05. The Secret to a Good Task Management System
Episode 05
One of the most important things you can do for your productivity is to create a good task management system.
If you don’t have a way to capture and manage the things you have to do, you run the risk of a) forgetting them b) doing them late c) stressing yourself out trying to remember them d) all of the above.
In this week’s episode, I teach students and professionals the 4 most important components of a good task management system.
Whether you’re tracking homework assignments for school or projects for work, your task management system needs these 4 things — without question.
By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to evaluate if your current system is working, and if it’s not, you’ll learn exactly how to fix it.
FREE Resources:
Admin Task Checklist (FREE pdf download) → This simple pdf template does not replace your complete task management system, but it can be used as part of your system.
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The following transcript was autogenerated and may contain some interesting and silly errors. But in the name of efficiency and productivity, I am choosing not to spend my time fixing them. :)
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Today, we're talking about four secrets of a good task management system. Now, students and working professionals need different task management systems. But at their core, the foundations for each are the same. Task management systems are a way that students and professionals can keep track of the things that they need to do, as well as the dates that they need to get done by.
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And we don't keep track of these things in our heads. Forgetting tasks or trying to remember what to do or when they're due, and that constant feeling of feeling like you might be forgetting something, that is the root of so much stress and overwhelm, which is actually something we covered in our last episode, Episode Four. And in this episode I'm going to cover four secrets, not really secrets, but four components of a good task management system, whether you are a student or professional.
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Okay, your systems, like I said, are going to look different, but I want you to consider each of the four components that I address in this episode. And I want you to think, Does your current task management system have all four? If it does, awesome, if it doesn't, or if it has three of the four, then your task at the end of this episode is to make an adjustment.
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Hello. You are listening to the Learn and Work Smarter Podcast, the podcast for students and professionals who want to learn and work smarter. I'm your host executive function coach and founder of School Habits dot com. Katie Azevedo. As a reminder, everything I mention in today's episode will be linked in the show notes, including a link to the transcript, which you can also find at LearnandWorkSmarter.com./podcast.
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Now, the first secret of a good at task management system is that it should have little to no friction. So friction is resistance. Friction is that feeling that there's just something in the way that's preventing us from using our system. So when it comes to task management and keeping track of the things fancier is not always better.
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I know that there are so many fancy systems out there, whether they're notebooks and planners with a million different sections, or the newest task management or project management software, which I even use some of those and we can talk about that. That doesn't make the system better. What makes this task management system work for you... Wait for it... is if it works for you.
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Okay. So the key here to having less friction is that I suggest there are
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fewer than two touchpoints in your task management system. Now, what this means is every time that you need to add a task, so a homework assignment, a project, a work task, a home task, a personal task, whatever it is that you're keeping track of, you should be able to enter in that task with no more than two touchpoints.
00:03:04:21 - 00:03:33:16
So, for example, let's say that you're using a paper planner, two touch points could be grabbing your planner from your bag and opening the page to the right spot, the right day. You've touched your planner two times and now you can add your task. If you're using a digital task management system, it could be tapping on, maybe on your phone, tapping on your app, and then one more tap somewhere where you can enter in your tasks.
00:03:33:18 - 00:03:52:25
If you're using some complicated app where you have to open it, log in, click to something, click to something else, click this something else, and then enter your task. That's too much friction. And over the course of a few days, a few weeks, you're going to lose traction with that task management system. And that's no longer going to work for you.
00:03:52:27 - 00:04:15:11
But you want a task management system that’s easy to add tasks. It doesn't matter if it's digital or analog. I'll bet some of you are already thinking of that question. I get asked that question a lot. Should I use digital or analog? It doesn't matter. Use what you like and you do not need to ever justify what you like or don't like.
00:04:15:13 - 00:04:42:26
Okay. I personally currently use a paper planner and then I use something called Asana a s a n a to keep track of larger projects, specifically podcast episodes, blog posts, YouTube videos, and anything that's related to the launch of my Schoolhabits University course. Other than that, my day to day tasks go in a paper planner. So I use a hybrid system.
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If you're curious, back in the day, this is my first job out of college I worked for ... kind of funny... we would call it an online magazine. Now, today we would call that a website. my gosh. It was a really cool company called Techtarget, which is still around. And I used a -I'm going to see this wrong - I’m kind of spitballing this one - of those reporter pads like a stenographer pad, if I'm saying that correct, that the type of pad that the coil binding was at the top and you flipped it over.
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And every single day I would just enter my tasks on that piece of paper on the long skinny notebook. If I completed it cross it off. If I didn't complete it, I would rewrite it for the next step. So I'd rewrite tasks. Now, that system worked for me for my first job out of college. It worked to a point it was missing something very, very important, which I soon discovered, and that is actually the next component of a good task management system, is there has to be some kind of time based element.
00:05:50:25 - 00:06:10:17
So there is a time and a place for a good old to do list. Kind of like I was just explaining that I used right out of college is a piece of paper. Now it wasn't a regular to do list where I just crossed things off and then the list was done. I was continuously looking at it and seeing what didn't get done and circling that and writing it on the next day.
