GTDInbox Firefox add-on turns Gmail into a todo list

Filed under: Productivity, Freeware, Mods, Browsers, Web

I think it's pretty safe to say that most people who are not using some kind of stand-alone todo list are using their email inboxes as their de facto todo list. While that clearly works for some people, it's not kosher in the Getting Things Done universe.

If you're a Gmail user and you're finding yourself overwhelmed with trying to keep track of things in your inbox, but don't really want yet another place to check on things, consider trying GTDInbox. GTDInbox is a Firefox Add-on that adds todo list functionality to Gmail that is far more functional than the pathetic Tasks functionality that is built in to Gmail.

The functionality of GTDInbox is impressive. It uses a set of pre-defined labels to track the tasks that are sourced from email messages. You can create new tasks that are not linked to email messages, and track them all in a very Getting Things Done compatible environment.

There are, however, a couple things to be aware of. First of all is the fact that GTDInbox currently relies on Firefox, since it's implemented as a browser add-on. There are plans to release a Chrome version which will be nice from a performance improvement perspective, as well as to release a desktop version of Gmail+GTDInbox.

The second, and possibly more important one is that having a todo list rely on Gmail is a bit of a gamble; Google is often updating the code behind Gmail, and they do sometimes inadvertently break features that add-on software rely on. Then you're in a waiting game, while either the add-on provider or Google themselves fix whatever was broken. When it's your todo list that's not working, this is a big problem. Luckily, all of the tasks in GTDInbox are represented by email messages that you can still see and interact with even if the add-on is not working. You just lose all of the automated goodness GTDInbox offers.

GTDInbox Firefox add-on turns Gmail into a todo list originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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