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Your To Do List and Beyond: 8 Powerful Ways to Manage Your Tasks

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There are so many things you need to do, and so many ways you could keep track of them. Search the App Store for "to do list," and you'll find thousands of tools that all promise to help you increase your productivity and get more done.

An app is only the start. There are also the various methods of keeping track of your to dos, each with their strong points and some so complicated there are entire books about them. It can be so tough to find the right method and app for you, it's often easier to just give up and try to juggle all of your tasks in your head.

It doesn't have to be that way. In this article, we'll take you through the most popular task management methods so you can pick out the perfect way to manage the things you need to do. Then, in a related article, we'll show you the best apps for each of those methods. That'll give you the tools you need to stay productive this year and beyond.

Choosing the Right Task Management Method

When it comes to task management, there's no one-size-fits-all option. Just as some people learn better visually while others learn far better audibly, there are task management methods that'll fit you perfectly—and others that'll never work for you no matter how hard you try.

That's why it's important to research different methods of managing your tasks to find what works for you. Just by reading though this article, a couple of the methods will likely stick out to you. You can then try them out and see which one's best for you.

In this article, you'll receive an overview along with the pros and cons of each of the following task management methods:

Getting Things Done®

Plain Text Tasks

Rows, Columns n' Sheets

Team-Based Productivity

Pen and Paper

The Kanban Method

String-Around-The-Finger

The "Grocery List" Method

Reminders.app

The "Grocery List" method, or just organizing tasks in simple lists, is by far the most popular task management method. It's the way you'll likely organize tasks without even thinking about it. It puts all tasks and their respective due dates front-and-center with no fluff. There are dozens of apps that use this method of organizing your tasks, and their straightforward lists make the apps look and feel very similar to a grocery list you'd make when heading to the store.

These simple apps are great for people like myself that get a rush from finally checking tasks off of a list and moving onto the next task. When using a grocery list style app, there are no small details to check off, so you're left with the big picture for all of your tasks.

Grocery List apps often have some essential organization features to go along with the bare tasks. For instance, most have the ability to set a due date and some can set reminders for tasks using a device's location.

That being said, Grocery List-style apps may not be practical for everyone. If you need to manage small tasks within larger tasks or like being able to track the progress of a task or project, Grocery List methods aren't for you. Don't fret though, because there are plenty of other task management strategies for you.

The Grocery List Method Pros and Cons

Pros: Grocery List- esque applications are generally simple enough that they require little setup and are easy to use.

Cons: Not as great at tracking small details or handling large projects.

OmniFocus

Getting Things Done® (often abbreviated as GTD®), is the Grocery List method on steroids. This method of task management, popularized by the book with the same name , is simply a powerful way of using lists and details like tags to manage your tasks. Apps based on this method may look similar to standard grocery list-style apps, but they'll also have sub-lists, time management tools, and more built in.

Getting Things Done ® and GTD ® are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company.

For example, when working on an article, I can use a powerful list-based task management app to make a new project for the article and then add tasks for sections of an article, reminders to proofread, and make a list of all additional resources required to complete the article. At the same time, I can have projects for my home tasks, other ongoing projects at work, and more.

Most standard GTD apps have note taking and file-drop capabilities. This is very useful when starting a project, as you can attach all of your ideas and related files to the task, ensuring you won't forget any small details and giving you a one-stop-shop for your task's resources.

Some GTD applications also have built-in calendars that show your tasks and projects with their respective due dates. This can be an absolute godsend when juggling multiple projects for different clients with separate due dates. You'll also usually be able to keep up with notes and files related to your tasks in the apps.

The basic idea with GTD is that you can get everything out of your head and into your to do list app, organized in lists of related tasks with each task tagged (or categorized) according to the place or context in which you’ll do the task, and with any data related to that task attached as a note. It’s a lot of stuff in each tasks to make sure you won’t have to juggle anything in your head and can focus on what you’re doing.

GTD applications are generally desktop-focused and for good reason: creating tasks and adding additional criteria can be tough when typing on a smartphone keyboard. However, many GTD apps—including OmniFocus —have created great mobile apps that sync with their desktop counterparts, making for a seamless on-the-go task management experience.

Getting Things Done Pros and Cons

Pros: GTD applications can track every step of a task and often have other interesting features.

Cons: These applications can be confusing to set up and too cluttered for some.

One powerful GTD app feature is start dates, in addition to due dates. Learn how to use start dates when managing your tasks . Or learn more about how to implement GTD with our guide.

The Text Editor Method

todo.txt

Using text editors for task management has been around for quite some time. In fact, the 'emacs' app in Terminal has its own text-based task management command. Text editors give you the freedom to manage tasks how you'd like and be free of the visual distractions of a Grocery List app.

If you already have a preferred text editor, there's no need to download another task management app: Just use what you already know. On top of this, the text file you use to manage your tasks is universal, so you can switch devices and platforms without disrupting your workflow.

There are many different methods of using a text editor to manage tasks. Two of the more popular are Todo.txt and Today.txt . With Todo.txt, you can create single-line tasks within a text file. These can be arranged by priority and can be tagged with its corresponding project. To create different lists, just create a new text file, it's that easy. If you prefer to edit in plain text on your mobile devices, you can do that as well using your favorite mobile text editor.

Today.txt is even simpler than Todo.txt: it's a three line paragraph stressing one task. The text file starts with "If nothing else, today I am going to __ ." and ends with "If I do this and only this, it will be a good day." This makes the method more motivation than anything else, but it a good way to keep yourself focused when feeling distracted.

Either method—or your own personal method of organizing stuff you need to do in a text editor—could work equally well. And, if you already have a to do list app you like but want a way to keep yourself focused on what needs done today , Today.txt could be a good addition to your workflow.

The Text Editor Method Pros and Cons

Pros: Using a text editor is a simple and free way to manage your tasks. You can set up your workflow however you'd like, using programs you're familiar with.

Cons: Plain text lists can often be too barebones for some and require some setup and management to keep organized.

For more information on using text to manage your tasks, check out our roundup of unique ways to manage your tasks without special software .

kanban

Take pen-and-paper to do management a step further with Kanban productivity. This method, in its purest form, takes Post-It notes, a cork board, and labels, and organizes tasks by progression. To start with Kanban, split your cork board into three sections: to do, doing, and done. Write tasks on color-coded Post-It notes and stick them in their respective step of progression. As your tasks progress, move them to their new spots on the cork board to track them. You can color-code tasks by client, project, or any other differentiator, and can add as much or little detail to each task as you want.

If you prefer tracking tasks digitally, Kanban can still fit your workflow. Apps like Trello and LeanKit all use the Kanban method to manage tasks in the cloud. They also offer great collaboration features, so remote teams can get in on the Kanban action.

Kanban is great for teams and those who like to see the big picture at a glance. When using the method, you'll have all of your tasks, due dates, and task progress in front of you, so there's nothing keeping you from diving right into your work. And you can even make a Kanban board in Google Sheets .

The Kanban Method Pros and Cons

Pros: The big picture is always in front of you and your team.

Cons: Small details can be left out, which may cause information overload for some.

Kanban 101 : Learn everything there is to know about this task management strategy.

The Rows, Columns n' Sheets Method

spreadsheet

Spreadsheets are often overlooked when it comes to task management, especially in the mobile space. But they can be as powerful of a tool for task management as you let them be. Due to spreadsheets' flexibility, they're an especially great way to manage a ton of projects and tasks.

When using a spreadsheet, you can make different sheets for different types of tasks. For example, one sheet can be for work tasks and another for home errands, each with columns to keep track of data that makes sense for each. Tasks can be placed in individual rows, and cells can be color-coded to represent their importance or other key parts of a task.

Like the text editor method, you can make spreadsheets work any way you'd like, and you can use applications that you're already familiar with. There are also a ton of free task management templates available for Google Sheets, Excel, and Numbers, making setup a breeze.

If you're working in a team, you can use Google Sheet to make a no-frills group task management system. Just make a new shared Sheet, add your team members, and create color-coded cells to assign tasks. And since Google Sheets has a built-in chat client, it's easy to collaborate with team members.

The Rows, Columns n' Sheets Method Pros and Cons

Pros: You can use familiar tools to create a versatile environment for your tasks.

Cons: Like text-based applications, using spreadsheets for task management can be too basic for some. On top of this, using spreadsheets aren't the prettiest way to manage tasks.

See how to make Google Sheets your to do list app in our tutorial.

Trello

To do apps aren't just for managing your own tasks. When you're working with your team, you need a way to keep up with what everyone's working on and what's left to finish your team projects.

Enter team-based productivity apps.

Team-based productivity apps are often list-based applications that let everyone have their own accounts. They're also usually web apps that'll run in any browser, with mobile apps to work on the go. Team members can add and edit tasks as well as discuss tasks within a comment thread or IM-like service, making collaborating and group task management far simpler.

Many team-based applications have features similar to that of the aforementioned GTD method. Beyond setting due dates, tasks can often have sub-tasks and the larger projects can be organized in their own boards or lists to keep everything organized for each of your different projects or clients. Most will even let you add files to tasks, so you can keep everything needed to complete the task in one spot.

If you end up using a team-based productivity suite with your team and want to use it for personal tasks, don't fret. Most of these applications—such as Trello and Asana — allow you to create single-user task boards that are not associated with your work board, so you can transition seamlessly between work and personal tasks.

Team-Based Productivity Pros and Cons

Pros: Team-based apps are generally cross-platform and are great for keeping teams on track and encourage collaboration. Additionally, they can be used for personal work if needed.

Cons: These applications can be time consuming to set up and expensive for a full team.

Good Ol' Pen and Paper

paper

I'm sure you didn't expect to see this mentioned alongside methods of managing tasks with apps, but sometimes it's best to use pen and paper for task management—especially if you have a problem with checking Twitter instead of staying on task. When using a notebook to manage tasks, you're completely disconnected from the internet and its distractions, keeping you on track.

I've found something refreshing about using pen and paper to manage tasks. Checking tasks off of a notebook is a lot more rewarding than swiping it away, but perhaps that's just me. There are also plenty of ways to digitize the pen-and-paper method , with mobile scanning apps or tools like Evernote . Back up your to do list to the cloud, and you'll have the best of both worlds. Your tasks will live on paper, but will also be ready for you anywhere you need them.

Pen and Paper Pros and Cons

Pros: Paper notes are distraction-free and require no connectivity.

Cons: Not as versatile as other methods in this list, and can be tough to back up.

The String-Around-The-Finger Method

string

Even though a notification on your phone can be a great reminder to complete a task, nothing jogs your memory like a change in something you use everyday. A classic example of this is tying a string around your finger. Or if you prefer a modern take on the method, wrap a rubberband around your phone.

The basic idea is: Put something in your way when you're thinking of something you need to do. Then, the next time you notice that thing—string, rubberband or whatever—your mind will be jogged to remember the task.

Getting a bit more technical with this idea, rearranging app icons or changing your phone's wallpaper are other good ways to jog your memory. If you're using this method on the desktop, you can set special photos or text as your screensaver or my personal favorite: putting a Post-It note in the center of my laptop's screen. Either way, doing something that's out of the ordinary can be a great way to make sure you remember what you need to do.

The String-Around-The-Finger Method and Cons

Pros: The simplest possible way to remind yourself to do something.

Cons: You might end up forgetting why you tied the string in the first place, and it works only well for single, one-off tasks.

Picking the Best Method for You

Like various learning methods, different task management strategies place focus in different areas. For example, the "Grocery List" method of task management places all crucial information upfront, while leaving many small details out of the picture. That's a great option if you just want a simple way to keep track of what needs done now .

But, if you're a more detail-oriented person, using a powerful task management will be more your speed. You'll be able to keep track of every tiny detail, manage multiple projects, and much more, all from one app. You can plan your whole life here, not just the stuff you're doing today.

Both the simple Grocery List apps and more advanced Getting Things Done apps, though, often have fancier interfaces, and they force you to work the way they're designed. If you're the kind that likes your tools to be deeply customizable or if the fancy interfaces of both of these methods throw you off, managing tasks in a text editor or spreadsheet may be best.

Working together? Give the team task management apps—or even a shared spreadsheet—a shot. Or if you'd rather a low-tech solution, mix everything up and write team tasks on a whiteboard.

There's no perfect way to manage your tasks, and you might even need more than one method to keep up with everything you're doing. Just experiment with your own variant of any of these methods, and start getting your tasks organized.

Go Get Things Done

If you're planning on using an app to manage your tasks, there are dozens of to do list apps that could work for you. But which one is the best for your needs? Here are our recommendations:

The Best To Do Apps for Task Management

The Best To Do Apps for iPhone and iPad

The Best Android To Do List Apps

The Best To Do List Apps for Mac

The Best Windows To Do List Apps

Originally published in January, 2015, this post has been updated with more recent details and links. Zapier marketer Matthew Guay contributed to this post.

Paper todos photo via IvanWalsh.com via Flickr ; Kanban Photo by Oliver Tacke via Flickr ; String around finger photo by Flood G. via Flickr ; Research header photo by Neil Conway via Flickr ; Trello photo via Trello Press Pack ._

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Andrew Kunesh

Andrew is a freelance writer and user experience nerd from Chicago, IL. In his free time, you’ll find Andrew trotting the globe in search of the perfect cup of coffee. Follow @andrewkunesh on Twitter.

  • Personal productivity
  • Project management
  • Task management & to-do lists
  • Product management

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Task Management: Tips, Best Practices, Tools & More

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Ever wonder how the most powerful people on earth actually get so much stuff done ?

People like Bill Gates and Elon Musk haven’t been super successful in their lives by accident. They’ve done it by organizing every hour of every day—scheduling their time so they’re productive and reaching their goals. 

This way of thinking is the crux of task management. After all, everybody has the same amount of hours in their day, but it’s how you organize those hours that determine how much you actually get done. 

The way we organize our working days comes down to strategy. Some people will stick to a to-do list , while companies may find it more useful to use task management tools to organize their calendars. In fact, companies that use techniques like task management spend 28x less money than those who try to deliver projects without a real plan or strategy. 

In this piece, we’re going to take a deep dive into: 

What is task management?

Why you should start thinking about task management

Three different ways you can manage tasks

The advantages of using a task management tool

How to choose the right task management tool.

Let’s get organizing

Robust task management software

Plan, track, and monitor all aspects of your tasks across every project or break them down even further with subtasks.

Track tasks with Teamwork

What Is Task Management?

Task management is where every task is scheduled and managed using details and deadlines to deliver projects on time. 

Task management isn’t as complicated as it sounds. It’s just a fancy way of planning how tasks are handled from the moment you put them into a schedule until they’re completed. We’re talking about setting deadlines, collaborating with team members, and creating project schedules that allow you and your team to be as productive as possible. 

When it’s done well, task management allows you to:

Manage your workload: See what’s on your calendar, what items you need to prioritize , and what deadlines you have looming

Boost productivity: When every task is organized, you’ll know exactly what you need to be working on and what needs to get done. All of the information for every task will be in one place

Create collaboration channels: Task management is about team management. Your team will have a better idea about who is working on what and when you expect them to collaborate on a task to get it completed quicker

Be more time efficient: Instead of deciding what task you should do next or what is more urgent, task management eliminates wasted thinking time. You’ll always know what you should be working on. 

What’s baffling is the number of businesses that still don’t have a process in place to organize and complete tasks in their pipeline. PMI's 2017 Global Project Management survey found that 37% of executive leaders admitted the biggest cause of failed projects was a lack of clearly defined objectives and discipline when implementing strategy.

In other words… not planning well enough. 

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Why you should improve your task management process

Ever wonder how teams like Microsoft manage to release new products and features all the time? 

It’s no accident that their 3000-person team of developers is so meticulous that they’re able to release brand new versions of every one of their projects every three weeks. Their tasks are managed down to the finest details. Everyone knows what needs to be done, who will be doing it, and when tasks need to be delivered. 

You see, task management is just one part of the overall puzzle of project management . MetaLab Project Manager Kyria Brown put it best when she compared the planning, completing, and delivering projects to flying a plane. 

“At the most basic level, a Project Manager’s role is to ensure things run smoothly so the pilots and flight crew can do what they do best while the passengers feel safe knowing they’re not going to fall out of the sky or crash mid-flight,” she says.  

“None of us would make good pilots anymore than we’d make good designers or developers, yet as Project Managers, we get to be the shepherds of their successes and live our creative dreams vicariously through them.”

