Tool No. 1 – Task Managers – How to Use Them

“Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them.” – David Allen

A task manager is the place to capture and organize ideas. It is the heart of a Productivity Toolkit and should be high on the list of tools to add / master. This first of five tools is where you look to see WHAT you need to do.

Purpose

My main uses for a task manager include:

1. Capturing ideas, thoughts and action items on the fly. Typically, these are brief and often transient “sound bites” of things to remember or do.
2. Using as a daily / weekly planner to track immediate next step tasks and move them forward to completion.
3. Storing and/or sharing simple lists and action items – project next actions, grocery lists, movie lists, printer cartridge codes…

Process

A task manager workflow follows 3 steps: Capture > Organize + Review

1. Capture

• Capture items from:
• Thoughts and ideas
• Emails and texts
• Other project workflow / management tools
• Meetings, phone calls and discussions
• Reading…
• Some best practices include:
• Capturing should be simple, fast and frictionless.
• Because you capture on the fly throughout the day, everyday, capturing is easiest on a mobile device.
• Start actionable tasks with an action verb.
• Commit to using your task manager all day, everyday to capture 100% of your ideas and tasks. Anything less will leave you wondering what you forgot to write down!

2. Organize

• The key is to organize information by moving it out of the task manager as much as possible and sorting it into the “buckets” where you will use it.
• Move items into other relevant workspace applications such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, note taking…
• Move time-specific tasks into Calendar to schedule when and where to complete.
• Email to delegate tasks. (You may be able to share these directly from your task manager app if your collaborators use the same app.)
• Finally, sort remaining items into task lists within your task manager
• Add a due date / reminder date when appropriate
• Flag recurring tasks
• Some best practices include:
• Use the 2-Minute Rule – If you can complete a task within 2 minutes, just do it.
• Because this involves moving items between multiple applications, this is often easier to do on your laptop.

3. Review

• This step unlocks the real power of task managers as a productivity tool. Tasks and task lists exist in a constant state of flux and are intended to be worked towards completion:
• Curate items remaining in the various task lists within the task manager to update, re-organize, streamline, complete and/or delete. The frequency of review will depend on the actionability of the lists.
• Work your lists by moving forward on any remaining action items. This usually involves a daily / weekly planner feature and your Calendar
• Your choice of task manager should facilitate daily / weekly planning:
• List your “might-do” items at the beginning of each day / week.
• Prioritize one or two daily highlights – the most important “must-do” items to complete that day.
• Schedule time in Calendar to work on the tasks over the next day / week. This “timeblocking” is key to moving good intentions to active work.
• Revisit the daily planning list during the day and at the end of the day to note progress and course correct.
• Some best practices:
• Cull completed, unneeded or obsolete tasks from your task lists. Mark them completed (for future reference) or just delete them. Then forget about them!
• Your task manager + Calendar work hand-in-hand in the review step.
• Task manager tracks WHAT to do.
• Calendar schedules WHEN to do it.
• Implement a simple, consistent and intuitive organizing structure to group your tasks and lists to make finding items and reviewing lists more efficient.

Key Takeaways

• A task manager is the heart of the Productivity Toolkit
• The task manager workflow follows 3 steps: Capture > Organize + Review
• Capture your ideas to write them down and get them out of your head
• Organize the ideas where you will use them
• Review your tasks and to-do lists to work them and get more done