests-policy-changes
https://docs.clickup.com/sharing-privacy-and-permissions/guests
https://docs.clickup.com/sharing-privacy-and-permissions/permissions

Yeah this is new and exiting to me but the reason I’m hawking this here is the price. They keep saying it will never change if you get in now. Solo is very affordable. All the other popular sites require 5 seats minimum. That’s too expensive for a one man show and is why these project managers are new to me.

Edit: I clicked the other sites I mentioned (discourse autolinked them). Frame has a solo package (is this new?). Wrike requires 5 seats and their video commenting feature is only in the biz tier (expensive).

Do your own research before buying into anything! Check it out with your own eyes (all these places have a free month trial).

Have a nice day!

-LP

Btw thanks everyone for the advice and links. I looked into it all which led me to much info and alternatives too.

I forgot to mention I bought into RealtimeBoard.com recommended by Richard_Culver. They have an inexpensive solo tier (includes 3 free guests). I’m finding many uses for it so check it out.

-LP

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Just going to throw in Taiga as well. It’s open source, and can be installed on a server of its own. Or use the hosted version, which is quite inexpensive.

Taiga uses a Kanban, and is very easy to use. I don’t use the time tracking options, but a fully agile workflow is supported, if required. Very configurable.

I use the free version myself, which includes one private project, and as many public projects as needed. One private project is enough for my needs, and when finished, I download a backup of the project and start anew.

The Kanban works really well.

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For what it’s worth, I’ve used (and on some things, still use) Redmine as a general purpose project management tool… both for code and for creative projects. Upside is that it’s open source, and integrates quite a few nice features, including integrated version control and gantt charts (if that’s your thing). There’s also a pretty vibrant plugin community that provides both free and paid plugins for all manner of things, from code review to Kanban-style task management.

If you self-host, it’s worth it to be fairly well-versed in Ruby on Rails and how that whole ecosystem works, but there are a few hosted Redmine solutions out there if you want to take that option.

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