Discussion Forum > Need help
Can you clarify what you mean by "being able to see project progress?" Is this referring to tasks being checked-off or deliverables completed or what's going on there?
If you check email and work it "to zero" strategically twice per day, for example at 10 am and then again at 14 pm, it would look like you are always responding to email all the time. Thus you look good internally but still can block off email interruptions for the majority of time.
You write about incoming calls, what kind of calls are those? Internally from your team members or are you the face of your org to some outside group?
If you check email and work it "to zero" strategically twice per day, for example at 10 am and then again at 14 pm, it would look like you are always responding to email all the time. Thus you look good internally but still can block off email interruptions for the majority of time.
You write about incoming calls, what kind of calls are those? Internally from your team members or are you the face of your org to some outside group?
March 12, 2020 at 12:13 |
Christopher
Christopher
David:
To answer the second part of your query first:
My own personal preferences are handwriting for keeping track of individual tasks, and electronic for keeping track of projects and project documents. For the electronic part I rely on Evernote almost exclusively which allows me to keep documents, files, notes, diary, emails, invoices, handwritten notes, thoughts, photos, etc. all accessible in multiple ways - including reminders and reviews. I can also easily share anything with other people. You can even keep scans of your handwritten to do lists on it and print them off when you want to continue using them.
Of course your freedom to do this rather depends on whether your business demands standard formats for project reports and records, and what software you are allowed to have on your computer. Evernote is pretty standard in the business world, but not quite as much as MS-OneNote, which I think has a more rigid structure which suits some people better.
Email and phone calls are a bit out-of-date these days. Messaging is much preferable, allowing you to have long conversations with people in slow motion. Again, it rather depends on the culture within your firm. Evernote Business (which I don't have as it's extra) has a messaging facility I believe.
Evernote is portable between your phone, tablet, desktop, etc.
To answer the second part of your query first:
My own personal preferences are handwriting for keeping track of individual tasks, and electronic for keeping track of projects and project documents. For the electronic part I rely on Evernote almost exclusively which allows me to keep documents, files, notes, diary, emails, invoices, handwritten notes, thoughts, photos, etc. all accessible in multiple ways - including reminders and reviews. I can also easily share anything with other people. You can even keep scans of your handwritten to do lists on it and print them off when you want to continue using them.
Of course your freedom to do this rather depends on whether your business demands standard formats for project reports and records, and what software you are allowed to have on your computer. Evernote is pretty standard in the business world, but not quite as much as MS-OneNote, which I think has a more rigid structure which suits some people better.
Email and phone calls are a bit out-of-date these days. Messaging is much preferable, allowing you to have long conversations with people in slow motion. Again, it rather depends on the culture within your firm. Evernote Business (which I don't have as it's extra) has a messaging facility I believe.
Evernote is portable between your phone, tablet, desktop, etc.
March 12, 2020 at 13:45 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
For reducing anxiety and the feeling of overwhelm, DIT would be my favourite. It provides a clear structure for the day and a feeling of closure at the end of the working day.
March 12, 2020 at 13:51 |
Dino
Dino
David:
Now to answer the first part of your question about being disorganised and frazzled:
1) Be ruthless about how much you take on. Concentrate, as far as possible, on doing relatively few things really well rather than on trying to juggle loads and loads of stuff. Identify your core job and give that the priority. No time management system will succeed in getting you to do more work than you have time for.
2) I don't know how familiar you are with this website but you would do best to identify one system and stick to it. Any system which you stick to is better than constantly chopping and changing systems. If I were in your position (which I'm not) I would choose either Simple Scanning or FVP (Final Version Perfected) using Urgency as the criteria. You can find how they work by using the search box in the right-hand column.
Now to answer the first part of your question about being disorganised and frazzled:
1) Be ruthless about how much you take on. Concentrate, as far as possible, on doing relatively few things really well rather than on trying to juggle loads and loads of stuff. Identify your core job and give that the priority. No time management system will succeed in getting you to do more work than you have time for.
2) I don't know how familiar you are with this website but you would do best to identify one system and stick to it. Any system which you stick to is better than constantly chopping and changing systems. If I were in your position (which I'm not) I would choose either Simple Scanning or FVP (Final Version Perfected) using Urgency as the criteria. You can find how they work by using the search box in the right-hand column.
