Using Smart Lists at Work

The newest update of Todo Cloud for iOS introduces Smart Lists. They are a powerful way to filter and create custom views within Todo Cloud. This is a feature we’ve wanted to build for a few years now and we’re confident that this is a game-changing feature for productivity enthusiasts.

At its simplest, a Smart List is a list that is created based on filtering tasks for a specific attribute or value. It allows you to have deeper control over how you view and complete tasks. All to-do apps allow you to create custom lists (think “Home”, “Work”, “Fitness” etc.). Smart Lists go far beyond table-stakes features. What if you want to be able to see a group of tasks that you know spans multiple custom lists? Or what if you don’t want to see lists by theme, but instead by due date? Or by which you’ve marked as important? Look no further.

Like any other tool or software you use at work, there can be a bit of a learning curve. With just a little hand-holding to start you’ll quickly learn how powerful Smart Lists can be and realize their impact on your day-to-day in just a short time.

Here are two simple ways that you could use Smart Lists at work.

Next Seven Days

Let’s say that you want to see all the tasks that you have due over the next seven days. This is a helpful Smart List when you are planning out your week. The “Next Seven Days” list is a suggested Smart List. You’ll just want to edit it so that it contains only work related tasks. Here’s how you do that:

• Select “Add a Smart List” and choose “Next Seven Days”
• Swipe left on the newly created list and select “Edit”
• Under “Lists” deselect all lists but those related to work

This is my result:

Client Name

You can create a Smart List that filters all tasks with a specific client’s name in the task name. Here’s how to do it:

• Select “Add a Smart List”
• Select “Define your own Smart List…”
• Name your Smart List
• Add a filter on the task name
• Select “Match all of the search terms”
• Input the client name as a search term

In this case, I’ve created a Smart List for Vandelay Industries

So there you have it, two practical ways that Smart Lists can impact your day. As we’ve spoken to some of our beta users we’ve found that everyone uses Smart Lists differently. It’s a very powerful productivity tool and I’d encourage you to go and explore Smart Lists on your own. You’ll be impressed with the amount of control that you have. Start by looking at our “Suggested  Smart Lists” and go from there.