“I'm a remote UX researcher at a distributed company and I've been using Todoist for years but I keep failing to actually time-block my day. My tasks sit in a list and never get matched to time on my calendar, so urgent things always crowd out important ones. I'm ready to switch to something purpose-built for daily time-blocking that connects my task list and Google Calendar in one view. What are the best apps for this, and how do they compare to Todoist on calendar integration and daily planning structure?”

Based on what you described, I wouldn't optimize for a better task manager. I'd optimize for a tool that treats planning your day as the primary workflow, not an afterthought.

Your pain point isn't capturing tasks—Todoist is already excellent at that. It's the transition from "things I should do" to "this is when I'm doing them." That's exactly the gap a few newer apps are designed to solve. clickup.comzapier.com2sync.com

Here's how I'd compare the strongest options.

My recommendations

1. Sunsama — best fit for your situation

From your description ("urgent things always crowd out important ones"), this is the one I'd try first.

Its philosophy is almost the opposite of Todoist:

• Every morning you intentionally choose today's work.
• You estimate how long each task will take.
• You drag tasks onto your calendar.
• It encourages stopping once your day is realistically full rather than endlessly adding more. clickup.comzapier.com

For a UX researcher, that's especially nice because a day often contains:

• interviews
• synthesis
• analysis
• stakeholder meetings
• writing
• Slack interruptions

Those different work modes naturally become calendar blocks instead of one long task list.

Compared to Todoist

Pros - Calendar and tasks live together. - Strong daily shutdown/startup routine. - Integrates with Google Calendar plus tools like Jira, Asana, GitHub, Linear, and Todoist. - Encourages realistic workload planning.

Cons - More expensive. - Requires spending a few minutes planning each morning.

2. Akiflow — best if your work comes from many places

If your work arrives through:

• Slack
• Jira
• Notion
• Gmail
• Google Calendar
• Docs

Akiflow excels at pulling everything into one inbox before you schedule it.

It's much faster than Sunsama if you like keyboard shortcuts and processing dozens of tasks daily. Community feedback consistently highlights this as a strength. getdonenow.app

3. Motion — if you want the computer to schedule for you

Instead of asking:

"When should I work on this?"

Motion asks for:

• deadline
• priority
• duration

and continuously rebuilds your calendar around meetings and deadlines.

This is fantastic if your schedule changes constantly.

The tradeoff is that you're giving up some control over how your day is structured. clickup.comzapier.com2sync.com

4. Morgen — strongest calendar experience

Morgen is more calendar-centric than task-centric.

If you already live inside Google Calendar and mainly want tasks to become scheduled blocks, it's one of the cleanest experiences available. clickup.comzapier.com2sync.com

5. Reclaim.ai — protects focus time

Reclaim is different.

Instead of manually placing work, you define:

• research
• writing
• email
• exercise
• lunch
• habits

and it automatically finds time around meetings.

It's particularly useful if coworkers frequently book over your calendar. clickup.comzapier.com2sync.com

How they compare with Todoist

For a distributed UX research workflow

Given your role, I'd lean toward Sunsama.

Research work has natural chunks:

• interview prep
• interviews
• note cleanup
• affinity mapping
• analysis
• report writing
• stakeholder reviews

Sunsama's daily planning flow makes it easy to assign realistic durations to those blocks before your day gets consumed by meetings. It also forces a useful question each morning: "What actually fits today?" rather than carrying an ever-growing list forward. clickup.comzapier.com2sync.com

If you instead find yourself juggling tasks from many systems (Slack, Jira, Notion, email, GitHub, etc.), then Akiflow is probably the stronger choice because its inbox aggregation is one of its biggest advantages.

You’re describing a very common failure mode with task managers: Todoist is excellent at capturing and organizing work, but it does not force the “when will I actually do this?” decision strongly enough. For a remote UX researcher, where your day is often a mix of interviews, synthesis, writing, stakeholder meetings, and deep work, a calendar-first workflow usually works better.

I’d look at tools that make tasks → time blocks → daily plan the default behavior rather than an optional integration.