March 12, 2020 at 14:00 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
David:
Dino mentions DIT (Do It Tomorrow). That would stand you in good stead, provided you take note about what it says about auditing your commitments if you can't keep up. You would of course have to buy and read the book if you don't have it already, rather than just read an article or two on this website for Simple Scanning and FVP !
Dino mentions DIT (Do It Tomorrow). That would stand you in good stead, provided you take note about what it says about auditing your commitments if you can't keep up. You would of course have to buy and read the book if you don't have it already, rather than just read an article or two on this website for Simple Scanning and FVP !
March 12, 2020 at 14:07 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
David,
I struggle with this frequently myself. I've mostly used AF1, AF4, and DIT over the years. Long lists and backlogs cause a lot of anxiety for me. Often, I cannot even look at the list and will procrastinate and do anything else but something productive. I've had mixed success with no-list methods over the years, but I'm being productive right now with a combination of some of Mark's no-list systems.
I use a simple text editor that let's me edit the list. Here are the instructions to myself at the top of it to keep me on track. Systems that are simple to maintain seem to be the easiest for me because I will rebel at systems with lots of structure (rules) when I'm stuck.
==========================================================
Mark Forster's Simplest Form of No-List, SMEMA, & 5T
Try for three tasks, but depending on how I feel, choose
one, two, four, or five.
Decide what to do, Do it, Deal with it
Prioritize, Plan, Perform
Do only what I can do, delegate everything else.
Decline or delete what does not need to be done.
Defer what must be scheduled or delayed.
Focus on finishing.
When you're stuck, what three things are nagging you most?
==========================================================
When I feel overwhelmed, I may only be able to write down one task to get started. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by too many choices and it becomes almost painful to choose. That's when I default to the three things that are bothering me most.
I'm an IT director and I deal with a mix of customer requests, staff to manage, interruptions, projects to track, prioritizing, planning, scheduling, meetings, etc. My work situation sounds similar to yours.
A struggle with no-list systems like SMEMA that I'm coming to grips with is that I cannot do everything. I will have to let some things go. Sometimes I do forget something important, but if I am working the system it doesn't happen too often. And usually I forgot because I was working on other important things that were more important than what I forgot.
Anyway, keep trying new things till you find what works for you!
I struggle with this frequently myself. I've mostly used AF1, AF4, and DIT over the years. Long lists and backlogs cause a lot of anxiety for me. Often, I cannot even look at the list and will procrastinate and do anything else but something productive. I've had mixed success with no-list methods over the years, but I'm being productive right now with a combination of some of Mark's no-list systems.
I use a simple text editor that let's me edit the list. Here are the instructions to myself at the top of it to keep me on track. Systems that are simple to maintain seem to be the easiest for me because I will rebel at systems with lots of structure (rules) when I'm stuck.
==========================================================
Mark Forster's Simplest Form of No-List, SMEMA, & 5T
Try for three tasks, but depending on how I feel, choose
one, two, four, or five.
Decide what to do, Do it, Deal with it
Prioritize, Plan, Perform
Do only what I can do, delegate everything else.
Decline or delete what does not need to be done.
Defer what must be scheduled or delayed.
Focus on finishing.
When you're stuck, what three things are nagging you most?
==========================================================
When I feel overwhelmed, I may only be able to write down one task to get started. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by too many choices and it becomes almost painful to choose. That's when I default to the three things that are bothering me most.
I'm an IT director and I deal with a mix of customer requests, staff to manage, interruptions, projects to track, prioritizing, planning, scheduling, meetings, etc. My work situation sounds similar to yours.
A struggle with no-list systems like SMEMA that I'm coming to grips with is that I cannot do everything. I will have to let some things go. Sometimes I do forget something important, but if I am working the system it doesn't happen too often. And usually I forgot because I was working on other important things that were more important than what I forgot.
Anyway, keep trying new things till you find what works for you!
March 12, 2020 at 19:44 |
TopherJake
TopherJake
Hi David, I've had those same problems in the past, working in IT doing solution design, sales and project management. Some of these were small, some large, all involved collaboration and needed to be tracked. That was as well as day to day stuff coming in. The biggest frustration was multiple sources of data which I needed on demand, requring me to locate each component in order to put together a picture of where things were at with a given project. That repeating requirement sapped a disproportionate amount of time, making the problem itself even worse and leading to the same frazzled feeling you describe. I felt constantly out of the loop and disorganised on my own projects, and working to get on top of one came at the expense of the others. I found a way of fixing this and getting back in control which I think can help you.
