https://www.42todo.com/blog Notes on getting to done — product thinking and engineering from 42 Todo!. en https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-your-mac https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-your-mac Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Native Mac to-do apps are lovely, but the moments that decide a list happen away from the desk. Pick a list you can reach while you're on the Mac, in a browser tab, Slack, or the assistant you already talk to. It should still be with you in the car and the store after the lid closes. Choosing an app Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-your-windows-pc https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-your-windows-pc Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT On a Windows PC almost anything can hold a list, and Microsoft To Do is free and already installed. What to actually shop for is the other sixteen hours: a list you can reach from your phone, the car, and the kitchen, and that's still sitting in a browser tab when you're back at the desk. Choosing an app Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-iphone-and-ipad https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-iphone-and-ipad Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Your iPhone is the one device with you when you remember things, so this pick matters more than any desktop one. Apple Reminders is a genuinely good default. Look further when your day includes ChatGPT, Slack, an Android phone in the family, or a kitchen iPad everyone reads. Choosing an app Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-android https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-to-do-list-for-android Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT On Android, the widget is the real product: today's tasks on the home screen you already look at a hundred times a day. Google Tasks is the free baseline. Past that, look for a list you can talk to, in the car through Android Auto and out loud in the kitchen. Choosing an app Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-simple-task-list-that-still-reminds-you https://www.42todo.com/blog/a-simple-task-list-that-still-reminds-you Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A simple task list still has to remind you, or it's just a notepad. Keep three parts: tasks, dates you say in plain words, and a few named lists. Drop everything else, but never give up the part where the task comes back to find you. Choosing an app Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/how-to-write-a-to-do-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/how-to-write-a-to-do-list Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Write one line per task in your own words, give anything that isn't for today a day, and keep today's list to about five things. Write it down where you're standing instead of promising to copy it later. That's the entire skill. Planning your day Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/the-to-do-list-hiding-in-your-inbox https://www.42todo.com/blog/the-to-do-list-hiding-in-your-inbox Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT An inbox keeps everything and reminds you of nothing, so tasks kept as unread emails get buried between newsletters. Turn the email into one line with a date, leave the thread where it is, and let the inbox go back to being mail. Work Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/priority-flags-dont-set-priorities https://www.42todo.com/blog/priority-flags-dont-set-priorities Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Priority flags record how urgent a task felt when you wrote it, and within weeks everything is marked high, which ranks nothing. A due date and a short today list do the actual prioritizing. 42 Todo! leaves flags out on purpose. Planning your day Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/you-dont-need-a-to-do-list-system https://www.42todo.com/blog/you-dont-need-a-to-do-list-system Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Task systems are mostly rules, and rules are chores you'll quit during your first bad month. Two habits do nearly all the work: write things down the moment they show up, wherever you are, and put a day on anything that isn't for today. Product thinking Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/why-to-do-list-templates-dont-stick https://www.42todo.com/blog/why-to-do-list-templates-dont-stick Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Templates promise structure and a clean start, and they deliver it for about four days, because paper and PDFs can't reshuffle when your day changes. Keep the part that works, a short dated list, and let it refill itself instead of you refilling a grid. Planning your day Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/say-it-and-its-on-the-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/say-it-and-its-on-the-list Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Your hands are usually busy when you remember things, so saying a task out loud is the writing-down that actually happens. 42 Todo! takes tasks by voice, through Alexa in the kitchen and CarPlay or Android Auto in the car, straight onto your real list. Capture Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/what-a-to-do-list-app-is-for https://www.42todo.com/blog/what-a-to-do-list-app-is-for Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A to-do list app has one job, which is holding a thought you can't act on yet and handing it back when you can. Everything else is a preference. So the question that picks your app isn't which features it has, it's where you'll be standing when you remember something. Choosing an app Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-to-do-list-app https://www.42todo.