Rethinking Done - Introduction
Project management and collaboration should be simple, easy to use, and actually make your life more enjoyable. It also has to be available at all times where ever you may be. Not all that long ago David Allen developed GTD, and since then a wave of task orientated applications have emerged. Many have attempted to tackle this elusive process. Some with great success and others have lost their way with bloated features and functionality. Probably the most notable in terms of success is Basecamp by 37signals. But I don't want to start there. Instead, let's take this in a different direction and start with another successful organizational tool; Things by Cultured Code.
Things is a desktop application for the Mac with a iPhone and iPod touch sidekick app (reasonably priced at $49.95 at the time me writing this). I've messed around with a handful of different web and desktop apps, but keep coming back to Things. While it has been working out great for the past three or so years, when used in collaborate with other people the app starts to break down in terms of being useful. That's where Action Method by Behance steps in and really shines. Everything you could do in Things is also available in Action Method plus the added bonus of being able to actually delegate tasks, post files, hold discussions, and share an event calendar. But wait…it's all online! Behance's offline solution is a pen and paper system they've been pushing for a while now. Paper is difficult to send across the globe to collaborators. And "action steps" written down need to be typed (rewritten) on the screen in order to keep things organized and everyone on the same page — potentially doubling the time it takes to just get something in the system. But apart from not really having a "good" offline solution, Action Method has nailed task management pretty well.
Why haven't I switched? That's simple — price. At $12 a month or $99 a year, it's a bit steep for me. Call me cheap, but it doesn't seem right. I pay Flickr $24 a year for hosting way bigger files (12 megapixel photos aren't small) and not to mention all the bandwidth used in the upload and download process. This is sort of my standard complaint about most online project management solutions: the price just doesn't "feel" right. Also, it seems like something is missing. I can't place my finger on it yet, but the workflow doesn't always…work out.
So what do I plan on doing about it? Gonna build a solution of my very own. I know, it's probably not the smartest thing — it's quite a tall order and there is a lot of competition. But instead of making other products work for my needs, why not make a product that is custom tailored to the way I work? If my issues with current task management apps are valid, then there has to be someone else out there who shares my in struggles. Right?
This post is an introduction to a series of posts where I'll be sharing my thoughts, process, and maybe even bits of code. Look for more soon.
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productivity
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