One of the many modern annoyances we all seem to accept is the siled calendar and to-do list. Sure, you can link your calendar to a to-do app, but it's not the same. When you're planning your day, something like a scheduler that shows you your calendar appointments along with associated to-do items would be better for most of us.
Luckily, there's one app that successfully merges these two features into an intuitive day-planning interface. If app jumping bothers you, it might be time to try Structured Apps, which work seamlessly across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android.
Merge calendar events and tasks with structure
One way to structure your application is to add a task with a time frame. Let's say you need to complete an email today. great. Previously, you would write the task in an app and then forget about it. In contrast, in structured, you can say, I need to write an email to my HR director and I will deal with it between 2:00 PM and 2:30 PM . It will then appear on your timeline and help you visually block your time. By planning a day like this, you'll be more likely to complete your tasks because they're now fixed in a time period. Also, you can take care to space them out so they don't overlap (the app will remind you of this).
Structuring starts with a visual timeline of all tasks. When you first set up the app, it will ask you when you wake up and when you go to sleep.
You can add tasks in two different ways. If you don't know exactly when you're going to do something, go to your inbox and add a task that won't show up in your timeline. When you're ready, you can move the task to your timeline.
To get the most out of the app, you should add tasks directly to your timeline. Click the plus button, give the task a name, and Structured will automatically provide an emoji icon for it. You're free to change the colors (which helps differentiate between personal and work tasks), and then you can choose when the task starts and how long it takes. Structured display for your preset time range (from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours, which you can edit or customize).
You can then choose to make it a recurring task or set a reminder if you wish. The free version of the app only gives you a single notification, but if you go with the Pro plan, you can create multiple reminder notifications. Finally, you can add sub-notes, meeting links, or any other note you want.
Once a task is created, it appears on your timeline, which itself is very malleable. You can simply tap and hold on a task and move it up or down to change the time frame (as we all know, things can change quickly). Structured does a great job of visually showing you how much time has passed by coloring the timeline itself. When you complete tasks on your calendar, you can cross them off, which is very satisfying.
Structured Pro makes things better
One of the advantages of this app is that it works well even on the free tier (a rarity for productivity apps these days). With the free tier, you can add tasks, move tasks around your timeline, and get reminders before events start.
Structured Pro takes things to the next level. First, you can enable reminder and calendar integration so that your reminders and calendar events (either created by you or your invitations) will automatically appear in Structure, saving you time. The Pro plan also allows you to set multiple reminders, so you can also choose to be notified 30 minutes before the event.
However, Structured Assistant is new, it's still in beta, and it works like it's still in beta. It uses ChatGPT to convert plain text into timetables. You tell the app what you plan to do for the day using your keyboard or voice (which is easier), and after some processing it shows you your schedule, which you can then approve to add to your timeline. This extra step is helpful because in my experience structured assistants don't always get things done.
That is, it works more than half the time, if you were to say, "Today I have to pick up the kids from soccer practice at 9 a.m., then I will work from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m." , I'll cook from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m." worked well. However, after a few weeks of testing the app, I found myself falling back to the good old way of manual task entry - so I'm sure it will work.
Overall, I recommend giving Structured Apps a try yourself. Don't worry about Pro until you actually need it. Structured Pro costs $2.99 per month, $9.99 per year, and a lifetime license is $29.99.