However, successfully landing that plane highlights the benefits of task management. Not only can task management help you see from 10,000 feet what everyone on your team is working on, but it’ll also give you a better idea of their capacity and what tasks they’re prioritizing. 

The good news is that task management isn’t exactly rocket science. On the surface, it involves three simple steps: 

Step #1. Create tasks: The first step is unpacking a project and creating individual tasks to deliver it. Once you know what these tasks are, you can turn them into actionable items by creating deliverables and setting deadlines

Step #2. Organize and prioritize: Think about every roadblock you might come up against during the project. Could a team sickness derail certain tasks? Does your team have the capacity to get them all done? Schedule the tasks on your team's schedule based on who has spare time 

Step #3. Monitor and update: Here’s where task management really comes into play. Once a project kicks off, you can use task management to monitor each task and change things in real-time. If a team member is running behind, you can re-allocate a task to another team member or change tasks around so the most important gets done first. 

The best way to actually manage tasks, however, is still up for debate.

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How to manage tasks

We know you’ve heard it before, but it needs to be repeated— failing to plan is planning to fail. 

It’s obvious that task management is a crucial part of delivering a successful project, but it’s up to you to decide which method is best for your team. The most common methods for managing tasks can be put into three different categories: 

Manual: To-do lists, anybody?

Electronic: Spreadsheets/apps

Online: Cloud-based task management tools

The truth is that if you don’t have a way to manage your tasks, it’ll be an uphill climb to get everything done on time. Here are some ways to turn that pile of tasks into an organized timeline. 

1. Write an old school to-do list

Ahhh, the to-do list. 

It’s the simplest way to manage your tasks, and the good news is that all you need is a pen and paper to create one. If your task list is fairly light or straightforward, this method may be enough for you to organize your schedule. 

Simply write down each task you need to get done, add a deadline, and tick them off as you complete them. 

If you like the idea of planning tasks on a to-do list but you want to do it digitally, you can use an app like Todoist . In the app, you can create tasks, set deadlines, and have access to your digital to-do list no matter where you are. 

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The good news: To-do lists are the task management equivalent of going off-grid. You don’t need an internet connection or to pay for an app to organize your tasks. 

The bad news: To-do lists are very basic and if you are managing anyone other than yourself, it’s not ideal. 

2. Use a kanban board

Kanban boards were developed in the 1940s by Toyota. In Japanese, Kanban means signboard—which is exactly what this task management system is. 

A Kanban board is basically a digitized post-it note board, and they normally look like this:

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Managing tasks this way helps you to visualize every task inside a project and break them up into columns. For example, you can use columns to represent stages of a project’s workflow. Inside each column will be a card that represents an individual task. 

Let’s say your team is doing a website redesign . To get the project done, your team will have to complete tasks like selecting typefaces, collecting images, and building a mood board. Using a tool like Teamwork.com, you can organize these tasks into separate columns on a Kanban board: 

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Once the project kicks off and the team starts working on each task, they will slowly make their way down the Kanban board into the completed column. Teamwork.com’s triggers also cut out the manual admin work by automatically re-assigning tasks and changing due dates when a task moves from one column to the next.

However, Kanban boards do more than just keep your tasks organized. It can also help you spot bottlenecks and raise the alarm if deadlines aren’t being met. If a task is overdue, your team will get a notification automatically and you can quickly address the problem before the entire project gets derailed. 

The good news: Kanban is a great way for your team to visualize every task inside a project. It gives everyone a clear idea about their workload, due dates, and how a project is progressing. 

The bad news: For big, complicated projects, Kanban boards can get busy and look overwhelming. 

3. Use a task management tool

A task management tool is the easiest way for teams to manage multiple projects at once. 

Not only will every team member have access to their own account, but they will be given their own schedule, task list , and due dates for every task assigned to them. It’s the easiest way for teams to collaborate and get projects done without having to waste hours every week in planning meetings. 

You will also have a 10,000 feet view over every project in your pipeline. A task management tool shows every task and which team member is working on them so you can better estimate your capacity for future projects, and you can also schedule people to work on multiple projects at once.  

The good news: Task management tools are perfect for teams who need to collaborate on projects and plan tasks based on capacity. 

The bad news: These tools will probably cost a little more than a pen and paper

When it comes to managing tasks at a team level, it’s a bit different from managing a shopping list. 

Small businesses managing tasks will look a lot different from companies with 50 projects in their pipelines. Even so, managing tasks using methods like spreadsheets, whiteboards, and post-it notes can be a recipe for disaster. 

Nobody wants to walk into the office on Monday morning and find this.

The big pull of investing in a task management tool is that it helps deliver projects successfully by recognizing that task management is team management. 

Before Telecommunications company Strencom started using a task management tool, they were trying to deliver hundreds of projects by using traditional tools like email, spreadsheets, and documents.

Not only were they struggling to deliver all of their projects on time, but their communications with clients also suffered. The company’s Director of Operations, Colum Buckley, says the company reached a point where managing projects using email and spreadsheets had become a total nightmare. 

So, they started searching for a task management tool that would keep tabs on deliverables, tasks, and deadlines, as well as involving their clients in the process. 

The company invested in Teamwork.com. Not only does the tool give them real-time insight into their pipeline, but it involves their clients, who can not track their project’s progress without the need for an official update from a project manager.

The result? 

Strencom has tripled its NPS score — a metric used to measure customer loyalty — in just five years. 

“Not only are we completing more projects in less time, but we’re getting a reputation for on-time delivery and reliability,” Buckley says. 
“Our project delivery is now a real value add, which is good for us in Operations and for everyone in the business.”

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Picking the right task management tool for your specific needs is super important, so you need to do your research. 

Some tools out there are basic, and others have everything but the kitchen sink. So, it’s important to know exactly what you need before you invest. To do that, you should compile a “must-have” features list by asking yourself: 

What types of projects do you normally have in your pipeline? 

Does your team collaborate often and would you benefit from features like notifications and automated triggers?

How many people are on your team? (this will impact how much the tool will cost)

Do you need reporting and analytics features? 

Will you need time-tracking features? 

Would you benefit from project templates to improve your task management?

Will the tool integrate into your existing tech stack? 

Whatever task management tool you pick, make sure that it ticks all of the boxes on your list and doesn’t break the bank! 

For more details about getting started with a task management tool — check out Teamwork.com .

Teamwork.com is the all-in-one platform for client work.

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12 Effective Task Management Strategies for Modern-day Project Managers

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Sandeep Kashyap

Effective Task Management Strategies

“Our goals can only be achieved through the vehicle of a plan. There is no other route to success.” – Pablo Picasso 

It’s common knowledge that projects are made up of tasks/ subtasks, each of which has its own importance in the successful completion of the project. Now the only secret to getting a project completed successfully is to manage its associated tasks with the utmost efficiency. And task management strategies are what help a project manager achieve all of this successfully.

In simple words, if you don’t have the right strategies for managing your team and their tasks, you can’t succeed as a project manager. That means you need to bring your organizational and task management skills into play. While working on a project, you need to identify all the tasks, figure out their duration, set priorities, and put in all efforts to prevent them from falling behind the schedule. After all, as a project manager, you are the person responsible for keeping the projects and teams on track, particularly when the pressure is at its peak. 

Table of Contents

1. Define everyone’s roles

2. use kanban for planning, 3. focus on one task at a time, 4. do the scary tasks first, 5. set time limits, 6. communicate clearly  , 7. collaborate frequently, 8. develop an efficient filing system, 9. keep track of things, 10. never forget risks, 11. use a dedicated software.

Before getting started with task management and allocation, you need to clearly define everyone’s roles and responsibilities in the project. It is important for everyone in the team to know what they are supposed to do, and how their work is going to impact the overall project progress.

This unifies their efforts and the team members can align their efforts in one direction. Also, that’s how you build accountability and a sense of responsibility in the team.

When the team members have a clear understanding of what is expected from their work, they can work with a more focused mind, instead of being confused, which is the hallmark of a champion team .

There is no better way to plan your tasks and projects than using kanban boards . A kanban board is basically a visual representation of your project and your team’s overall progress.

For many entrepreneurs, applying kanban for task management is one of the most effective ways to sort work-related tasks/activities. The visual representation provided by Kanban answers all your important questions like “What tasks are currently being worked on?”, “how many tasks have been completed?”, “are there any tasks that are likely to fall behind schedule?”, “what tasks do we need to do next?” , and so on.

For this and many other reasons, using Kanban is a must if you are looking to optimize your team’s task management.

A major mistake that most project managers and teams make while working on projects is doing more than they can handle at once. As a result, they end up doing nothing at all. If you are considering your task management strategy, make sure that you avoid multitasking at all costs.

Instead of doing everything at once, you can consider breaking big tasks into smaller subtasks and then focusing on getting them completed one by one. Even the world’s greatest professionals have admitted to struggling whenever they plan to do multiple things at the same time. So keep multitasking at a distance and give your complete attention to one task at a time.

Finish important tasks on time, learn – How to prioritize tasks

Since we all are humans, it’s completely natural to feel a little anxious while dealing with difficult and challenging tasks. In most cases, we make all attempts to avoid difficult things, or in other words – we prefer to save the most difficult task for the last.

Now, this approach might save a little sweat but we will have to deal with the difficult tasks someday, right? So why don’t we get them completed in the very beginning?

Just think of all the thoughts that go through your mind when you have a challenging task and think of how motivated or credible you will feel when you would accomplish them successfully.

A critical part of the task management process is to set realistic time frames for each task. As a project manager, you have to define milestones and deadlines within a project based on the relevant importance of the associated task or activity.

While doing this, you need to make sure that every timeframe you set is actually achievable. Keep track of tasks at work and try to avoid any undue stress on your project team. Keep your task list organized and set realistic time limits.

According to Gallup – disengaged workers cost American Businesses somewhere between $450 billion to $550 billion annually. This number clearly reflects the importance of communication for businesses and teams and also justifies why it is one of the most important task management strategies.

As a manager, you need to streamline your team’s communication efforts to such an extent that it becomes effortless.

One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating communication channels that ensure a free flow of information so that no one feels hesitant to ask questions, clarify doubts, and so on. You can use virtual communication tools for better communication with your team.

As a project manager, it is extremely important that you keep your task management strength clear in front of your fellow team members. Talk to your team regularly , ask them about the project/task update (both success and failure), what frustrated them the most in their current task management strategy, and use their feedback to organize your tasks better.

Effective collaboration is even more important when you are managing a virtual project team. It can be a little challenging at first but there are plenty of remote team collaboration tools and apps that make team communication smoother than ever before.

Managing tasks and projects include a lot of paperwork. Tons of documents are created and amended when you are working on a specific task in a project. Now, this can easily turn into a task management nightmare if you don’t have a proper filing system.

And we are not talking about the old. If you want to organize your tasks, you need to ensure that all the documents and critical data associated with a project are kept in one single place. Doing this will save you and your team a lot of time since you don’t have to worry about searching scattered files for the latest version of a document.

Developing a system and defining things sets the tone for building a successful team. However, how successful that system is proving to be is a different matter altogether.

T o see whether the system you have designed is working fine and whether the teams can accomplish their tasks successfully, you need always keep track of things. The easiest way to do this is by using a project and team reporting tool.

Modern-day reporting tools come with features like project reports, resource reports, and time reports, which give you a clear idea of everyone’s efforts, how things are moving forward, and how team members are utilizing their time. 

Believe it or not, fear is the biggest motivator of human behavior, particularly in the case of task management and project management .

You need to accept the fact that sometimes things might not happen as per the plan and think about the negative consequences. This helps you to prepare a task management strategy that is ready for every scenario.

Last but certainly not least, if you are wondering how to organize tasks at work and keep everything in one place, you can’t neglect the importance of a dedicated online software solution.

Check out ProofHub online workflow management and task management software . Save yourself from the trouble of handling outdated spreadsheets and to-do lists, and get your tasks and teams online with this feature-rich software solution.

12. Be open to feedback

The last factor that is going to play a vital role in your list of task management strategies is – FEEDBACK. There’s always room for improvement, and it is by sharing constant feedback that you are going to find that room. Now, one important thing to remember here is that feedback sharing is always a two-way process.

You need to provide feedback to the team members wherever you think is necessary, and at the same time ask them to give feedback for the work processes and overall everything.

Doing so will make ensure that both your team and your work processes are evolving and that you are well on your way to achieving the best possible results.

Looking for a tool for simpler project handling? Try ProofHub for Free (No Credit card required)

Task management is an essential quality for every project manager. If you are not good at keeping your tasks organized, how can you expect your team to move the project forward? Just take a deep breath, and do thorough planning. Take a good look at your resources, communicate extensively with your team, and with effective task management, project success should definitely come easy.

So, what do you think about these simple task management strategies ? Did you try any of them? If so, tell us how it helped you stop procrastinating and perform more productively on our Twitter handle @proofhub !

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Task Managment Techniques: 10 Best Task Management Tips

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Tasks are the building blocks of your work and your projects. You need to manage them in order to manage work at large. The problem is, it’s easy to get overwhelmed in day-to-day tasks. That’s why you need good task management techniques to be successful.

What Is a Task Management Technique?

A task management technique is a practical way to manage your tasks better. It can be as simple as making a daily to-do list, or as advanced as establishing dependencies .

Not all your work will demand such advanced task management techniques, but to understand good task management methods is to set yourself up for higher levels of productivity and lower levels of stress.

task management method

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Task Tracker Template

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Why Are Task Management Techniques Important?

Without task management techniques, you’re bound to succumb to the chaos. People tend to just react to whatever request comes in most recently, rather than keep their priorities in order. Or maybe they always do the easy tasks first, and then slow to a crawl when it comes to the hard stuff.

These task management errors can lead to bottlenecks, delays, wasted time, lost money and more. So, it’s better to try out some proven task management techniques than try and invent your own on the spot. We have you covered!

Project management software is the perfect tool to help you manage your tasks better. With easy-to-use tools like task lists, kanban boards, calendars and more, you can execute all your favorite task management techniques for yourself or for your team. Try ProjectManager today for free!

task management list for helping with task management techniques

10 Tips & Techniques for Better Task Management

Task management is universal: whether it be the project manager dealing with a large, complex job, or just someone with something that needs to get done—task management is relevant. Unfortunately, people aren’t applying new methodologies when managing tasks in order to efficiently deal with them. Try these 10 task management techniques and see how they impact the work you’re doing.

  • List all your tasks:  To understand what you’re up against, list everything out. This can be on a piece of paper or in an online software for easy collaboration.
  • Log status:  Indicate if your task is completed, in progress or yet to begin. This will help you prioritize them later.
  • Add due dates:  Not every task is due as soon as you receive the request, but don’t put off everything way down the line either. A good task management habit is to set due dates and actually stick to them.
  • Prioritize for each day:  Every day is different. Some are jam-packed with meetings , others are blank slates. Adjust your task workload accordingly for smoother execution.
  • Delete nonessential tasks:  This is an often-overlooked task management technique. Some tasks can be delegated or simply deleted altogether. You may have to think outside the box for this one, but it’s worth it.
  • Set up reminders:  Life can be crazy, so set reminders. People can be offended if you forget about their tasks, so don’t let relationships fray because you let something just slip under the radar.
  • Add notifications:  Create notifications for your tasks if you’re working on your computer. This is a great, modern task management technique that helps cut through the noise of the digital world.
  • Break up bigger tasks into smaller ones:  This is an ideal task management method for large, challenging tasks. Rather than procrastinate, break it down into manageable activities.
  • Set expectations and boundaries with others:  Be transparent with your team . Don’t set yourself up for failure by promising the world, but don’t make others feel like their tasks aren’t important. Be professional, work hard and be honest. Your team will thank you.
  • Find a quiet place to get things done:  This is especially true if you work from home. If you can’t find a quiet place, at least get some nice headphones!

Pro tip: It’s important to know that one size doesn’t fit all, and some may need a more visual way of managing their tasks as opposed to the traditional ones. Do the research, look into the various methodologies and see which one speaks to your strengths and weaknesses.

Task Management Techniques Training Video

Jennifer Bridges, PMP, offers task management tips so you can manage your work better. These tips are especially powerful when used in combination with task management software .

Here’s a shot of the whiteboard for your reference!

10_Tips_for_Better_Task_Management_Board

Video Transcription

Today, we’re talking about 10 tips for better task management. Whether you’re leading a team or a project , you as a business professional still have to manage your own task and get your own work done. So, we’re looking at today, still, people are using the sticky note method, or maybe lists.

