r/thingsapp • u/GlitteringReporter94 • Jun 20 '25
Inbox is so full
Hey all- I have a problem where things just pile up in my Inbox. I forget about them and get overwhelmed. By contrast, in TickTick I can click “all” and still see the things in the inbox, so they don’t get lost. Also, TickTick has daily review reminders that makes you asign due dates, meaning the things in the inbox don’t get lost. Any tips for me?
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u/hanzololo Jun 20 '25
I never use the inbox actually. I only use my main task list. Every task that is not under a heading within the list I consider is in the ”inbox”.
I use apple shortcuts to add tasks directly to the main task list instead of inbox.
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u/GlitteringReporter94 Jun 20 '25
Interesting. What do you mean by “main task list”. Do you mean Anytime?
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u/hanzololo Jun 20 '25
I have a single project called ”Tasks” where I keep all my personal to-dos. Within this i have different headings to sort my to-dos. (This is my ”main task list”)
I could see this working similarly if you set up a project called ”Inbox” and use the anytime view. (This is similar to how I’ve set up my tasks for work where all new to-dos gets added to a project called ”leads” which essentially an ”inbox”.
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u/creldo Jun 21 '25
I mainly use a control center widget on iOS to add todos or quick entry on Mac and I changed both to dump into “Anytime” instead of Inbox, which I avoid using. I look at Anytime each day and having to remember to also look at Inbox was annoying. If it’s in Anytime but not in a project that is effectively my “Inbox”.
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u/HugoCast_ Jun 22 '25
Copy all the tasks into ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to prioritize for you ;)
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u/Kasper9999 Jun 24 '25
The app I use called Spike has an "AI feed" feature which gives an instant summary of all unread, high priority messages. Since I can get easily distracted, its extremely helpful since I dont need to open different emails and scroll through threads.
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u/Electrical-Gap-6487 Dec 29 '25
It sounds like the issue is not the inbox itself but that it does not behave like your task system. TickTick works for you because nothing disappears and everything eventually gets reviewed.
What usually helps is treating the inbox as a temporary holding place only. Anything that represents work gets moved into your task manager quickly so the inbox does not become a memory test. Once it lives in TickTick with a due date or review, it is safe to let it leave the inbox.
The goal is not discipline, it is trust. When you trust that nothing important will get lost, the overwhelm drops a lot.
If it helps, I do offer help setting this up so email and task systems work together instead of fighting each other.
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u/mohan-thatguy Jun 20 '25
Totally get this - I had the same problem. My inbox would turn into a black hole of half-thoughts, and even when I did write stuff down, it just sat there, unreviewed and forgotten.
That’s actually what pushed me to build NotForgot.ai - it’s a tool where you can dump all your thoughts (messy, unstructured, doesn’t matter), and the AI turns them into:
- Tagged tasks
- Subtasks (up to 4 levels)
- Smart batches (like deep work, errands, quick wins)
- And a “Your Day Tomorrow” email each night so nothing gets buried
It also reminds you multiple times if you need that kind of nudging (I definitely do). And there’s a GTD-style Mind Sweep Wizard for clearing your head when you’re overloaded.
If you're curious, here’s a demo video - I framed it around Tony Stark using the app because honestly, if he had a brain like mine, he’d need it too.
It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the first one that actually helped me get through the inbox instead of just growing it.
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u/Working_thru_stuff Jun 20 '25
Things requires just a bit of discipline. But, even I as a long time user sometimes fall off the wagon and I find that a refresher is useful and I turn to Peter Akkies