Firstly I found a simple plain text outliner program which I was able to use to structure and centralise the info. No bells or whistles, it just worked really well and could be configured to be a portable app. Next I created a standard template which covered all the info I needed. I built this template based on info which I found myself trying to track down repeatedly. In that way it grew quickly and organically into exactly what I needed. The outliner and the template allowed me to have key info to hand without needing to keep hunting for it. The progam I used was a freebie for Windows called TreePad Lite. It's no longer maintained or officially available but it's still present on the Wayback Machine. There's a very similar program called MemPad which looks like it's still being maintained.
TreePad Lite - https://web.archive.org/web/20190223132430/http://treepad.com/download/tplitewin.html
MemPad - https://www.horstmuc.de/wmem.htm
These have a simple tree-like structure of nodes and each node is a blank text page which you can populate as required. TreePad calls these Nodes and Articles respectively. The whole lot is stored together as one data file.
This is the kind of info I had in my project temnplate.
=====================================================
PROJECT NAME
PROJECT GOALS
a summary of the goals with key dates
INTERNAL REFS
references for internal systems, opp number, lead tracker, order numbers, etc
KEY CONTACTS
names, roles and contact info for key people, eg account managers, customer contacts, vendor contacts
FINANCIALS
summary of financials, costs, professional services costs, revenue, net retained margin, etc
LAST UPDATED
the last date and time this info was updated
NEXT ACTIONS
the next things which are happening in this project and by whom
WAITING FOR
actions which I'm waiting for other people to complete, with the date in dd/mm format at the start of the line for each one
TIMELINE
a line for each development in the project with the date in dd/mm format for each entry. This acts as a journal of what happened and when for instant reference.
NOTES
any general notes, URLs which are useful to record, etc
=====================================================
I also had another template for the day to day non-project stuff. This was called Daily and looked like this.
=====================================================
DAILY
FOCUS
which actions or projects I need or want to focus on today, analagous to the "3 Most Important Tasks today" approach
ACTIONS
a list of general tasks that need doing, one per line, a typical to do list
WAITING FOR
actions which I'm waiting for other people to complete, with the date in dd/mm format at the start of the line for each one
NOTES
any general notes, URLs which are useful to record for things going on around now, not intended for long-term use
=====================================================
Using the outliner I was able to create an article for each project and populate it with the info needed from the different sources. I was able to structure these in a way which worked well for me, for example something like:
=====================================================
Tracker
|-> Project template
|-> Daily
|-> Open projects
| |-> Project 11
| |-> Project 14
| '-> Project 15
|-> On hold
| |-> Project 5
| |-> Project 8
| '-> Project 9
'-> Completed
|-> 2019
| |-> Project 1
| '-> Project 2
|-> Project 3
'-> Project 4
=====================================================
For supporting project material, PDFs, spreadsheets, photos, etc I mirrored the same tree structure in the filesytem, making subdirectories for each project nested in the same way as in the outliner. That way everything correlated.
There was still a requirement to use and update various internal tools on the intranet, and it's worth trying to extract as much value as you can from those, Eg rather than double up info in your outliner just reference the internal tool and use that as your go to for the info where it makes more sense to do so.
Regarding using this approach and storing data, you must make sure you're compliant with local laws. You can't have client data sitting unencrypted on laptops or USB sticks, for example. If you're in a company they will be managing that and there may be a limit to what you can do from the above. You may need to make a business case for it. If you're in control as a contractor, say, you can manage this yourself and ensure data is safe and encrypted at rest.
Mark mentioned Evernote and he's a fan of that. I'd be wary of using it for client data for compliance reasons, eg the data is not encrypted on their storage, it's possible to share data with the wrong privileges, and they have also had data breaches in the past which could open you up to liability. They may also change their terms, privacy policy and business model at any time and if you're invested they've got you over a barrel. The same goes for using Dropbox and similar. If you do use those I expect they have a way of structuring data available which is similar to the above and which allows you to create templates. I find the clean text interface of TreePad Lite and local data files is part of the appeal to using the above approach.
Regarding being harassed by incoming calls and emails, try to cultivate a habit of processing incoming stuff in batches as and when important work allows, and then populating your projects or daily actions as needed. That way you're dealing with interruptions on your terms rather than someone else's terms. You may be able to pass work onto others which you can track as Waiting For in Daily. I appreciate this sounds trite and can be difficult and depends on your situation and sometimes you cannot avoid it. The above method of project management will free up a lot of time which help you manage this anyway, and losing the frazzled feeling will put things in perspective much better. As time or circumstances permit you can work the general Actions in Daily too.
