This article was published on August 22, 2011

Using a text editor as a to-do list? You’re going to love this.


Using a text editor as a to-do list? You’re going to love this.

While I’ve often lamented about my hatred for any task management software, I have to admit that I might have stumbled over something that even I can’t argue against. It’s a tiny little app called TaskBadges, for Mac, and it truly is beauty in simplicity.

TaskBadges is a TextEdit-based to-do list. Fire it up, add some tasks and you’ll see an icon showing you how many you still have yet to complete. It ships with a couple of example lists, so you can select whichever you’d like and see how the system works:

Add a task, save your document and you’ll get an update to your icon on the desktop or menu bar. Check one off, save your document and your number will decrease. Though you should be forewarned (as it states in the example task list) that it’s not always going to update in real-time:

The badge with the number of open tasks is updated each time you save your task list. However, the icon does not always update immediately in Finder or on the Desktop. To work around that, simply save the file a second time.

While no, TaskBadges likely won’t replace a full-blown task management system, it’s a great addition for one-off tasks or to the desktop of people like me who simply find most systems to require far more work than what they’re worth.

TaskBadges is free, but you’ll need a Mac to use it. Give it a shot and let us know your thoughts.

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