How I Use Todoist As A Student
Introduction
Out of all to-do list apps I’ve used, Todoist is one of the best that I have ever used. Todoist’s great UI, tags, and sub-tasks make it a great app.
As a student, setting up a to-do list is incredibly important for keeping track of tasks I need to do. I use Todoist to keep track of repeat tasks, homework, and anything else I need to do.
Here’s how I use Todoist as a student.
Recurring Tasks on Todoist
One of my favorite features on Todoist is the ability to set up recurring tasks. As someone who recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear, setting up recurring habits is a crucial part of my daily workflow. I can schedule tasks in the future, especially those that I want to do consistently (like blogging). Todoist lets users not only schedule tasks for every day or every week but also lets you repeat tasks for any time interval you can think of.
You can repeat tasks every 3 hours, every 3 weeks, every 3 months, and even every 3 years.
Here are some of my use cases for Todoist’s recurring task feature:
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
I run a digital marketing agency for nonprofits, and my work involves running our blog. On the blog, I post content related to nonprofit marketing, like this article on LinkedIn for nonprofits.
For this blog, I often write about topics that I need to do some research on. This means that I usually write about one article per week.
Here’s how I use Todoist to run my marketing blog:
First, I created a task called “Blogging” with no due date. Within this task, I added 6 sub-tasks:
- Brainstorm Idea (every Sunday)
- Build Structure (every Sunday)
- Write Introduction (every Monday)
- Write Paragraphs (every Thursday)
- Write Conclusion (every Friday)
- Post On Website (every Saturday)
These sub-tasks help schedule my work. I keep these sub-tasks as the minimum requirements, and I “give myself permission” to work ahead if I want to.
Studying Blog
In addition to my nonprofit marketing blog, I also write student/iPad content like what you are currently reading (If you’re interested, you can join for free here).
This style of content is a bit different from my other blog. When I write this type of content, I tend to have two stages: learning and sharing. In stage 1, I learn about (and use) a cool iPad app, a study tip, etc. In stage 2, I write about what I learned and how I used the iPad app/study tip/etc.
Because there’s little additional research I need for these blog posts, I tend to write these posts faster.
Here’s how I use Todoist to write studying/iPad content:
Like I did for my marketing blog, I created one task (Study Blogging). Within this task, there were 6 sub-tasks:
- Brainstorm Idea (every Sunday)
- Use Tool (every Sunday)
- Start Writing (every Wednesday)
- Finish Writing (every Friday)
- Post On Website (every Saturday)
As you can see, there are a few differences between my two blogs. For one, I need to do online research to learn about what I am writing. For the other, I need to do hands-on research with the tool I discuss. Both have different processes, which I can schedule using Todoist’s recurring habits feature.
Todoist Labels
Another great feature on Todoist is the ability to add labels to tasks.
I found that adding labels was most useful with school-related tasks. Separating assignments by classes lets me focus on the most challenging courses first. By focusing on courses in which I have lower grades, I can efficiently make use of my time to bring these grades up to where I want them to be.
Another underrated benefit of labels is their color, which makes the Todoist app more fun to use. This makes adding tasks more enjoyable, which makes it more likely that I will add tasks.
Here are my use cases for Todoist’s labels:
Separating Assignments
Like I mentioned before, one of my best use cases for Todoist’s labels is in separating my homework assignments. My AP Chemistry class usually needs more work compared to my other classes. By using the “AP Chemistry” label to filter my assignments, I can focus on getting the most challenging homework done first.
This system can also work in the opposite way. If I am feeling unmotivated, working on challenging chemistry homework is probably not the best solution. At that point, it may be better for me to focus on classes like AP Environmental Science, where the content is relatively easy to understand. With easier work, I feel more “motivated” to complete it.
Completing just a single task, like an easy homework problem from AP Environmental Science, can set off a “productivity chain reaction.”
Widget Separation
Todoist has a fantastic, yet simple widget. Within Todoist’s widget, users can customize what it shows based on what is due today, upcoming tasks, filters, labels, etc.
As I mentioned before, AP Chemistry is one of my tough classes. Because of this, it’s nice to have another Todoist widget dedicated to just AP Chemistry.
With this widget customizability, there are endless possibilities. For example, I could have one Todoist widget dedicated to showing the tasks I need to complete for each of my classes. This would organize my work and show me what classes I need to work on and what classes I don’t have any homework for.
Overall, Todoist’s labels are important for my workflow. They help organize my tasks based on what class they are for, and they efficiently organize my work. Being able to separate assignments based on class is a killer feature, and has boosted my productivity.
Todoist Sub-Tasks
Another great feature is sub-tasks. I discussed this feature before, but sub-tasks help with a certain productivity technique: dividing tasks into smaller sub-tasks.
For those who don’t know, dividing tasks into smaller sub-tasks (in general) is a very helpful productivity tool. It makes it easier for people to get to work, especially those who are feeling unproductive.
An issue with using this method with traditional to-do lists is that it can lead to a cluttered mess. If each of my assignments consisted of an average of 5 sub-tasks, I would have dozens of tasks on my to-do lists. This mess requires some organization from users, which can discourage people from using this method.
Todoist attempts to solve this issue. They let users place sub-tasks under a single task, which can make a to-do list more organized. While it doesn’t completely clean up the mess of creating sub-tasks for everything, it appears a lot cleaner through Todoist’s organization system.
Here’s how I use sub-tasks in Todoist:
Homework Assignments
An assignment I’m currently working on is a political cartoon for my AP Language class. For this assignment, I need to find a political cartoon by an award-winning creator, analyze the cartoon, and present the cartoon in my class.
To use sub-tasks, I first made a task titled “Political Cartoon.” Within this task, I made four sub-tasks:
- Find Political Cartoon
- Find Cartoon Creator
- Analyze Cartoon
- Prepare For Presentation
By splitting up my assignment into 4 smaller parts, it has been easier for me to start working on this assignment.
Todoist Pricing
I currently use Todoist’s free plan, which offers 5 active projects, 5 collaborators per project, 5 MB file uploads, 3 filters (different from labels), and a 1-week activity history.
I think that Todoist’s free plan would be sufficient for most people, but Todoist also offers paid plans.
Their $3 per month “Pro” plan offers 300 active projects, 25 collaborators per project, 100 MB file uploads, 150 filters, unlimited activity history, themes, and auto backups. Like the name says, this plan is mainly targeted towards professional users.
Todoist also offers a $5/user/month “Business” plan, which offers everything in Pro, 500 active projects per member, 50 people per project, team inbox, team billing, roles (admin and member), and priority support. Again, as the name says, this plan is mainly targeted towards business teams.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Todoist is a phenomenal app. With a variety of cool features like recurring tasks, labels, and sub-tasks, it has become my favorite to-do list app. Todoist’s great UI makes it intuitive, easy, and almost fun to use, and Todoist’s widget is amazing.
While there are paid plans, the free plan has been more than enough for me, and I don’t plan to upgrade anytime soon.
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