I hope that's useful, feel free to ask for any more details and expand on your background and how you find yourself in this situation, as it sounds interesting.
Firstly I found a simple plain text outliner program which I was able to use to structure and centralise the info. No bells or whistles, it just worked really well and could be configured to be a portable app. Next I created a standard template which covered all the info I needed. I built this template based on info which I found myself trying to track down repeatedly. In that way it grew quickly and organically into exactly what I needed. The outliner and the template allowed me to have key info to hand without needing to keep hunting for it. The progam I used was a freebie for Windows called TreePad Lite. It's no longer maintained or officially available but it's still present on the Wayback Machine. There's a very similar program called MemPad which looks like it's still being maintained.
TreePad Lite - https://web.archive.org/web/20190223132430/http://treepad.com/download/tplitewin.html
MemPad - https://www.horstmuc.de/wmem.htm
These have a simple tree-like structure of nodes and each node is a blank text page which you can populate as required. TreePad calls these Nodes and Articles respectively. The whole lot is stored together as one data file.
This is the kind of info I had in my project temnplate.
=====================================================
PROJECT NAME
PROJECT GOALS
a summary of the goals with key dates
INTERNAL REFS
references for internal systems, opp number, lead tracker, order numbers, etc
KEY CONTACTS
names, roles and contact info for key people, eg account managers, customer contacts, vendor contacts
FINANCIALS
summary of financials, costs, professional services costs, revenue, net retained margin, etc
LAST UPDATED
the last date and time this info was updated
NEXT ACTIONS
the next things which are happening in this project and by whom
WAITING FOR
actions which I'm waiting for other people to complete, with the date in dd/mm format at the start of the line for each one
TIMELINE
a line for each development in the project with the date in dd/mm format for each entry. This acts as a journal of what happened and when for instant reference.
NOTES
any general notes, URLs which are useful to record, etc
=====================================================
I also had another template for the day to day non-project stuff. This was called Daily and looked like this.
=====================================================
DAILY
FOCUS
which actions or projects I need or want to focus on today, analagous to the "3 Most Important Tasks today" approach
ACTIONS
a list of general tasks that need doing, one per line, a typical to do list
WAITING FOR
actions which I'm waiting for other people to complete, with the date in dd/mm format at the start of the line for each one
NOTES
any general notes, URLs which are useful to record for things going on around now, not intended for long-term use
=====================================================
Using the outliner I was able to create an article for each project and populate it with the info needed from the different sources. I was able to structure these in a way which worked well for me, for example something like:
=====================================================
Tracker
|-> Project template
|-> Daily
|-> Open projects
| |-> Project 11
| |-> Project 14
| '-> Project 15
|-> On hold
| |-> Project 5
| |-> Project 8
| '-> Project 9
'-> Completed
|-> 2019
| |-> Project 1
| '-> Project 2
|-> Project 3
'-> Project 4
=====================================================
For supporting project material, PDFs, spreadsheets, photos, etc I mirrored the same tree structure in the filesytem, making subdirectories for each project nested in the same way as in the outliner. That way everything correlated.
There was still a requirement to use and update various internal tools on the intranet, and it's worth trying to extract as much value as you can from those, Eg rather than double up info in your outliner just reference the internal tool and use that as your go to for the info where it makes more sense to do so.
Regarding using this approach and storing data, you must make sure you're compliant with local laws. You can't have client data sitting unencrypted on laptops or USB sticks, for example. If you're in a company they will be managing that and there may be a limit to what you can do from the above. You may need to make a business case for it. If you're in control as a contractor, say, you can manage this yourself and ensure data is safe and encrypted at rest.
Mark mentioned Evernote and he's a fan of that. I'd be wary of using it for client data for compliance reasons, eg the data is not encrypted on their storage, it's possible to share data with the wrong privileges, and they have also had data breaches in the past which could open you up to liability. They may also change their terms, privacy policy and business model at any time and if you're invested they've got you over a barrel. The same goes for using Dropbox and similar. If you do use those I expect they have a way of structuring data available which is similar to the above and which allows you to create templates. I find the clean text interface of TreePad Lite and local data files is part of the appeal to using the above approach.
