I'm not necessarily a die-hard GTDer, but I do believe in capturing everything - then planning, organizing, and acting on a task list. I'm also a person that likes to try apps - and so it begins... Evernote? Springpad? Wunderlist? Nozbe? Toodledo? Todoist? Doit.im? I could keep going.
Nothing is Perfect
The problem is - they're all good apps - but, none of them are perfect. None of these apps do everything. Or maybe they do, in fact, do everything - just not the way I'd like them to.I'm fairly certain that I could look and look, but I won't find the golden app. At the end of the day, I, like you, have to compromise. I need to use the apps the make the most sense to me, my workflow, and how I work.
Then comes the hard part - sticking with it. Because there is always going to be another app with another feature that looks like it might work a little bit better - but the time wasted and data lost is very high when changing productivity apps - and usually you give up 2 features for that 1 that you gained.
My System
So, as much as I struggle with this - I've decided to pick a set of tools that I will use as my personal information management system and then stick to it. This is what I picked.Asana - Task List
I'll start with Asana because this is where the majority of the work is done - all work related stuff is here and any personal projects are here. It's your standard projects with tasks and subtasks - due dates, notes and screenshots. This is where I do my daily and weekly reviews at.
Link: asana.com
Google Keep - Reminders, Quick Notes, Check Lists
If I need to jot down a quick note, I use Google Keep. If I need to make a quick checklist of things I need to get done when I wake up tomorrow - a create a checklist in Keep and set a reminder. It's quick and easy and for me, temporary - I don't keep any of these notes for more than a month or so. Something might start in Keep and end up in Asana.
Link: drive.google.com/keep
Papyrus - Brainstorming
While on the topic of quick notes - I also use the Android app Papyrus for quick notes and/or brainstorming because it works very well with the stylus on my Note 2. This is used when I feel more like writing or drawing than typing. Something might start in Papyrus and end up in Asana.
Link: projectpapyrus.com
Simplenote - Notes/Documentation This is where most of my note taking is done. This is different than what's in Keep because these are longer term. These are notes that I will continuously reference and modify. This is also where my writing is done - any blogging or even sometimes e-mail drafts start in Simplenote.
Link: simplenote.com
Google Drive - Long Term Documents
If I need to keep something long term - but I don't need to reference it often, or at all - it ends up in Google Drive. It's my long term storage for anything that I might need to reference some day.
Link: google.com/drive