The other day, I purchased the Omni Group’s OmniOutliner. I’ve been looking for a user-friendly, simple and powerful little toolbox that can sit on my computer and take the abuse of a hundred to-do notes. After looking at a lot of other Mac-based applications, this one easily fits the bill. You’d think that, because I have so many items to take care of, that I don’t have time to do the research into what application will act as a container and database for my to-do items. You might even think that, by researching ad nauseum the many applications that exist out there, that I’m also procrastinating and not making the most of my time. You may even presume to think that I just want a new toy to play with and explore, finding new ways of organizing information and learning how others might associate different kinds of important information. You’d be somewhat correct.
I am now using OmniOutliner and, after 3 days of loving it, entering all of my list items (including “put up wire holders in kitchen,” and “move files out of Entourage,” and “organize office file system”), I hate the f*cking thing. It’s really no fault of the application. It’s me. I hate having all of these open check boxes sitting around, mocking me, telling me how inferior I am and that I’m an incompetent, time-wasting, and inefficient SOB. I hate the fact that, when I check one little item off its pretty little face, the others scream out laughing and tell me to get my sh*t together because I only have so many more days in this world and people are waiting for this stuff to get done. Then, I close the application and the crappy little icon sits on my computer and I know I need to open it again, because there, in all of its fricking glory, are the things I need to do, unreviewed, unchecked, undone.
F*ck.
Postscript: I must not be the only one thinking about the need for good To Do lists. I just received an email for beta testing a new online application that sounds good but looks only average from the goog folks at Good Experience. Sign up for a trial.