So we’re looking to move beyond these methods to using more advanced online tools, or even apps. And when we use online task management tools and apps, there are best practices and tips we want to offer for how to manage your task. Number one, list all your tasks. Get them out of your brain so you don’t have to rely on memory, and get them into your tool. Number two, manage your task. Mark if they’re completed, or pending, or not even started. That way you know each day what to focus on.

Add due dates so that not everything is due today. You want to prioritize for each day and complete critical tasks first, and early. Get rid of or delegate non-essential tasks to other people so that you can focus on the things that you’re best suited for, or more critical for your role.

Also, set up reminders so that you know in advance, hey what’s due today, what’s due this week, or even this month? Add notifications for yourself and others, so you’ll know when tasks have been completed. There are other people at times who are waiting to complete something, based on you completing your task.

Break up bigger tasks into smaller ones. Sometimes big tasks can look too overwhelming, and we want to tend to avoid them. So if we break them up into smaller, doable tasks, we can begin making progress.

We want to also set expectations for others. Let people know the expectation in your process of how you work. Also, set boundaries with them, so that they know at certain times of the day, certain times of the week, you’re working on specific things and they don’t need to interrupt you and hijack your time. And number 10, find a quiet place with no interruptions so you can get things done.

So, if you need a tool to help you manage your task, then sign up for our software now at ProjectManager .

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5 Steps to Getting Things Done (GTD) Method

Table of contents, advantages and disadvantages of using the gtd method, what are the 5 steps, step 1: collect tasks, step 2: task manager, step 3: organize tasks, step 4: review actions, step 5: complete tasks, trello, a visual collaboration tool, task management with asana, creating interactive notes with evernote, say goodbye to stress and get real results.

Do you find it difficult to complete tasks on time ? And, are you always putting off tasks until the last minute?

If you’ve answered yes to one of these questions, then the GTD method is for you!

The GTD method , also known as the Getting Things Done method was introduced by David Allen in his book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity .

Being in a work environment filled with tasks, requests and unpredictable events can be difficult to manage. Distractions or interruptions from devices or colleagues are obstacles that make you put off tasks and adjust your agenda. This is why it is important to manage your time efficiently .

So, how can you manage time and priorities more efficiently to increase your productivity and free your mind?

By following the 5 simple steps of the GTD method explained in this article!

What is the GTD method?

The GTD method , also known as the Getting Things Done method is a time management and productivity system introduced by David Allen in 2001.

By using this method, you will be able to:

  • prioritize tasks ,
  • meet your goals , one by one,
  • clear your mind ,
  • and relieve stress .

gtd-method-planning

In his book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity , David Allen explains the fundamental steps of getting things done efficiently.

The GTD method helps to get things done by :

  • limiting requests that may interfere with your tasks,
  • keeping track of commitments and ideas externally, to free your mind,
  • prioritizing tasks to identify tasks that are actionable and tasks that aren’t,
  • helping you regain control to focus on the right tasks at the right time.

☝️ However, you should keep in mind that: to get the most out of the GTD method, you will need discipline and you must keep following the key steps in the long term.

On a daily basis, you must be able to schedule urgent tasks and unforeseen events into your schedule. And, constantly review the prioritization of tasks so that you don't get overwhelmed, thus optimizing your work processing as well as omnifocusing on more important tasks.

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The 5 steps of the GTD method

The getting things done GTD method is designed to manage workflows by following five steps:

  • collect tasks , projects, and ideas,
  • process ideas to set up actions,
  • organize tasks into measurable action plans,
  • keep track and adjust,
  • complete tasks .

Here is a simple explanation of the GTD method:

gtd-method-simplified-mfyz

Write , record , or gather any and everything that has your attention into a collection tool.

This includes:

  • day-to-day tasks and projects,
  • uncompleted tasks ,
  • any idea that crosses your mind.

The goal is to write down worrying elements to free yourself from them. The Inbox of the GTD method fulfills this role.

You can write down these elements on:

  • post-it notes,
  • to-do lists on your phone, computer or tablet, etc.

Similar to a device in sleep mode, these background tasks use energy from your brain that you will need to use when completing important tasks.

This step consists of defining the nature of each task or idea:

  • is the idea "actionable", in other words, can you link an action to each idea?
  • is that action a priority?

❌ If the answer is no :

  • remove it: take no future actions,
  • postpone it: you will complete that task one day when it is possible,
  • archive it: file the task for future reference in a specific folder or with a reminder in your calendar.

✅ If the answer is yes:

  • is there only one action?
  • are you responsible for it?
  • can you complete this task in less than 2 minutes?

If you’ve answered YES to all these questions, then you should complete the task immediately. If you’ve answered NO to them, then you should continue to the next step.

💡Here are some rules that you should remember :

  • start with the first topic,
  • analyze one subject at a time,
  • once you have started completing a task, you can not send it back to the collection system (see step 1).

Now, it's time to organize and prioritize the tasks that could not be completed in less than two minutes. In other words, here is how you can sort and prioritize these tasks into your action plan.

  • a one day/maybe folder: for projects that are not urgent, but should be kept for future action;
  • a reference folder: for interesting things that do not require any action, but can be useful in the future;
  • a pending folder: for ongoing projects and tasks, when you are waiting for a response, delivery, etc., and you will need to schedule a reminder to the person in charge;
  • your calendar: for actions that have a specific deadline or a planned appointment, such as calls, meetings, etc,
  • your list of to do 's according to its  priorities , by specifying an order of priority, the time needed to complete it, and the reason why you are completing it.
  • put it in the "pending" folder,
  • create a schedule with a list of actions, and define the next action you must complete. And, follow the same pattern for each action.
  • If you consider the action neither a priority nor useful for later: get rid of it.
  • (WBS) Work Breakdown Structure Examples: The Method Overview

Some tasks are scheduled, some are now completed, and new tasks have appeared on your list.

It's important to check in regularly : every day, once a week, at the beginning or end of the week... it depends on each person. Why should you review actions?

  • to re-evaluate the list of tasks,
  • to prioritize tasks and set new deadlines,
  • to handle ongoing and urgent tasks ,
  • but also check if your organization system is clear, complete, and up to date.

Do you feel lost in your tasks and projects? Are you confused about where you are and how to deal with new ideas without falling behind?

👉 Take the time to review your tasks to prioritize them and move forward serenely.

Your tasks are prioritized and planned: now it’s time for action! It's time to carry out these tasks according to the schedule you planned. Always keep an eye on your to-do list so you know which tasks to complete according to the time and energy you have available.

In what order should you organize the tasks ?

  • daily appointments,
  • tasks that are planned in your agenda,
  • other tasks.

👉 Do you not have enough time to deal with an urgent task?

Then, you should repeat this method from step 1. Assess how urgent this task is, the time needed to complete it and whether or not you can delegate or postpone it by planning it later. Procrastination can be a good thing!

And keep in mind: you have the right to say no! The level of urgency of this task is relative and varies from person to person. And, the success behind the Getting Things Done method depends on your ability to respect order and task management. If you feel that a task is not as urgent as you are told it is, it is up to you to choose how and when to deal with it... or what other tasks to postpone to deal with it.

Task management tools to support the GTD method

Trello is an online task management and project management system designed for businesses of all types and sizes. With Trello, you can create visual maps to organize tasks according to projects and progress.

gtd-method-trello

The strengths of Trello include:

  • it is a collaborative tool, with integrated discussions and content sharing,
  • it notifies you when tasks are completed,
  • it provides an intuitive working environment.
  • it can be used from anywhere and from any type of device.

Asana is a work management software that helps teams coordinate and manage their work, tasks, and projects.

Asana will help your business work more efficiently by making sure that every team member is up-to-date on all tasks, projects, processes.

gtd-method-asana

You can also use Asana to manage your to-do lists for days, weeks, or months (in a "My Tasks" view).

The strengths of Asana include:

  • there is a free option available,
  • it connects with dozens of other apps and integrations,
  • it can be synchronized with your Google calendar.

Evernote is a handy tool for creating notes, to help you remember everything you might forget. You can create GTD-type lists and organize, prioritize and classify them into projects, and even share them.

gtd-method-evernote

The strengths of Evernote include:

  • all your information is updated (computer, phone, tablet, etc.) thanks to synchronization,
  • your favorite web pages can be saved in your account with a single click,
  • note sharing for collaborative and simultaneous work.

The GTD method helps you improve your organization skills , accomplish your tasks one by one, and getting things done while having the satisfaction of crossing them off your to-do list .

You will free your mind and see your projects move forward. Are you ready to use this method and get things done?

*GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of The David Allen Company.

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  • Tired of not Getting Things Done? Maste ...

Tired of not Getting Things Done? Master the GTD method in 5 steps

Julia Martins contributor headshot

Not-so-controversial opinion: Your brain isn’t made to store information. That’s because, when your mind is cluttered with to-dos and reminders, you have less brain power to spend on the work you actually need to do.

What is the GTD method? 

The GTD—or Getting Things Done—method operates with the belief that the more information you’re mentally keeping track of, the less productive and focused you are. Instead of relying on your brain, the GTD methodology encourages you to store all of your work information in an external, organized source of truth. That way, you always know the answer to “What do I need to do next?” without worrying about work falling through the cracks. 

What does GTD stand for?

GTD is an acronym that stands for Getting Things Done, a productivity method first developed by David Allen in 2001. Allen describes the GTD method in his book, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity."

GTD is a popular time management strategy because of how simple it is to implement and how powerful it can be in practice. Even if you aren’t aware of it, your brain is constantly “on” in the background, shuffling and rearranging your upcoming to-dos to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Whenever you introduce a new task to the mix, your brain needs to think through everything you have on the docket and reprioritize your work relative to this new task.

Using work management to implement the GTD method

Instead of trying to store all of your project information in your brain, the GTD method uses a five step system to capture and catalogue your to-dos into an external source, such as a work management tool . Your brain isn’t built to store large bodies of organized information—but work management tools are. By externalizing this information into actionable items, you’re better set up for long-term success.

The tools you use matter. Look for a tool that lets you capture and organize personal, project, and program-level information. The GTD method doesn’t just help you organize your personal to-dos—though it’s great for that—it can also help you capture non-actionable reference work, work that other team members need to complete, and goals related to the work you’re doing. 

Instead of storing that information in different places, the GTD method helps you input and organize it into one tool such as a work management tool. Naturally, we think Asana is a good option. Asana brings the GTD method to life by organizing your work and reducing your mental strain so you can complete your high-impact work on time.

Pros and cons of the GTD method

The Getting Things Done method is just one time management strategy. Like all time management techniques, it has its pros and cons. The strategy you choose to implement depends largely on which skills you want to improve with time management. 

The GTD system is easy to set up and flexible to use. It:

Reduces the cognitive load and mental strain that comes from trying to remember everything that’s on your plate.

Eliminates multitasking so you have more time to be in the flow . 

Builds a central source for all information—even non-actionable information. 

Provides a clear sense of the work on your plate so it’s easy to reprioritize or reschedule if necessary.

Before you get started with the GTD method, here are some limitations to keep in mind. The GTD method: 

Takes time to set up. If you’re not already using a task management system , create one to document all of your work. 

Can be too flexible. The GTD method only helps you organize your tasks—it doesn’t help you schedule your weekly or daily work. Some people struggle with this level of open-ended flexibility. If you’re one of them, pair the GTD method with another time management method, like time blocking or timeboxing . 

Try these 5 steps in the GTD workflow

The five steps of the Getting Things Done method set you up for success. These steps help you catalogue and organize your upcoming work in an external tool like Asana , so you’re no longer mentally keeping track of upcoming to-dos. Then, once your work is organized in the GTD method, you can start executing on tasks. 

Before you can organize your work, you first need to capture it—in a place outside of your brain. David Allen calls this your Inbox—regardless of what tool you’re using. That’s because any task, piece of information, or reminder (or, as Allen likes to call it, “stuff”) goes directly into your Inbox. Think of this less as an email inbox and more as a task list of data to be processed later.

Where to capture information

If you’re trying to improve personal productivity, consider using a to-do list to track your work. Alternatively, if you work with a team, try a work management platform to not only capture and track your own work, but to organize and manage your team’s work as well.

Focus on capturing, not organizing

Don’t worry if the work you capture isn’t organized or well documented. The first step is simply getting your stuff out of your brain and into an external source. Capturing is the first step towards organizing your to-dos into a better productivity system. 

Make sure you’re using a system that makes it easy to capture information. A key tenet of the GTD method is capturing information as soon as it enters your brain. That immediately lightens the load—and helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Where applicable, make sure to add additional context like documents, collaborators, due dates, or key details. 

[Old Product UI] Disorganized GTD method in My Tasks project in Asana (Lists)

Use a virtual system

The best way to capture all of this stuff is to use a virtual system—not an analogue one. Written to-do lists provide the wonderfully satisfying feeling of crossing something off, but they’re also the worst way to keep track of your to-dos. In reality, a written to-do list is often disorganized, prone to mistakes, easy to lose, and ineffective.

Naturally, we recommend Asana . Asana is a work management system that organizes work so your team knows what to do, why it matters, and how to get it done. 

2. Clarify...

Once you’ve captured everything, it’s time to clarify. During the Clarify step, you’re turning the information you’ve captured into actionable tasks, detailed notes , or robust context. The Clarify step and the Organize step go hand in hand—as you Clarify, you also Organize this work into the appropriate project. 

To Clarify, make sure each item in your inbox has enough information, including:

An actionable title (we recommend starting with a verb).

Any context, documents, files, or collaborators that need to be looped in on the work.

The associated project initiative, to-do list, or goals the item is attached to.

Any associated context, like the stage the work is in, the associated budget, estimated working hours, or priority.

Whether or not this work is blocked by other deliverables, or waiting for additional information.

Don’t worry about moving these to-dos just yet. You’ll move to-dos from your Inbox into the appropriate project during the Organize step.

[Old Product UI] GTD method in My Tasks project in Asana with project-level information (Lists)

Priority matters

As you Clarify, add an associated priority to each item. Inevitably, things come up, deadlines shift, and priorities change. With a clear sense of every task’s priority, you can rearrange due dates if necessary so you’re always getting your highest-impact work done—and you know what to delay or delegate if needed. 

Quick tasks

Sometimes, quickly completing work is easier than triaging and Clarifying it:

If an item takes less than two minutes to complete, do it right away. That not only removes it from your mind—but also from your list of to-dos. 

If something doesn’t fall under your responsibilities, delegate the work to the right person for the job.

Break items into multiple tasks if necessary

You may have jotted down items that represent more than just one task. For example, imagine you got inspiration to create a new ebook, and you added a quick reminder to your Inbox. Creating an ebook takes many steps and involves many stakeholders. So during the Clarify step, break that initiative out into several, separate tasks. Create a task for “Outline ebook,” a task for “Review outline,” a task for “Draft ebook,” etc. 

Alternatively, if the item you captured represents an entire project or program’s worth of information, use a project management tool to capture all of the moving pieces of that initiative. For example, if you’re working on a new product launch, use a project management tool to track the different pieces going into the launch—the engineering and product development side, the go-to-market strategy, the press release , and so on.

3. … and Organize

While you Clarify, you should also Organize. During the Organize step, move items into the appropriate projects in your work management tool . You can think of projects like virtual folders to store important, related information. By organizing and moving to-dos into their relevant projects, you turn these to-dos from notes into actionable work. 

Setting up an organizational structure

Each time you arrive at an item in your Inbox—after you’ve Clarified and added any additional context—move it out of your Inbox and into the appropriate project. If you haven’t already, set up projects to house your various initiatives. We recommend:

A project for all of your actionable work, sorted by priority 

A project for notes or reference materials

A project or tool to track personal and team goals

A project for initiatives you don’t have time for but want to revisit in the future

A project or section for blocked work

A team project for shared information and meeting agendas

Organizing is a critical part of the GTD method—but the exact organizational system you set up is up to you. In Asana, everything that’s assigned to you automatically goes into your My Tasks. This is a view of all of the work you need to complete. You can create additional sections in your My Tasks to organize high-priority work that’s due today, work that’s due this week, and longer-term work. 

[Old Product UI] Organized GTD method in My Tasks project in Asana with priority, date, and project-level information (Lists)

Clearing your Inbox

We’ve all saved to-dos as “unreads” in our inbox to get back to later. But these things take up mental space and aren’t actually productive. Instead, turn each to-do into an actionable task—and immediately move it into the appropriate project.

