When your task list grows beyond thirty items, categories become necessary. A task list without categories is like a library without shelves: everything is there, but everything is hard to find.
ToToday's category system
ToToday lets you create custom categories, assign a color to each one, and place tasks into them. The sidebar can filter by category. Click a category and only tasks in that category remain visible while everything else temporarily disappears.
How should you design categories?
A common mistake in category design is going too fine-grained. A four-level structure like "Work - Project A - Subtask - Execution" often costs more to maintain than the value it provides.
A better approach is to categorize by life domains and keep 3-7 major groups:
- Work, or specific project names
- Personal growth
- Life errands
- Health
- Finance
The principle is: whenever a task comes in, you should be able to decide its category within 3 seconds.
Categories vs tags
ToToday's categories are mutually exclusive: a task can belong to only one category. This is intentional. A category is the task's "home," and it should stay clear and simple. If a task needs multiple dimensions, add detail in the task name or notes instead of stacking categories.
Clean up categories regularly
Review your category list from time to time. Is there a category with almost no tasks? Merge or delete it. Is one category so crowded that it is hard to focus? Split it into two.
ToToday's category management page supports editing, merging, and deleting categories. When you merge categories, all tasks under the old category move automatically to the new one, so no task is lost.