While searching for Firefox add-ons to automate some of my usual tasks, I came upon the Toodledo add-on and its corresponding service, Toodledo. Toodledo is great; it's the task organizer I have been looking for. I have been using EPIM on my desktop but since I have the free version, I couldn't organize it into folders. With Toodledo, you can do just that. In other words, now, you have the Horizontal projects (folders in Toodledo) which David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) recommends, and the vertical to-do's which GTD talks about.

To create your tasks, just create a folder (for a specific project for example, e.g. Bookshelf) and then create tasks under it. For example, for our Bookshelf project you may want to:

1. research bookshelf design
2. look for a carpenter
3. build bookshelf
4. put books and magazines on bookshelf

You may optionally order each of the task by order of priority (Negative, Low, Medium, High, Top), and specify a due date for each of the task. A great feature of Toodledo is that you can create multiple tasks for a particular folder in one fell swoop. Just enter a single task for each line and then hit 'Save'.

I just wish that in the main menu, the Toodledo crew can implement a feature javascript-like which creates a new folder while creating a new task. (That is, one doesn't have to go to the Folder menu to create a new folder. One can do this for example in your adsense account -- e.g., create new channel in the main page while you're specifying the features of an adsense code.)

Other great features of Toodledo is that you have a Calendar for your tasks although you can only view the tasks for the current month in the Free Version (you have to upgrade to a Pro Account to move throughout the different months). But not to worry, you can integrate Toodledo with your Google calendar! Toodledo will appear as one of the calendars in your Google Calendar. The only drawback is you can't see the tasks directly in the Google calendar. You have to click on the Toodledo check icon to see your tasks for a particular day.

There are also options for notification. You can choose to be notified via e-mail daily of what's on your hotlist. The hotlist are tasks which are due soon or have high priority. You can specify what's in your hotlist via your account settings. You can also choose to be notified via SMS, but you will have to shoulder the costs charged by your carrier. And lastly, there's an option to be notified via IMified.com. Just choose your messaging client (e.g. Google Talk) and add IMified as your buddy.

The aforementioned Toodledo Firefox add-on meanwhile lets you add a task to your Toodledo account with a few keystrokes. Just press Alt+Ctrl+A.

Lastly, you can choose to make your tasks public or retain their privacy.

Indeed, it's a great era we live in right now, there are a lot of free online tools to increase our productivity. All we need is to discover them in the first place. For my part, I am reading Getting Things Done right now and David Allen is right. Just listing your to-do's and projects down immediately brings down your stress level. After creating my folders and their respective tasks on Toodledo, I felt I could breath better, and the tasks ahead seem more achievable. You can feel that weight on your shoulder being taken off. Thanks to Toodledo!