At the end of the Clarify and Organize steps, your Inbox should be empty. Everything should have been moved to the appropriate project or working doc so that the next time you check your Inbox, you’re triaging brand new tasks. 

The GTD method isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it method. Instead, you need to frequently review your tasks and reprioritize if necessary. That’s why it’s critical to understand the priority of each task. If new tasks are higher priority than older work, understanding each task’s relative priority helps you reschedule your work and easily juggle shifting priorities.

When to Reflect

The Reflect step can be a slippery slope—the last thing you want is to constantly be checking your Inbox, since that cuts into potential focus time. 

We recommend Reflecting twice a day—at the beginning and end of each day. Make Reflecting part of your morning ritual, then triage again at the end of the day so you’re more organized for tomorrow. That way, you approach each day clear-headed, without feeling like you need to check your to-do list and reorganize your daily calendar. Remember: the GTD method is designed to lighten the mental load, so make sure you aren’t Reflecting too often, because that defeats the purpose. 

Then, do a more thorough weekly review of the work you completed in the past few days and the tasks that are upcoming next week. Ensure nothing has fallen through the cracks, and clarify priorities if necessary so you start the next week ready to go. 

The Engage step is where you get the bulk of your work done within the GTD method. You’ve cleared your mind and organized everything you need to do. Now all that’s left is to, well, get things done. 

What to do when

There are no strict rules or guidelines for what to do when. If you prefer this sort of structure, pair the GTD method with other time management techniques, like the Pomodoro method.

Four considerations for Engaging

If you aren’t sure where to get started, run through the four Engagement considerations before getting started. Then, select the task that’s most appropriate for your current situation.

Priority: Which tasks are the highest priority? What do you absolutely have to get done today? 

Context: Similar to the way our brains can’t multitask, it’s also best to do similar tasks at the same time. This is the methodology behind time blocking . Getting all of your emails done at once—rather than switching between tasks, email, and back—helps you get things done faster, because your brain is already in that context. If you’re thinking about what to do next, try doing all similar work in a time block. 

Time available: How much time do you have right now? Ideally, select tasks you can do in the time you have available, so you don’t have to stop halfway through.

Energy available: How are you feeling? It’s important to consider not only your theoretical capacity, but your actual capacity. Maybe you’re really not feeling up to writing that blog you need to do. You could force yourself to do it, but it would take double the time as usual. Instead, see if you can do something else—maybe something slightly lower priority—to get you in the spirit and get your energy up. 

Get things done 

The Getting Things Done method is an easy to implement, flexible method that reduces the strain on your brain and helps you get higher-impact work done. Although this method requires up-front effort, it’ll become second nature with time and practice. 

To get started with the GTD method, try Asana . Plus, download the Asana mobile app to capture everything you need on the go.

Task Management Techniques: 7 Lists To Get Shit Done On Time

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Maybe you’re the sort of person who sits down at their desk for 8 hours solid and hammers out as much as possible.

Maybe you use the Pomodoro method  or your own task management techniques.

I don’t know what sort of person I am yet.

I used to give it no thought — wake up, lob a coffee down my throat, sit down and start typing.

Lately, my tasks are harder to define and I find myself having trouble with time management and prioritizing .

Right now I’m using Pomello, a Pomodoro timer that lives in Trello and times my work on each card. Click here  to get it.

Pomello Task Management

Tomorrow I’ll probably be sick of it and defiantly hammering on the keyboard until it’s time to sleep…

In my seemingly neverending quest to get shit done, I’ve seen a ton of strange methods and lists. And, let me tell you, working at Process Street — a task management system for businesses — I’m making myself practice what I preach.

Here are some of the task management techniques I’ve come across. The first step: Brain dump! Note down everything you can think of that needs doing at some point. Once you’ve done that, here are some ways to organize them.

The ‘6 box’ to-do list

The 6 box to-do list helps you focus on your most important tasks by organizing them into the top 5 and then having a separate box for everything else.

This is a good list if you find yourself putting equal time and effort into urgent and non-urgent tasks. Here, the non-urgent tasks are all 5 times less important because of the way they’re structured on the page. It also means you’re not forgetting about your lower priority tasks altogether, you’re just putting them on the back burner.

Checklist 1

‘ABC 123’ prioritized planning

If you enjoy filing reports, look forward to processing the Promotions tab in your inbox and can’t wait to get a spare minute to tag all 500 untagged Evernote notes, this list could be the next big thing in your life.

The lettered (ABC) section of the list tells you how much damage a task will do to you if it’s left unfinished.

An ‘A task’ could be finishing off a big project that your boss has been waiting on or a presentation you’ll give this afternoon.

A ‘B task’ is something you can’t avoid doing but doesn’t have much riding on it. It could be organizing your team’s task list for next week.

‘C tasks’ are things which will need doing eventually but effect nothing if they aren’t done. This could be something like cleaning your garage or buying that new watch you like.

Letters show you how important a task is, but not how urgent it is. Numbering a task 1 (for example, 1A) shows that it is the most important of its lettered category. Numbers denote urgency and letters denote importance. That’s probably confusing, so here’s an example:

Checklist 2

Labels and lists on Trello

If you keep a task list in Trello like I do, it can be difficult to figure out what to do. My task list has hundreds of cards in various lists, and could be overwhelming if it wasn’t properly organized.

Thankfully, Trello ‘s built for stuff like this.

Each morning, take 5 minutes to go through your tasks and label the ones that are more urgent than the rest with a red label. Trello’s filtering feature allows you to show only cards with red labels.

Trello task management

This might work for you, but if it doesn’t there’s another way. If you use Trello like I do, with columns for Upcoming, Doing, Waiting Approval and Done, you can add a Priority list and organize them by priority by putting the most urgent cards at the top.

The Done List

To-do lists don’t work for everyone. The sorts of people who get stressed out by big lists of unfinished tasks are the sort that would get more value from a done list. It’s like the process of elimination — you know what’s already done (and can see it there in all its glory), so know what to focus on next.

An example of a done list used frequently in business (particularly when managing developers) is the agile reporting system:

Walter Chen of iDoneThis brought this to my attention, and his article, The Power of the Done List made me realize I already have one. It’s the last list on my task board on Trello, where I proudly move cards that have been thwarted by my superior task management skills.

Limited Number Lists

If you’re the sort of person who likes artificial constraints, you’ll love this! You probably have a task list a mile long, but, unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day. Take that terrifying list of 20 ‘urgent’ tasks and pick just FIVE that you’re going to work on.

This is a lot like the 6 box method I mentioned earlier, but it’s for people who have a tougher time focusing. Instead of demoting your less urgent tasks to the 6th box, you cut them altogether and refuse to acknowledge their existence until you simply must do it.

Do Now / Delegate / Defer / Drop

Ah, the four Ds. Managers will like this one because it’s a way to organize yourself and others.

When faced with a hefty list of tasks, it’s easy to forget that most of the time you could delegate the fiddly, time-consuming ones elsewhere. And the ones you have to do yourself can be added to separate lists, in order of priority.

Deferring is a form of task snoozing , a feature I’d recommend from Any.do Moment, a task management app for Android and iOS, which lets you snooze a task (pause it for now, get notified again later).

Is there one task in particular that you’re always putting off? Drop the sucker. Tidy things up, and make it easier for yourself in the future. Multiple lists can be organized with Trello, as I’ll tell you until I lose my voice or mind.

Recurring Task Lists

Every Monday I have a set of tasks to process as a morning routine . I could do them on Tuesday, or Friday, but I’ve chosen to get them all out of the way right at the start of the week. For this purpose, I use Process Street to create a template — the basis for a checklist that I can use over and over again — then set it up so it creates a new one every Monday.

For example, this week I had a checklist called ‘Monday Tasks – 16th November’. I got an email reminding me that it’s time to get started on them, and I worked through the list before getting on with anything else. Here’s how the process could look:

Monday Task List

To schedule a checklist, click the template and then use the drop-down menu next to ‘Run checklist’ to select the scheduling function.

Process Street Task Management Software

For more information, check out  our help site . 🙂

So, there you have it.

Eventually, I settled on using Trello with a ‘Priority’ list and the Pomello add-on to track my tasks with a timer. However, I also have my eye on TaskPaper and a whole host of other checklist apps .

And if even I’ve managed to pull myself together, there’s got to be something that fits your daily routine and workflow in there.

Good luck, and let me know in the comments if you’ve got more task management techniques that I’ve overlooked (or to tell me how much shit you just got done thanks to this).

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Benjamin Brandall

Benjamin Brandall is a content marketer at Process Street .

I am new to Process St and surprised by this post as I was thinking the PS could replace my need to use Asana … Am I understanding your post correctly?

Actually, Process Street could either be used in place of Asana or together with it. Process Street is for tracking your recurring task progress. So, for example, when you’re getting a new employee set up you might need to

1. Collect their data 2. Send them a welcome email 3. Add them to your Slack, Trello, give them login credentials 4. Etc.

Process Street lets you create repeatable checklists for these kinds of tasks, and links to other apps so when the box is checked, it executes the step. So, for step 1, if you were to enter data into a Process Street checklist you could automatically push that data to a spreadsheet or a CRM.

As for linking it to Asana, you could set a rule up that says “whenever I add a task with a certain task to Asana, run a checklist from a certain template in Process Street”.

Does that clear things up for you?

Hello Benjamin,

Thank you for great content you create.

Just wandering if you use any Zaps between Trello & Process Street?

Hi there 🙂 Thank you for the article – My best idea how to get shit done: start something – no matter how far it gets you, it is always further than before. I often use digital tools likewise kanbantool.com – just to make sure that all the tasks will be done correctly and on time. Kanban helps me very much to control everything 🙂 Thank you for the article – it is very helpful, especially for people who have a hectic life..

I’ve never found anyone who could explain things I’ve never been able to. Now that I am trying to organize my life, house, business, kids etc I have lists on lists on lists! I feel lost and very overwhelmed sometimes but nobody seems to get it or care sometimes. It’s cool af to read the way you explained the racing of the brain and all that on top of struggling to focus. People in my world just don’t fully understand that. Unfortunately my kids all suffer from depression and their own adhd/ocd anxiety. Learning more helps! Thanks

I remember reading an article for ADHD people who if doing a task list to do list thing but not on your phone this works great but I want one that work on my phone so that’s what I’m looking for here anyway so you put all your tasks each on their own post it note. Keep it by simply. Every little step is it’s own post it. Have them all laid out on front of you on half of v the area youre lookimg at in front of you. Didn’t the other half of that area is where you drag and drop each posted according to which one you really need to do for the day. n one side of the board or whatever in front of you and you look at all this little tasks and you pick out the ones that are the most important ones and your drag and drop them over onto the blank side of the space…. so that way when you have those three or whatever you want to focus on only but all the other ones are still there in the list for you to pick up tomorrow or whenever but then you don’t get nothing on today’s list they’ll automatically fall back in the pile of of all the things to do that’s what I really want is there an app from anyone knows of please let me know!! The drag and drop feature is kind of a major one for me and being able to see all of the tasks on one side and then just r lines to focus on now, next to it, and then make them all fall back on to the beginning task list if I don’t get them done by end of day… And the ability to attach reminders, alarms, repeating, etc too any task….

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Task Management: A Beginner’s Guide

  • Introduction

What is task management?

  • Task management methods and methodologies
  • How business teams use task management
  • Essentials of a task management workflow

Converting to online task management

Top features of a task management system.

We all do some form of task management every day. In fact, each time you come home and decide to do a load of laundry and leave the dishes for tomorrow, you’re managing your tasks.

Formal task management is a basic concept expanded for use at scale. Done correctly, it can increase your productivity and positively impact your business’s bottom line.

“The task management life cycle includes steps like planning, tracking, execution, and a compilation of your success after a project or group of tasks has been completed,” says Travis Haninger, VP of customer experience and cofounder of SequoiaCX. “When done right, it can transform your organization’s productivity and growth.”

But task management is much more than shuffling a list of items from to-do to done. Organizations can scale effective task management so that both small and large teams work together seamlessly to bring projects to fruition.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll define task management, break down the most popular task management methods, tackle how to use those methods, learn to build workflows, and cover online task management and the top features of a good workflow tool. Here’s an overview of each topic.

Chapter synopsis

  • Introduction.
  • What is task management? Learn what task management means, how to think about managing tasks through their entire life cycle, and the difference between task management and project management.
  • Top task management methods and methodologies. Two main methodologies cover how to execute task management responsibilities day to day. Learn about both in this chapter.
  • How business teams of all types use task management. All sorts of business teams use task management methodologies in different ways. Learn more with concrete examples from marketing, HR, IT, and sales teams.
  • Essentials of an effective task management workflow. Learn how an effective task management workflow can remove bottlenecks, improve communication, increase transparency, help you prioritize, and automate administrative tasks like status updates.
  • Converting to online task management. Learn to convert to online task management in just three easy steps: mapping your workflow, selecting a tool, and performing repetitive testing.
  • Top features of a task management system. Learn how to pick a good workflow tool with this list of necessary features, including task delegation, calendar management, tracking, and much more.

Now that we’ve briefly reviewed each chapter, let’s dive into a detailed description of task management, including how it relates to project management and why it’s important for any business.

Remember to bookmark this guide for later reference.

What exactly is task management? It’s much more than a review of whether or not your team is completing tasks. It also includes critical steps like task planning, tracking, execution, and reporting.

Task management is the process of moving your tasks from ideation to completion by managing their day-to-day progress. The ultimate goal is to complete all scheduled tasks.

When we break down each of these stages, we gain a clearer picture of what task management really entails:

  • Planning: defining a task, setting its priority level, and assigning an owner
  • Tracking: monitoring progress of a task as it moves through the life cycle
  • Execution: performing the work required to complete a task
  • Compilation: gathering insights from the work performed in comparison with other tasks

Task management looks different depending on your role. At an organizational level, task management consists of large tasks broken down into much smaller tasks to be managed at the team level.

“On an organizational level, you have major tasks to be completed, like the creation of a new product, the launch of a website, or the closing of a major deal,” says Saman (Sam) Pourkermani, director at Inspirant Group . “Those tasks are then filtered to various teams within an organization to manage. For example, the creation of a new product might be broken down into a variety of tasks to be managed by manufacturing, marketing, and sales enablement.”

Task management vs project management

Task management can be a subset of project management — but never a replacement for it.

When you’re managing a project, you’ll ultimately need to break that project into smaller tasks. In addition, there will always be operational work to complete that doesn’t sit under the umbrella of a project.

“Tasks are the building blocks of all work,” says Haninger. “Every team, project, or program is built from a series of tasks, and the ability to track and compile those tasks is essential to the completion of the project. In this way, task management and project management can be symbiotic.”

To further distinguish the two management types, let’s define the difference between them:

  • Project management is a process that consists of defining and tracking the tasks that need to be accomplished to complete a project.
  • Task management is a process that consists of tracking and managing all tasks, whether or not they belong to a specific project.

“If you think about your day, you’re constantly evaluating what you need to get done within a given period of time,” says Andrew Graf, chief product strategist at TeamDynamix . “You have tasks that are tied to the success of a specific project, like the creation of an article for a marketing campaign, which is likely to get prioritized over rethinking the nomenclature behind your file organization.”

Why is task management important for any business?

There is no more essential component to effective work than task management. As tasks are assigned and reassigned when projects change or priorities shift, so much can get lost in the shuffle if you’re not managing those tasks efficiently.

The number one reason that task management is critical for any business is prioritization.

“Let’s use marketing as an example,” says Haninger. “Let’s say you’re an agency and you’ve got a cluster of content you’re working on, but a client makes a request for an article that they need urgently. You’ve got to have a way to go to your boss and say, ‘I have these 10 urgent things on my list already, which one should I deprioritize to accommodate this new request?’ ”

A system that allows for the prioritization of tasks brings structure to the execution of work. Without a framework or system to manage tasks, you won’t know if you’re working on the right things to be successful.

The next chapter covers some of the most popular task management methods for day-to-day planning, execution, and reporting for teams of all types.

Top task management methods and methodologies

How you actually manage your tasks will depend on which of the task management methods you adopt, and the method you choose will depend on the task management methodology that you think best applies to the work you do.

