Task Management

[tim@taskwise]

We've been working on the development of a series of task management applications for personal and business users. I wanted to get some insight from the community to find out how people are generally managing their day to day work tasks and if anyone uses task managers on a daily basis?

[Steve B]

I use Outlook's calendar. It's awesome.

[Spider]

I have a 40" x 30" (100cm x 80cm) "write on-wipe off" whiteboard calender on the wall of my office (actual wall, real office!) on which I write my future tasks. For daily tasks I use my brain!

[Harold Mansfield]

I use Outlook's calendar. It's awesome.


I have a 40" x 30" (100cm x 80cm) "write on-wipe off" whiteboard calender on the wall of my office (actual wall, real office!) on which I write my future tasks. For daily tasks I use my brain!

I use both of these methods as well. I use the board for quick access items, codes and phone numbers and Outlook to remember scheduled calls, appointments and deadlines.
I can't see it being any easier than that.

[vangogh]

For awhile I've been mainly using a calendar application, but recently I switched to giving a program called OmniFocus a try. It was developed mainly for David Allen's GTD (Getting Things Done) workflow. I'm still in the trial phase of the program and also want to give Things (another task management program) a try, though I'll likely choose OmniFocus in the end.

A few things I've learned in my Task Management research.

1. A task manager is only useful if I actually use it. Make something I want to use. Make it easy for me and make the whole experience enjoyable
2. Allow me to enter new tasks into the system from anywhere. I should be able to add a new task when I'm not actively using the program.
3. People have different workflows. Some want a simple to do list and others want to follow a system like GTD. Decide which your program will be for
4. Even within a system people will have different workflows. Allow for some flexibility in how tasks are entered and categorized or tagged and especially how the data is viewed.
5. Don't try to build a task manager that works for everyone. It's not going to happen.

Hope that helps.

[Spider]

I use both of these methods as well. I use the board for quick access items, codes and phone numbers and Outlook to remember scheduled calls, appointments and deadlines.
I can't see it being any easier than that.YOU WHAT?!!

Techy ol' you uses a Philistine method like a whiteboard and real handwriting by hand, manually? I'll bet you have a board erasor shaped like a computer mouse, don't you?!

!

[Harold Mansfield]

YOU WHAT?!!

Techy ol' you uses a Philistine method like a whiteboard and real handwriting by hand, manually? I'll bet you have a board erasor shaped like a computer mouse, don't you?!

!

C'mon. What do you think I sit around in a Star Trek uniform, wearing a digital display monocle on one eye, while hacking databases and viewing 3 monitors with the other eye, while listening to Kraftwerk, eating jelly beans, and IM'ing gamers about cheat codes and strategy all day?

I don't even like jellybeans.

[Spider]

But you have three monitors, don't you? And a huge gamma flatscreen display on your television, right?!!!

[vangogh]

C'mon. What do you think I sit around in a Star Trek uniform, wearing a digital display monocle on one eye, while hacking databases and viewing 3 monitors with the other eye, while listening to Kraftwerk, eating jelly beans, and IM'ing gamers about cheat codes and strategy all day?

You mean you don't? Now I have to create an entirely new mental picture of you. :)

One more thing to add to my post above.

6. Offer your system on multiple devices. Both OmniFocus and Things offer iPhone and iPad versions, which sync to each other and the desktop version. We're not always in front of our computer when we need to know what tasks we need to get to or have thoughts about what tasks we need to get to next.

[Harold Mansfield]

But you have three monitors, don't you? And a huge gamma flatscreen display on your television, right?!!!

Well yeah, that's because I work on my computer. There's not anything special about it. If I was a carpenter I'd probably have a bunch of power tools.

[KristineS]

I use a pad of paper and a pen to a revolving to do list, and a three month white board calendar for tracking deadlines.

If you are developing a task management system, make it simple. If updating the system becomes another task that gets added to my day, I won't use it. Updating it has to be fast and simple.

[Spider]

I guess. But I am disappointed about the Star Trek uniform.

[Harold Mansfield]

I guess. But I am disappointed about the Star Trek uniform.

With all due respect to the Federation, I actually like the way the Klingon officers dressed.

[jonashastings]

I use my iPhone apps for simple reminders and I have a white board both in my office and in my room to remind me of monthly tasks/goals that needs to be accomplished.

[ebusinesstutor]

6. Offer your system on multiple devices. Both OmniFocus and Things offer iPhone and iPad versions, which sync to each other and the desktop version. We're not always in front of our computer when we need to know what tasks we need to get to or have thoughts about what tasks we need to get to next.

This is a really good point. I just dumped the outliner program I was using because it didn't really offer iPhone or IE support. So make sure you offer iPhone, iPad versions and make sure it works on all browsers.

In addition make sure it imports/exports in the common formats to make it easy for people to move their content to you and to create backups. The new service I use lets me import as OPML which worked perfectly.

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum ebusinesstutor.

Yeah, if you're really going to commit to some kind of task management system they all start with some process of collection. Getting all your to dos recorded somewhere as soon as they come to mind. That's easy if you're home or in the office surrounded by paper or your application of choice. It's not so easy when you're out and away from your computer and not carrying pen and paper. Many of us now have cell phones with us all the time so if your application is also there it makes it easier to record your to dos which can then be synched later and placed into your system.

[Paper Shredder Clay]

I use Omnifocus. I have their Mac program, iPhone app and iPad app. Its really great. Not cheap but definitely well-thought-out.

[vangogh]

I've been looking at both Omnifocus and Things for the last few weeks. I used Omnifocus for the 2 week trial and now I'm in the middle of the trial for Things. Omnifocus definitely has more features if you want to use a GTD system. You can make GTD work in Things, though you do have to hack it slightly and be disciplined in your use of tags.

However I decided I'm going to use Things. I like the design a lot more. It feels like a Mac program to me where Omnifocus doesn't. I also like that Things is a bit more flexible so I'm not locked into a GTD methodology. I find myself enjoying using Things more and I'm willing to work around a few of the limitations where GTD is concerned, especially since I'll probably be mixing GTD a little with my own workflow.

Having said that you can't really go wrong with either program. Both are great. I find each has some advantages the other doesn't have and what I really want is a program that combines the best of both. It wasn't an easy decision which program to go with and truthfully if you ask me a year from now I may be using Omnifocus and then be back to Things a year after that. Ultimately I'm choosing Things for the design and the user experience, both of which I think are better than Omnifocus.