Keeping track of your life

So I wanted to look at apps that might help an individual keep track of daily routines and tasks and to do lists etc. It seemed like a worthy pursuit after all. I personally use a massive amount of online cloud-based applications, tools, games and utilities from maps to menus (now there’s good idea for a website!) -- so why not use an app to help me track and control my day?

I actually got thinking about the crossover that exists between to do lists and diaries for those that like to record what they should do vs. what they have actually been doing. But then in a lot of ways, the blog has taken over from the diary as many of us now detail an online journal of our lives for everyone to see.

The problem was, as soon as I started looking for to do lists utilities on the Apple Mac store this week, the newly released Motorbike Lite from baKno Games was staring at me as a free download. This is precisely the problem; I keep playing online 3D motorbike simulation jumping games instead of getting on with my life.

Motorbike Lite was worth the distraction and because it swallowed half an hour of my life, I’ll bend your ear in return. This is a beautifully rendered 3D graphics simulation of a guy on a “trials/motocross” style bike set to jump over hills, crates and canyons. Seriously, if you have an hour to kill, this is fun. Stage two is a sand dune scene stolen straight from the Emirates’ expansive outer regions, so if you can’t make it wadi bashing this weekend, then give this a go.

You see my problem? OK so onward to our TO-DO lists. Free for download on the Apple Mac store and also on Windows and Android and iPad (OK, so pretty much cross-platform) is Wunderlist. Named with a wonderfully German sounding name by its makers Wunderkinder GmbH, this app is the currently darling of the to do lists.

Customisable into around twenty languages including the widely used tongues of Maltese and Slovenian, Wunderlist is disappointingly not Arabic compliant as yet. The basic version is free and there’s a Pro version for just under 200 AED a year if this rocks your world. You can attach photos and spreadsheets and videos to your to do items and even share lists (and therefore assign tasks) to colleagues. It sounds like the perfect app for the ultimate party planner control freak, so if that’s you, go and get your download.

The problem is, nobody has really perfected the to do list app yet and this is why people still tend to use a piece paper of paper and a pen to list out their action items. Apps like Todolicious try and sell themselves on a snappy name and a stylish user interface (actually this Apple Mac app has some neat keyboard shortcuts for keeping your organised), but at the end of the day, it’s just a list.

If you want to extend your use of to do list style tools into the workplace then you need to change your app search term. The enterprise level to do list falls into the category of “task management” and there are plenty of expensive ways to pay for this kind of software across all platforms. Apps like somewhat directly named The Ultimate Time Management Reference System on Windows or Firetask on the Apple store will charge you Dh100 of more. These are the basically the organisational tools that most people would have used a calendar and a notepad for 30 years ago.

Let’s face it, is a to do list app or even a more sophisticated task management app going to stop you downloading new freebies from the Android store like Mini Ninjas? Can you resist the temptation of Monkey Boxing on the Apple store this week? Look, there’s even an online version of Tomb Raider Underworld on Google’s Chrome Web Store store now with the first few levels playable without cost, what are you going to do faced with that kind of distraction? Make a to do list anyway, it’s your only hope!

Adrian Bridgwater is a freelance journalist who specializes in software applications, gadgets and games.