I’ve used several task managers, and each time I feel like I haven’t found the right one. I’ve bounced between Todoist, TickTick, Microsoft To Do, and a few others. With each one, I find myself constantly tweaking elements — lists, priorities, and recurring rules — until optimizing starts taking the place of doing actual work. It’s usually at this point that it dawns on me that I’ve got the wrong tool.
I had no idea that the most convenient task manager could be a note app until I tried Joplin, the same tool that replaced my old notes app. Joplin helped me consolidate my work and thought processes into a single platform, including my notes, to-do lists, research, drafts, and clipped ideas.
- OS
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Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, FreeBSD, Terminal
- Developer
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Laurent Cozic (and community)
- Price model
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Free (open-source); Paid subscription for cloud storage
Joplin is a cross-platform, privacy-focused note-taking and task-management app. It supports rich features like Markdown notes, notebooks and tags, end-to-end encryption, a web clipper, self-hosted sync (via WebDAV/Nextcloud/Dropbox) or managed cloud sync with Joplin Cloud. It works offline, allows importing from Evernote, supports plugins and themes, and gives full control over your data.
Tasks don’t belong on an island
Keeping to-dos inside the work that creates them
What I’ve found to be the biggest flaw of traditional task managers is how they isolate tasks from their context. If I have a task like “finish article outline,” it may feel descriptive, but it instantly becomes ineffective and meaningless if it’s not associated with any of the half-formed thoughts, notes, and links that explain what “finish” actually refers to. In the end, having context and tasks separated forces a lot of back and forth between apps.
Within Joplin’s project notebooks, my tasks exist as notes, which reduces fragmentation. To-dos exist with the research note, clipped reference, outline draft, or any other elements that gave rise to them. This implies that by opening a task, I already have the work right in front of me, rather than a placeholder.
Transitioning to Joplin eliminated the friction of working across apps. I didn’t have to copy links into task descriptions or force vague task titles just so they fit a list. This transitioned tasks from mere reminders to the entry point of my real work.
Planning stopped feeling like a separate activity
Tasks emerged naturally while I was already thinking
With traditional task managers, it’s assumed that planning should happen at the end of the workday or just before it begins. While they encourage you to quickly capture tasks, they discourage instant task organization, prioritization, and review. This mostly pushes real decision-making aside and delays the final product.
On the other hand, Joplin makes the actions I need to take naturally reveal themselves while I’m writing notes, researching a topic, or outlining an idea. It then takes just a few seconds to convert that line into my to-do, and it remains exactly where it belongs.
Joplin’s approach totally removed my inbox processing sessions. I simply no longer had an “I’ll process it later” pile. Planning and thinking coexist because tasks generally live within the thought process that birthed them.
Looking back became more useful than looking ahead
Why seeing completed work replaced daily task reviews
When I used traditional task managers, I spent a decent amount of time obsessing over what was undone. Each day is an empty slate waiting to be filled with tasks that haven’t been done. It’s both efficient and demoralizing. This is worse for creative work because progress isn’t always linear.
However, viewing my Joplin notes shows me what I worked on and not merely the tasks that I’ve checked off. When I pair this with the Calendar plugin, I see notes and tasks that are created for each day, and it creates a strong visual representation of accomplishment—my personal productivity journal.
This created a new mindset. From wondering what needed to be done, I started observing where I actually made progress. Every date I clicked on the calendar revealed the real work I did that day. This was different from several task managers, where clicking on dates might show empty calendar boxes or vague events. It gave more context than a simple streak counter or completed task screen.
I only reached for structure when I truly needed it
Why a Kanban board works better when it’s optional
I avoid heavy project management tools because of a commitment problem. Using a Kanban-first app like Appflowy or Notion, for instance, makes you commit to turning all tasks into cards, columns, and workflows. I mainly work on individual projects, and that approach is overkill.
Joplin makes structure optional and additive. When my projects grow past being simple lists, I may turn that specific notebook into a Kanban board using the YesYouKan plugin. This adds functionality for heavier projects without the need to migrate or duplicate the task. While the notes remain the foundation, the boards have become a new way of viewing them.
This approach of keeping tasks simple or optionally making them more structured is perfect for me because I don’t need visual planning for everything. The Kanban view comes temporarily as complexity increases, but for the most part, it fades into the background.
Ideas stopped dying in my browser
Turning research into action at the moment it’s captured
Several of my tasks typically start as research. I often go through articles, Reddit threads, and technical references. With most task managers, ideas from research would turn into bookmarks or vague reminders.
However, this totally changes with Joplin’s Web Clipper extension. I use the Clip selection feature to grab exactly what I need from any web resource. These become text, images, or code snippets saved as a clean Markdown note. It then becomes easy to turn that note into a task. This simple feature has eradicated several of my forgotten tabs and abandoned bookmarks.
I Tried 8 Task Management Apps—Here’s the One That Stuck
I tried them all so you don’t have to.
Tasks stopped owning my day
When I switched to Joplin, it didn’t feel like I was trading one tool for another; I was only removing the barrier between thought and action. Tasks were not a separate chore from the actual work.
There are still a few task managers I recommend, like Taskwarrior. the CLI task manager. However, none give the level of productivity Joplin offers, especially when you need them for personal use.
