GTD (getting things done) apps seem to be all the rage right now, as there are many to choose from and more keep popping out. And what’s not to love about them? In one sitting in front of your Mac, one good app of these can turn your life around by helping you organize it as it lets all the pieces fall neatly into place. Things is such an app, and it is amazing due to its power and simplicity. No wonder it has received many honors, such as the recent “Best of Show” in Macworld ’09.

Design. The app’s one-windowed interface is like many other Mac apps: the main workspace, and a sidebar for organization. It’s thanks to this simplicity that it is hard to lose focus of all that’s to be done in Things, which can easily handle thousands of tasks without choking or losing that simplicity. And to be clear, simplicity doesn’t mean that the interface is limited in any way. On the contrary, it’s thanks to the areas within Things (which will be discussed below) that efficient organization is always present.

Functionality. Things is built around how tasks are to be organized: today, next, scheduled, someday, and projects. If there’s a heavy influx of tasks, it’s always better to keep them in the inbox until they can be sorted later. After that, it is possible to create focus areas for the multiple aspects of one’s life. Tasks are pretty simple to add in the app: choose a title, tag it, and maybe add a description or a due date. As for the due date, it can also be chosen for when the task to appear in the today area: the same day, or a specified number of days before. And until those tasks appear in the today area, you can always gaze at them where you last left them. Adding tasks while working on something else is also a breeze thanks to the contextual window that can be summoned from anywhere in your Mac, as long as Things is active in the background (image below). As for project management, it also works great since it is a separate category from the tasks. And there’s also a surprise for iPhone users: a mobile version of Things that’s available for $9.99 in the App Store, which syncs seamlessly with the desktop version. After the initial configuration, it’s as easy as having both versions of Things open and the devices connected to the same wireless network — everything is then synced automatically without the need of docking the iPhone.

Limitations. None significant — the long beta did Things a lot of good.

Final thoughts. What separates Things from other GTD options on the Mac is how all of its power is used efficiently underneath a simple user experience, which cuts down the learning curve by a lot. All of the praise and good reviews for Things are well deserved, and I can only confirm that after organizing all of my tasks with Things (and Things for the iPhone). One license costs $49.95, which may raise second thoughts on potential users — but in the end, it is well worth it if GTD is an important aspect of the user’s life. There is a demo also available, which I believe will pretty much convince anyone who tries it what a wonderful piece of software Things is.