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So there was some management of the to do list, right. But a task management system is different than a to do list because it needs a time-based element. You need some kind of way to keep track of the things that have a due date or a deadline. That's the difference between a task management system and a to-do list is a to-do list could just be a someday list.
00:06:33:21 - 00:07:04:23
There's no urgency. There's no deadline or due date. But if you are a student and you have homework and projects and tests and essays, so you didn't in projects, right? You have deadlines. So the same thing with work. So you need to keep track of the tasks, but also when are they due? So if you're currently using a system that's only keeping track of what the things are and you're feeling like something's missing or you're feeling like you're falling behind, or you're missing assignments, or you're missing due dates or missing deadlines, maybe that's the component that you're missing is something that's time-based.
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Now, the digital task management systems are awesome because they can connect to your digital calendar. They can connect to digital alarms and things like that.
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the paper or analog task management systems also can have a time-based component that would look like a calendar that's in your planner. This is actually number three that I'm going to get to this second.
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But it could be the calendar. It could be a spot on your page where you write when things are due. Okay. But a task management system, a good one, has to have some way for you to enter in deadlines, in due dates, and for you to check in with those. Is that deadline realistic? Are you making the right amount of progress towards a deadline that might be further away?
00:07:46:07 - 00:08:13:12
Okay. Which takes me to number three. The third secret to a good task management system is that I strongly suggest that there is a weekly and a monthly view for your task management system, whether it's digital or analog. So let me start with analog for paper. If you're going to get a paper planner and you go down to Staples, Office Depot, Amazon, just get an agenda, a planner, you get a fancy one, whatever you want.
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Most of those are going to come with a monthly calendar. Awesome. That is where you would put your deadlines and that is where you would put if you're a student test date's due dates for long term projects or semester projects, things like that. If you are in the work force, that's where you would put in your calendar. Maybe also deadlines for things.
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If you could put meetings, you're probably using a digital calendar as well. I totally know that. But if you like the tactile feel of a paper planner, you want to make sure that you have one that has a monthly calendar so you can see top level open up to the month, the calendar, and you can see deadlines and due dates.
00:08:57:07 - 00:09:23:24
Okay. The Weekly View, that is something that is so important for students and professionals. I'm not so much a fan of The Daily View. If you have a weekly view, then you can see what's coming. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Very rarely do we live our life just day to day. That's a recipe for anxiety, right? Typically on a on a Tuesday, we're looking at the things that are due upcoming this week.
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If you're using a digital system, same thing. Your digital system is probably going to be hooked up to your Google calendar or Outlook or iCal whatever digital calendar using. And then you can also I use I mentioned this earlier, I use something called Asana and that comes with that for projects and that comes with a a calendar view that I can finagle, that I can toggle back and forth between daily if I want.
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But again, that doesn't give us much wide enough view of things that are coming for the week. But I can toggle back and forth between a weekly view or a monthly deal like Google Calendar. It can do the same Google calendar or a digital calendar. And let me just put a little disclaimer here. That is not a task management system.
00:10:06:16 - 00:10:35:24
That is a component of a task management system, but using a calendar to keep track of to-dos is not an effective way to get a full grasp on your tasks, whether for school or for work. Okay, A calendar is essential for keeping track of meetings, tasks, deadlines, places you need to be, things that are time-based that require a submission, or you to physically be somewhere.
00:10:35:26 - 00:11:01:09
But keeping track of like the little tasks and little or medium or big, whatever tasks that you need to take care of during a week or a day, those don't belong on a calendar. Those belong in your task management system. Okay, which your calendar is a part of. Okay.
And the fourth secret is the secret here to a good task management system is it has to be used consistently.
00:11:01:26 - 00:11:26:10
Your task management system will only reveal to you whether or not it's working if you use it. If you only use your task management system occasionally, if you only write down your To-Do items, occasionally when you feel like it, when you're feeling stressed out, then you're not using it sufficiently to give you feedback about whether or not it's working.
00:11:26:16 - 00:11:57:18
And usually that leads to people saying it's not working for me. I suggest students give a task management system about a semester before they decide whether or not it's working for them, for working professionals, I'd say 6 to 8 weeks of committing daily, every single day to using your task management system before you decide that it needs to change or be modified or maybe scrapped altogether and start over with something new.
00:11:57:20 - 00:12:27:06
Okay. Because consistently using our task management system helps us build trust, and the goal of a task management system is that it should become our second brain and external storage device for the things that we think we can keep inside our head. But we can't. Of course we can't. We're but mere humans, right? So the dependability of your task management system and how well it's working increases the more you use it.
00:12:27:08 - 00:12:46:24
So a strategy that I like to share is to use it even when you don't have to find a reason to get your hands on your planner. If you're using paper in opening up for the day and using it in some capacity to write your grocery list, to write down your ideas for the day, to write down what books you want to read.
