It just might be the best and greatest to-do list software ever created for Windows.

The new version adds:

• Scheduling calendar
• 33 new tree icons
• Ability to assign tasks to multiple people
• Ability to set times of day for tasks
• Improved Time Estimate, Time Spent and Time Left fields
• Improved Secure Cloud Sync
• Ultimate features for everybody
• … and many other improvements

You can download the new Swift To-Do List 10 here.

See more about What’s New in version 10 (includes more screenshots).

Customers who have already tried the new version love it!

That upgraded calendar feature is totally awesome dude. -Malcolm F, USA

This truly has become the perfect product! Thank you so much! -Robert G, USA

Download the new Swift To-Do List 10.

If you have already Swift To-Do List installed, all your data will be fully preserved.

If you already own Swift To-Do List, you either get the new version for free (in case you’ve purchased Swift To-Do List on November 24, 2015 or later and thus own a subscription), or with a discount. To claim your discount, simply download the new version and click the “Upgrade to Subscription” button on the top-right.

Enjoy the new Swift To-Do List and your new control of your time!

Related Posts:

• What we are up to in 2016: Swift To-Do List 10 is coming
• Introducing Swift To-Do List subscription plans
• Swift To-Do List app for iPhone and Android released!
• Beta testers wanted for attachments sync
• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating
• How to use Due Dates in your to-do list correctly

Swift To-Do List 10 with scheduling calendar released! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Well, I have 2 recommendations:

You want to use Due Dates when you have a task that must be done on a specific day – e.g. it’s an appointment, event, or it’s an important deadline. I also recommend you to set a reminder for all such tasks.

And -

Unless you are 100% determined to do something on a specific day, I think that you shouldn’t use arbitrary (made up) Due Dates in most situations. It is usually more efficient to prioritize such tasks accordingly.

Start Dates and Due Dates should therefore be used sparingly. If you use a Start Date or a Due Date, it should be absolutely necessary to do the action on that particular date, or, you should be 100% committed to doing it.

So in practice, most of your tasks will probably have no Due Date. In fact, you don’t have to use Due Dates at all and just use reminders for the few tasks that are date-critical.

Here’s an exception to this rule. If you believe that you prioritize your tasks correctly, but still discover that you seldom do what you actually want to do on any given day, you might consider utilizing arbitrary Due Dates, especially if you are fairly self-disciplined. Arbitrary Due Dates can act as a secondary (or primary) prioritizing method. Here’s how it works -

You can use Due Dates to mark (plan) your tasks for today and tomorrow. I don’t recommend planning things too far ahead (more than a week ahead), because you probably won’t be able to keep the “schedule” up-to-date.

Advantage of planning your tasks for a given day beforehand is that you will tend to get more done. You will try to get the scheduled tasks done, because you know that tomorrow, you need to do other tasks. Also, when planning with Due Dates, you are less likely to get distracted by new incoming tasks in favor of your planned tasks.

So, in practice, you can choose the tasks that you want to do today and set today Due Date to them. Then pick the tasks you want to do tomorrow, and set tomorrow Due Date to them. Etc. But don’t plan more than a week ahead.

Inside each day, you can then prioritize the tasks using your current prioritizing system. In Swift To-Do List, click the Due Date column, then hold the Ctrl key and click the Priority column. That way, your tasks will be sorted by Due Date first and by Priority second. You can also use the small calendar below the to-do list tree to quickly view only today’s tasks with 1 click.

Beware this trap though: When you use both necessary and arbitrary Due Dates, the tasks that really must be done on a specific day might get lost among the tasks you would just like to do on a specific day. As a possible solution, insert a “[DATE CRITICAL]” prefix into the task names of tasks with the non-arbitrary Due Dates.

One final tip: If you want the expired Due Dates to be automatically set to current date, you can use menu File – Options, and in the Task-View section of the Options window, check “Roll-over Due Dates“. With this option enabled, when you won’t finish a task you’ve planned for today, it will automatically move to tomorrow.

Related Posts:

• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating
• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?
• Is your to-do list impossible to finish?
• Endless to-do list
• Custom Task Priorities
• Overcome procrastination with new Swift To-Do List

How to use Due Dates in your to-do list correctly is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

I have been using Swift To-Do List (STDL) daily for 14 months—it has become and continues to be absolutely indispensable in my efforts to overcome the “chaos of the surging, heaving universe”.