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-to-do-list-app Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Roundups compare to-do list apps on a quiet morning at a desk, which is the one situation that never makes anyone quit. Test the bad week instead: can you add a task with your hands full, does it come back on its own, does it reach you where you already are, and can you get your tasks out again. Choosing an app Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/task-management-software-vs-a-to-do-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/task-management-software-vs-a-to-do-list Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Task management software is for a group that owes each other work, so it has assignees, statuses, and reports. A to-do list is for one person's memory. Ask whether anybody else is waiting on the thing: if yes, you need the group software, and if it's just you, a list is enough. Choosing an app Work https://www.42todo.com/blog/where-microsoft-to-do-runs-out https://www.42todo.com/blog/where-microsoft-to-do-runs-out Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Microsoft To Do is free with a Microsoft account, it shares a list with Outlook, and it does reminders, repeats, and shared lists well. Its limit is that it only exists where Microsoft does, so the things you think of away from a Microsoft app tend not to make it in. Choosing an app Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/where-google-tasks-runs-out https://www.42todo.com/blog/where-google-tasks-runs-out Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Google Tasks is free, it turns an email into a task in one drag, and tasks with a date show up on Google Calendar. The limit is that it's a sidebar inside Google's apps, it can't be shared with anyone, and it isn't there when you're away from a screen. Choosing an app Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/what-belongs-on-todays-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/what-belongs-on-todays-list Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A daily list works when it's short enough to actually finish, which is usually three to five real things. Everything else should carry a date that isn't today, so it comes back on its own instead of sitting there making you feel behind. Planning your day Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/the-weekly-list-without-the-ceremony https://www.42todo.com/blog/the-weekly-list-without-the-ceremony Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A weekly list works when it's a ten minute look at what's coming, not an hour of cleaning up folders and tags. Two questions do the job: what's coming due that you haven't looked at, and what's been sitting there for weeks. Planning your day Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/tracking-tasks-is-not-doing-them https://www.42todo.com/blog/tracking-tasks-is-not-doing-them Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Task tracker apps are built to report status to other people, which is why they ask you to keep every task current. The only tracking that helps you personally is a task coming back on the day it matters. If you want to watch something over time, watch a number, not a task. Product thinking Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/what-should-be-free-in-a-to-do-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/what-should-be-free-in-a-to-do-list Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Writing a task down, putting a date on it, and having it come back should be free on every device. Those are the parts that stop working the moment you charge for them. Paying should be for sharing, automations, and developer tools. 42 Todo! is free to start, and the Personal plan is $4.99 a month. Choosing an app Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/reminders-that-actually-reach-you https://www.42todo.com/blog/reminders-that-actually-reach-you Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Reminders get ignored because they arrive somewhere you can't do anything about them, and a dismissed reminder is gone. Have them land where you already are, whether that's Slack, your car, or the chat you have open, and use repeats for anything that comes around again. Everywhere Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/your-calendar-is-not-your-to-do-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/your-calendar-is-not-your-to-do-list Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT A calendar is for things that happen at a set time with other people involved, and a list is for work you'll do whenever you can. Putting every task on the calendar means re-dragging blocks every time the day changes. Let dates on tasks do that job, and keep the calendar for real appointments. Planning your day Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/the-work-list-that-isnt-project-management https://www.42todo.com/blog/the-work-list-that-isnt-project-management Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Your own work list should be separate from the team's project board. The board is shaped for the group and needs constant updating; your list is the handful of things you owe this week. Since most of those arrive in Slack or email, the list has to reach into those places. Work Everywhere https://www.42todo.com/blog/stop-opening-your-to-do-list https://www.42todo.com/blog/stop-opening-your-to-do-list Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT If you have to open an app to see your list, one day you'll stop opening it. 42 Todo! puts your tasks where you already are: in your chat with an AI assistant, in Slack, on your phone, in your car. So instead of you going to the list, the list comes to you. Everywhere Product thinking https://www.42todo.com/blog/why-simple-task-systems-win https://www.42todo.com/blog/why-simple-task-systems-win Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Fancy to-do apps fail because keeping them tidy becomes its own job. Most people just need a plain list, due dates you say like a person, and a few lists with your own names on them. Simple keeps working even when your week gets crazy. Product thinking Getting to done https://www.42todo.com/blog/capture-is-the-bottleneck https://www.42todo.com/blog/capture-is-the-bottleneck Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most to-do lists die because writing things down is too much work. If saving a task means finding an app and filling out a form, the thought is gone first. With 42 Todo!, a task costs one sentence wherever you already are: in a chat with an AI assistant, in Slack, or out loud in the car. Capture Everywhere AI