Chris Betcher

My girlfriend Linda is the ultimate uber-listmaker. She always has a list or three going, which probably explains why she is so organised all the time. Of course, in her role as a consultant she HAS to be organised, so every time she starts to think about a project and how she’ll attack it, she starts with a list. And it works really well for her. I’m endlessly inpressed with how much she gets done and how effectively she does it, and I know that a lot of that is due to her ability to create (and use!) lists. I’ve also noticed that she gets a real sense of achievement as she checks each item off her list.

While I can see that lists would help me be better organised, my problem is that even when I write one for myself, I usually lose it before I finish ticking things off. What I need is a list, or better yet a collection of lists, that always reside in the one place, somewhere I won’t lose them, that I can get to from nearly anywhere. The web would be perfect.

And so when I heard productivity guru Merlin Mann talking about a cool website he uses called TadaList, I thought I’d check it out. After a quick play with it, I think I might have to give listmaking another chance. Made by a company called 37Signals, TadaList is a very simple, easy to use Web 2.0 site that lets you easily and simply create lists. You can create multiple lists, each with as many items as you like, and each item has a checkbox in front of it. Items are simple to add and even simpler to check off. It’s a good example of a really simple, well executed concept where usability is the most important feature. It even has RSS, so you can be remotely notified of changes to your lists.

I think I might give it a shot. Who knows, if making lists helps me get even half as organised as Linda, it’s sure to make a big difference!

PS: I was just taking a look at the other products made by 37Signals, and discovered Backpack. Backpack also manages lists just like Tada, but also lets you create notes, photo galleries, etc, to offer a more complete toolset for getting organised. Worth a look I think.