November marks the 10th Anniversary of Any.do.
In these 10 years, we had the privilege of powering the productivity of over 30 million individuals relying on us to manage their day-to-day.
From transforming the way they organize their life to successfully graduating from college and building their dream businesses – planning weddings, managing their households, and so much more.
Thank you for letting us be a part of your journey.
Since founding Any.do a decade ago, our vision has always been about helping people become more intentional about how they manage their lives.
See, it’s not about getting things done for the sake of getting more done. It’s about being able to truly take control over your day, time, and whatever it is that you set out to accomplish. That’s what gaining true freedom really feels like.
Freedom of stress, freedom to control your quality of life – planning ahead, and reaching your goals. Designing the life you want to live.
Any.do was always meant to be an enabler for the lives our users wanted to lead.
Today, as we celebrate 10 years of pushing productivity forward (which is like a century in a tech company’s life), I want to share with you our vision for the next 10 years.
The new Any.do logo
The future of work is not just about work.
Our work and personal lives have reached a new level of symbiosis. Facing the fallouts of the global pandemic, life and work have never been so intertwined as they are now.
These days we are living in this strange new reality in which we need to juggle between creating a presentation, to doing laundry, to having a zoom meeting – then rushing to pick up the kids, only to get back to work as soon as they fall asleep.
Our relationship with the workplace has changed.
1. The flexible work era
We live in an era of flexible work.
It’s not just a matter of remote/hybrid work, it’s more than that.
You are no longer bound to your office – you can work from anywhere you want.
Zoom meetings are now acceptable channels of communication, becoming a standard for many.
You are no longer even tied to the 9-5 work culture because you can find yourself working at any time of day.
(Most people I know don’t want to work from home. Most people I know want the flexibility to work from home.)
2. Personal growth & well being now play a major part
Not so long ago, companies were mostly focused on their business KPIs, revenue, and growth.
Over time – companies started to recognize the importance of employees’ happiness and experience in the workplace. From making sure that they have everything they need (cool-looking offices, swag, and happy hours), this concept has now evolved into a serious focus on mental health, well-being, and the need for personal space and growth.
The employee’s mental state, as well as aspirations, are now taken into account more than ever before.
3. The rise of Employee autonomy
During COVID and the lockdowns, what made companies keep ticking, growing, and making money was the fact that their employees were resilient.
On the worst terms, they kept on doing.
If it’s attending Zoom meetings while their kids are literally climbing over their heads or working late at night while their families are asleep.
Or dealing with solitude and not seeing family and friends for long periods of time.
You name it.
Still, every day, they got up and did the work. They planned their days, attended meetings, dealt with life – all at the same time – without the need to be micromanaged and supervised.
Employees are now more autonomous than ever before and it has become a part of the new workplace culture.
The future of the workspace – trends
The future of work will not only be about how we handle work but how it intertwines with everyday life. It’s about making sure that your work balances off with your personal needs.
Built for people, powering teams.
Facing all these recent and major changes to the workplace, it seems like the different tools and platforms that serve us haven’t yet fully adapted.
Currently, there are two major categories of productivity and project management products out there.
- Personal productivity tools/ task management tools: This is what Any.do did best for the last 10 years. Tools in this category are meant to help the individual be more productive but are not entirely designed for collaboration.
- Project alignment’ tools/ project management tools: Monday.com, ClickUp, Trello, Asana – all the usual suspects who do amazing work helping your team stay aligned and make sure everyone’s on the same page. However, they are not really cut out to manage individual tasks (work and personal) very well.
The result is that most employees lead a “double-life.”
They review their boards with a team but then go and copy their personal tasks to Any.do/ Apple Notes / Google or a notepad.
Individual vs project management tools
This creates friction on many levels.
- Employees are struggling to sync between personal and work tasks.
- They forget to update project boards, creating an overhead that requires managers and project managers to serve as moderators for board updates.
- Employees then overload their days with tasks that they’ll never manage to get done, which in turn de-motivates them and increases stress.
- Various project management tools can’t cater to everyone’s individual needs, which causes some employees to never fully adapt to their working environment.
From day one, our vision was to improve people’s lives. Helping them gain more control, get more done and lead the life they want to live.
For the last decade, it meant helping individuals in their personal lives.
Now – we’re coming to the workplace.
Meet Any.do Workspace
As part of our 10 years anniversary celebrations, we are opening up the waiting list to a new Any.do product: Any.do Workspace.
Any.do Workspace is a team collaboration platform that puts you at the center.
It was built for the flexible work era – made for people, but powering teams.
We believe that the ultimate all-in-one experience is not just about a gazillion features, automation, and seeing people as APIs. The real all-in-one is seeing work and life balanced together under one single platform that helps people better manage their lives.
It is a combination of:
- A real-time and a-synchronic team collaboration tools.
- A private personal planner to organize work and personal tasks.
- A project management platform to help manage simple or complex items just as easily.
- A personal to-do list and task management system.
All in one place.
Meet Any.do Workspace
Here are some of the benefits I think you and your team will love in Any.do Workspace
- A private personal task manager combined with a project management platform.
- The freedom to work on the platform you prefer. Regardless of the platform, your company is using.
- Powerful features with the same intuitive and clean Any.do design you know and love.
- Full calendar integration.
- The ability to stop switching between 2-3 apps to manage your life.
You don’t need one tool to manage work and another to manage life.
You need a great tool to manage your life – and everything that comes with it.
Soon, we’ll start sharing more details about Workspace. For now, you can sign up for the waiting list to get early access when we launch our BETA – sign up here
As we close in on our first decade together, I want to take this opportunity and thank our users –
Thank you for making our work matter.