Task management methodologies vs task management methods

Task management methods are built to execute day-to-day tasks based on the principles of a task management methodology. Let’s define each term:

  • Task management methodologies are theories of how to complete work, based on a defined set of principles.
  • Task management methods are frameworks for how to manage day-to-day tasks, following the principles of the overarching task management methodologies.

Task management methodologies

Agile and waterfall are the two most popular task management methodologies. Agile is built on principles of iterative work, or a “plan-as-you-go” mindset, whereas waterfall is built on principles of work in a timeline, or a “start to finish” mindset. 

Agile is a task management methodology with roots in software development. It promotes continuous iteration through testing throughout the life cycle of a project. When you implement Agile, both testing and measurement happen simultaneously.

“Agile task management is typically applied in a project setting,” says Graf. “Say you have a deadline to complete a project between now and the end of the year. Agile says that you have a set of business problems to solve in a certain amount of time, so break it down into smaller chunks. After each chunk (or set of tasks) is complete, let’s take a step back, see how we did, and reprioritize.”

Breaking out a project into chunks of work, or sprints (which we’ll cover more in depth later), allows you to review work with stakeholders as you go, so there are never misalignments or surprises at the end of a project.

Waterfall is a direct competitor to agile and emphasizes a linear progression from the beginning to the end of a project. This methodology requires careful planning at the beginning of a project, detailed documentation as you go, and consecutive execution throughout the life cycle to meet deadlines.

“While it’s less popular than agile, there’s nothing wrong with using waterfall when the type of work that you’re doing is predictable,” says Pourkermani. “For example, I can manage the process of making a cup of coffee in the morning quite predictably. I input the coffee beans, use the grinder, boil water, and pour my cup. 

“But if my project is more complex, like redecorating a room in my home, I might prefer agile to better manage surprises like orders that are delayed, curtains that aren’t quite the right color or size, or any other roadblock.”

When you apply waterfall, changes to a complex project can become expensive and time-consuming as you often have to backtrack and redo tasks to handle unexpected issues.

Task management methods

Several task management methods can carry out the principles of the two most common methodologies.

Kanban task management is part of the agile methodology. It’s a visual method for managing tasks through the use of cards moved between life cycle stages as a project progresses. Pronounced “kahn-bahn,” kanban gets its name from the original Japanese translation, “visual signal” or “card.”

“There are certainly other methods, but I don’t believe any of them are as good as kanban when it comes to bringing visibility into where work is, how it’s progressing, and how far it needs to go before completion,” says Pourkermani.

Graf describes the visual experience of Kanban using a metaphorical swimming pool. Each lane is a life cycle stage between ideation and completion for each task. As you complete each stage, you move your card from lane to lane.

“Kanban was originally managed using Post-it notes on a board, but nowadays, many digital tools can mimic it,” says Haninger.

Here’s an example of a Jotform table organized using cards that users can move back and forth in a kanban-style workflow.

Image of Kanban Task Management

Scrum is the most popular method to carry out the principles of agile. Users complete tasks in short blocks of time, called sprints, which usually range from two weeks to one month.

After each sprint, you collect feedback, measure progress, and select or adapt the next set of tasks based on what you learned in the sprint.

Getting Things Done (GTD)

GTD task management can adapt to the principles of either agile or waterfall, depending on how users execute it. GTD is the process of recording every task, request, or ticket in one master list and working on methodically completing those tasks until your list is empty.

“GTD is most appropriate for individuals or small teams,” says Graf. “You record any task that comes your way and constantly review and prioritize your tasks based on that big list. You could do this following the principles of agile, by completing chunks of tasks at a time, or you could plan them all at once, following the principles of waterfall.”

Lean portfolio management

Lean portfolio management is a task management method that follows the principles of waterfall. Its roots are in manufacturing, and it focuses on completing an entire project from start to finish using the least amount of resources possible, including both raw materials and human resources.

In the next chapter, we’ll learn that while some of these methods have roots in one specific business department, you can carry out all of them across your organization.

How business teams of all types use task management

No matter where you work within an organization, you can adopt task management to streamline your workflow.

Let’s dive further into task management by finding out how it’s used in areas like marketing campaigns, information technology (IT) requests, human resources, and sales projects. We’ll explore several relevant examples.

Task management: How is it used across business teams?

While business teams work on a wide range of different projects — from software development to marketing campaigns to sales — they can all use the same foundational task management methods to manage them.

“Each task management method can work for each business team with just a few minimal modifications,” says Haninger. “But they’ll all benefit from things like automating handoffs, visualizing their workflows, and keeping updates all in one place.” 

Examples of task management methods by department

Although the foundational elements will remain the same, the stages of each workflow, which tasks are automated, and how tasks are prioritized will differ by department. Let’s look at examples from marketing, human resources, IT, and sales.

Marketing teams often manage tasks related to marketing campaigns, like emails, blog posts, and events. Because many of these tasks are tied to a particular launch date, prioritization based on the marketing calendar is key to the success of their project management method.

“Within a marketing team, there may be several different types of tasks to support a campaign, like written content, graphics, podcasts, videos, website updates, and more,” says Haninger.

“Each one of these tasks has a different workflow to get it from ideation to completion, but they all serve the goal of launching that campaign. You need a system that breaks down each task’s individual workflow while also being able to track all of those tasks at a high level, so the campaign launches on time.”

Marketing teams could use a kanban board or a color-coded table to track the progress of each task in support of their marketing campaigns.

Here’s an example of how a marketing team could use Jotform tables to manage its digital marketing campaigns .

Image of Digital Marketing Campaign Template

Human resources

HR teams need a task management method to track projects like the recruitment cycle, employee onboarding, and employee benefits. While your task management framework will stay the same, you’ll need different tactical steps within your workflow to make sure tasks get done on time.

“Within HR teams, there is reporting, open enrollment, and endless requests from employees for information,” says Graf. “Adopting a task management method allows those teams to organize and prioritize those requests to stay productive.”

Jotform has over 20 HR task management templates for teams to manage all types of projects. Here’s an example of how you might use Jotform to track vacation and sick time .

Image of Vacation and Sick Time Tracking Spreadsheet

IT teams typically work with ticketing systems that allow employees or customers to submit IT requests into a work queue.

This issue tracker template from Jotform shows how an IT team may collect incoming IT requests and assign owners to each to ensure every ticket is addressed promptly.

Image of Issue Tracker Template

“IT teams are often a good example of a department with tasks that aren’t always tied to a project,” says Graf. “While we might have project-based tasks, like upgrading security software, there will always be items like replacing employee computers, patching security structure, upgrading systems when new versions are available, and more.”

Even though IT might have a higher volume of tasks that aren’t project-based, the department can still operate using the same systems as a team that might have more project-based tasks. They will just have to make some adjustments to the workflow.

The number-one priority of a sales team is to move opportunities through the sales pipeline. When you treat each sale as a task, you can use task management tools to visualize and track your sales funnel.

“Small teams can use task management tools in place of a CRM to track their deals,” says Haninger. “For sales teams using project management tools, the steps in their workflow mirror the stages of the sales funnel, and they can visualize how deals move through the pipeline.

Here’s an example of how one team incorporates Jotform as a sales CRM , using a task management tool to visualize the sales pipeline.

Image of Sales CRM Template

In the next chapter, we’ll learn that — regardless of the business unit for which you’re looking to beef up task management — you’ll need to follow the same principles to build an effective workflow.

Essentials of an effective task management workflow

How well you and your team manage tasks each day depends on the effectiveness of your task management workflow. If you haven’t tested and streamlined your workflow, this could hamper the growth of your business.

Benefits of an effective task management workflow

An effective task management workflow can alleviate many pain points that create friction between teammates or cause stress. Just documenting the workflow isn’t enough. You need to build it using a digital tool to gain the following benefits:

  • Transparency. A good workflow is easy to visualize with a kanban board, calendar, table, or any other view of your choice. This visual element creates transparency among team members, allowing them to easily see how everyone performs. That transparency creates trust.
  • Communication. One of the biggest disruptors of work is poor communication — for example, providing your boss with status updates in meetings that could have been an email. When you manage your tasks within a tool, all communications live there, and all team members can give and receive updates or information on their own time.
  • Problem recognition. Especially when using the kanban method, you can see where your projects are stuck if you’ve built an effective workflow. Whether it’s a complicated stage in a task’s life cycle, an improperly assigned team member, or another challenge, visualizing your workflow allows you to easily spot the problem.
  • Prioritization. Work is constantly changing. Priorities shift daily, which means shuffling around the order to complete tasks can be really cumbersome if you aren’t clear about the location of your tasks in their workflow. For example, say you’re a mechanic who has two projects: a tire change for tomorrow and a transmission replacement for next week. You might automatically choose to work on the project with the closer deadline, but in reality, you need to work on the transmission replacement because other team members have to complete several more steps after your task is complete. Unless you can visualize both workflows, you might not make the right choice.
  • Predictability. Once you’ve completed several tasks within your new workflow, you’ll be able to view data on how long it takes your team to complete tasks. You’ll also be able to break each task down by department, team member, time of year, or any other parameter of interest.

How do you establish an effective workflow?

Establishing an effective task management workflow requires being thorough about documenting the steps to complete a task, defining a single owner for each step, and putting it into action by testing the workflow.

1. Document all the steps to complete a task

To make sure you document each step to complete a task, speak with every relevant stakeholder and team member involved in the process.

Part of your documentation process should include communication. Often, small steps, like approvals or handoffs, aren’t documented in a workflow up front, but when they’re included as an official step to complete the task, the process runs better.

“Your team needs to know where to go if they have a question about something,” Graf says, “and how to communicate updates or request approvals. Is it email, Slack, your project management tool, or another form of communication? Answering these questions will help your workflow run much more smoothly.”

2. Define an owner for each step of the task

Each step of your task management workflow should have a single owner. If you find that most steps have two or more owners, that likely means you need to break down the task into smaller steps.

“Your biggest challenges when establishing a good workflow will be assigning single owners to each stage,” Haninger says. “If you can identify a single person to own each stage of a task’s life cycle, your task will flow freely from beginning to end.”

Once you’ve defined the owners, you’ll also need to make sure they know when it’s their turn to dive into their specific step or part of the task. You can accomplish this by setting up automations that notify everyone when a step is ready for them, when deadlines are approaching, or when others have requested feedback or information.

“Automating handoffs and status updates can probably save 20 to 30 minutes of someone’s time a day,” Graf says, “and that time can be much better spent on valuable work. Imagine this at scale — an organization of 100 people that all save 25 minutes of work a day. That’s a big productivity increase.”

3. Test the workflow, rinse, and repeat

Once you’ve identified all workflow steps, assigned owners, and set up automatic notifications, you’re ready to test your workflow.

You’ll ultimately find items to streamline as you go, and that’s normal. Keep testing, rinse, and repeat, until your workflow works perfectly for your team.

Like we said earlier, this type of workflow functions best in a digital setting. Next, we’ll dive into how to convert your offline task management workflows to an online environment.

Transitioning from offline to paperless online task management processes isn’t as daunting as it seems and can have quite an impact on your business’s bottom line.

Why switch to online task management?

If you use any of the common digital communication tools, like a calendar, email, or instant messaging, your task management is partially online already. But you might be collecting tasks from each of those places and listing them on a sheet of paper or digital notepad.

True online task management means adopting a tool that allows you to communicate with your team, automate status updates, and analyze your productivity all in one place.

“Whenever I’m dealing with a digital transformation, the first place I start is task management,” Haninger says. “It’s the most effective place to start because it removes communication barriers, identifies unbalanced workloads, and streamlines how teams work together.”

Balancing workloads is one of the biggest benefits of transitioning to online task management. With the right tool, you can see who has too much work, who has too little, and where work is hitting bottlenecks.

“The panacea of work is the concept of a digital workspace,” Graf says. “Now, you can dynamically manage your team and ensure that handoffs are made appropriately, and from a manager’s perspective, automating handoffs and status updates even saves you time.”

How to transition to online task management

To successfully take your business from offline to online task management, you’ll need to thoroughly map your task management workflow, select a digital tool to visualize and manage that workflow, and test your new workflow in the digital space.

1. Map your workflow

Mapping your task management workflow requires thoroughly outlining every step in a task’s life cycle, identifying a single owner for each of those steps, and putting them in order from ideation to completion.

“The sequence is key to a successful workflow map,” Pourkermani says. “Whether you’re fulfilling a customer request, delivering a service, or building a marketing campaign, you need every step mapped, in order, to get your workflow right.”

The next step is building that workflow in a digital tool, assigning owners to tasks in a digital workspace, and onboarding and training your team to use that digital tool.

2. Select a digital tool

Your digital task management tool will be the backbone of your online transformation. It should allow you to visualize your workflow using a kanban system, where you can assign clear owners to tasks and set up automations to ensure that your workflow runs smoothly.

Also, make sure that your tool collects task-related data that allows you to measure your performance and identify where you can improve in the future.

Jotform provides teams with over 10,000 templates for task-related data collection. In addition, our PDF templates offer a customizable solution for task-related data collection using a fillable PDF form .

“The tool that you ultimately choose needs to fit your needs like a glove,” says Graf. “If you’re a 10-person team, your needs are drastically different than that of a 100-person team, and you might not need to pay for complex task management features like custom tool integrations and unlimited platform seats.”

3. Thoroughly test the tool with real-world tasks

Once you’ve reflected your ideal workflow in your task management tool, the next step for seamless conversion to online task management is testing the tool with real tasks or projects.

Train all stakeholders for a specific task or project to use said tool, and make sure that all communications and status updates take place within it.

If you find that stakeholders or team members are reverting to old processes or avoiding the tool, ask them why. This will typically pinpoint a hole in your workflow that you need to adjust to complete a full transition to online task management.

You’ll probably find a few holes over the first few months. Set expectations with your team that your new online workflow is a work in progress — and that you’re dedicated to making adjustments until it works for everyone on the team.

Next, let’s dive into the systems and features you need to seek out in an effective task management tool.

So far, we’ve covered several critical aspects of task management and tackled multiple steps for effective project management assignment, including methodologies, methods, and workflows — but all of this is meaningless without a system that brings these concepts to life.

Your task management system will run using a tool, platform, or software solution that each of your team members will use every day to complete tasks and move projects forward.

Key features of a task management system

Jotform Tables provides everything your team needs to manage tasks smoothly and includes the following critical features for maximizing productivity.

Task delegation and assignment

The single most important feature for any task management system is the ability to easily delegate, assign, or reassign tasks to team members as projects and tasks progress.

Jotform Tables makes it easy to delegate tasks by designating a column for each task to its assignee, so there’s never confusion over ownership.

Image of Employee Task List Template

Prioritization

There are rarely days when you can tackle everything on your to-do list, and as organizations scale, the number of tasks increases. As a result, it’s imperative that employees can easily see which tasks they need to work on first.

Jotform Tables features customizable columns you can use to mark priority levels for tasks or organize tasks by the due date.

Calendar view

A calendar view within a task management system allows for better project management prioritization and makes it easier to set deadlines for tasks.

The Jotform Tables calendar view allows you to visualize tasks in calendar form so it’s always clear which task should be your next priority.

Image of Jotform Tables Calendar View

Kanban view

Kanban is one of the most preferred methods of task management because it allows businesses to visualize where tasks are in the process of completion and offers greater transparency among all team members.

Here’s an example of a Jotform table that uses cards for users to move back and forth in a workflow as they complete tasks.

Image of Jotform Tables Card View

You should never have to report on the status of a task or project again once your task management system is in place. Instead, your task management system allows all relevant stakeholders to handle project management task tracking for every team task .

Jotform Tables keeps all information about each task in one place, including a task’s name, status, relevant attachments, and stage in your workflow.

Image of Jotform Tables

Finally, your task management system should allow you to easily share results with other stakeholders or team members through project management reporting tools.

Jotform’s Report Builder allows you to analyze data on your team’s task management processes in a variety of ways, including creating and publishing surveys, converting real-time data into custom reports that match your branding, and sharing reports with other team members easily.

Image of Jotform Report Builder

A task management system that includes all these features and is customized to suit your team’s workflow needs will ultimately lead to more productivity and growth.

Conc l usion

Task management is an integral part of any organization — whether you have a few employees or hundreds. Managing projects at scale, collecting and satisfying requests from customers and employees efficiently, and staying organized all ensure your organization reaches its goals.

There are many approaches to task management, whether following agile or waterfall methodologies or executing with methods like kanban or GTD. The right method for your organization can scale your productivity and positively impact your bottom line.

