You may recall in my previous post, 10 Tips for Getting Organized with To Do Lists, I reviewed my tricks and tips for getting things done using to do lists.  My to do list “system” combines the best practices of several different approaches into one that works for me. It’s designed to be independent of the underlying “to do list tool,” which can be anything from to do list software to a piece of paper with a list of things to do.

When I wrote that post, I was using Backpack, an online personal organization tool, to manage my to do lists online.  However, as that tool and my needs had changed, I decided to seek out another to do list manager.  I had 3 requirements for this new to do list manager:

1. It had to be web-based, accessible from any location and any computer
2. It had to integrate seamlessly with my Blackberry
3. It had to be ultra, ultra easy to use without a lot of extra junk

The answer?  Remember the Milk.  In this post, I’ll cover what you need to know about Remember the Milk, the best web-based to do list tool on the market today.

Top 5 Things You Need to Know About Remember the Milk

1. Ultra-flexible To Do Lists

• In Remember the Milk, you can create as many lists as you need (Not sure where to start?  See my previous post for the to do lists you need).
• You can move to dos from one list to another easily, as well as prioritize your lists with a simple 1-2-3 prioritization scheme.   This is a great help when you need to update changing project priorities.
• To dos can be dated, and they change appearance when they are overdue, so you can quickly identify overdue to dos in your list.  Simple “Today” “Tomorrow” and “Overdue” to do list views can help you plan your time, and each to do can have notes attached to it too!

2. Handy Keyboard Shortcuts

• One of the most brilliant features of Remember the Milk is the keyboard shortcuts available.
• You can easily select to dos, change their priorities, mark them as complete, and create new to dos without touching your mouse!
• If you decide to try Remember the Milk, be sure to checkout the keyboard shortcuts page and try a few out for yourself!

3. Accessible on BlackBerry

• Using MilkSync for BlackBerry, an application that you install on your Blackberry, you can sync your to do lists in Remember the Milk with your BlackBerry to do list app.  That’s right…no need to use a different to do list app on your Blackberry!
• MilkSync (which is a paid upgrade) simply and effectively syncs your to do lists and categories between your BlackBerry and Remember the Milk.
• Frequently, I’ll do to do list updates on my BlackBerry in the evening, and then sync.  When I check Remember the Milk in the morning from my laptop, I hit the ground running with updated to do lists!

4. Accessible in Gmail

• Another great feature of Remember the Milk is its Gmail integration.  Using the Remember the Milk for Gmail Firefox extension, you can insert a pane in Gmail with all of your to do lists.  From this pane you can manage your lists just like if you were at the Remember the Milk website.
• One of the smartest decisions the folks at Remember the Milk made was to invest time and effort into their “services” (services are basically ways to integrate Remember the Milk with other software people use).  Because of this, there are tons of great Remember the Milk integrations including: iPhone, Google Calendar, Twitter, and more!

5. Tons of Deeper Features, But Only if You Want Them

Remember the Milk has tons of other features that stay nicely out of your way until you need them.  Some of the highlights include:

• Publishing and Sharing – Publish a list for others to see online, and share the list with people who can edit it.  This is great for collaborating in a team environment.
• Geo-based To Dos – Tag your to dos with geographic information and then see all of your to dos on a Google Map (try this: “batch” all your errands on your day off, then see them on a map and find the most efficient way around town to get them done!)
• Feeds - Just like any good web application, all of the content you see in Remember the Milk is available in a feed (basically, a standardized format of data) that you can use in any way you see fit

Bonus: My Top 3 “To Do List Tips” for Remember the Milk

Excellent printer-friendly lists

• A little-known fact about Remember the Milk is that the printed to do lists are amazingly clean and handy. I’ve created a specific to do list of items I need to do weekly.  Then, I printed multiple copies of that list and keep them nearby, so I can ensure I’m doing all of those things on a weekly basis.  Yes, sometimes good ‘ol paper wins over computers and BlackBerries.

Email To Do Lists to Remember the Milk

• You can easily send a full to do list via email to Remember the Milk, and the tool will neatly process your email into individual to dos – a huge time saver!  Read all about it here.

Email, SMS, and IM Reminders from Your To Do Lists

• Remember the Milk will remind you of to dos however you like: via email, via text messages to your mobile phone, or via your favorite instant messaging program.  Too cool!

I highly recommend you try Remember the Milk as your to do list software.  And no, they didn’t pay me to write this, I simply love their product this much!

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