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TeuxDeux

Posted by Alex

I don’t know how I haven’t posted on this sooner. It is basically the best internet tool that has ever occurred in the universe. TeuxDeux is a mega-simple web based to-do application. I’ve been using it since it came out and it is now a permanent part of my workflow; not just for business, but also for laundry concerns, In-N-Out runs, and whatever else I have to DO. And it’s free. Boom goes the dynamite as they say.

You can watch the video above for a quick description, but just about anyone could figure this out within seconds. Basically you write in what you have to-do under the day you have to do it. Cross it off when it’s done. View is seven days wide but can be scrolled through if you are the kind of person to plan ahead (do they exist?). There is also a Someday area for things to-do in the undetermined future.

The iPhone app version has been in development for what’s seemed like ages. But! I just read this morning that they’ve submitted it to the iTunes store, so keep an eye out for it on their site.

On a side-note, I love and hate the “Someday” bucket provided at the bottom of the list. It’s great because there is a ton of stuff that I don’t have time to do during a given week that I plop down there. The reason I don’t like it is because I am constantly reminded how many things I would like to do “Someday”. This can be discouraging if they stay down there too long. Conversely, crossing something off of the ‘Someday” list is very cathartic and replaces any discouragement you might have felt with a sense of accomplishment.

TeuxDeux is a result of the collaboration between swissmiss and Fictive Kin.

31 Comments Leave A Comment

1

ross says:

July 28, 2010 at 12:44 am

Great post! Teuxdeux is my homepage at work and has been pretty much since it was released. Not only is it beautifully simple to use, it also looks great and i can vouch for its productivity-boosting powers.

Anyone else list things they’ve already done, just for the satisfaction of ceissing them off?

Been going nuts waiting for the iphone app, which will increase my productivity by another 800%, making me almost unstoppable!

4

ross says:

July 28, 2010 at 12:50 am

To edit items you can drag them into the text box, then change text and re-list.

Never really missed the option to edit items, i just focus on crossing them off!

7

Ross says:

July 28, 2010 at 3:53 am

@Dean… Haha yeah but since when did paper ever look this good?

I’va always used a complex system of A4 / A5 notebooks for to-do lists, most often augmented with a variety of post-it notes, scraps of paper with pens left strategically pointed at them (which means ‘priority’).

Needless to say, it was NOT a good system. Now my desk retains a nice minimalist aesthetic (mouse, ipod, phone, keyboard, cigarettes), while teuxdeux keeps my workflow rolling.

Also, I find it quite handy as a way of tracking the volume of different tasks I’ve done over the past weeks, months, whatever. Nothing better than flicking back a week and seeing a whole load of greyed-out completed tasks.

I’m really not this much of a geek. Well…

8

Kai says:

July 28, 2010 at 5:48 am

Almost off-topic, but here goes: It took me five minutes and the oft overlooked browser title bar (“What deux yeux have teux deux teuxday?”) to figure out to pronounce that service.

A fake French accent in American English is not the first phonetic pattern that comes to the mind of this German native… Tsk-tsk… :-)

9

Fictive Cameron says:

July 28, 2010 at 6:15 am

Hey Alex,

This is a really nice post. Thanks for all the kind words about TeuxDeux.
Keep an eye out for an iphone app in the next couple of weeks.

We’re also going to beef up the webapp just a bit not too long after that. Bug testing now.

10

Tom says:

July 28, 2010 at 6:21 am

ahhh, thank god for your comment, Ross! It makes 2 features I missed concrete… like:

– clickable links (if you save links)
– edit

Still missing
– fast horizontal scrolling between weeks or days (mouse wheel would be great), since I use lots of dates in 4 weeks time.
– repeated events

11

daniel says:

July 28, 2010 at 7:16 am

i’m just repeating what everyone else has said. GREAT app that i use EVERYDAY at work keeps this clutterbug(?) clutterfree. boing boing!

12

Kevin says:

July 28, 2010 at 7:35 am

very cool. Android has a similar app called Evernote that pretty much does the same thing. been out for a while now.