Digital transformation and online task management allow you to track, monitor, and analyze just how well your team is hitting its goals, and using a task management system like Jotform can help.

Meet your task management guides

Travis Haninger

Travis Haninger is the VP of customer experience and cofounder at SequoiaCX , a digital growth agency that specializes in customer experience and digital transformation. Haninger has spent the last decade in leadership roles for high-tech medical devices.

He specializes in repurposing teams, developing programs, and digitally transforming departments to better serve customers and increase profitability. Task management tools play a major role in the success of these business transformations.

Saman (Sam) Pourkermani

Sam Pourkermani is currently director of digital transformation and product development at Inspirant Group , a management consultancy that works with companies to improve company or team task management through digital transformation, evaluation, and improvement.

Pourkermani is an expert in lean-agile transformation, improving team performance, collaboration, the throughput of teams, implementing and using kanban, and improving team task management. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago in computer engineering and management information systems.

Andrew Graf

Andrew Graf is the chief product strategist for TeamDynamix in the areas of project portfolio management, system integration, and workflow. Graf has been innovating in these areas for over 20 years and is well versed in task management topics and methodologies, including kanban, waterfall, agile, and now, more emergent digital workspaces.

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Getting Things Done (GTD)

Systematize the clutter in your brain and get things done

  • High commitment
  • Task management

task management method

  • Introduction

What is GTD? A brief overview

Getting Things Done, or GTD for short, is a popular task management system created by productivity consultant David Allen. The methodology is based on a simple truth: The more information bouncing around inside your head, the harder it is to decide what needs attention. As a result, you spend more time thinking about your tasks than actually doing them. When information piles up in your head, it leads to stress, overwhelm, and uncertainty.

Allen observed that our brains are much better at processing information than storing it ("your head's a crappy office"). His GTD method lays out how to dump all your mental clutter into an external system and then organize it so you can focus on the right things at the right times. When your GTD workflow is set up right, you’ll be able to confidently answer “what should I be working on?” at any given moment without worrying that you might forget something important you need to do later.

Try GTD if you...

Feel overwhelmed by the amount of things you need to keep track of

Worry about forgetting small details

Wear lots of hats in your job and life

Starts lots of projects but have trouble finishing them

Have never GTD'd before (everyone should GTD at least once in their lives)

This guide will introduce you to GTD principles and workflows and what we think is the most intuitive way to implement them. We'll be focusing on how to GTD with Todoist, but the same principles apply no matter what app you use. The key to GTD isn’t the specific tools you choose but rather the habits you employ on a daily basis to think about and prioritize your work.

Recommended reading

GTD Getting Things Done Overview

The GTD method is made up of five simple practices to systematize the clutter in your brain and get things done:

Capture Everything: Capture anything that crosses your mind. Nothing is too big or small! These items go directly into your inboxes.

Clarify: Process what you’ve captured into  clear and concrete action steps . Decide if an item is a project, next action, or reference.

Organize: Put everything into the right place. Add dates to your calendar, delegate projects to other people, file away reference material, and sort your tasks.

Review: Frequently look over, update, and revise your lists.

Engage: Get to work on the important stuff.

While GTD requires an upfront investment in time and energy to set up, it pays off with consistent use. You’ll no longer worry about forgetting a deadline or missing an important task. Instead, you’ll be able to respond to incoming information calmly and prioritize your time confidently.

Some very specific but seemingly mundane behaviors, when applied, produce the capacity to exist in a kind of sophisticated spontaneity, which, in my experience, is a key element to a successful life. — David Allen

Though the basis of GTD are these five simple steps, they’re not always easy to execute. GTD doesn’t require a specific tool, app, or product. Allen doesn’t even make a case for digital over analog systems. Rather, the key to any lasting productivity system is to keep it as simple as possible and to use it as often as possible. Your tool should be versatile enough to handle your most complex projects yet simple enough to maintain when you’re low on energy.

The rest of this article will cover the specifics of each of the five GTD practices above and walk you through how to implement them with Todoist. But, again, the same principles should apply no matter what tool you use.

For GTD to work, you must stop storing information in your brain. Anything that crosses your mind — to-dos, events, ideas, book recommendations, etc. — must be captured and stored immediately in an inbox. In GTD, an inbox, be it physical or digital, is a visual representation of all the inputs you need to somehow deal with on a daily basis.

Your inbox is only used to collect the chaos of your thoughts in order to get them off your mind. This is not the place or time to worry about organization.

In Todoist, your inbox will be the default place to hold all your inputs until you can organize them. To add a new task to your Inbox in the web or desktop apps, click the plus sign in the right corner or simply press “q.” The task will be added to the Inbox by default unless you otherwise specify a project.

Do an initial mind sweep

If you’re just starting out with GTD, do a full mind sweep of all the "open loops" you can think of — anything you might need to take action on in the future. Add them as tasks to your Todoist Inbox now. Consult the GTD  trigger list to help jog your memory for commitments you may have forgotten.

Capture new tasks right away

One of the core tenets of GTD is to get tasks out of your head and into your external system the moment they come to you. Todoist syncs across platforms — computer, phone, web browser, email client, smartwatch, or smart home assistant — so you can enter tasks anytime, from anywhere.

Whenever a new task comes to mind, make it a habit to immediately add it to your Inbox and worry about organizing it later. To capture tasks as quickly as possible wherever you are, we recommend installing Todoist or your app of choice:

As an app on your computer

As an app on your phone

As an extension for the web browser you use (for adding websites as tasks)

As a plugin for the email client you use (for adding emails as tasks)

Browse and download the Todoist apps

Consolidate your inboxes

You can use Todoist to consolidate your other inboxes — from emails you need to follow up on, to messages you need to take action on, to articles to read, to grocery lists, to reference materials you save for later. The fewer inboxes you have to check for open loops, the easier your system will be to maintain.

Send items to Todoist from your email or team messaging tool:

Use Todoist's plugins for Gmail and Outlook to quickly add emails as tasks

Forward emails directly to your Todoist inbox using your project forwarding address.

Turn messages into tasks from your team messaging tools like Twist or Slack .

GTD Gmail Addon Todoist

Capture reading & reference material:

Take photos of business cards or event reminders and attach them to the relevant task’s comments .

Attach files from Dropbox, Google Drive, or your computer to any task to read or work on later.

Connect a reading app like Pocket with Todoist via our IFTTT integration and have a Todoist task automatically created every time you add an article to Pocket.

Download Todoist for Chrome, Safari, or Firefox to save any url to access later.

Use the Todoist share extensions on Android or iOS to share pages from mobile apps as tasks.

GTD Task Comments

Dive deeper

Now that your inbox is full, the next step is to transform the chaotic clutter of everything you’ve captured into concrete action steps. Go through each item in your inbox, and do one of the following (there are more specifics on how to do each step in the next section):

If the item will take less than 2 minutes, complete it right away.

If it can be delegated, assign the task to someone else.

If it's a non-actionable reference item (e.g., a file, document, article, contact information, etc.) that you'll need to come back to later, file it away in a separate reference project or attach it to the comments of the relevant task or project.

If the item needs to be done at a specific date and/or time, give the task a due date .

If the task is no longer needed or actionable, delete it.

If a task requires more than one step, create a project to house all of the items associated with it and identify the next action you can take to move the project forward.

GTD Todoist Flowchart

Make your tasks as specific and actionable as possible. Add as much information as you can to save you time puzzling over it later. For example, “Call Mom” may actually need to be entered as “Call Mom to discuss birthday dinner.” Or, "Taxes" could be "Call Mary to discuss tax documents" with Mary's phone number and a list of the specific documents attached in the task’s comments (more on task comments later).

GTD Bad-vs-Good-To-Do-List

Once you’ve clarified an item in your inbox, it’s time to sort it into the appropriate place. In reality, clarifying and organizing your tasks will happen in tandem as you clean out your inbox, but it's helpful to think about them as separate actions.

There are many different ways to organize your tasks with the GTD methodology, but we recommend using a combination of projects and labels.

One-off tasks

These are tasks that take longer than 2 minutes but only require one step. For example, "reply to Josh's email about project pricing" or "renew car tabs." You don't want them cluttering up your inbox, but they also don't belong in any other project.

GTD One Off Task Project

Create a new project called One-Off Tasks.

Drag and drop your one-step tasks from the inbox to this project by clicking on the grey "handle" to the left of the task name and dragging it to the project name in the left-hand menu.

You can also designate a different project by typing "#" into the task field to pull up a list of all your projects. Select your project from the list or type the project name to narrow down the results.

GTD Move to project

You’ll find that many of the tasks you wrote down are actually projects. In the GTD philosophy, projects are any item that requires more than one step to complete. For example, "paint the bedroom" is a project because it includes other tasks like getting paint samples, picking a color, buying supplies, prepping walls, etc. Here's how to handle projects in Todoist:

Create a new project for each multi-step project you identified as you were clarifying your tasks.

Drag and drop the associated tasks from your Inbox to the appropriate project. Or click on a task and type "#" into the task field to pull up a list of your projects to choose from.

As you think of other steps, add them as new tasks inside the projects.

GTD projects list

Areas of focus

It may be helpful to group your projects based on your " Areas of Focus " — the GTD term for the various areas of responsibility you have in your life. These areas are a tool to draw attention to your broader life goals while deciding what to work on next. If a task does not fit within the scope of any of your areas of focus, it may be time to reassess if it's something you want to spend your time on. Or you may just want to separate your projects between "Work" and "Personal."

You can easily accomplish this in Todoist using sub-projects . Here's how:

Create a project for each area of focus. This project won’t have any tasks in it; it’s just for visual organization.

Click on the grey handle to the left of the project name and drag and indent your actual projects underneath the high-level “Folders” you just created to turn them into sub-projects.

(Optional) To create even more visual separation between your areas of focus, assign a different project color for each area.

GTD Areas of responsibility

Now, you can keep your project list clean by collapsing your sub-projects underneath the parent project. For example, while you're at work, you can keep your work projects in view while your personal projects are hidden and vice versa.

To keep things simple, finish setting up your GTD system first to get a sense of your workflow. If needed, come back and organize your projects into broader categories later.

Next actions

These are tasks with a clear, concrete action you’ll do at the next opportunity (e.g., "Email James the budget for the office party"). Next actions are separate from future actions — steps you'll take eventually but do not need your focus right now.

Identify the next action for each project by tagging it with the label "@next."  To add a label, simply type "@" into the task field and start typing the task name.

GTD Create new label

Tasks with a due date and/or time

For items that must be completed at a specific date and/or time, schedule them . But be warned: GTD cautions against over-reliance on due dates. Only add them to the tasks that really have to be done on a given date and time. For everything else, trust your next actions and a regular weekly review of all your task lists (more on that later).

While editing a task, you can click on the Schedule field and select a date and time from the calendar. Or simply type the due date and/or time into the task field using natural language, for example, next Monday at 8am .  The smart Quick Add will automatically recognize and highlight the due date and add it when you save the task. You can even type in recurring due dates, like every other Wednesday, for tasks that repeat on a regular basis.

GTD Smart date Quick Add

You can move items with due dates from the inbox to the relevant project or to the One-Off Tasks  project if they aren't associated with a multi-step project.

Todoist Tip

GTD Google Calendar Todoist

Some of the items you capture in your inbox will be reminders of things you want to bring up with someone else rather than next actions. To keep track of these agenda items:

Create a new project called Agendas.

Create a new sub-project underneath Agendas for each person you need to touch base with on a regular basis. For example, your boss and any direct reports. You may also want to create sub-projects for each regular team or project meeting you have. For example, Marketing Weekly .

Add the items you need to bring up as tasks in the relevant agenda sub-project.

When you meet with that person or come to the meeting, pull up the relevant project to see a list of all of the items you need to cover.

(Optional) Share your agenda projects with the relevant people so everyone can see, add, and even assign items to discuss.

GTD Agenda

Reference materials

Reference materials are non-actionable items that you need to save (e.g., tax documents, reading material, spreadsheets, Word docs, phone numbers, etc.). While they aren't tasks themselves, they’re often needed to complete a task later. You can organize these kinds of supporting reference materials in Todoist by attaching them to the relevant task or project comments:

Task-specific reference materials can be attached to the relevant task's comments.

GTD Reference Materials Task Comments

Higher-level project materials (design specs, drafts, shared folders) can be attached or linked to in the project comments.

GTD Project Comments

This way, when you're ready to start the task or project, you'll have all of the information you need close at hand.

You'll likely also have reference materials not associated with a specific task or project. For example, an article you saved from the web for later, a file with important information, or a gift idea for your partner's next birthday. You can keep track of these in Todoist. Here's how:

Create a new Reference project

Create new sub-projects underneath the Reference project for each type of reference list. For example, Gift Ideas ,  Birthdays , Contact Information, Recipes , etc.

Move your reference material tasks to the appropriate project by dragging and dropping them from your Inbox. Or select a new project via Quick Add by clicking to edit the task and typing "#" into the task field followed by the project name.

To collapse your reference sub-projects, click on the grey arrow to the left of your Reference  parent project. This helps remove visual clutter from your list.

Reference Projects

Waiting for

These are items that have been delegated or are awaiting action by someone else. For example, if you need to finish writing a blog post but are waiting on your editor to get you feedback on your last draft. Identify these tasks by tagging them with the label "@waiting_for." Keep @waiting_for tasks organized inside the projects they're related to or inside the One-Off Tasks project if they're unrelated to other tasks.

GTD Waiting For List

Someday/maybe

Many items that you capture will be ideas for things you want to do in the future but don't have the bandwidth to work on now (e.g., places you may want to travel, books to read, new projects you may want to try, ideas for blog posts, etc.). You want to be able to review these later, but you don't want them gumming up your system now.

Create a new Someday/Maybe project

Add all of the tasks and/or you want to do in the future but aren't actively working on

(Optional) Add sub-projects for specific types of "Someday/Maybe" tasks. For example, you may want to separate Someday/Maybe — Personal and Someday/Maybe — Work  projects

Review your someday/maybe projects when time and energy open up to take on new work

GTD Someday Maybe Project

Tasks that can be delegated

If you can delegate a task to free up your own time and energy, you should. In Todoist, you can share projects with people , assign them tasks with due dates, and collaborate in comments.

GTD Delegated task

Your sharing setup will be different depending on your circumstances. Here are 3 ways you could set it up:

Create a separate shared project for each person you collaborate with (you could even reuse your Agendas sub-projects for this purpose)

Create a workspace dedicated to your team

Share existing projects that involve heavy collaboration ad hoc

Or you could use a combination of all three approaches.

Quick Tip: You can search for all of the tasks you've delegated using the query "assigned by: me". It's a handy list to reference during your weekly review.

With your project lists and tasks sorted, you're now ready to tackle contexts. In GTD, contexts identify tools, places, or people that you require to complete a given task. In other words, contexts allow you to focus on what you can actually get completed, given your current circumstances. For example, if you are at your office, you don’t want to waste time sorting out all the next actions you have at home.

Following the project approach, we laid out above, the easiest way to add contexts is with labels . GTD recommends the following contexts:

Computer/internet

You can also add others that will help you sort your tasks quickly based on your current context. Some people like to add an Email context to take care of all their emails at once. Others add labels for the amount of time a task might take. For example, if you have just 15 minutes before your next meeting, it's helpful to be able to identify all the tasks you could do quickly with an @15_min label. For most people, it's more useful to create an "Offline" label rather than an "Internet" one for tasks you can do when you don't have an Internet connection.

GTD Context Labels 1

It’s tempting to go overboard and start creating labels for everything — resist the temptation. For your GTD system to work, you need to build a habit of adding the correct labels to each and every task. The fewer labels you have to choose from, the easier it will be to remember.

For a full guide on how to add and use labels in Todoist visit our Help Center .

Here is where the time spent clarifying and organizing your tasks pays off. Your system is now full of concrete, actionable items organized into logical categories, ready for you to jump in. You’ll see that all of the labels, projects, and due dates added in the steps above help you quickly answer the question “What should I be doing right now?” at any given moment.

The time spent clarifying and organizing your tasks means that when it's time to engage with work, you have fewer choices to make and fewer reference materials to find. To decide what to do next, you can see upcoming tasks with due dates, sort tasks by label, or create filters to see your next actions based on context.

Today and Upcoming views

When you're ready to sit down to work, click on Today in the left-hand navigation menu to see any tasks that you must complete today. Open Upcoming to see what's coming down the pipeline this week and any week in the future.

