Things or Nirvana?

[Laurap]

Hi there,

I have been working with GTD for around three years now and am very much paper based with Moleskine notebooks. But I'm looking to use my iPhone more and was wondering about either using Nirvana or Things. As I am no software guru, I can't see the difference and was hoping to hear some feedback from anyone who would recommend one over the other?

Can't imagine completely abandoning the paper but would like to play around with some of the mobile apps available.

Many thanks

 

[mcogilvie]

I've been switching between Things and Omnifocus as I try to pare down my setup. Neither one is really wonderful without the desktop software as well, which runs only on Macs. I found that Nirvana gave me some friction in both the iPhone app and in the web browser. I think it's fair to say that it's a niche player in the to do app market. If you are really committed to paper and just want to try electronic to do lists I'd recommend the Reminders app, Toodledo or Remember the Milk as inexpensive possibilities.

 

[MarkDillon]

I love Nirvana

I love using Nirvana. It works so well for me. I live on my iPhone/iPad and use a desktop computer and have found it works really well on all three platforms.

One simple area that I can share with Nirvana. My Weekly Review used to take me one hour, and really I needed more, when I used Evernote as my capture tool. Now with Nirvana my Weekly Review takes no more than half an hour. Why? I think it's due in part because of how easy it is to navigate through my system. My projects, when active, appear in my Next Actions so they are in plain sight and easy to work with. It's as though an entire step is saved on the Weekly Review because they are tied into my Next Actions.

It's also super easy to work with on the mobile devices.

All I know is the systems I used before didn't make things flow nearly as well as it does now.

 

[PeterW]

In my view, most of the apps available are way more complex than they need to be. My recommendation is to look for an app that has a very clean, simple and intuitive interface that won't slow you down when entering tasks.

I've tried Nirvana - in my view it's too complex. Same with Toodledo and although it allows you to turn off fields, it's a poorly designed interface that isn't easy to use.

I'm using Appigo's Todo but am dissatisfied that it's getting more complex over time with additional fields that I have to scroll past when entering tasks.

 

[kelstarrising]

Hi there,

I have been working with GTD for around three years now and am very much paper based with Moleskine notebooks. But I'm looking to use my iPhone more and was wondering about either using Nirvana or Things. As I am no software guru, I can't see the difference and was hoping to hear some feedback from anyone who would recommend one over the other?

Can't imagine completely abandoning the paper but would like to play around with some of the mobile apps available.

Many thanks

You might consider the native Apple apps, as described in our GTD & iPhone Guide:

Reminders for tasks
iCal for calendar
Mail for email
Notes for reference​

It synchs beautifully through iCloud, in our experience.

 

[Laurap]

Thanks very much for your replies. I think it sounds like perhaps I need to be clear about why I'm adding an app into my GTD set up so I don't over complicate. I will look again at Toodledo and also the iPhone standard apps. Thinking of getting a MacBook Air so I might hang off and then explore Nirvana again when it crosses all my devices.

Great to hear from you all.