14

eydryan says:

July 28, 2010 at 10:20 am

I personally find this quite pointless. That said it’s perhaps because my workflow already includes three to-do actions:

1. For to-do items I wish to do in the rather uncertain future I use Tasks inside Gmail. It’s good because I can always access them on my phone or wherever I am and they still remain there as a reminder as I (quite frequently) check my email.

2. For general to-do items I use my phone. I’ve got a Nokia 5230 and Symbian handles all of the things I’d need for a to-do list. It’s great because they are all in one place and it’s great because every time I unlock my phone there they are for quick review and reminding.

3. For specific dates I just add the to-do as an appointment because that allows me to set an alarm and so on and it’s really easy to see my tasks for the coming days and so on.

I really have a hard time understanding the need for a web service of this sort and I hope you’ll find my system useful.

15

NAVIS says:

July 28, 2010 at 10:52 am

Looks great. I’lll give it a try but chances are, I’ll probably end up not using it because I prefer writing things down. For some reason, the act of writing a list helps me remember better things I need to accomplish for the week. Plus I get to doodle on said piece of paper. I like to keep it this way because it doesn’t involve being on a computer and going to a website. That right there is one too many steps for me to create a list. I’m lazy like that. So, pen and paper will prevail. I want this to work out so who knows, it might!

16

ross says:

July 28, 2010 at 11:15 am

Agree with you there Tom, faster scrolling would be handy.

I can totally relate to the whole writing-things-down-makes-them-memorable thing, but who needs to remember when you have teux deux? The iphone app will complete me.

I doodle on post-its. Is there a flickr group for post-it note art? If not there should be…

17

Jesse says:

July 28, 2010 at 11:40 am

Works well for me. I work in a firm, and do side work with my wife. She is home with our children and we can both update/edit the schedule and both then see the changes quickly.

19

thehalvo says:

July 28, 2010 at 2:13 pm

yeah TeuxDeux is amazing for sure. I’ve been using it since the day it came out as well. I can’t wait to get ahold of the iPhone app.

20

Laura says:

July 28, 2010 at 5:09 pm

Thanks Alex, I always keep everything in my mind and I must admit it does not work out very well. I’ll start using it today.

22

Sean McMahon says:

July 28, 2010 at 9:50 pm

I use Google Tasks as well. It fits neatly into my workflow, as I already use gmail and the google calendar frequently, and I love the two-way flow between the gcalendar and tasks. There is a plug-in for Chrome that displays Tasks nicely in the full browser window.

That being said, as a writer I totally believe in the power of the written word and have semi-superstitious beliefs about writing things down and the power of that physical act calling things into existence ;-) I LOVE writing myself To Do lists and checking off completed tasks.

This sounds like an interesting solution for those who do not use a google account and/or are looking for a new task list system.

24

ron says:

July 29, 2010 at 9:41 am

i used to use this but then decided its easier to just keep a “to do” text file in my dropbox folder.

26

David Boni says:

August 7, 2010 at 7:32 pm

I like TeuxDeux, but I like Things (for Mac and iPhone) a lot more. TeuxDeux just doesn’t have enough functionality at the moment. The space devoted to to-do items is way too small and doesn’t work for me. I can’t look at what I need to do at a glance; there is little reason why my to-do list should look like this:

Design new concept f …
Take Rocko to dog tr …
Go to the movies wit …

It’s cool that it’s free, though.

29

Tom says:

August 30, 2010 at 5:44 am

For those still thinking about it:

Today it got a new update – and they implemented a small overlay-calendar and a fast week jump! I was missing this for months”

Still no repeated events though but that isn’t that important.

30

Kevin Hopp says:

October 23, 2010 at 10:01 am

Saturday:
Charge camera battery
Finally watch those damned Google Analytics training videos (ugh)

Sunday:
Leave Barcelona for the Pyrenees.
Do not forget camera nor battery.

Monday:
Make it back for a 10am EST meeting with client from NYC.
Persecute weekend’s photos.