GTD Today view

View Next Actions and Contexts via labels

To view a full list of next actions across all your projects, type "@next" into the Quick Find bar at the top of your Todoist.

GTD Next Actions Context Labels

You can also quickly sort your tasks by context by selecting a given label to see all the associated tasks. For example, if you search for @errands, you'll see a list of tasks with the @errands label that can be completed while you're already out and about. To see a list of all the tasks you're waiting on something to complete, search for the label @waiting_for.

You can also view all the tasks tagged with a specific label by clicking on the label's name in the label list to the left of your Todoist.

Create more custom task views with filters

The real GTD magic happens when you create your own custom task views in Todoist using  filters . Filters are essentially saved searches that sort your list with one click. You can use filters to search for tasks based on:

Date a task was created

Or a combination of some or all of the above

We have a full guide on how to set up and work with filters in our Help Center .

GTD Next Actions Work Query

For GTD, the most relevant labels will likely combine "@next_action" with an area of focus or a context. For example, to set up a filter for all the next actions you can do at work, use the query "##Work & @next_action." This will show all tasks in your Work project and associated sub-projects with the @next_action label. Or create a filter for next actions that can be finished at the office using the query "@next_action & @office."

The most useful task views will depend on your specific needs, but these are some of the most common useful ones:

Add your most important task views to your favorites so they appear at the top of your navigation menu above your Projects list. Simply right-click the filter, label, or project and select “Add to Favorites.” The filter will then show up in your navigation panel.

Each week, set aside time to review your lists, organize your tasks, and keep your system running smoothly. The review helps you adapt to changes, refocus your attention, identify next actions, and reflect on your workflow.

David Allen has called this weekly review a "critical factor for success" because frequent review of your system will ensure that you aren’t just doing things, but that you are doing the right things.

To get started, import  Todoist’s GTD Weekly Review template  into your projects list. This template includes all of the steps you’ll need to complete your review each week. Customize the template by adding sub-tasks or task comments to hold the lists of all your inboxes and your current areas of focus or to track reflections on your week.

GTD Weekly Review Template

Schedule your weekly review by setting up a recurring date in any task field. Simply enter your date in natural language, like “every Sunday at 5pm,” and Todoist will automatically recognize and schedule it when you save the task.

What to read next

There's a reason why millions of people around the world swear that Getting Things Done changed their lives. While strict GTD isn't for everyone, you're bound to pick up a habit or two that will help you worry less and do more. Everyone interested in being less stressed and more productive should try it at least once.

Give it a shot and see which aspects of GTD work for you!

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Laura Scroggs

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3 Simple Steps for Effective Task Management (Definitive Guide)

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Every successful business owner or individual knows one of the biggest ways to get the most out of your day is through properly organizing tasks .

The right task management strategy will help you (and your team) stay on track to reach your business goals, complete projects on time and delight your clients. So how do you create your ideal task management approach ? Are to-do lists enough or do you need more powerful tools?

In this quick guide, we’ll look at what task management is, classic and contemporary methods of managing tasks and how to effectively manage tasks.

What is Task Management?

Task management is simply everything involved in overseeing a task from start to finish . Be it planning out a task, setting timelines, assigning roles or keeping track of progress, task management involves all the steps that go into successfully completing tasks.

The best task management approaches help you complete tasks in the most efficient way possible and help you achieve your personal and business goals faster.

Simple Steps for Effective Task Management

For most individuals, task management is as simple as writing down a list of things they need to get done, for others it may be a lot more complex. Often the kind of project and the number of people involved that determine which task management approach to take.

Regardless of what you’re planning, there are some basic steps you’ll need to apply if you want to manage tasks effectively. The steps are the foundation on which you can build a more elaborate task management plan that’s better suited to your needs.

1. Create Tasks

The first step to properly organizing your tasks is to work backward from your big goal . What exactly are you looking to achieve and by when? Break down your big picture work process or procedure into bite-sized chunks or milestones. Next, further unpack each milestone into smaller, more precise, and actionable steps with deliverables. These will become the building blocks of your tasks. If you’re doing these tasks by yourself, it’ll be good to add checkboxes or reminders to help you stay on track with completing each task.

The last part of creating the perfect task, to add a due date . Due dates that are doable and within reasonable periods will help make sure your tasks get completed in time to allow your main project to reach completion.

2. Organize, Prioritize, and Delegate Tasks

Now that you know what exactly needs to be done, you’ll need to sort these tasks out in order of importance and urgency. A common mistake some people make is to arrange tasks solely in chronological order or in an order that follows one after another without any regard for urgency .

Simple priority matrix

3. Monitor Progress and Update

The last piece of the task management puzzle involves tracking progress with each task and getting timely updates. This is a critical step especially when you have delegated lots of tasks and want to make sure everything is on track to being completed by their due dates.

Following up with team members, ticking off checkboxes , or crossing off steps in a task are all ways to make sure you’re progressing towards completing your project successfully.

In situations where a team member is behind on a task, you can reassign it to someone with extra time on their hands. Another option would be to swap tasks between more experienced teammates so that the most urgent tasks are completed first.

And if you’re single-handedly working on it, moving it up your priority list and allocating more time to it are both good options to consider.

Old School and Modern Ways to Manage Tasks

We know task management is an important part of running a successful business or making the most out of your time, but which approach is best for your project? Should you go the old-school to-do list method or adopt the more advanced project management software?

The truth is there is no strategy that single-handedly outshines the other. Both old-school and modern ways of managing tasks work quite well when used under the right circumstances. It’s not unusual to find instances where you may even combine two or more approaches.

Whichever option you choose, be sure to keep the scope of your project and the size of your team (if any) in mind.

1. Write a To-Do List

First up, is the most popular and classic way to manage tasks before technology got involved, To-Do Lists. This way of managing tasks is a classic and effective way to keep yourself on track to complete both personal and business goals. All you need is a pen and paper. Next, simply write what you need to get done on your paper in order of importance with due dates attached.

It’ll be a good idea to use either a journal or notepad that you refer to frequently so you can keep reminding yourself of pending tasks. Hand-written to-do lists are great for simple, fairly straightforward tasks .

Remember that many free iOs and  Android to-do list apps  will help you stay on track with reminders and sync directly to your calendar to keep things efficient. Below are the pros and cons of hand-written task lists.

  • It’s free so you don’t need a monthly subscription.
  • Doesn’t require an internet connection or a power source
  • Not helpful for complex tasks or managing team projects.

2. Use a Kanban Board

A kanban board is your go-to method if you want to visually track task progress in any given project. It’s great if you have a lot of moving parts to your project but want to maximize time efficiency and human resources .

This method developed by auto giant Toyota involves having a board with columns for tasks and related cards/sticky notes which will give you a bird’s eye view of project progress and pending tasks. You can choose to have a real kanban board in your home or office or choose to go digital with kanban software .

Kanban Boards work by mapping individual work items to sticky notes placed into columns on a large board. Each column has a note representing a task that may either be moved to the next column when completed or marked off as complete depending on the nature of the task.

Kanban Board Infographic

At a moment’s glance, you’ll be able to tell what’s moving on smoothly and what’s stalling and needs to be reassigned or fast-tracked.

So for example, a project like creating a new web page or landing page on your website may need several other small tasks to be completed beforehand, like web copy, graphics, and other content.

A well mapped-out kanban board will let you see how each aspect of the project is progressing to bring the project as a whole to completion.

  • Great for visually tracking project progress
  • Clearly shows due dates and project timelines
  • Ideal for small to medium-sized, moderately complex projects.
  • May look too busy and confusing for large or multiple and complex projects.

3. Use a Professional Task Management Tool

If you have a large team that’s handling lots of small to large projects at a time, perhaps it may be worth considering a task management tool . Task management tools combine the best of both worlds . They’re digital and so support team collaboration irrespective of location. Professional task management tools also give a visual representation of project progress using everything from color-coded cards to checkboxes. You can customize your task management tool to look and work the way you want it to. You can even attach documents , add links and work together to make edits where need be thanks to cloud technology.

Each member on your team gets their own account when you sign up for a task management tool, and can instantly see their assigned tasks and when it’s due. Most even allow for in-app conversations or chats so you can share task updates as the project progresses.

Professional task management tools also allow integrations with your favorite third-party business tools and applications.

  • Ideal for large teams that need to collaborate on multiple projects
  • Supports planning multiple tasks based on capacity
  • Possibility to integrate with work tools
  • Professional task management tools come with monthly fees for their premium versions.

Advantages of Using Task Management Software

Getting tasks completed on time and in the most efficient way possible is crucial to successfully manage your schedule . But what are the major benefits of using task management software as opposed to standard post-it boards or to-do lists?

1. Task Management Software Helps You Prioritize

Task management software is your go-to tool when you’re trying to get the most important things done first. We all have 24 hours a day to get things done be it for work or personal projects.

The right tools will help you handle and complete the most important things first. You’ll be able to set and manage goals, create deadlines , and set reminders to keep you on track to complete what needs to be done on time. No more forgotten deadlines.

2. Better Manage Time and Skill Resources

When teams are collaborating on multiple tasks, chances are there’s more to be done than available hands to help. Task management software gives you a bird’s eye view of who is doing what at any point in time.

Thus, you can assign tasks to those with the most expertise or with the most time to spare to help get the most tasks done in the shortest possible time. You’ll also be able to tell which tasks are lagging behind and need to be reassigned .

What’s more, task management software comes with a customizable interface that you can tweak to suit your workflow and include any third-party apps needed to maximize output.

3. Improved Organization and Focus Especially When Multitasking

When it comes to assigning multiple tasks, knowing what needs to be done simultaneously and matching it to the right folks makes all the difference. For any project that has multiple moving parts, it’s easy to get lost in the details.

Task management software will help you keep track of what tasks you’re creating , all due deliverables, high priority tasks, and who is doing what. It’ll also help you evenly distribute workloads so you don’t overburden some team members compared to others.

How to Choose the Right Task Management Tool

Now you know how helpful task management tools can be. Perhaps you’re ready to move from an old-school task management approach to something newer and scalable . But now the question is how do you choose the best task management tool that’s right for you?

Task Management Tools 6 Easy Steps

Since not all task management tools are created equal, it helps to pay attention to the specifics of your task management needs. Usually, the task management process is part of project management strategy and this directly influences the type of tool you choose. From the basic standpoint though, you’ll need to consider a few of the factors below.

1. Flexibility and Customization Options

The first and most important factor (aside from budget) is the kind of projects you intend to use your task management software for. Most professional task management software can handle a variety of projects but may not do much in terms of offering full customizability .

Your ideal task management tool should support creating as many tasks and subtasks as needed per team member on a project. Apart from supporting multiple tasks, you should also be able to customize your dashboard and workflow in a way that helps you complete tasks faster.

2. Team Size

Another important factor to consider is how many team members your tool of choice supports and at what price . Most task management software have pricing plans on a per-user basis or for a fixed number of users. Comparing what features are available and for how many team members will help you choose a tool that gives you the right combination of features with user pricing.

3. Third-party App Integrations

The goal of task management is to improve efficiency , save time and streamline your workflow. Being able to fully i ntegrate existing tools you’re using into your task management software will go a long way to cut down on time spent transitioning between apps. It’s worth taking time to make sure whichever tool you choose supports your current list of work apps without needing coding experience to integrate into the tool.

4. Onboarding time and Ease of Use

Every software is only as good as how well you are able to maximize its use. Thus, your task management tool should be both user-friendly and have a short learning curve . The user interface should be intuitive and easy to navigate. It also helps to let your team members take any task management tool for a test drive before fully signing up for it. At least, you’ll be sure a majority of the team are comfortable with using the tool and they may also spot some drawbacks that you may have missed.

This is especially important if you have team members working remotely or collaborating on multiple tasks at a go. You can check out our comprehensive list of project management software that requires no training to get started with.

5. Reporting and Time-tracking Features

Is being able to visually see your productivity and project progress stats is a big deal for you? Then it’s worth making sure your task management software offers comprehensive reporting and analytics features .

Progress reports analytics features will help you identify weaknesses in your existing task management approach so you can improve them. You’ll also be able to tell who’s doing the most work and who isn’t doing enough.

Time-tracking support will help you make sure your team is doing what they’re supposed to be doing when they say they are doing it. Apart from that, you’ll be able to maximize working hours so you can achieve more in a workday.

Effective Task Management Strategies for Modern Project Managers

To successfully complete a project means to make sure all tasks within a project are completed within the shortest possible time without compromising work quality. Having a great task management strategy is the key to always achieving project success.

Project managers often have to juggle many variables like task types, team competencies, task duration and have great organizational skills to keep projects on track all the time. Here are some effective strategies to help you make sure you successfully manage all your projects.

1. Well-Defined Roles and Tasks

The best way to get the best out of your team is when everyone knows what they’re supposed to do . Letting everyone know what they’re supposed to do, when it’s due and how it influences overall project progress is key to successfully completing a project.

You don’t want a situation where there’s confusion over who does what or a task gets left behind simply because everyone thought someone would do it. Properly defining roles also helps everyone to be accountable and responsible, knowing where they need to focus their attention for teamwork.

2. Complete The Most Challenging Tasks First

It’s natural to want to avoid the tasks that you find most intimidating or challenging. People naturally avoid doing difficult things. The trouble is, giving in to that natural instinct to avoid the most difficult task runs the risk of the task getting left behind or forgotten altogether .

By focusing on doing the most difficult tasks first , your team is more likely to think creatively and come up with a fast method to complete the task. It’ll also motivate and build confidence amongst your team members in their ability to deal with challenging situations.

3. Set Deadlines

A goal without a definite timeline and plan is not likely to be achieved. Likewise, creating tasks without definite timelines will delay overall project completion. To effectively manage tasks, you’ll need to create milestones that have realistic deadlines .

Realistic deadlines ensure the best use of time in terms of productivity and also help you to manage time effectively. You’ll know what is supposed to be completed at any given point in time and also will influence how you assign new tasks so you don’t overburden your team .

Be sure to prioritize each task and assign a deadline in order of importance and urgency so that the most important things get taken care of first. Well-organized tasks with an achievable timeframe are more likely to be completed as opposed to tasks with vague and unclear timelines.

4. Keep Communication Clear and Ongoing

How do you know if a task is behind, on schedule, or has hit a snag? Communication. Having a well-established and clear-cut line of communication is critical to keeping projects progressing smoothly. You should create room also to provide and receive feedback to

Your team should have well-organized communication channels amongst themselves and with those in supervisory roles. Setting time aside for task updates and encouraging team members to ask questions and share challenges is a great way to avoid any communication gaps.

This is even more important if you’re managing a remote team with people working from different time zones yet handling multiple deadlines.

5. Have a Visual Reference Point or Overview of All Tasks

Handwritten lists, post-it notes, and even spreadsheets all work when you’re managing tasks, but nothing beats having a centralized visual reference point. Having a visual overview of tasks lets you instantly see which tasks are progressing and which ones are lagging behind. Using visual project management software or kanban software is a great way to have a visual overview of project progress and what needs to be sped up, reassigned, or canceled altogether. Such visuals will help you better organize your time and share the workload amongst your team.

6. Choose The Right Software

If you’re really looking to effectively manage tasks, you’ll definitely need powerful task management software. Task management software helps you keep track of and organize all project-related tasks to ensure they’re completed on time and successfully.

Task management can also be integrated into a workflow management tool so you can further boost your team’s efficiency and output. Better yet, if you’re already using project management software , you use your task management software alongside it.

No more getting overwhelmed with updating spreadsheets and checking multiple to-do lists. Having a dedicated software tool also improves collaboration on tasks and in some cases even provides built-in messaging channels to help with updates.

Every team member gets their own account and so can update progress as they go along. You can also restrict information or grant access to certain tasks where appropriate. For example, if you need to separate the finance team’s work from sales and marketing.

7. Have a proper tracking and filing system

Creating and managing tasks comes with a lot of documents and paperwork. Between multiple document edits, version updates, and changes you’ll need a simple yet well-planned filing system .

A filing system will also support tracking task progress and completion because you’ll know what percentage of any given task is left at any point in time. Having a centralized hub where you can track tasks and keep all task-related documents in well-labeled formats is critical to completing tasks on time.

You don’t want to have to redo or recreate a new document just because the old one got lost in the archives. It’ll also save your team from endlessly searching for file versions and losing track of any edits that are made.