I am unable to answer the question “Does God play dice with the universe?” but at least operationally, here on earth, STDL is the tool that gives me the ability to be Master of My Own Universe—the feeling of competency that STDL engenders is simply priceless.

I had previously utilised Zoho, the popular web-based, subscription project management software for 3 years. We both grew together, I in learning its effective use, along with its far faster development, major redesign(s), & its early-but-eventually-sorted-out problems with support, which then often could take up to 3 weeks to get an answer to a query.

However, it got to a point where it technically no longer suited my simple requirements:

I had become a bit like the child who has a pair of shoes that is perhaps just a bit too large. There was no longer a good fit between me and the software.

Armed with the knowledge gained from Zoho, my extensive research enabled me to whittle the shortlist to two, Swift and another popular task management software. Not yet into the world of mobile computing, I was seeking software which was definitely neither web-nor subscription-based, and had good support. And, as time has indicated to me, for the newbie product user the relationship with the developer is crucial, and can even be the deciding factor whether one purchases or continues use of the product or not. Questions of his responsiveness, willingness, degree of openness to suggestion or request, and the oft-neglected consideration of his degree of patience for initial newbie handholding, stumbles & mistakes while striving to learn—the “chemistry” – can not be underestimated. Both STDL and its developer Jiri Novotny have come through with flying colours on all points.

As an independent operator, my requirements are that my task management tool be simple, easy-to-use, provide flexibility for increased or increasing complexity if & when needed—STDL has this in bucket loads.

It allows those who wish to work with the creation of simple lists to fairly complex project management requiring collaboration & greater precision by use of task attributes and the filters. I work somewhere in between.

One feature that I particularly liked about Zoho was its calendar design, while in some ways a little cumbersome, its smallness, flexibility, and its functionality I thought pretty good. To compensate for Swift’s absence of calendar, I utilised – incorrectly – the Find Tasks window to enable me to work across to-do lists and especially across tasks. Yet I had no way to minimise the window, enabling me to readily move to other software & return to the desired to-do list and task–I then made do with judicious use of the filters to assist me.

The result of my long-awaited introduction of the Swift To-Do List calendar feature is joy—it too is small and unobtrusive . It also employs the core functions of the filters through the Find Tasks window–today, tomorrow, as well as essential column actions such as start date, due date, completion, creation, changes dates. Very importantly it can also be minimised, allowing ready movement to other software & return to the desired to-do list and task. This now makes task retrieval and my life much easier. I “reside” daily at the open calendar window, but should this now be not enough, I have found Find Tasks search to be a very good supplement.

Another of Swift’s “small footprint” features that I like is the task-independent memo. While the calendar enables me to see across to-do lists and tasks, giving me the broad picture, the task-independent memo, only a single click away, enables me to “pull together” those tasks which are spread among numerous to-do lists but collectively are components of a project or theme.

The screenshot shows a memo:

There is a lot of software within the task management ‘space’ or market, and I am sure even more since I selected STDL. There are many variables to consider carefully, as I did. I would very highly recommend that you give Swift To Do List a test run — I am sure that like me, you’ll find much that will satisfy.

~ Elius Levin

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• Swift To-Do List Review by Darryl Benjamin
• Swift To-Do List case study by Bob McClellan, IT manager
• Swift To-Do List Review and case study by Sherri Willson
• Swift To-Do List Review by Chuck Gallozzi
• Swift To-Do List Review by Chris
• Swift To-Do List 10 with scheduling calendar released!

Swift To-Do List Review by Elius Levin is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

We’ve just released new juicy update of Swift To-Do List, version 7.63. As usual, this update is free for all existing customers. (If you don’t have Swift To-Do List yet, download it now.)

It includes new countdown timer, which is the most interesting new feature, because it allows you to overcome procrastination and resistance to your tasks.

If you learn to utilize the new timer feature as explained below, it can literally change your life, especially if you are struggling with procrastination or have hard time focusing and managing your attention.

As you read on, you will learn how you can benefit from the new timer feature, and how it can help you to focus and overcome procrastination.

Oh, and other than the timer, the new update also adds overdue tasks information in the info panel – with just 1 click, you can immediately see all overdue tasks. The new version can also email task reminders to assigned persons, and it allows you to open a folder where any file attachment is located, and much more.

How to overcome procrastination with the new Timer feature

The new countdown timer expands the existing Time Tracking feature.

