How do you manage your work/task list?
How do you manage your work/task list?
(OP)
I've tried for some time to figure out how to most efficiently manage my time and my work load. I'm typically involved in several projects at once, and my tasks range from overall management of the project to very small ("to-do") items. What do you all do to track the work you are currently responsible for, prioritize items so you are working effectively, and don't put off tasks with due dates?
I use Outlook's "Tasks" list quite a bit, which is handy for jotting things down in my phone, but I haven't figured out how to use it to handle ALL of my projects and tasks. For the remainder, I've experimented with keeping lists on a whiteboard (too temporary), MS Project (too complicated for small stuff), and most recently an Excel spreadsheet (I like this because it lets me prioritize and also archive so I can reference later for year-end reviews, etc.).
Any thoughts on organizational techniques, tools, tricks, etc. would be greatly appreciated!
I use Outlook's "Tasks" list quite a bit, which is handy for jotting things down in my phone, but I haven't figured out how to use it to handle ALL of my projects and tasks. For the remainder, I've experimented with keeping lists on a whiteboard (too temporary), MS Project (too complicated for small stuff), and most recently an Excel spreadsheet (I like this because it lets me prioritize and also archive so I can reference later for year-end reviews, etc.).
Any thoughts on organizational techniques, tools, tricks, etc. would be greatly appreciated!





RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
When the task gets bigger, I write the subject title on a white board and then add stickies with task under each subject title. Each sticky has a file so any documents/analysis/notes goes into that file. When the task is done, the sticky comes off. In this way you can see all of your task per subject and decide that day/hour what your priority is. Under each subject title I would put in order the stickies from top to bottom the the prioities. Well you know that saying "crap flots" but it is up to you to take care of it be for it "hits the fan"!
Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
then I have a small not book so when people call me i can jot stuff down, i almost could be considard another language...
and I have a stupied rack on my desk with all my major projects in it.
Then I also have a alot of everything all over my desk... but it seem to work
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I prioritise like most people probably do, in order of urgency:
1) What the boss just to me to "drop everything" and do "now".
2) Work that I like from people that I like.
3) Work that I don't like from people that I like.
4) Work that I like from people that I don't like.
5) Work that I don't like from people that I don't like.
6) Work from people that I want to p**s off.
"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I would also do a top ten handwritten list first thing every morning. Then I would start at 1 and go to 10.
Repeat the next morning adding the ones from the previous day that were not completed.
It is important to be honest with the priorities and try to do them in order (that way you cannot put off the less interesting tasks).
Straight after writing the list, try to make sure that you have all the information required for them, if not then your first task should be chasing this up.
If possible try and pick each job file up only once.
Tasks regarding construction/installation stage should generally be given a higher priority than design stage (as delays at this stage usually have greater cost implications for the client).
csd
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
If you find yourself pressed for time, you may not be accounting for wasted time during the day (breaks, chatting beside the water cooler, walking). I was told long ago to double whatever estimate I had in my mind for completion of a task. If I thought something would take me 2hrs, I'd say 4hrs. If I thought it would take 3 days, I said 6. The noose has been loose ever since.
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
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RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I find the Tasks function limiting and awkward to use, though. Back in the "BC" days (Before Computers) I learned my task management / prioritization skills using the paper & pen "Day Timer" books. It worked very well for me and sometimes now I would even prefer it. I've never used it, but I hear similar reports for the "Day Runner" series found in most big box office supply stores.
For example, the Day Timer method is to daily re-prioritize all of your tasks in order of importance with two-character priorities:
A1, A2, A3, ... (most important)
B1, B2, ...
...
D1, D2, ... (least important)
P1, P2, ... (for personal non-work tasks)
This daily shuffling and updating of priorities worked very well for me, and I had a daily written record of activities and results. It takes discipline and effort to implement this method. But having the written record going back months or years came in very useful when projects got into trouble and the inevitable witch hunts started.
TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Advanced Robotics & Automation Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I keep notes & action items on it to do by placing an "A" beside my actions. I use it to jot down actions on future dates, list meetings to attend, etc. I do use a PDA and Outlook for reminders, but they are back up, my notebook has it all. In fact I've been doing that since 2000, so I can look back to 3 April 2003 and know exactly what I did on that day.
Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website: www.oil-gas-consulting.com
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
1. When a task arrives, do not open the e-mail. The Bold subject line serves as a reminder that it is something that you need to attend to.
