TaskPaper on the other hand launches in under a second, and also offers a nice quick entry form that is available system-wide via a a global short-cut key.Įmacs aficionados will protest now – after all – Emacs is meant to be launched and never shutdown! This is true, but in my usage patterns, Emacs does get closed once in a while and having to launch it just to make a few quick Org-Mode entries (even with the excellent remember mode) becomes a pain. However, there is one big difference that has led me to looking at integration: Org-Mode is Emacs based and hence takes ages to launch. Org-Mode is obviously much more feature rich than TaskPaper, which by design keeps things simple. The underlying files are plain text with the meaning readable even when not viewed by the appropriate software. So where does the link between TaskPaper and Org-Mode come in? Both are text based, and have their own light-weight formats to define outlines and tasks. In fact Org-Mode has become one of the primary software that I use regularly, every day. I have been a heavy user of Emacs’ Org-Mode for some years now, and love the power and flexibility it offers for tracking not just outlines and tasks, but any text based item, including notes and calendar entries. It also provides a quick launch time and a nice system-wide quick entry window that is accessible with a single shortcut key. It combines the simplicity of a text micro-format to mark the tasks, and the elegance of a Mac UI. If that’s still too complex, you can still opt for some old-school tech like pen and paper.TaskPaper is a simple and elegant task management software for the OSX platform. TaskPaper isn’t for everyone, but it offers a mix of simplicity and functionality that some people will love. You can even add TaskPaper support to the venerable vim editor. There are also TaskPaper plugins for most popular text editors. For example, TaskMator brings the format to your iPhone. The base TaskPaper app is Mac-only, but what if you want to use it on other systems? The TaskPaper file format is so simple that apps exist for nearly every operating system to work with it. You can also use relative dates, like and TaskPaper will figure everything out for you. This date would be in the past, so it won’t do you much good, but it works as an example. For example, would set a task due Thursday, January 1, 1970. For these, you simply use a tag with the date within parentheses. You can tag anything you want, like for tasks you want to tackle today or for high-priority tasks. These don’t use hashtags but use the symbol instead. Any line of text that doesn’t start with a dash or end with a colon is considered a note.Īnother way of organizing your tasks comes in the form of tags. To create a task, start a line with a dash. To create a project, simple end a line with a colon. The main hierarchy of a TaskPaper document comes in the form of projects. Easy task entry is part of the appeal, but then TaskPaper will still function like many task apps, showing you what you need to know when you need to know it. Using TaskPaper is as easy as editing a text file, but that doesn’t mean that’s all it is. Plus, as we’ll look at later, the TaskPaper app isn’t the only way you can use TaskPaper-formatted text files. The developer may discontinue the app, and the syncing service you use may shut down, but you still have your file with your tasks. Unlike the syncing backends of big, complicated todo apps, you don’t have to worry about TaskPaper shutting down and taking your data with it. Using standard Unix tools found on Mac, Linux, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux, you can manipulate your todo list in a myriad of different ways. Take the file, put it on a cloud service like Dropbox or Nextcloud, and it’s available anywhere you want.īecause of its simplicity, plain text is also extremely powerful. There’s no need for a complicated back end to handle syncing. One of the main advantages of storing your tasks in a plain text format is how easy it is to move around. If you like a bit of visual flair, this is a handy addition. You can also opt to use different files for personal tasks, business tasks, and anything else.Įven though it’s simple, a variety of themes are available for the app. If you want to keep everything in one big document, you can do that. The flexibility is a big part of TaskPaper’s appeal. If you have a big, complicated project to plan, it can help you do that, too. If you just want to remember a few options, it can do that. TaskPaper is a system that is as simple or complex as you want it to be. The app costs $24.99, but you don’t have to worry about any subscriptions or up-selling. Instead, it’s an app that lets you manage your tasks in an easy-to-use format that is stored as simple plain text. Despite the name, TaskPaper doesn’t actually have anything to do with paper.
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