Procrastination is caused by resistance. We feel resistance to tasks because the oldest and most primitive part of our brain, amygdala, is feeling threatened. It dreads the work, because it’s uncertain how long will it take or what else will you have to give up to finish it. However, this feeling can be eliminated by setting a time limit for your work session.

For example, to overcome resistance to any particular task, you can say to yourself: “I am going to work just 20 minutes on this task”. Then, start the 20 minute Timer for that task. You will have no problem getting started this way.

This has 4 very significant benefits:

1. First, it eliminates resistance, because it is now obvious that you will be working for just 20 minutes, so the task is no longer perceived as a threat by your primitive part of brain.
2. Second, it sets you free. During the countdown, you don’t have to worry about anything else. It frees you from everything else and gives you the permission to focus absolutely on that task.
3. Once the 20 minutes have passed, you will probably continue working. You will get into flow and you can actually feel euphoric while working!
4. The floating timer window will constantly shift your attention to the task. It acts like a magnet for your focus, which is invaluable in today’s ADD world full of distractions.

As a result, you can easily be 300% more efficient during these 20 minutes than usual. It can be quite revolutionary, actually. I’ve personally gotten some extraordinary results by using a timer, and I know of many others. It is proven. It just works. And it’s very, very effective.

20 minutes is just an example. You can use any time limit, from 5 minutes to 90 minutes. Heck, you can even set any custom number of minutes.

And by the way, if you have trouble focusing, you can also use the new Timer feature in combination with Pomodoro Technique, which is basically about structuring your whole work day in short 25-minute focused bursts and 5 minute breaks.

The Timer is in Ultimate and Professional editions only.

This is how you start it (by right-clicking any task):

And this is how the actual timer looks. On the screenshot below, you can see it on my desktop. It’s a floating window that can be set always on top, and you can of course customize the color and other things by right-clicking it. You can move it anywhere (it’s sticky).

When the time is up, “Finished” will start blinking on the timer, and you can either close it or reset it to start another session. You can also set a new timer with different time limit, for a different task or the same one.

Swift To-Do List keeps track of total time spent on any task when the timer or time tracker is running. If you display Time Spent column in the task-view, you will be able to see how much time have you spent total on each of your tasks.

Other new features

As always, there is also a bunch of other improvements to make you more efficient, productive, and make your life easier. These include:

• Info panel now contains “Overdue Tasks”. You can click that label and see all overdue tasks. The label displays the number of all overdue tasks. This gives you instant overview.
• New calendar mode, “Due Date or Start Date”. This allows you to see tasks starting OR due on any particular day (or days) with just a single click.
• New Filter option for Due Date and Start Date filtering: “In next 14 days”. This is similar to the “In next 7 days” option.
• For added convenience, you can now upgrade your license to a higher edition or purchase extra discounted copies using menu “Help – Buy Upgrades or Extra Licenses”.
• Attachments right-click menu now contains “Open File Location” for file attachments. This allows you to open the folder where the attachment is located. When it comes to embedded attachments, the folder from which they were embedded is opened.
• Email reminders can be now emailed to the person the task is assigned to. The same goes for recurrence notifications.
• Import from Task Coach added.
• You can now choose choose default task Type and default Context for your tasks. Do that using menu File – Options, then go to the New Tasks section.
• When creating a recurring task, the Due Date of the task is set automatically immediately based on the recurrence. E.g. if you create a task to recur in 7 days, its due date will be immediately set to 7 days from now.

Getting the new Swift To-Do List

All you have to do is to download the latest version and install it.

It’s just a few clicks away. Can these few clicks revolutionize the way you work?

PS: You might be also interested in my summary of The Now Habit, which is probably the best book on procrastination.

- By Jiri Novotny+, the obsessed author of the number one to-do list software for Windows, Swift To-Do List. Jiri’s life quest is to become productivity and achievement world-class expert to empower others to achieve their full potential. If you liked this post, then definitely follow this blog on G+.

Related Posts:

• 3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating
• Tasks and oranges
• Using to-do lists efficiently
• What’s New in 7.26: Time tracking! Yes!
• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?
• How to use Due Dates in your to-do list correctly

Overcome procrastination with new Swift To-Do List is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

We’ve been upgrading Swift To-Do List non-stop for over 7 years now, and we are just getting started! This upgrade is free for all existing customers, but some of the features added in this upgrade are available only in the Professional or Ultimate editions.