Regarding being harassed by incoming calls and emails, try to cultivate a habit of processing incoming stuff in batches as and when important work allows, and then populating your projects or daily actions as needed. That way you're dealing with interruptions on your terms rather than someone else's terms. You may be able to pass work onto others which you can track as Waiting For in Daily. I appreciate this sounds trite and can be difficult and depends on your situation and sometimes you cannot avoid it. The above method of project management will free up a lot of time which help you manage this anyway, and losing the frazzled feeling will put things in perspective much better. As time or circumstances permit you can work the general Actions in Daily too.
I hope that's useful, feel free to ask for any more details and expand on your background and how you find yourself in this situation, as it sounds interesting.
March 12, 2020 at 21:05 |
Chris
Chris
Hi David,
Based on your post, your type of work sounds a lot like mine. And like you I waffle between electronic and paper. For example I started off this year electronic (doing everything in Onenote). It worked well until I realized I need paper for quicker entry and processing. Here's what I now believe:
Paper works best for my task list. After many years of working with MF systems, I am very good at letting my intuition guide my choice on a long list, scanning to see what stands out. That said, I prefer using the Bounce method that allows me to work the list backwards and forwards. I also like to start each day at the beginning of the list.
I use four signifiers on my list, two are for project management and two are for reference.
Project management: I use a # with a project abbreviation if it is a project task and a @sign with a person's name if I am following up with them on it. I will often add the project name as its own task "#project name" and then go through the list to identify tasks with the hash tag that are not yet done. I do the same with @person's name. This is a feature of many software task lists but it is not hard to do manually and I get more value from a paper list than a software one.
Reference: Most of my reference is through email and i will put a few words from the email in quotes to remind me to search for the email using those word s in that order. If I am referring to a Onenote page, I use the quotes and add "ON." afterwards to show it is a onennote page. Note that I often refer to documents as well, but I link those to my one note and use the same signifier.
I have a few "horizon lists" that I keep separate and refer to once in while, the one I refer to most is my project list. I will look at it and if I dont think it is adequately represented on my task list i will add it either as a #project or think of a good task i would like to do and add it.
Hope you find this helpful!
Based on your post, your type of work sounds a lot like mine. And like you I waffle between electronic and paper. For example I started off this year electronic (doing everything in Onenote). It worked well until I realized I need paper for quicker entry and processing. Here's what I now believe:
Paper works best for my task list. After many years of working with MF systems, I am very good at letting my intuition guide my choice on a long list, scanning to see what stands out. That said, I prefer using the Bounce method that allows me to work the list backwards and forwards. I also like to start each day at the beginning of the list.
I use four signifiers on my list, two are for project management and two are for reference.
Project management: I use a # with a project abbreviation if it is a project task and a @sign with a person's name if I am following up with them on it. I will often add the project name as its own task "#project name" and then go through the list to identify tasks with the hash tag that are not yet done. I do the same with @person's name. This is a feature of many software task lists but it is not hard to do manually and I get more value from a paper list than a software one.
Reference: Most of my reference is through email and i will put a few words from the email in quotes to remind me to search for the email using those word s in that order. If I am referring to a Onenote page, I use the quotes and add "ON." afterwards to show it is a onennote page. Note that I often refer to documents as well, but I link those to my one note and use the same signifier.
I have a few "horizon lists" that I keep separate and refer to once in while, the one I refer to most is my project list. I will look at it and if I dont think it is adequately represented on my task list i will add it either as a #project or think of a good task i would like to do and add it.
Hope you find this helpful!
March 12, 2020 at 21:08 |
vegheadjones
vegheadjones
hi all,
I really appreciate the time you took to reply.
I'm an HR Director and as you can guess, the Covid-19 mess is keeping me quite busy.
one of the facets of my job that causes me stress is the alternation between travel and home office work (well, no travel right now for the obvious reasons).
Vegheadjones:
This is a very appealing setup.
I love the idea of tagging projects. I could then do a review once a week and transpose completed tasks that I wanted to keep into my OneNote file (I do keep a OneNote section for each project).
I also like the idea of putting the #Project name as a task as I can then just know to scan and work on that project.
When I do travel, having my tasks paper would be a huge help in reducing friction.
Question: what system of Mark's do you use? AF1, FVP, etc.?
Chris:
You're 100% right. I need to start batching things like email and calls into blocks. I've tried SOO many times to batch email with occasional success. But I fall back into my old habits.
I love the text file idea but unfortunately I'm not able to download software on my computer. I'm sure I could just use a web based or something. It's appealing.