2. Eventually, the unopened task will fall off the bottom of the inbox's first screen.
3. The assigner may send a "reminder" e-mail at some point. Apply step 1 to these as well.
4. If the task was important, the assigner will either:
a. Come see you in person
b. Assign the task to someone else
5. If not, then it obviously wasn't that important in the first place.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Had to give you a star for the priority system. I think that is a close representation of how I prioritise also!
I use the white board/print off the apointments at the beginning of the week from outlook then write in the last minute ones (seems to be the same people here), and the foundation of all this is a spiral notebook. Write the date then notes for the day. Any items that need attention later get a star then ruled out when complete.
The rest of the desk is a mess. If any thing is urgent people come to remind me about it, no reminder, no urgency!
Mark Hutton
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Surely you answer them straight away?
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I have a rule set up as follows:
For every email I send that contains a request for somebody (in which case I make it high priority),
the rule sends a reminder to that person every day until a response comes back that is at least 500 characters long.
This is a great time saver.
No seriously, I think if everybody waited to be reminded, the entire organisation would work at only 50% efficiency.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Post-its: I don't care for these at all when it comes to leaving notes for myself. They can easily fall off of whatever you stuck them too if left for too long, and having a bunch of sticky notes on your monitor can too easily look chaotic or unprofessional, so I try to avoid it.
E-mail: My work is very email-centric, as tygerdawg suggested, so I rely on Outlook heavily. I strive to empty my inbox daily of all items except for those that require some action by me. Also, when such an email arrives, I flag it immediately to remind me within a certain amount of time so I don't lose track.
Task List: I like the "A1, A2, B1, etc." style, but Outlook does not do that very well by itself. I"ve never used a paper planner (I keep a journal at work, but that's it). Prioritizing and keeping 1 central task list is an area where I think I have the biggest opportunity to improve. I need something that will work on my laptop but that I can also enter tasks in on my blackberry when I'm in the plant or travelling. Has anyone every used the Franklin Covey Plan Plus for Outlook software? I'm going to download the 30-day trial and give it a shot.
Thanks again, and feel free to keep this discussion going if you have any more thoughts about what I've said or this topic in general!
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I can appreciate Ashereng's prioritization system
Preserve Cash flow (keep product lines up and going)
Enhance Cash flow (efficiency improvements)
New Products
Anything else
Regards,
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
The downside is that it takes some familiarity with Access to get it set up. The upside is that with the kind of flexibility available, you can create and save a core set of functions you need it to perform, and then tailor that based on the requirements of the project.
It sure makes generating recurring reports easy.
Boss type person : "Hey, can you write up a progress report letting me know where were at on everything? I need it for a progress meeting in two days with the client."
You type person : <CLICK> "It's coming up on the printer now. If you want one complete through the meeting, stop by when you leave to go to it."
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I've dealt with that before. This was before my electronic forays, so back then I just had a stack of manilla folders for all the priorities. I'd do real work on whatever was on top in order to try to get it out the door quickly. When I was told something new was top priority, I'd stop whatever I was doing, shuffle through the stack of folders, find the folder, and move it to the top of the stack and begin working on that. I did it in front of the chief priority shuffler a couple of times, and can't prove it helped, but before too long, I'd have enough time between priority shufflings to actually make progress on whatever was on top at the time.
Now, it's not nearly as impressive if I can click a button to update that. Perhaps I need a multimedia display or just some dummy folders...
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Some of them work up to a point but usually get swamped at some point when works coming in faster than it's getting done.
At that point I do something like Asherang but with a few twists.
The most efficient way is probably to work on one task till it's done then go to the next. However, sometimes it seems that to managenment it's better to work all tasks enough to show progress, even though it means you never finish any!
Lately I've been putting flags on emails with a due date. Worked well until I have about 6 of them popping up every few minutes!
As for the time you spend keeping track of progress rather than working the task, don't get me started.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Two lessons learned here:
1) Important flag emails dont always help
2) if you ever need a good excuess for not getting an email or not doing something, enjoy
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE:
"The most efficient way is probably to work on one task till it's done then go to the next. However, sometimes it seems that to managenment it's better to work all tasks enough to show progress, even though it means you never finish any!"
This is exactly my experience. You can spend all your time putting out spot fires and making incremental progress just to please the management.
I have made the fight previously that the more jobs I have on my desk the more time I spend answering unproductive queries from clients e.t.c. (not to mention potential changes). As long as that job is on my desk it potentially attracts queries or changes.
So unless I reduce the number of jobs on my desk, I will continue to waste the same amount of time on them.