This new exciting update adds these features (more details, including images, are below):

1. New calendar panel below the tree (Professional and Ultimate only)
2. New interactive info panel (Professional and Ultimate only)
3. New global hotkey for creating tasks from selected text in any application
4. HTML emails support when emailing tasks (Professional and Ultimate only)
5. File and folder attachments can be now renamed
6. New smarter task-view header
7. Improved compatibility for systems with larger text size (non-standard DPI)
8. Attachments are now included in CSV export
9. Other misc improvements and fixes

New calendar panel

This is a truly exciting new feature. Picture is worth 1000 words, so check it out –

If you learn to use the calendar panel, you will be able to quickly get a complete overview of important deadlines, meetings or appointments. This will help you to stay on top of things, eliminate stress, and give you the much needed room to focus. Nothing urgent will suddenly surprise you.

As you can see above, the calendar panel is located below the to-do list tree, and is collapsed by default. With just one click, you can open it and see only tasks due today – or on any other date – or on multiple dates.

The calendar supports multi-selection, so you can easily select whole week or month using mouse.

Several calendar modes are supported. The calendar supports Due Date, Start Date, Completion Date, Changed Date and Creation Date of your tasks. So, for example, in Due Date mode (default), it is showing tasks due on the selected day. You can change the Calendar Mode by clicking the Calendar Options button, or by right-clicking the Open/Close Calendar label.

If you are adding a new task, and a single date is selected in the calendar panel, the task will have that date set by default.

The calendar panel can show multiple months at once. If you resize the tree so it is wider, the calendar panel will display two month beside each other. You can also increase the height of the calendar using the splitter above calendar.

When you close (collapse) the calendar, your original view mode will be restored.

New info panel

If you look at the calendar panel image above, you will also notice that the info panel now has clickable blue labels. This means that you can click the “Tasks due today” label and immediately see all tasks due today. Or, you can click the “Tasks to-do total” label, and immediately see all undone tasks – and so on. All 4 labels are clickable.

New task-view header

The task-view header is the text label shown above the task-view. It is always telling you what you are looking at.

In the new version, it will now also tell you if the view is filtered using a calendar.

But most importantly, it now also allows you to quickly reset the view by clicking the label. With just one click, you can restore the default view – it will reset the view mode, Filter, and close the calendar.

Here is a screenshot of the new task-view header. Notice the blue clickable text:

Add tasks from any application

You can add tasks from nearly any application using a new global hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+A by default).

This allows you to create tasks on-the-fly from emails, instant messages, documents, and other sources. It saves you time.

This is how to use this new feature:

1. Select any text in any application.
2. Press the hotkey Ctrl+Shift+A (you can change it in Options.)
3. The Add Task window will be opened and the selected text inserted into the Task Name. Fill in any other details (if required) and click OK – or just press the Enter key.

If you are curious how it works “under the hood”, this is what happens when you press the global hotkey: Swift To-Do List copies the selected text into clipboard, then opens the Add Task dialog, and pastes the text.

And if you’ve already installed version 7.60, you can try this right now. Just select this line of text, press Ctrl+Shift+A, and see what happens!

HTML emails when emailing tasks

The email task feature allows you to email any task to the assigned person, to yourself, or anyone else. In this new version, you can check “HTML Format” in the Email Task window to send the email message in HTML. This means that the notes formatting will be preserved in the email, including images.

Attachments can be renamed

Swift To-Do List supports email, link, file and folder attachments. It was not possible to rename the file and folder attachments, but from 7.60 on, you can rename them as well. You can just simply right-click any attachment and click Edit, or select the attachment and click it’s name to edit it in-place.

More features coming!

We have a lot of other things planned for the future. These things include finished and polished online sync and collaboration features (currently available in Beta), companion mobile web apps and mobile apps (currently available in Beta), sub-tasks, custom fields, team functionality, scheduling calendar (with intra-day scheduling), tables in notes, and much more. Stay tuned.

If there is any feature that you would want to see in Swift To-Do List, post in the comments below. We are always counting “votes” for new features.

Related Posts:

• How to use Due Dates in your to-do list correctly
• Swift To-Do List 10 with scheduling calendar released!
• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?
• Is your to-do list impossible to finish?
• Endless to-do list
• Swift Mind Freedom released!

New Swift To-Do List 7.60: Calendar Panel, add tasks from any application, more! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog