There are hundreds of planning apps, but the choice comes down to one question: what exactly are you planning. One-off tasks, recurring habits and projects with stages require different tools, and trying to keep everything in one usually ends with the list being abandoned. Let's look at it by task type.
Daily to-do list
Todoist
Entering tasks in plain language: you type "call the bank tomorrow at 11" — the app sets the date and time by itself. There are projects, labels, priorities and recurring tasks. The free version is more than enough for one person.
Strong point: the speed of adding a task — three seconds from thought to entry. Limitation: time-based reminders are only in the paid version.
TickTick
The same thing plus a built-in Pomodoro timer and a calendar in one window. If you want not only to write down tasks but also to track how much time they took, this is more convenient than Todoist.
Microsoft To Do and Google Tasks
Simple free lists with no limits. Your choice should depend on which email service you use: To Do pulls in emails flagged in Outlook, Google Tasks lives right in the Gmail and Calendar interface. Both are free of extra features, and that is their advantage.
Habits, not one-off tasks
Habitica
A planner shaped like a role-playing game: for completed tasks your character gains experience and equipment, for missed ones loses health. It sounds frivolous, but it works where ordinary lists don't: an ordinary checklist has no price for skipping.
Good for "do my exercises", "read 20 pages a day", "don't skip my pills". Not suitable for work tasks with deadlines.
Projects with stages
Trello
Boards with columns: "to do", "in progress", "done". When a task is not a single action but a chain of steps, a board shows the state more clearly than a list. It works well for things done by two people and a small team.
Super Planner
A planner with a calendar and reminders, focused on the day and the week. An intermediate option between a simple list and a full-fledged project manager.
How to choose and not abandon it after a week
- Start with one list. The most common mistake is to immediately build a system of ten projects and labels. Within a week you stop opening it.
- A task should be added in seconds. If adding an item requires choosing a project, label and priority — you simply won't do it.
- Separate tasks and habits. "Call the doctor" and "exercise three times a week" live by different rules.
- Put a widget on the home screen. A list you can't see doesn't work.
In short
Need a quick to-do list — Todoist. Need a list plus time tracking — TickTick. Something simple and free is enough — Microsoft To Do or Google Tasks. The problem is precisely regularity — Habitica. Tasks with stages and people — Trello.