Also, isnt it better to have 5 happy clients and 5 annoyed ones rather than 10 annoyed clients.
That is why I will spend the 5 minutes asessing the priorities each morning, then work on each until it is finished.
csd
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I agree that with a lot of tasks on my desk I spend more time juggling them than doing productive work. I usually get small tasks done but large tasks, that will inevitably get interupted so much that they'll take twice as long or more than they should, I find difficult to even start.
I'm completely overwhelmed at the moment. I'm meant to be preparing a report of all the work I have in my que to try and justify resource. I just can't work out if that's higher priority than the actual work or my status report
So instead I've spent excessive time on this site
Off to do my status report it is.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Its times like that that it is best to get your calls held, ignore emails e.t.c. for one or two mornings just to get jobs out of your hair.
Working late one night (rather than a little bit late on a few nights) can give you the peace and quiet to get on top of things.
csd
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
csd, I've acidently left my phone turned off all day and it didnt' really help, of course I only get about 1 call a day if that, mostly people actually walk over to see me. Ignoring email is something I need to get better at, trouble is some people here send very important stuff by email at relatively short notice so I could miss something (and no they wouldn't learn from it).
As to the evening thing, I had been doing that. Actually coming back in in the evening is very effective, and works for me as I'm a night owl and work away during the week so it wasn't cutting into family time. I've been doing it less though as I've borrowed an apartment that is further from my office.
Anyway, this is off topic and just me bellyaching.
As to what I'm currently doing to manage it, I track each document I have to check/approve in an excel spread sheet with a need date. This is my primary tool. I then have some kind of priority list based on emails from my boss and other senior staff although it tends to get changed a lot.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
When you're overwhelmed, the first thing to do is challenge all the work people throw at you, don't make it end up on your to do list. This is not much fun for the people who ask you, but it's not much fun either to be dragging around a to do list that is unmanageable (it's one of the main causes of stress, actually).
If you still have too much work, make a list in what you think should be the order of priority and have your boss confirm the order. Then start at the top and happily ignore the rest. Then as soon as the boss comes up with something urgent, ask him if it has a higher priority than the item at the top or not and put it in the list accordingly.
Yu have to both PLAN the work and DO the work. And these two things have to be done separately. Take time to plan work, no matter how much is on your desk, or you'll feel completely frustrated very soon.
A time management training can be of great help. One of the most important things is to learn to say to people:
"No, I don't have time for that"
"I can't do it before next Thursday"
"I don't think this meeting has high enough priority for me"
"Sorry I can't talk to you now"
etc etc...
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I also have my pc programmed so that at the end of the day another free software iDailyDiary comes up so I cna make a note of what I've done, if anything.
corus
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I have tried several methods for keeping tasks straight. Here is my not-so-brief history of task tracking:
I am fortunate in that I once was able to take the Franklin Planner class. I used a planner for several years sucessfully, but I found that manually recopying my task list everyday was cumbersome and not value added. I also didn't like carrying around the large binder. However, I very much liked their method of prioritizing tasks using symbols and numbers and I have used this in one form or another ever since.
I then tried to electronically keep a task list which eliminated the recoppying step, however when I was away from my desk I only had a hardcopy of the list, which required me to manually write down task, which I then had to copy into my electronic list when I returned to my desk.
I then began using a Palm Pilot which my company generously purchased for me. This allowed me to write down tasks electronically when I was away from my desk and then automatically "sync" the list when I returned to my desk. However, it had it's own problems, like running out of charge, and not being very durable as I occasionaly bounced it off concrete floors etc. Also, when I had a very long list I would have to "scroll" through several pages on the screen to see it all, which was inconvenient, and didn't provide me an easy way to view the overall size of the list to see how behind I might be. I also didn't like carrying it around.
I've also tried the posted note route, and I still use posted notes when I need to quickly write something down. However, I believe this looks unprofessional, and it's easy to lose them, so I tape the posted notes in my notebook (see below) if it's something I don't want to lose.
