Managing tasks with Gmail? Absolutely, it just needed some proper implementation and Remember The Milk (RTM) has done a great job. You just have to download a Firefox add-on and you will discover a new pane on the right side of the Gmail page which looks like this:
All your tasks are listed there and you can sort them by priority, due date or name. If you think this view didn’t reveal much information about tasks you’re right, of course. Although task details are hidden, RTM developers have found a rather elegant solution to gain access to them quickly: just hover over any task and you will be able to see and edit all details you already know and love from RTM.
It goes without saying that you cannot only view and edit tasks but you can add them directly in Gmail as well. There are two pretty cool options in the Gmail settings now which create tasks automatically when you star a message or label it with a pre-defined label. Especially creating a task when starring a message is really neat. Often people’s emails include tasks like making a phone call, asking for a report, deadlines,… So I just have to star the message and a new task is added to RTM. Cool.
Also RTM is connected with your Gmail contacts. Whenever you start entering a task starting with email, call,… you’ll see a type ahead box and can choose a contact from there. So if you send the email the task will be completed.
Google Calendar integration has also been added but I don’t use it. I am confident that it works well, though.
RTM has always been a great application. Gmail integration makes it even more powerful and distinguishes it from competitors. Usually I had constantly two tabs open in Firefox: Gmail and RTM. Now I only need one tab for Gmail which helps keeping track of open tabs and makes me more productive.
Tags: elegant solution, Google