How do you organize your tasks?
A typical way to organize tasks is by project. However, I find that tasks can have different behaviors. For example, some tasks are recurring, some are habits, some are personal while others are work, some require large chunks of time while others are quick todos, some are individual while others are team-related, etc. Projects seem like a crude way to handle this diversity.
How do you manage the different behaviors of different types of tasks? Do you split tasks between different apps? Which apps do you use?
Hey Girish,
I have 2 levels of organization for my tasks:
By project: 'm working on multiple projects at the same. Each project has his own list of tasks.
By day. Every morning I detail every tasks for the day with a time estimate for each of them.
The backlog by project is usually in gihub issues or Trello
For the day planning I use FocusPlus
Disclaimer: I'm the founder of focusplus, I have search for the perfect planning/productivity tool for years. As I haven't found the perfect gem, I decided to build it myself
(We're still in beta)
That looks interesting. How do you handle recurring tasks?
Good question!
That's definitely an issue I have for now and a feature in the roadmap of Focus plus 🙂
When I create tasks I'd like to be able to set a recurring pattern (repest every day/week/month).
So it will popup automatically in my day planning
I use Todoist, and I love it.
It's important for me to get ideas and tasks down as soon as something's on my mind, and Todoist's Quick Add functionality allows me to do just that. Taking the time to commit this workflow to muscle memory has been hugely beneficial.
I do organise my tasks by projects, but these tend to be based on "themes" rather than individual pieces of work. I also maintain a separate "Tiny Wins" list which contains small tasks that can be easily picked up (inspired by Joel Califa's Tiny Wins article).
What do consider to be themes?
I use a system of pen and paper, google calendar and a white board. White boards used for long term goals (2 week goals, 6 week goals, 3 month goals and 1 year goals), pen and per for daily goals and goals 1-2 days in the future and use google calendar for recurring tasks.
Classic old pen and paper. Every Monday, i just get a clean sheet of paper, jot all my weekly tasks there and cross them 1 by 1 when i am done.
For bigger picture, my project board is in Notion but i just use it to track my progress. Every Friday i just update my finished tasks and i am done.
Why i use pen and paper? It's a psychological booster. Clicking a checkbox doesn't give enough dopamine as physically crossing a text, typing done next to it etc. This also gives you more motivation do finish the rest of the list.
I have my colored sticky papers and arrows as well. Using them whenever i need and my paper looks more advanced than any online tool can offer - with zero monthly subscription 😅
And lastly, not looking at screen and having a physical activity even for a brief of time is giving a mental rest during the day.
The time tracking: I am fundamentally against tracking your time as you work. I have my weekly tasks. I decide what needs to be done that week. If i finish them early, i prefer to spend the extra time with my family than squeeze more task in the rooster. If i can't make them on time, i can delegate them to next week as first prio.
Why would I track my time and make myself guilty when i couldn't do something on given time? It's just a shortcut to make yourself more miserable and not enjoy your life.
If you are working for yourself, it's all about self care. Why would I do the same things to myself when in the first place led me create my own business? 😅
Thank you for the detailed response. I haven't gotten into time-tracking either. I do find time-blocking useful, though.
How do you use stick papers/arrows?