Welcome to 2008! I'm glad for the opportunity to review Google's Task Management System, Remember the Milk …
The film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, contrasts the life of Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert with city life in the developed world. The city is a world that segments time into different parts of life: home, work, social. 730 Monday means we must move from the domestic environment to the work environment. 800 means look busy. The pace of life, the constant changing is overwhelming. We might spend more time worrying about what we've forgotten, instead of just getting things done, like getting the milk.
While certainly not a cure-all, Remember The Milk (RTM), Google's new Task Management System, may be your solution. Since Google already does a great job integrating email, calendar, and mapping systems, it's about time they added an online system for task management.
RTM's format provides more benefits when compared to Microsoft's Outlook task management system. There are separate lists for tasks in different areas of life: household, personal, study, work ... or I can tailor these as I wish. If I want to see what's due today, or tomorrow across lists, I use the overview function. Each task includes a due date, time estimate, location, priority level, notes and more. It's easy to postpone a task to the next day. RTM also allows me to work offline with almost as many features as online.
Google's integrated system proves useful in task management. Since I use Google Calendar, I can view today's tasks from my calendar. The location of a task is integrated with Google Maps. I can also email a new task instead of logging into RTM. Google has also done a great job of providing consistent keyboard shortcuts across applications. This saves me from getting sore using the mouse.
I do have a wishlist for Google's Remember the Milk. The overview for the day is very useful, but if I click on a task, it takes me to that list, rather than allowing me to update the task from the overview. The reloading, shifting between lists is distracting. And though Google has provided me with keyboard shortcuts, I still have to use my mouse too much as I select a task and then enter details about it. I also like using a separate calendar system to track when I'll get things done, so I'd welcome another task calendar system separate from my Google Calendar where I track appointments.
Overall, this is the best program I've seen for task management. Use this task management system to help you stop worrying about what to remember so you can focus on living in midst of modern life.
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