With travel, I like having the paper option.
You can see my indecision...:-)
Topherjake:
I'll read up on the no list. I think it would drive me crazy though. So many of my tasks have legal implications so forgetting something scares the crud out of me.
Christopher:
By "Seeing the project status" I'm referring to both: seeing what I've done and what I have left to do. It helps me to know if I've left anything out as well as helps me know what I should be focusing on.
Mark:
Thank you for the advice. I'll do some reading on FVP. I actually have DIT so I'll refresh my memory.
End of day, I feel like I need to find soething and stick to it. I've bounced around so many times that I'm at a point where I am paralyzed with indecision on how best to organize myself.
From the outside, people think I'm the most organized person on our team. I guess I am. But I have so much stress about it that it is a struggle to stay focused.
You've given me some food for thought. Thank you again for your help.
David
I really appreciate the time you took to reply.
I'm an HR Director and as you can guess, the Covid-19 mess is keeping me quite busy.
one of the facets of my job that causes me stress is the alternation between travel and home office work (well, no travel right now for the obvious reasons).
Vegheadjones:
This is a very appealing setup.
I love the idea of tagging projects. I could then do a review once a week and transpose completed tasks that I wanted to keep into my OneNote file (I do keep a OneNote section for each project).
I also like the idea of putting the #Project name as a task as I can then just know to scan and work on that project.
When I do travel, having my tasks paper would be a huge help in reducing friction.
Question: what system of Mark's do you use? AF1, FVP, etc.?
Chris:
You're 100% right. I need to start batching things like email and calls into blocks. I've tried SOO many times to batch email with occasional success. But I fall back into my old habits.
I love the text file idea but unfortunately I'm not able to download software on my computer. I'm sure I could just use a web based or something. It's appealing.
With travel, I like having the paper option.
You can see my indecision...:-)
Topherjake:
I'll read up on the no list. I think it would drive me crazy though. So many of my tasks have legal implications so forgetting something scares the crud out of me.
Christopher:
By "Seeing the project status" I'm referring to both: seeing what I've done and what I have left to do. It helps me to know if I've left anything out as well as helps me know what I should be focusing on.
Mark:
Thank you for the advice. I'll do some reading on FVP. I actually have DIT so I'll refresh my memory.
End of day, I feel like I need to find soething and stick to it. I've bounced around so many times that I'm at a point where I am paralyzed with indecision on how best to organize myself.
From the outside, people think I'm the most organized person on our team. I guess I am. But I have so much stress about it that it is a struggle to stay focused.
You've given me some food for thought. Thank you again for your help.
David
March 13, 2020 at 2:02 |
David
David
"I love the text file idea but unfortunately I'm not able to download software on my computer. I'm sure I could just use a web based or something. It's appealing."
Here's how you (and of course anyone reading this in future) can replicate the setup using just text files and Windows built-in Notepad which you'll already have on your computer. Create a folder called Tracker in your Documents for everything to live in. In there create and save a new text file called Project template.txt with your project sections in it, and another file called Daily.txt with your daily sections in it. Copy the projects template and populate as needed for eah one. Use sub-folders to organise your projects. In the example I gave that would all look something like:
Documents / Tracker /
Project template.txt
Daily.txt
Open projects /
Project 11.txt
Project 14.txt
Project 15.txt
On hold /
Project 5.txt
Project 8.txt
Project 9.txt
Completed /
2019 /
Project 1.txt
Project 2.txt
Project 3.txt
Project 4.txt
You get the idea. I've tried this and it works although it's not quite as slick, but you can of course have several text files open at once and switch between them easily for info and updates. Of course you'd be using as many templates as you need for your situation..
Avoid using a Web-based offering, especially if your computers are already locked down, for the reasons given, unless it's licensed by your orgnisation or is an internal tool managed by your organisation.
The keys are having templates where applicable so you cover the info you need and are not reinventing the wheel each time, defining what info you need for each project, having each project to hand instantly and using the time saved to implement a less reactive approach to incoming requests.
I don't think you have a time-management problem per se, it looks like an information management problem exacerbated by having no current processes for tracking what matters to you in each project.
