Thanks this is a good feature.
I was able to do what you said - make new task with CAPS - but there was no collapse triangle until I chose to make a few SUB TASKS - then the triangle appeared.
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For the last several years I’ve been using ToDOist for both work and personal. The cross-platform utility and the natural language/keyboard shortcuts are hard to top.
However, I’ve recently been trying to split off the personal tasks into Reminders. As others have mentioned, the ability to get things in using Siri is hard to beat - especially when I have my hands full with kids and can only use my Apple Watch.
If cross-platform wasn’t an issue, I could probably do fine using just Reminders, though I have found I actually like having a mental separation between work and personal tasks. Having everything in the same system (even though I know you can create different views) makes it harder to stay in the appropriate mental space.
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That is correct. There would be no point in having one unless there were subtasks.
I love this!
I think the other thing with too many tags is trying to remember them on the fly.
I had a similar issue with remembering my file naming convention for hazel - so what I did was create a textexpander snippet that prompts for the inputs (I.e. business - client name - document name - date)
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Dozens plus one! For my needs it seems to do nicely.
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After periods of using all but 3 of the tools mentioned in the discussion to date, I’ve landed on FacileThings. I use it most in an Obsidian pane via the Custom Frames plugin. There are a few actions that need a wider window and I use the browser for that. The iOS app is a first class citizen, though I mostly use it for Capture.
It has strong support for GTD and I found I need the nudge of the structure to maintain my GTD practice amid the chaos of life.
I’ve started using it for projects and as I get deeper into, appreciate the smooth linkage of areas of focus, projects, and individual tasks.
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@Bmosbacker Please can I ask a cheeky Reminders question, as I cannot find this in Help or Preferences and you are a Reminders wizard.
Do you know if there is a way to tailor what is shown as default when adding a task? On MacOS I don’t see the URL field until I click on the on the ‘i’, but I use this field quite a lot and would like a way to do it without having to click. It would be cool if I could remove the location field too, which shows automatically, since I do not use this.
Aside from this niggle I’m really getting into Reminders this time round thanks to your tips and tricks, thank you!
I’m delighted if anything I’ve shared has been helpful. Reminders (and Notes) are going to be even more powerful with Ventura and iOS 16.
As to your question, I don’t believe there is a way to customize what shows up. One of my little niggles about Reminders is too much clicking required but I have mastered most of the keyboard shortcuts, which helps. For example, for the “i” button, I just hit Command+i" to bring up the dialog. This saves at least one click.
Also, I’m not sure of your use case but I have three primary uses for the URL in Reminders–webpages, links from Notes, and links from Mail messages. You can select the note title or the message subject, right-click and immediately send the note or message as a link to Reminders.
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Thank you for your reply, and the tip about cmd+i. I will try to get in the habit of using it!
Most the links I’m attaching to tasks are links to files, Slack conversations and Trello boards, so unfortunately the share sheet doesn’t work. One day hopefully though!
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I’m obsessive about neatness and being organized and my inbox reaches zero most days. That said, the above would not concern me. I’m fine with a short or a longer list provided that what is on that list is actually “due” TODAY. If so, I prioritize the order and get to work. Because I’m generally consistent with my weekly and daily reviews I don’t need defer dates because “defer dates” have already been created by virtue of true due dates plus a Flag if applicable (I use Reminders). The Flag is only for those tasks that I need to be working on now in order to complete them by the due dates. An example of a flagged task would be a communication or presentation. It may be due in two weeks but I need to be working on it now. The daily review the day before tells me what my priorities need to be for the next day. I work on those projects early in the morning. For example, I have three hours blocked for “deep work” each morning. I may spend an hour on each of three flagged projects in a given morning, or two hours today and one hour tomorrow on a project.
As to app switching, I’ve certainly had my go with that as well but as I reflect on it, there have been three categories of apps that I’ve tended to switch—note taking, writing, and task management. After substantial experimentation the temptation to switch apps has substantially subsided—the Siren Song as grown faint. My workflow is working well, or at least well enough, with Calendar, Mail, Notes (project notes), Obsidian (research notes), Reminders, and Ulysses (writing projects).
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Fun Things vs. OmniFocus vs. paper conversation on Rand’s latest podcast episode. About 20 minutes. For those who don’t listen, Rands is an engineering manager currently at Apple (“Lopp” in one of the WWDC keynote demos.) Lyle is an iOS engineer at Netflix.
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Based on some posts here, I’m currently testing Amazing Marvin. It’s kinda magical. If I set things up correctly, then every morning I see a time blocked day that already includes the tasks I need to do organized within the time blocks.
My OmniFocus renewal is in a few weeks. I think I’m switching to Amazing Marvin.
For my Liquid Planner friend here, I used LP for over a decade. Marvin is the closest thing I’ve found to Liquid Planner’s magic of telling me when my plate/day is full.
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I enjoyed this, thanks as always @cornchip. It was in my RSS feed but I habitually ignore his podcast — not enough time to subscribe or keep up to another. This was a great quick hit. The episode was a great reminder that task lists are often more of a distraction than an aid.
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Am I right in understanding that an Apple engineer is using Things? This may create an existential workflow crisis for me! 
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Have you tried a Backwing Natural ? It has the Extra Firm core. You might also try, for a fraction of the cost, Apsara Absolute. Not quite as fancy but awfully good.
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I hadn’t, thanks! Will do.
Around 20 years I saw a report of the software Apple was using at that time. Microsoft Office, SAP running on IBM iron, etc. Pretty much everything you would find at any large company. I’d pay to see an up to date report like that today.
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did I hear it right? An apple engineer whose team is responsible for Apple Mail has been using Superhuman (gmail) for years……
I think Lyle (Netflix) was the Superhuman user, and Rands uses Mail.app, but now I’m doubting myself. Superhuman needs Gmail/G Suite, which I’m not sure if Apple uses.
Lyle said he used it for 4 months and stopped while Randy’s appeared to indicate that he is using for years.
Perhaps, Rands is using it for non work emails. I can see that the email address provided on his website is hosted with Google. Which to be honest does not sit well with me. If the person working on Apple Mail does not use the mail app, does that say anything about the mail app or the apple mail service in general. To be clear, he is well within his rights to use whichever service he wants. In more of a general comment on the lack of priority Apple is giving to the Mail.app
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