What’s wrong with my list!?

• 📂 It doesn’t TRACK EVERYTHING you need to do IN ONE PLACE.

• ⛰️ It doesn’t keep track of big, OPEN PROJECTS that you need to keep a pulse on.

• ✅ It doesn’t allow you to QUICK-ADD THINGS, and keep them ORGANIZED in your list.

• 🚨 It doesn’t GRAB YOUR ATTENTION so you can be reminded of what you should really work on.

There has to be a better way!

Cue 90s infomercial…

Let’s start with ordering our needed sections…

You should have a boundary between your WORK TASKS and your LIFE TASKS (I use 2 separate Task Managers), but for both of them they are formatted the same way.

This technique has lent me proven productivity for years, and is based on Getting Things Done by David Allen.

SECTION 1️⃣ - INBOX

This is where all the NEW tasks get put that don’t have an assigned date, siting at your desk, or anywhere thinking of things you need to do, being commissioned something at work. It’s the first section because it needs to grab your attention so you can periodically triage and put tasks where they need to go.

SECTION 2️⃣ - OPEN PROJECTS

These are the things that you aren’t going to “check the box” on today. But if you never looked at them… you would never complete them… because they require regular thought, additional tasks to be originated, and multiple work sessions to make it happen.

SECTION 3️⃣ - TODAY

Pretty straightforward! The only caveat I give is that you ought to distinguish things that are ACTUALLY due today from things that you WISH to accomplish today. The things actually due go first.

SECTION 4️⃣ - LATER

This is everything else… and ideally it’s just a holding spot. Your focus should instead be on triaging your inbox, and then tackling the work that matters. Things should be marked for particular dates, and then dumped in here to await the right time to work on them.

• If you have a way of seeing what’s “due next week” on top of all the other “later” tasks, that is best. This allows you to spot things in advance, reprioritize, and potentially delegate. Only an immediate week in scope keeps you limited so that you don’t just do this for ALL the things in your “later section.”

Notice a technical difficulty while I list those sections out?

How do you make this work on a notepad!?!?

You could do it… you would dedicate pages, and then do lots of writing and rewriting. But it doesn’t KEEP THINGS ORGANIZED for you, nor does it GRAB YOUR ATTENTION. Thankfully we live in the era of technology! 🤓

The glory of a digital Task Manager ✨ 

With a digital task manager comes the ability to…

• Quick add tasks for quick-capture and sorting.

• Ability to assign due dates so those tasks can ping you when they need to be completed, and get out of your way for the time being.

  • Provided your phone notifications are set correctly… if you get too many notifications then it’s all just noise… You should fix that now… but I’ll also help you in a later issue of T+P 😎

• Due dates will keep everything sorted for you so you don’t have to write and rewrite.

• And of course you gain all sorts of other bonuses:

  • Color coding.

  • Quickly adding various sub-tasks.

  • And adding notes, attachments or anything else you might need.

When you start using a digital task manager you might be prone to make the mistake of adding too many sections, colors, or other organizational features. Keep it simple and enable it to effectively keep the sections listed above.

• An inbox list for triage.

• A list of projects so you won’t fall behind, and you’ll gradually MAKE NEW TASKS that help you make progress.

• A list of things that need to be done at specific dates later.

  • Once again, you’ll hardly ever look at that list, you send them there because you have them scheduled. Your task manager will notify you when the time comes… no need to distract yourself with things for later.

  • I tend to keep a lot of repeat items in here (replace the water filter, deep clean the grill, etc.). Whenever there is a task I know I can’t do until a specific date (Ex: place active insurance cards in car glove box), I put it here so I know I’ll be reminded when the time comes. Until that day I don’t have to think about it at all, and I don’t have to worry about forgetting because my phone will remind me.

🌟 TOP PICKS

Actions (by Moleskine) - Personal/Home/Life Task Manager

The organization and flow-of-use is better than Reminders on the iPhone.

• Color code tasks (according to lists), things that are instant added are colorless.

• Drag them around to reschedule or drop them into your various lists to color code them.

• Web-app you can use so you’re never without your task manager, even if you don’t have your phone on hand.

And that task completion animation! So satisfying 😌 It even makes a little ✨pop✨ with the audio turned on.

Asana - Work Task Manager

• True, single list, top to bottom! I don’t have to flip through anything else to know what I need to do (I spend 95% of my time in Asana within the “My Tasks” area).

• Automatically sorts tasks based on due date.

• Easy dispatching to the various sections when you need to triage.

• Easy to build out big projects in their own space, and then assign out the work that you or others need to take.

• Team integration - Our staff natively adds tasks in Asana and therefore I don’t have to manually document every task, tasks come straight to the top “inbox” section when assigned to me by others.

• Work automations through various rules, visual customizations and forms.

• Easy integration through email and instant messenger. I can forward emails or Slack messages and they become tasks.

I’ve been using Asana for over 10 Years… It’s the best 🏆

🎬 BEHIND THE SCENES

The primary goal of this newsletter is to provide real value to you, the reader! Other than information there will be tools and resources that are periodically distributed for FREE.

A secondary goal is to equip and inspire through extra resources that you can choose to purchase.

For now I’ve got inspirational mugs, stickers, and shirts that you can browse at your convenience. Sale going on this week! Check out those products 😎🤙