Here's how you (and of course anyone reading this in future) can replicate the setup using just text files and Windows built-in Notepad which you'll already have on your computer. Create a folder called Tracker in your Documents for everything to live in. In there create and save a new text file called Project template.txt with your project sections in it, and another file called Daily.txt with your daily sections in it. Copy the projects template and populate as needed for eah one. Use sub-folders to organise your projects. In the example I gave that would all look something like:
Documents / Tracker /
Project template.txt
Daily.txt
Open projects /
Project 11.txt
Project 14.txt
Project 15.txt
On hold /
Project 5.txt
Project 8.txt
Project 9.txt
Completed /
2019 /
Project 1.txt
Project 2.txt
Project 3.txt
Project 4.txt
You get the idea. I've tried this and it works although it's not quite as slick, but you can of course have several text files open at once and switch between them easily for info and updates. Of course you'd be using as many templates as you need for your situation..
Avoid using a Web-based offering, especially if your computers are already locked down, for the reasons given, unless it's licensed by your orgnisation or is an internal tool managed by your organisation.
The keys are having templates where applicable so you cover the info you need and are not reinventing the wheel each time, defining what info you need for each project, having each project to hand instantly and using the time saved to implement a less reactive approach to incoming requests.
I don't think you have a time-management problem per se, it looks like an information management problem exacerbated by having no current processes for tracking what matters to you in each project.
March 13, 2020 at 3:24 |
Chris
Chris
hi Chris,
Thanks again for taking the time.
So it sounds like you have tasks buried in your project files/articles.
What's your process/method for building your daily task list? In other words, how do you quickly scan your project files/articles to pull out tasks for add to your daily?
My worry with your system is that I'd have so much drag to see what open tasks I have that I'd just feel overwhelmed and lost.
Thanks!
David
Thanks again for taking the time.
So it sounds like you have tasks buried in your project files/articles.
What's your process/method for building your daily task list? In other words, how do you quickly scan your project files/articles to pull out tasks for add to your daily?
My worry with your system is that I'd have so much drag to see what open tasks I have that I'd just feel overwhelmed and lost.
Thanks!
David
March 13, 2020 at 14:29 |
David
David
"So it sounds like you have tasks buried in your project files/articles."
Anything that needs to happen next is under NEXT ACTIONS.
"What's your process/method for building your daily task list? In other words, how do you quickly scan your project files/articles to pull out tasks for add to your daily?"
There's no scanning or copying between them. Daily is for non-project day to day stuff.
"My worry with your system is that I'd have so much drag to see what open tasks I have that I'd just feel overwhelmed and lost."
Yeah that would be a big waste of time. Your open tasks are under NEXT ACTIONS and ACTIONS at a glance without needing to copy or drag anything.
Also please note this isn't a system in the way that term is commonly used in this forum. It's usually used in here to describe an algorithmic set of rules for processing tasks from a list. The above approach doesn't care how you process tasks, instead it just ensures that relevant information is organised and to hand, with your project states being available to you at a glance, and that lets you get on with doing the work without wasting time constantly trying to work out where each project is up to.
Anything that needs to happen next is under NEXT ACTIONS.
"What's your process/method for building your daily task list? In other words, how do you quickly scan your project files/articles to pull out tasks for add to your daily?"
There's no scanning or copying between them. Daily is for non-project day to day stuff.
"My worry with your system is that I'd have so much drag to see what open tasks I have that I'd just feel overwhelmed and lost."
Yeah that would be a big waste of time. Your open tasks are under NEXT ACTIONS and ACTIONS at a glance without needing to copy or drag anything.
Also please note this isn't a system in the way that term is commonly used in this forum. It's usually used in here to describe an algorithmic set of rules for processing tasks from a list. The above approach doesn't care how you process tasks, instead it just ensures that relevant information is organised and to hand, with your project states being available to you at a glance, and that lets you get on with doing the work without wasting time constantly trying to work out where each project is up to.
March 13, 2020 at 17:29 |
Chris
Chris
hi David,
In general I use Mark's Bounce method, start from the beginning of the list, after working on an item, bounce UP the list, after working on the next one, bounce DOWN. When you get to an end of the list, bounce the other way.
I find this to be the best way to "attenuate" a long list. But I will use other methods as well. If I feel the Bounce is not getting me where I want to go quickly enough I do Simple Scanning. And sometimes when I am doing project work I will use the FV (Final Version) and dot the tasks on the project I am ready to do now.
In general I use Mark's Bounce method, start from the beginning of the list, after working on an item, bounce UP the list, after working on the next one, bounce DOWN. When you get to an end of the list, bounce the other way.
