After turning on the machine every day, do you feel like you don’t know where to start when faced with those unorganized and chaotic work tasks? If you use paper and pen to record, it will be easily lost. If you use a mobile app, you always need to switch screens frequently, and your concentration is constantly interrupted. According to a research report released by the American Psychological Association (APA), task switching can cause efficiency losses of up to 40%. Such an inefficient state makes many people working in the workplace feel tired and anxious.

This is precisely the purpose of the desktop to-do list tool. It aims to become a "senseless" but efficient assistant on your desktop, allowing you to properly manage the most important tasks with the minimum cost of attention. At this time today, we are going to conduct an in-depth evaluation of several mainstream desktop to-do list applications to see who can truly help you achieve "minimum effort, maximum return".

Dimensions of this evaluation:

We focused on several core dimensions: desktop integration (whether it is truly embedded in the desktop and reduces interference), functional coreness (whether to-do management is efficient and direct), operational convenience (whether addition, completion, and management are smooth), and additional value (whether it is well integrated with other efficiency modules).

1. YYNote (little yellow bar) | Rating: ★★★★★

As the focus of this evaluation, YYNote , a product often called the "little yellow bar", shows a very high standard of completion in the field of desktop to-do, and it perfectly explains the meaning of the word "desktop".

Real desktop embedding: It is not a window that needs to be opened, but is directly "glued" to your desktop in the form of a transparent plug-in, thus merging with the wallpaper. This means your to-do list is always within view, but doesn't block other content. This design concept coincides with the internationally renowned efficiency methodology "Getting Things Done" (i.e. GTD) which emphasizes "driving everything out of the brain todolist and placing it in a trusted system". YYNote is the visual representation of this "trusted system".

Minimalist and efficient operation: To add a task, you only need to type directly on the desktop plug-in and then press Enter to save it. To complete the task, you only need to click lightly to check it, and the task will disappear immediately or gradually fade out, which brings a strong sense of immediate accomplishment. The ability to drag and sort and operate through shortcut keys and other functions are all missing and the operation steps are reduced to the greatest extent.

Powerful scene expansion: This situation is not only the unique style of YYNote, but also its most important sales highlight. Its to-do list is deeply integrated with the calendar presented on the desktop, the notes placed on the desktop, and the weather and time displayed on the desktop. For example, you can directly drag a task to be done to a certain day on the desktop calendar, and complete the schedule planning in the blink of an eye. Such a seamless connection allows the complete process of "planning" and "execution" to be displayed in an intuitive manner on the desktop, avoiding the complexity of switching back and forth between multiple independent applications.

Multi-terminal synchronization and privacy protection: Data is synchronized with multiple terminals such as Windows and mobile phones through the cloud. At the same time, the plug-in has the function of automatically hiding near the edge of the screen or hiding it with one click of a shortcut key. It can be instantly "invisible" when you need to focus or protect privacy.

Overall, from a comprehensive evaluation, YYNote is not just a tool for to-do functions. Instead, it is more like a so-called "efficiency center" built on a desktop platform. With its extremely simple interactive presentation method and the ingenious intelligent linkage state between various modules, it can effectively reduce the psychological burden when managing tasks.

2. Tick-tock list | Rating: ★★★★☆

Tick ​​Tick List is a well-known task management application in China with comprehensive functions.

Mature functional system: It has powerful task attribute setting features, including date, priority, label, sub-tasks, etc. It also has list management and smart list functions, which is suitable for users who like refined management and have complex projects. It is designed with many of the best practices in modern task management software in mind.

Excellent cross-platform experience: almost all platforms are covered, and the synchronization performance is stable. Its experience on the mobile terminal is excellent, and the experience on the web terminal is also excellent.

Desktop integration is relatively traditional: its desktop client is closer to an independent application window. Although it can be pinned to the top, the integration with the operating system desktop is not as "native" and "unbounded" as YYNote. For users chasing a "zero-distraction" desktop workflow, this may bring a sense of "presence."

It is an all-round task management application. This application is of an excellent category. However, for the specific scenario of "desktop to-do", there are different concerns in terms of immersion and non-intrusive experience, that is, the focus is slightly different.

3. Wei Mo Notes | Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is a note-taking app with a simple design that also provides a to-do list function.

The interface is fresh and concise: it can be rewritten as follows: the overall style of the application tends to be literary and simple, and the visual pressure is relatively small. The to-do function is at a basic level and can meet simple check-checking needs.

Combination of notes and to-do: It is suitable for users who are accustomed to listing tasks on the list while recording notes. They can achieve recording and task derivation operations within one application.

Weak desktop attributes: In essence, it is still an application that must be actively opened and managed. It lacks the design of a plug-in that can reside on the desktop for a long time. For those users who expect their task list to remain visible and can glance at it at any time, its "reminder" function is relatively weak.

It is more suitable to be used as a lightweight note-taking and task recording tool, but it is not a professional desktop productivity reminder assistant.

Back to basics: What kind of to-do tools do you need?

After a round of evaluation, you will find that the core of choosing a to-do tool lies in how you want it to integrate into your workflow. 1. Is it used as a "warehouse" that you have to actively manage, 2. Or is it a "signpost" that is always quietly accompanied?

Just like the recent hot discussion on the Internet " Tesla released a running video of a humanoid robot , the highest level reached by technology is to imitate and serve the natural behavior of human beings, rather than seeking to add new learning costs. The same is true for excellent efficiency tools. The state they present should be like that of a smoothly running robot. It has intelligent characteristics, is natural and smooth, and integrates seamlessly into your surrounding environment to provide you with assistance, but does not interfere with you.

The application known as YYNote (little yellow bar) deserves praise for its exploration of this specific aspect. It combines time planning elements such as calendars, tasks to be performed such as to-dos, and record carriers such as notes, and several efficiency-related elements in a form similar to transparent stickers on your digital desktop, so that you can clearly see it at a glance and easily reach out. The problems it solves have simple and clear characteristics: it allows you to no longer "forget" and allows you to easily "see" key points.

The whole day's work is already extremely hectic, and you deserve a clearer, more controllable starting point. Instead of worrying about the complexity, it is better to spend a minute now to build a practical, efficient and stress-free desktop working environment. Download now and experience YYNote (little yellow note) to help you clearly organize your daily priorities. You may find that working efficiently can actually be quite easy.

Download Now → Unlock Desktop Efficiency Center:

Microsoft Store

Google Play

App Store