Should you use the standard task application in your e-mail system?

I see a lot of people use the standard task application in their e-mail client. This forces you to keep e-mail open all day long, looking over what to do next multiple times a day. Side effect is that you're tricked into directly reading new e-mail as it arrives; a pure distraction nightmare, if you ask me. Therefore I always tell people to use a separate task system, be it paper or digital. It enables me to move beyond e-mail and handle all incoming information in the same way.

Of course you can turn off "you've got mail" messages, but even then you probably go and check e-mail dozens of times a day...

I'm curious if you agree: task applications in e-mail clients do more harm than good when you want to be really productive. Therefore they are better left unused.

ArjanZuidhof

Posted 2011-08-18T12:31:51.013

Reputation: 66

Answers

I don't use the task application that's bundled with my email clients (Gmail at home and Exchange at work), but that's not because of the potential for distraction; it's because neither Gmail nor Exchange have what I'm looking for in an electronic task system.

Just as important is that I do have separate email systems at home and work, but feel that having a unified task management system with home and work contexts is the right answer, which means that my task system can't live in an email program I can only get to half the time.

To quote Merlin Mann on this exact subject:

Could I do things like this [manage email and tasks] inside a Single Heavyweight Application? Yes, probably. But, personally, that's not my gig. I love Mail.app for email, Safari for web browsing, NetNewsWire for feed reading, and so on. I've chosen a series of super-sharp paring knives over one monstrous Swiss Army Knife, because, frankly, that's just how Daddy rolls.

And that's how I roll too.

Adam Wuerl

Posted 2011-08-18T12:31:51.013

Reputation: 4 152

Adam, great description of the beautiful RTM is. I left it for Toodledo some time ago, because it mimics a GTD setup even more. But still I miss the great powerful and intuitive interface that RTM has, and Toodledo unfortunately misses... – ArjanZuidhof – 2011-08-22T09:51:32.803

I prefer using a paper task list. Writing things down on paper makes me remember the items better. It is also more rewarding to check them off with a pen when you've completed an item.

Another addition is that you can take your paper todo-list with you. You can also use a smarthphone with a todo-list on it. But I like paper more.

In the end, it's your choice. What do you like best. Try different things.

Demian Kasier

Posted 2011-08-18T12:31:51.013

Reputation: 882

I don't find that a problem. I have my tasks and calender in separate windows from my mail, so I don't read mail when I am looking at tasks or adding them.

Brian Carlton

Posted 2011-08-18T12:31:51.013

Reputation: 1 817

I agree, not reading e-mail is an exercise in discipline. – Jeanne Boyarsky – 2011-08-19T00:37:53.687

Whether or not you should use the task application in your email system depends entirely on whether or not that application meets your needs.

Does the task application include the features you need? (Tags, contexts, subtasks, reminders, recurrence, portability, etc. and so forth.)
If you have a combined work/home system, is the application accessible from both locations?
Do you have trouble avoiding frequent email checking?
Do you get a lot of actionable tasks via email? (The stronger the "yes" here, the more convenient and efficient a single email/task system is.)

Personally, I would love to use a single email/task/calendar application, but haven't found one yet that meets my other needs.

Belisama

Posted 2011-08-18T12:31:51.013

Reputation: 1 262

I use my email system as my todo list (sending lots of emails to myself with next-actions as their subject lines) precisely because I find myself checking my emails so regularly - if I put it anywhere else then it would be so much easier to discard the list and abandon the system...

Joe

Posted 2011-08-18T12:31:51.013

Reputation: 6 332