Quick comparison

AppBest forCalendar integrationDaily planning structureCompared with TodoistSunsamaPeople who need a planning ritualGoogle Calendar events appear alongside tasks; tasks can be timeboxed onto calendarStrongest “plan your day” workflow with guided daily planningLess powerful as a pure task database, much better at intentional schedulingAkiflowPower users juggling many sourcesCalendar-first; tasks become calendar blocksFast daily triage, drag/drop scheduling, keyboard workflowMore scheduling-oriented than Todoist; less project-management depthMotionPeople who want automationBuilds schedules around calendar commitmentsAI automatically places tasks into available timeReplaces manual planning; less control if you like choosing your own blocksAmieA clean calendar + tasks experienceUnified calendar/task interfaceLightweight daily planningMore elegant calendar experience; less mature task organizationTodoist + CalendarPeople who already love TodoistGoogle Calendar can show events alongside tasks and sync scheduled tasksMostly self-directedKeeps your system; requires more discipline

todoist.com (+2 more citation)

1. Sunsama — best fit for your specific problem

Your issue is not “I need more task features.” It’s “I fail to convert intentions into time.”

That is exactly what Sunsama is built around.

Workflow:

• Pull tasks from your task sources

• Choose what is realistic for today

• Estimate duration

• Drag tasks into open calendar slots

• Work from a single daily plan

Sunsama integrates with Google Calendar and lets you import meetings, see your availability, and timebox tasks directly into your calendar. Sunsama User Manual

Where it beats Todoist

• Forces daily prioritization

• Makes duration estimates part of planning

• Treats your calendar as the source of truth for your day

• Better for “I have 6 hours of work but only 3 hours free”

Where Todoist still wins

• Better long-term backlog

• Better recurring task management

• Better project/task hierarchy

For a UX researcher, I’d lean Sunsama if your day involves many competing priorities.

2. Akiflow — best if your work arrives from everywhere

Akiflow is a strong choice if your tasks come from multiple systems:

• Slack follow-ups

• Jira tickets

• Notion notes

• emails

• meeting actions

Its core idea is a universal inbox where tasks get pulled together, then scheduled onto your calendar. Akiflow (+1 more citation)

Better than Todoist for:

• “Everything lands in one place”

• Fast keyboard-driven scheduling

• Moving tasks around when your day changes

Less ideal if:

• You enjoy carefully organizing projects and labels

• You want a calm, guided planning ritual

Akiflow feels more like a command center; Sunsama feels more like a planner.

3. Motion — best if you want the app to decide

Motion takes a different approach:

“Here are my tasks and deadlines; build my day.”

It automatically schedules tasks around meetings and priorities.

Good fit if:

• Your calendar changes constantly

• You procrastinate deciding what goes where

• You have many deadlines

Less ideal if:

• You are a researcher who needs flexible blocks for thinking

• You dislike an algorithm moving your work around

4. Amie — best if you want something lighter

Amie combines calendar, tasks, and notes into a polished interface.

Good fit if:

• You want a beautiful daily workspace

• You don't need complex project management

• You want fewer productivity rituals

It is closer to “Google Calendar + tasks done well” than “professional planning system.”

What about just upgrading Todoist?

Todoist has improved its calendar story. It can connect with Google Calendar, display calendar events alongside tasks, and sync scheduled tasks into calendar views. todoist.com (+1 more citation)

But the key difference is behavioral:

Todoist workflow:

“Here is my task list. I should probably schedule these.”

Sunsama/Akiflow/Motion workflow:

“Here is my day. What am I actually doing during each hour?”

That distinction matters.

My shortlist for your situation

Given:

• remote worker

• distributed company

• UX research role

• already experienced with Todoist

• failure is time-blocking, not task capture

I’d rank them:

🥇 Sunsama

Best chance of changing your behavior.

🥈 Akiflow

Best if your work comes from many tools and you like speed.

🥉 Motion

Best if you want automation more than control.

Keep Todoist if:

You mainly need a better calendar habit, not a new task system.

A practical migration path would be: keep Todoist as your archive/backlog, move your “today” planning into Sunsama or Akiflow for two weeks, and see whether your completion rate improves. You don’t necessarily need to abandon