This is my initial review of WorkFlowy, an intuitive digital notebook and note-taking app that I started using a week ago for organizing my work, managing to-do lists, planning projects, and implementing the Getting Things Done (GTD) system. I’m curious if anyone else has explored WorkFlowy for big-picture thinking, detail wrangling, or daily productivity, and would love to hear your tips or experiences in the comments.
I got the Pro version of the app free for a year from this AppSumo offer https://workflowy.com/downloads/windows/
I received the Pro subscription with a free trial for a year thanks to an AppSumo offer, which gave me full access to all features including desktop and mobile versions.
Interestingly, Stewart Butterfield and his team used WorkFlowy as their go-to web-based outliner to brainstorm and execute the first version of Slack, leveraging its minimalist design and intuitive interface.
Over the years, I’ve experimented with many simple task management tools and note taking applications for planning and productivity, but wasn’t satisfied with my results. This week, I decided to try WorkFlowy for flexible organization. The results have been fantastic.
What is WorkFlowy and what do I love about it (++ items below)?
WorkFlowy is half todo list planner app, half advanced planning software. Its distraction-free app design includes a folding editor for indented lists, making it simple to hide tasks you aren’t focused on. The clean interface is available across web, Android, and iOS platforms.
Here’s what stands out:
- 🚀 Lightning fast performance: Open the app and immediately start capturing notes or planning.
- 🧑💻 No unnecessary features or bloatware: Unlike other bloated apps, you just type to capture notes, no need to manually save documents.
- 🔍 Powerful search across lists: Find tasks, notes, or assignments in seconds.
- 🏷 Smart tagging: Use # and @ for tagging tasks, projects, or people, enabling efficient filtering and tracking.
- 🌟 Big-picture and detail zoom: Fast zoom in and out of your lists, using breadcrumbs or clicking the bullet icon for intuitive navigation.
- 🏗 Flexible design: Create your own structure, hierarchy, and tags. You can easily drag and drop or reorganize items as needed.
- 🔄 Easy sharing: Share individual lists or sections with others for collaborative planning or requirements management.
- ⭐️ Starred pages: Mark and revisit your most-used pages, ideal for recurring project or course assignments.
- 📱 Cross-platform: Use on any desktop or mobile device for seamless productivity.
Comparing Organizing Tools
Other organizing tools I have used and issues I had with them
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- 🧠 Relying on memory: Instant, but limited and unreliable for big-picture thinking or long lists.
- 📓 Paper notebook: Satisfying for quick notes, but lacks digital flexibility and organization.
- 📅 Planner pads: Built-in prioritizing and calendar, but hard to expand or reorganize.
- 🗂 Index cards/paper: Easy for one-off notes but gets messy, lacks digital search.
- 📝 Evernote: Great features for note taking, but the app has become bloated and buggy.
- 🗒 Word or Google Docs: Too many features for task management, less efficient for folding or list hierarchy.
- 🛠 Basecamp/PM software: Robust for team project management, but cumbersome for simple lists and sub-tasks.
[images from article http://iterationz.com/2013/07/09/task-management-with-workflowy/ which is also a great review of WorkFlowy ]
WorkFlowy Tips for Productivity
- Just start dumping items from your brain, paper, planning docs or other GTD systems into it for the first day or so. Then figure out what top level sections make sense for you. It is easy to drag and drop or cut/paste lists around, so no need to “get it right” the first time
- For GTD I use # tags for #today, #waiting, #week, #someday-maybe, #goal, #NextAction
- I love that tags automatically get added to a smart drop down list so when I start typing #t up pops #today.
- Also love that tags are hyperlinks to search by that tag
- When you search by a tag it shows all items with that tag across all lists. This is extremely powerful if you want to focus and get things done. Or if you want to take a 30,000 view of your goals
- To track delegated items I @ tags eg @John
- again you can search by tags to see all the tags you delegated to John
- I also use for location specific tasks eg @phone, @shopping, @UK
- To prioritize put *s in the list item. * = important, **= super-important, *** = mega-super-important. These are not WorkFlowy tags and the cool thing is that when you search for * it shows all of these list items, then as you enter another * it narrows down to more important items and so on
- There are keyboard shortcuts that can speed up your work eg Esc = search, Tab = intent, Shift-Tab = Outdent, ctrl- Space = Collapse/expand list, ctrl-? = display/hide keyboard shortcuts
- Hovering over the bullet at the start of any list displays a little menu for completing a task, exporting that sublist , sharing, duplicating list etc.
- Clicking the bullet drills down to display items in that list. At the same time you see a “breadcrumb” menu of list sub levels so you can navigate fast back up to a higher level view
- Clicking the + or – expands or collapses that list so that you can see the big picture or details fast
- You can star any list that you use a lot (note that staring is not the same as typing *s that I mentioned earlier)
- Hitting the star shows all the starred lists
- A starred page remembers the last search you used in it – useful for regular GTD searches like Today's tasks
- You can duplicate a list and all it's sub items – great for templates of common tasks
- You can share sublists with other users (I haven't tested this yet)
- Use it for both current todo items, longer term planning, jotting down ideas or business/life planning. Easy to move items around during your weekly GTD review or 30,000 reviews.
Conclusion About WorkFlowy
Suppose you want to get organized, optimize your workflow, and manage both daily tasks and big-picture planning. In that case, WorkFlowy is a simple task management tool that stands out for its minimalist design, flexible structure, and lightning-fast performance. Whether you’re tackling course assignments, planning projects, or just looking for an easy-to-use web-based outliner, I highly recommend giving WorkFlowy a try. It’s the ultimate note-taking app for anyone seeking a distraction-free app to capture notes and get organized.
What are your WorkFlowy tips? How do you use your digital notebook or todo list planner app for GTD, task management, or project planning? Share your strategies in the comments below!