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Okay, let's say you have like no tasks for the day. I don't know who you are, who have no tasks for the day, but maybe that's you. Maybe you're on vacation,
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instead of putting your task management system away for the week, use it in a different capacity. One that's not stressful in work or school, but again, maybe two to write down just to do that you want to do around the house or your goals or movies you want to watch or whatever, get your hands on it every day.
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That's the key. Habit building is to do the same - The habit that we want to build, particularly on days when we don't need to, or that we don't have to. So for example, if you have no homework and you want to build a habit of using a homework planner, which is a task management system, use your homework planner on the days you have no homework, open it up and write no homework for each of your subjects.
00:13:42:06 - 00:14:02:22
Right. Because a good task management system is only as good as your habit of using it. Another tip is to store your task management system in the same spot so that you don't have to. This reduces friction, right? Because if you're like, I need to write something down, but where do I put that planner? Then that's too much friction, I’ll write
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it down later. No, you won't. Right. But if you know exactly where your planner is, it's on your desk or it's in the front porch of your backpack or your work bag. If you're using an app. Right. If you can put the app on the homepage of your phone or on as a desktop icons, you'll have to click in the desk, click into that, click in the desk, make it super easy to access store in the same place every time.
00:14:23:14 - 00:14:48:06
That decreases friction, which increases its usability, right? Which increases its effectiveness. Another tip for anyone who's using a paper based task management system. So like a planner or an agenda is to consider the size. Some people like a big eight and a half by 11, right? Your standard size because they like just like the bigger view. Again, you don't have to justify what you like or don't like.
00:14:48:06 - 00:15:07:14
Or maybe you have larger handwriting. Maybe you just like that better than get an eight and a half by 11. Some people like the portability of the smaller size. I think it's like eight and a half by five and a half or maybe nine by seven or something. They come in different sizes, but like big or small, play around with it, like go to the store, hold it in your hand.
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Say, What do I like again? You don't have to justify. No, the real key to a good task management system is that it needs to work for you. And in order to know whether or not your system is working for you, you have to use it enough. You have to check in with yourself once in a while and say, Is this working?
00:15:27:12 - 00:15:57:04
Okay, Some particular questions that you might want to ask. Are you forgetting things? Do I feel like I'm on top of my things? Am I meeting deadlines and due dates? Is there anything about my system that I don't like or is there anything that I can change? So I like to advise that if your system isn't quite working, instead of just throwing it in the trash and finding the next bright shiny thing, try to change it or modify it or adjust it in a way before starting new with something entirely new because there's always a learning curve.
00:15:57:04 - 00:16:28:27
If you're starting a new software or a new notebook or whatever, that's usually a learning curve. So try after a semester. If you're a student or 6 to 8 weeks, if you're a working professional to modify instead of change entirely. Now this will by no means be the last episode on task management. It's one of the questions I get a lot because it's usually an area where people need the most help but experience the most resistance for example, I have students who were even in college who are like, I'm so stressed out, I'm missing this, I'm missing that.
00:16:29:05 - 00:16:55:11
But they are refusing to use anything other than their learning management system, which is like Google classroom or canvas or whatever, right? They're refusing to use an actual task management system, which honestly is the solution to so much of the stress. Same thing with working professionals right here all the time. Like I'm swamped, my boss keeps giving me things to do or I'm working on a project with somebody else and I can't move forward until they finish their part.
00:16:55:11 - 00:17:17:26
And so I'm like losing track of what it is that I'm waiting for other people to complete. And I'm like, okay, well, what do you using for a task management system? And they're like, Well, I use email. Email is a communication tool, not task management. Just like I said earlier on the episode, Google calendar is not task management and neither is email.
00:17:17:28 - 00:17:43:04
Google calendar is time management. Email is communication management. Okay, An actual task management system allows you to write down the things that you need to get done and has a functionality where if something doesn't get done, it doesn't get lost. You can transfer it to a new day in terms of paper that just means writing it on the next day.
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As I mentioned earlier, I also use Asana and each task is kind of like a little card and I can change the due date on the card or I can move it along on the calendar, like drag it to a new spot on the calendar. But a good task management system has a way for you to keep track of your things, keep track of when they're due, and then manage hiccups as they occur.
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And if they can't get if the task can't get done when they're supposed to get done, it has a way for you to manage that and make sure that they do get done. They do get written down again. They do get moved somewhere. Okay, and email isn't that either, and neither is your calendar, right, as I was saying.
By no means is this the last episode on task management?
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I feel like there is so much that I can cover here. If you have specific questions about your task management system or something, maybe that would work specifically for you and your unique situation. Maybe you're a student and a working professional and you're trying to think about, okay, well, what system should I use for both? How can I hybridize my task management system?
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Right? There is a form on the learnandworksmarter.com where you can submit your questions and once a month I'll be recording a Q&A episode where I answer your specific questions. So if you have them, make sure you add them to the form. Please follow this. I'll leave Review If what you found here is helpful, that means the world to me and to helping spread the show.
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And as always, never stop learning.