Currently I use a bound notebook, which seems to be very in-vogue at the moment with Engineers and Technical Managers. I write down basically everyting in this notebook other than formal calculations and data which I keep separate. I do write down the date each day so I know when I initially wrote down the task, note, etc.. I use a symbol to indicate a "Task", a symbol to indicated when I've started that Task, a symbol to indicated when I've completed the Task, and a symbol to indicate when I delete a Task that I am no longer required to complete. I also have a symbol for when I move a task before it is complete. This is usefull when I have a task that has been on my list for a long time (several pages ago). I can then "move" the task to the current page whithout losing the date when it was originally entered. I also mark the page in my notebook that has the oldest un-finished task so I don't waste time flipping backward through pages where everything is already completed. It is not a perfect system, in that no automatic "reminders" pop up, and if I lose my notebook (knock on wood) I'm quite lost. However, I think my current system has several advantages:
1) It looks professional and keeps me on task without being cumbersome.
2) My desk at least has the appearance that I'm organized, even if my notebook has a bazillion unfinished tasks that I'm late on.
3) Each morning I can quickly flip backward to see all of my unfinished tasks and how old they are by how many pages back they are and by the date they were entered. I normally do this as my computer boots up, or if I'm in a boring meeting, etc.
4) No battery, no docking station, no fragile electronics, and a low cost of equipment.
5) It is very free-form, e.g. I can still incorporate electronic lists and schedules if I desire by printing them out and taping them into my notebook.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I really like using Outlook's task list for the reason you liked the Palm, the fact that I can sync with my organizer. I have a BlackBerry that I keep with me at all times anyway and it isn't a burden to carry since I would have a phone anyway. My biggest peeve is that I can't easily prioritize the task list. I'm considering trying Franklin Covey's Plan Plus plug-in for Outlook to get the ability to prioritize the task list better than I currently do.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Beginning each day I start with an 8.5 x 11 engineering pad 1/4 inch scale with company letterhead. Then I record all my "to-do's", action items, important dates/times, important phone call info, meeting notes, brainstorm ideas, project options, key project info, deadlines, phone numbers, fax numbers, addresses, airline info, hotel info, rental car info, usernames, passwords, websites....
You name it... it goes on that pad in line-item style. One line may say "Meet Joe tomorrow 2pm at the project site". The next line may have a load rating for some equipment that someone just dropped off at my desk while I was on the phone. The next line may say: "pick up dish soap on the way home" Somedays I go through 5 pages, sometimes I have 5 lines of info.
I review the pad of papper multiple times each day, and keep a notbook in chronological order where I review info from days/weeks past as reminders. Very simple, works like a charm...
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
So now I use a 120 page softbound notebook, and no bits of paper.
Each major project has a unique page with a to do list, then all my daily working is lost in a chronological jumble at the back of the book.
I think I'll fill it up in two or three months.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
corus
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I just list out the projects I have and tack it up my cube wall. When I complete an analysis I cross that one out, and the list is also handy when my boss comes to my cube with something for me to do. He already knows where to glance at to see if I'm already swamped!
I'm already thinking of getting a small whiteboard as a Xmas gift to myself...
jo
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
corus
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I now make up a single chart in excel of all the projects I'm working on with empty spaces below. I print this out and keep it under my keyboard and add things as they come up or cross them off (definitely use red ink for this).
Still toying with different ideas as this system is far from perfect (i.e. less desirable items are delayed until I get the productive itch).
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
The integral of z dz
from one to the square root of three
is one-half cosine
three pi over nine
plus the inverse of four over three
The kicker is that you write it as an equation. When reading it out, it's a limerick, and the equation is valid.
No one will dare question your nerd-fu if that's on the whiteboard along with your to-do list.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I first read it in Canuck and it started with
"The integral of zed d-zed..."
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
Nice try tho
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
But back to the whiteboard...forgot to mention that the bad thing with listing out your tasks where it's easily seen also means that the whiteboard - or piece of paper - will scream at you and make you even more stressed out as you race to cross out the items on your list...
Of course, right now I'm a junior engineer doing FEA and only have to deal with going through work requests from designers. My method might not work for engineers who need to do a lot of reports/progress reviews etc and need to have the task list in soft copy.
My to-do list on the wall only has the project numbers. For daily to-do lists, I use a hardbound notebook (don't we have a lot of those with logos of vendor companies on them?). Somehow clicking on the items in Outlook is not as satisfying as physically crossing out a task with a pen or pencil...
jo
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I disagree totally. When I do feel stressed out I find the best thing to do is write down the tasks currently on my plate. I find it puts things into perspective.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
jo
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
I always feel intimidated once my to-do list gets too long, or my simulations don't solve so I haven't crossed anything off the list for a long time.
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?
There isn't enough accountability for the fact that I get done way more than him!
I guess I'll continue to vent on this (as I did in a previous thread). But it drives me nuts at times!
RE: How do you manage your work/task list?