Need to track tasks in the cloud? Don’t forget ‘Remember the Milk’

RtmMy move to rely on web services instead of client software has prompted numerous e-mail questions, so I thought to hit another topic briefly: task management. For the few years I used a hosted Microsoft Exchange account, task management was easy to handle: use Outlook and have the tasks sync on all of my computers and handhelds. Removing Exchange from the equation removes that central repository for easily accessible task lists, but Remember the Milk picks it up quite nicely. When RTM first launched it was a simple, web-based task list, but it’s morphed well beyond that in terms of a productivity booster, yet it maintains the simplicity it originated with.

There are now several ways to interact with your RTM task list across multiple devices and platforms.Mobile phone:Point a basic mobile phone with a web browser to m.rememberthemilk.com and you’ll find an optimized interface that doesn’t skimp on functionality. You can view, add, edit, search for, mark complete and postpone tasks right on your handheld. Making it even easier is a numeric menu so most everything is accessible with a single button press.RtmiphoneiPhone or iPod Touch:Becoming an RTM “Pro” user for $25 a year nets you a few bonuses, one being a full-featured RTM version for your iPhone or iPod Touch. The simple design is typical of a web app optimized for slower EDGE connections and you can move around very quickly. Of course, the app won’t work offline, which is more of an issue for Touch owners but we’ll see what happens when Apple releases their SDK for the iPhone. I suspect we’ll see an RTM application that utilizes the device storage to keep the tasks handy for offline use. Folks wanting to try the web app, can point their iPhone or iPod Touch to i.rememberthemilk.com; it’s free to try for 15 days.MilksyncWindows Mobile:Handhelds running Windows Mobile 5 or 6 can use MilkSync, an app that provides all of the RTM functionality and offers over the air synchronization. The software is free for “Pro” users, making that $25 fee worth the money if you do use WinMo but don’t want to use Exchange or Outlook. Actually for folks that still want to use Outlook, this app will sync the RTM tasks through the native Tasks list so they should also appear in Outlook. Again, there’s a 15-day free trial so you can test out the Windows Mobile client and see if it meets your needs.Gmail in Firefox:We mentioned this tidbit last month but with so many Firefox users out there, it’s worth another shout. The free RTM for Gmail Firefox extension puts your tasks right alongside your mail. It also lets you connect tasks to e-mails and contacts, making for a fairly seamless task workflow process. For web-centric folks using Gmail’s web client, this is a great solution… if you use Firefox. I’m one of the six people on the planet that actually doesn’t. I used to because it’s a great browser and offers more flexibility than nearly any other browser out there. However, I’ve been on a “native app” kick for the past several months, so I use Internet Explorer on my Windows devices and Safari on my Mac. That’s why the next use of RTM comes in so handy for me and anyone else not using Firefox.TaskingcalGoogle Calendar integration:Since I’m not using Firefox, I absolutely love the RTM integration with Google Calendar because it works on any browser. It’s a slick implementation: you simply enable an RTM calendar in Google and take advantage of Gcal’s ability to view and use multiple calendars. At the moment, I have no less than five calendars because each family member has a Google calendar which we all have shared access to. Adding the RTM “calendar” is very unobtrusive because adding it simply puts a little check-mark icon in your “All day” section of the calendar. Click the check-mark and a pop-up window shows the tasks. Here you can see my calendar today when clicking the RTM check-mark. From here, I can edit, add, mark complete and more.Given the ability to use Remember the Milk in so many ways on so many clients, it’s definitely one of the most versatile ways to manage tasks in my mobile life. You’ll have to try it to see if it works for you but hopefully, you can see the many options it affords a mobile user, regardless of device or platform. With so many options, you can use it to have one foot in the cloud and still keep one foot on your desktop or go all the way to the sky. There are certainly other solutions out there and productivity methods aren’t a “one-size-fits-all”, but RTM is worth a look.

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