First Impressions: The Hit List

I picked up The Hit List (THL) as part of the MacHeist bundle this year. As a long-time user of Remember the Milk (RTM), I thought that I would find it limiting. RTM is an online app and so I can reach it from anywhere I have access to the web. It also has an iPhone app, which is extremely handy, but requires a pro account which costs $25 per year. Over a few years of use, that can get very expensive. THL looked very attractive and easy to use, so I thought I would give it a try.

THL has an extremely clean interface. Other than the yellow lined "paper" background of the "Inbox", it is rather sleek. I appreciate that I can do most of the functions available in a Getting Things Done (GTD) system, but without all of the complexity exposed. One example is a recurring task. Instead of being confronted with a dialog box full of choices on how to configure the recurrence, you just type what it is and THL parses it. "Every monday, thursday and friday" works. So does "The 5th of every month". It is a really intelligent system.

This gets at the heart of why THL will be a great system. It is keyboard based. You can do anything from a relatively intuitive set of keyboard shortcuts. There is help if you need it as well, elegantly displayed on a pane at the bottom of the window. However, THL is not yet a great system, although it is good. It does not have a mobile application so you cannot sync your data to go. It also does not sync with any online GTD sites. The developers have indicated that they are working on an iPhone app, however I am not sure when to expect it, as they are still working on the Mac application. It also cannot add appointments to your iCal calendar. It can add tasks, but not "tickler" appointments, which are an important part of the some implementations of the GTD system.

THL, however, is a work in progress, and an impressive one. I am looking forward to seeing what the developers come up with next.