I find this to be the best way to "attenuate" a long list. But I will use other methods as well. If I feel the Bounce is not getting me where I want to go quickly enough I do Simple Scanning. And sometimes when I am doing project work I will use the FV (Final Version) and dot the tasks on the project I am ready to do now.
March 13, 2020 at 17:32 |
vegheadjones
vegheadjones
David:
Now and again I also get overwhelmed with too many tasks coming in and it is really difficult to keep track of what to do next and not miss deadlines. Typically if I have 100+ tasks it all gets stressful.
As always, tasks don’t neatly arrive in regular intervals to match my time available!
I revert to a very simple system with 4 folders which for me are: client, deadlines, upnext and defer to next month.
I drop things in the client folder that need action straightaway e.g. quick email responses to people. Then a deadline folder for anything with due dates. Upnext for anything that can wait a bit. Finally a defer folder for anything that can be done next month.
The lifesaver for me is that I everything is prioritized the first time I see it. Also the important tasks are not lost in a long list of unimportant tasks. I defer as much as I can when I’m really busy.
NB I use Outlook email for all my tasks and it is easy to set up folders.
Now and again I also get overwhelmed with too many tasks coming in and it is really difficult to keep track of what to do next and not miss deadlines. Typically if I have 100+ tasks it all gets stressful.
As always, tasks don’t neatly arrive in regular intervals to match my time available!
I revert to a very simple system with 4 folders which for me are: client, deadlines, upnext and defer to next month.
I drop things in the client folder that need action straightaway e.g. quick email responses to people. Then a deadline folder for anything with due dates. Upnext for anything that can wait a bit. Finally a defer folder for anything that can be done next month.
The lifesaver for me is that I everything is prioritized the first time I see it. Also the important tasks are not lost in a long list of unimportant tasks. I defer as much as I can when I’m really busy.
NB I use Outlook email for all my tasks and it is easy to set up folders.
March 13, 2020 at 17:40 |
MrDone
MrDone
Hi,
Here's an example on how I am using the list today. I have a project due Monday. I have been working on much of it for a while and I have also been collecting a lot of tasks in my book with a hashtag (#LE) in my book. I started my day with scanning through the list, looking at the unactioned #LE tasks and doing them or asking others for an update on their component.
Such an easy way to manage a project!
Here's an example on how I am using the list today. I have a project due Monday. I have been working on much of it for a while and I have also been collecting a lot of tasks in my book with a hashtag (#LE) in my book. I started my day with scanning through the list, looking at the unactioned #LE tasks and doing them or asking others for an update on their component.
Such an easy way to manage a project!
March 13, 2020 at 18:23 |
vegheadjones
vegheadjones
hi all,
this has been so helpful.
Chris: you answered all my questions. I'm going to ponder what you've laid out as a way to structure my projects. I think I do some similar things but you've given me some great ideas. I see your point about the difference between what you're describing and a 'system'.
Vegheadjones: I started using what you laid out today. It's been working quite well. what appeals to me the most is that I can quickly scan my pages (well, 2 so far today) for # tags related to my projects. I can also quickly see which tasks are related to which project. That's been super helpful. thanks for the example. Super helpful.
Thanks again everyone.
David
this has been so helpful.
Chris: you answered all my questions. I'm going to ponder what you've laid out as a way to structure my projects. I think I do some similar things but you've given me some great ideas. I see your point about the difference between what you're describing and a 'system'.
Vegheadjones: I started using what you laid out today. It's been working quite well. what appeals to me the most is that I can quickly scan my pages (well, 2 so far today) for # tags related to my projects. I can also quickly see which tasks are related to which project. That's been super helpful. thanks for the example. Super helpful.
Thanks again everyone.
David
March 13, 2020 at 20:04 |
David
David
I’m feeling a bit at the end of my rope. Over the years I’ve done every possible TM system.
Lately I’ve been feeling like I am disorganized and frazzled.
I need some help finding a process/routine that helps me reduce my anxiety and keep on top.
Here are some details of my work:
- mix of long term and short term projects
- lots of collaboration with others in my company
- recurring tasks and one off
- 20-30 projects at any given time. Some very small and some very large
- various priorities
- constantly incoming calls and emails
- desire to be able to see progress on projects when needed
One of my biggest struggles is deciding if I want electronic or paper. Electronic helps me be able to see everything by project, but logging incoming stuff is hard to keep up with. Paper is great for rapid logging, but I struggle with the list getting long, not being able to see project progress, etc.
Any advice is welcome.
David