What is Action Lists?
Action Lists is a task manager based on the Getting Things Done® system created by David Allen. Action Lists harnesses the power of the GTD® system with an easy to use interface that makes it fast to access the information you need when you need it. Your inbox, action lists (or "context lists"), and projects are literally at your fingertips.
Why use Action Lists?
Action Lists Makes "Getting Things Done" Easy
Action Lists makes it easy to manage all of your non-calendar GTD® activities. You can quickly capture tasks and place them in your Inbox for later processing. After processing, a task can be tagged as a "next action" that you are committed to complete, an item for your Someday list that you may (or may not) get around to in the future, or an item for your Waiting list which contains items that cannot be completed until someone else takes action. Your next actions can be assigned a context (a category like "phone calls", "errands", or "email"), and can be grouped into projects — all through your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Synchronize Tasks to the Web
Action Lists will also optionally synchronize over the air with your Toodledo account. (Creating an account with Toodledo is free.) Through Toodledo, the tasks that you enter into Action Lists can be viewed, modified, completed and shared with others. And if you prefer to enter your tasks using a full keyboard and your computer, tasks entered into Toodledo can be synchronized back to Action Lists so that they are always at your fingertips, whether in a business meeting with Internet connectivity, or on a flight with your device in Airplane Mode.
Search Your Tasks
To be truly effective, you have to trust your lists — you have to know that they contain all of your committments. But when your lists are comprehensive, it can become hard to find a particular task when you need it. Action Lists solves that problem by offering the ability to search all of your lists. Just scroll a list all the way to the top to reveal the search bar.
Keep Projects Moving
In order to keep moving forward, projects need to have Next Actions that can be completed. When a project runs out of Next Actions, the project stalls and work stops. Action Lists can help prevent stalled tasks by automatically queuing up Next Actions as old ones are completed.
Organize into Subprojects
Action Lists allows you to divide projects into subprojects. Use subprojects whenever it is convenient to divide a project into more managable units. A subproject appears as a child of its parent, and there is no limit on how many levels of subprojects can be used.
Landscape and Portrait Mode Supported
Turn your iPhone to sideways to enjoy a wider screen that better displays long titles, and enter your tasks using a larger landscape mode keyboard. Or if you prefer, you can lock Action Lists into portrait mode for more convenient one handed use.
Email Tasks to Others
Tasks can be shared with others via email. And there's no need to put away your lists to do it — an email client opens within Action Lists. After your email has been sent you can return to where you left off.
Schedule Future Tasks
Future tasks can be scheduled by specifying a start date. Tasks scheduled to start in the future can be filtered from view so that you are only presented with the tasks that are relevant to you now. When a scheduled task is due to be started, it will (by default) appear in your Inbox so that it can be processed. This increases the visibility of new tasks and prevents tasks from sliding into your action lists unnoticed. This is a great replacement for a "tickler file."
Assign Due Dates
Assign a due date to a task if there is a deadline that must be met. Due dates are visible on all task lists so that you are reminded of your commitment. When a task is due soon, its due date turns orange to warn you. If a task becomes overdue, Action Lists brings it to your attention by displaying the due date of the task in red.
Sort Lists Your Way
All lists in Action Lists can be individually sorted. Want to keep your Someday list sorted alphabetically, your Action Lists sorted by due date, and your Projects sorted manually? No problem.
Create Tasks that Automatically Repeat
Create repeating tasks that are automatically created in the future on a schedule that you define. Create tasks that recur every Monday, the last Tuesday of every month, or every three months. Never forget trash day or that furnace filter again!
Attach Notes to Tasks
Text notes can be attached to tasks. Task notes allow you to give additional reminders about the task, or jot down related ideas as they occur to you. Email addresses, web addresses, and telephone numbers in these notes are displayed as hyperlinks that can be clicked to open Mail, Safari, or the Phone as appropriate.
Use Action Lists in Your Language
Action Lists is available in several languages. Its interface has been localized into English, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese.
Can I run Action Lists?
To use Action Lists, you need an iPhone or iPod Touch running iPhone OS version 3.1 or later. You can install Action Lists by downloading it from the App Store.