8. Complete One Task At A Time

When managing a project, it’s easy to try and “ multi-task ” by trying to get several tasks completed simultaneously. This may seem like a smart use of time, but the truth is multitasking is a myth of time efficiency in a lot of situations.

Trying to spread your team thin across multiple tasks only slows the completion rate of all the tasks they’re working on. Conversely, if your team focuses on completing one task at a time in relation to a project, they’re bound to finish it quicker and in the most efficient way possible.

Take big projects or tasks and break them down into smaller tasks, which your team can focus on completing one after the other.

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Anastasia belyh.

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Anastasia has been a professional blogger and researcher since 2014. She loves to perform in-depth software reviews to help software buyers make informed decisions when choosing project management software, CRM tools, website builders, and everything around growing a startup business.

Anastasia worked in management consulting and tech startups, so she has lots of experience in helping professionals choosing the right business software.

10 Task Management Tips & Skills To Get More Done Today

task management method

So, you’d like to effectively manage your tasks and time, eh? Good news, there are numerous ways you can help yourself get more done throughout the day. Like a lot of problems, a lot can be accomplished with a healthy dose of forethought and subsequent preparation.

There’s no shortage of professional productivity tips and online task management tools , yet the most important factor is finding a system that works for you, one which makes it easier to form habits that lead to stronger goal commitment and faster, yet productive work . 

If you’re looking for some personal productivity inspiration or useful project management suggestions, here are our 10 task management tips that help you find an effective, enjoyable work process that lets you get more done.

How do you manage tasks effectively?

1. break up big projects into smaller tasks.

One of the easiest and most significant things one can do before undertaking a large project is to break it up into smaller parts. It may seem counter-intuitive to give yourself “more” tasks, but it’s really just a way to visualize a large-scope project, which can be overwhelming and stress-inducing, in more manageable and (more importantly) measurable chunks.

It’s vital to recognize the difference between the projects and create actionable plans in a form of smaller chunks to achieve it. 

Smaller tasks with clear completion criteria can make a project seem less daunting and boosts motivation, effectively giving you greater confidence in your abilities beforehand, and then reaffirming them through lots of small victories along the way.

If your goal is to “be fluent in Spanish”, it would hardly do you much good to blindly stare at such an imposing goal. Instead, it would be much more productive to start with “introduce myself,” make the process habitual, “learn 10 new words a day,” and ultimately a series of achievable milestones, each one bringing you closer to your goal.

2. Create a priority to-do list

As intelligent a being we may be, it’s insanely difficult to mentally juggle many ideas simultaneously. Having your tasks as an easily accessible record helps you stay on top of things. A to-do list can be as simple as a piece of paper and some rapid logging , a digital planner , or even specialized project management software . Regardless of whether it’s physical or digital, form the habit of adding items as they occur to you.

Creating a priority system brings added benefits, namely a clearer view of your most critical tasks, but also a sense of relief from knowing that you’re working on the right focus.

task management method

There’s quite a few priority to-do list approaches , but the Eisenhower matrix is a notable one, allowing you to categorize tasks into four quadrants:

1.  Urgent and important: Do it immediately 

2.  Important, but not urgent: Schedule time for it

3.  Urgent, not important: Delegate it 

4.  Neither urgent nor important: Forget it 

It may seem obvious that the most important tasks need completing first, but by collating your jobs and targets, you can efficiently manage your time, able to stay on track and get the pressing tasks out of the way.

3. Keep your tasks in one place

Once you’ve decided on an effective method for recording tasks and responsibilities, make sure you’re keeping it all in a single planner, otherwise there’s no real benefit to creating the to-do list at all. It gets complicated when your day is scattered here and there, in two notebooks, a phone, a calendar, a diary and a carrier pigeon.

Unifying everything under one planner is fundamentally faster because it eliminates the time wasted when physically switching between modalities, but also the cognitive time taken by the brain cognitively resetting, too.

One place means one focus point, so it’s vastly easier to manage work and plan life. Friday's planner allows users to add tasks conveniently and schedule a block of time to complete them (with reminders!), making you that much likelier to commit to your goals .

4. Set time limits and deadlines

As American writer Rita Mae Brown said, “A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all.” It’s true; they aren’t amazingly fun but rather a fact of life. As painful as they may be, clear timeframes boost productivity.  

Research has shown that we work harder when we are aware of deadlines, whilst the Yerkes–Dodson Law has suggested – for over a hundred years – a clear relationship between pressure and performance.

When it comes to setting a deadline, be sure to leave sufficient time to accommodate healthy working practices. A deadline that requires you to work and work endlessly is, to put it nicely, overly-ambitious or, not so nicely, dangerous . 

Never sacrifice break times for an unrealistic workload, lest you begin to lose interest and resent your work and goals. The importance of not only being physically away from work, but also psychologically detached has clearly been shown , so do not set yourself up for failure with impossible expectations.

It’s difficult to set a deadline on a project with no end-date in sight. Yet, it’s as simple as just picking a finish line you’re comfortable with. In doing so, you feel as if you’re constantly working towards a tangible end, boosting motivation by applying a healthy amount of pressure.

However, deadlines are not the only kind of time limit you need to be concerned with, but also work-length. Something like the Pomodoro technique , a brilliantly basic work-rest pattern, keeps you focused by providing your brain with adequate recovery time. An alternative technique is the 52/17 philosophy, which involves working for 52 minutes and taking a 17 minute break (reminiscent of our natural 90/20 minute ultradian rhythm ).

By “rewarding” yourself with a break, you can maintain motivation to get the tasks completed, especially useful when faced with extensive and complicated projects where prolonged focus is needed.

5. Start with small tasks

Once you have created your task list , selected a single place to consolidate your tasks and set realistic deadlines (with a decent work-rest ratio), you can get cracking with it! Many people feel that starting with a small task is a fast and easy win, a quick hit of self-assurance to better situate oneself in the palace of productivity.

Oftentimes getting started on a project is the hardest part, so starting with smaller tasks and working your way up will make you feel accomplished and will build your confidence. It gets your momentum going right away to help you focus and commit longer. 

6. Eat the frog

In stark contrast to the previous point, others find it better to start with the most difficult or cumbersome tasks, effectively getting them out of the way, i.e. eating the frog. For those who detest the looming intimidation of tasks, it may be better to tackle the big things first.

Coffee may be king in the early morning, but eating the frog will likely have you staying more productive throughout the day. Vanquishing the most difficult task early on sets a positive tone and a better atmosphere in which to nurture your productivity.

7. Focus on one task at a time

Whichever tasks you tackle first, you should only be focusing on one at a time. As ancient scholar Publius Syrus is quoted , "to do two things at once is to do neither," two thousand year old advice that still applies. Our brains do best when focusing on a single task, while the speed of multi-tasking is often mere fallacy, backed up by numerous studies that suggest it to be as much as 40% slower.

It’s often claimed that Leonardo Da Vinci could write and paint at the same time, or even scribble away in two languages simultaneously. While historians do now agree Da Vinci was ambidextrous , this ability to do two things at once is most probably an exaggeration. Even for us modern folk, it’s fervently difficult to focus and get each task finished when we try to do multiple things together.

Multitasking is a great way to accomplish many low-concentration tasks at one time, but there’s simply no application for it with high-attention work; any attempt to do so will rapidly drain your energy.

Try task batching to complete tasks of similar focus types, or use Friday Focus Time to minimize distractions, ultimately allowing you to get more done.

Focus on the task at hand, stay away from distractions and complete as much as you can in one work period. Remember to take a break, even for a moment, to mentally recharge before returning to work with increased energy and alertness.

8. Limit the number of tasks per day

“Rome was not built in a day,” as the saying goes, and neither are intricate projects and long-term ambitions. Similar to how unrealistic deadlines can result in unhealthy work practices, so too can doing excessive amounts of work.

A long list of incomplete tasks can be overwhelming in any case, but over-exerting yourself will probably make you feel worse, not better. The trick is skillful scheduling, whereby you can allocate the perfect amount of work to the day. Time blocking and the Ivy Lee method are excellent ways to consider that lengthy to-do list in terms of time-based sections.

If you can successfully implement the other time-management tips we’ve discussed, you’ll surely have no problem achieving a great deal, leaving you entirely satisfied and guilt-free when signing off for the day.

9. Reward yourself when you finish a task

Here’s a fun one... rewards ! The psychological impact of continually pushing through task after task is that you eventually become both overburdened and underwhelmed. When you do complete a step, be it a subset of tasks or a section of a bigger project, definitely find some way to reward yourself. It could be a crossword puzzle, a luxurious drinks order, or even a nice stroll in the park.

Breaking up work with rewards does two main things. First, they act as incentives to make you work faster towards a goal, like a sort of prize system to diminish distraction; second, they integrate very nicely into a healthy work-rest philosophy, boosting your motivation, which is especially crucial when you’re having a hard time getting to the end.

Even checking-off a task on the list can be considered as a reward, allowing you to acknowledge the progress you’ve made through the physical action (that feels amazing, we might add) of marking an item complete. Checking-off makes you feel more accomplished, and it’s fiendishly addictive, making you more likely to complete another task, and then another! 

10. Review and reflect on your progress

One often overlooked element of better productivity is the time taken to self-analyze your day; what you achieved, your sources of distraction and work you’re proud of are all valuable things to consider. You are also free to use a mood tracker to see how the day affected you emotionally.

Write down the tasks you’ve finished, thinking about what you learned about yourself and your optimal working techniques and conditions. In the same way checking-off makes you feel accomplished, an end-of-day review allows you to observe strengths and weaknesses and actively take steps to continuously develop your productivity practices.

In Friday, you can add a personal routine that prompts you with certain questions at the end of each day, including questions about how your work went and how productive you felt. This is totally customizable, so add whatever questions you want!

On occasion you will have tasks that you aren't able to complete immediately, or even ones that are seemingly undoable. Don’t throw that out, you can still use it! Keep tasks of this nature on a separate list, or as part of a future log , for you to review when you’re better equipped to handle them. 

A list such as this is just one of the many review methods you can use, but ample research shows the undeniably advantages of self-assessment. Becoming more active in self-regulation can also lead to better self-esteem and self-confidence. Self, self, self!

Task Management Demands Consistency

Whichever of these task management tips you choose to adopt, a crucial factor is consistency. The very fact that you’d like to better manage time , is great, but sadly it isn’t enough. The only tried and true way is steady repetition of effective actions that naturalize as pro-productivity habits.

You often hear the phrase “time is money,” but that doesn’t do time much justice at all; time is life, love, passion, pursuit, friendship, work and play. Time-management, then, is the acknowledgement that this precious, finite time does not pass but sprints , that we need to properly organize it to achieve our ambitions and lead a successful, gratifying life.

Knowing exactly how to organize a work day, or how to keep up with tasks, can be quite tricky. However, any attempt at a behavior or system that optimizes your time is a brilliant thing... Of course, if you need a little help from task management tools like Friday , our door is always open.

Win the Workday with the Friday Daily Planner

Friday  is your home for work.

Your team can see meetings and tasks in one place, pulled from tools you already use. You can use widgets to customize your view, and better allocate your time to help you focus on the most important tasks.

At Friday, you’ll have a simple and  automated way  to share regular updates about what you are working on, enabling the regular flow of information  without another meeting . Beyond a daily planner, you also get more to keep your team working together asynchronously -- like icebreakers, goals, employee milestones, a company handbook, and people profiles!

task management method

 Best features:

  • Try out  Posts  to take notes, ideas, meeting agendas, company announcements, and more.
  • Integrates  with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meetings, & many of the top  project management tools .
  • Start  automatic team updates  to reduce your time on Zoom
  • Get the daily planner with your team to see a to-do list and schedule in one place
  • Free Forever.  To-Do List + Calendar Sync + Check-ins + Posts + Unlimited Users.
  • Individual Pro : $4 per month.  Planner View + Task/Calendar sync + Posts + Goals + Reporting
  • Teams :   $6/per person /month.  Planner View + Posts + Task/Calendar sync + Check-Ins + Reporting + Kudos/Icebreakers.
  • Company/Enterprise : A modern intranet & business communication tool customized to your business needs

Use Friday for free.  No credit card required.

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Product Management

What is the moscow prioritization method .

Sarah Burner

ClickUp Contributor

February 13, 2024

As far as mnemonics go, MoSCoW prioritization is one of the most effective acronyms in agile scrum software development. The name briefly summarizes a critical and oft-repeated practice of prioritizing items during product planning.

So, what is it? Why do you need it? How to use it? Let’s find out.

What is MoSCoW Prioritization?

Origins and history of moscow prioritization, applicability, communication, drawbacks of the moscow method, #1 must-have, #2 should-have, #3 could-have, #4 won’t-have (this time), when to use the moscow prioritization method, 1. create your product backlog, 2. add details to the product backlog, 3. set definitions for priority categories, 4. collaboratively decide the priorities, 5. set priorities, 6. validate feasibility.

MoSCoW prioritization is a powerful technique used in agile project management for setting priorities for tasks and initiatives. MoSCoW is an acronym that stands for 

  • Should-have

Each of these is a category of prioritization, which guides what the team will develop in upcoming sprints. MoSCoW prioritization can be applied to anything within the agile framework, including requirements, test use cases, user stories, bugs/defects, acceptance criteria, or tasks. 

Even beyond agile product development, the MoSCoW model can help prioritize work. Across industries, the MoSCoW method is included in operations management software to help project teams make better decisions.

When there are various other prioritization methods, including the most straightforward high-medium-low scale, why do we need another one? Let’s see how it originated and evolved.

The MoSCoW prioritization technique was developed by Dai Clegg of Oracle in 1994 to help his team sort project tasks into critical and non-critical ones in rapid application development (RAD) processes. He used it specifically in time-boxed projects to prioritize the project’s requirements.

Over the years, this method has become a staple in agile project management . It has been adopted and appreciated for its simplicity and direction on what a team needs to prioritize while running the entire project.

Benefits of the MoSCoW Prioritization Method

Despite being two decades old, the MoSCoW prioritization technique continues to be popular among teams using the ​​Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM). Here’s why.

The MoSCoW technique is ridiculously simple to understand. It helps clarify the options available in front of them to eliminate distractions. (It is not as simple to use, as there can be differences of opinion about what’s must-have and what’s should-have, for instance. We’ll get to that a bit later.) 

The categories provide clarity and reduce confusion. If it’s not a must-have, it’s not going in the next sprint. This ensures the team is stress-free and can focus on doing their best work.

The MoSCoW method helps managers and teams see what is important and needs immediate attention. By classifying a high-priority task as a “must-have,” managers can ensure they have everything they need to finish it. They can also discuss competing priorities as a team. 

The MoSCoW method is nearly universally applicable. It can be used to prioritize anything. For example, a team lead can mark ten developers as must-have and three more as could-have to let their superiors know how many people they need. 

Assigning priority levels in this method is a great starting point for conversations in project planning and sprint planning sessions. Defining something as must-have or won’t-have encourages people to agree or disagree specifically.

MoSCoW prioritization is very effective in preventing scope creep. The clear priorities ensure that any newly added feature goes through the prioritization process, helping project managers manage expectations.

Despite its benefits, the MoSCoW Prioritization method is not without its challenges. We’ll discuss them below.

Ambiguity : Must-haves and won’t-haves are easy to agree on. But should-haves and could-haves might be more ambiguous. While the framework lays out clear definitions, it can turn complex in practice. Moreover, teams often disagree on the definition of won’t-haves—are they left out of this sprint or the entire product?

Oversimplification : This method risks oversimplifying complex agile projects, where tasks cannot be easily categorized into discrete buckets and might not adequately address the interdependencies between tasks.

Subjectivity: Like all methods, MoSCoW prioritization is also subjective. The team has to come together to make task prioritization decisions. Its drawback is that it doesn’t do much to bring objectivity into the process.

Demanding : To prioritize a task in the MoSCoW framework, each must have detailed descriptions and context. For example, a ‘tagging’ feature in an agile project management tool might be a must-have for specific use cases while appearing non-critical. Product owners need to invest time and energy into definitions to categorize accurately.

Single-level : Within the four categories, there is no way to prioritize items further. This assumes equal priority for all must-have items, making it ineffective in planning.

Categories of the MoSCoW Prioritization Method

The MoSCoW prioritization method has four categories: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have.

“Must-have” tasks are critical items for the duration of the current sprint. ‘Must’ in the must-have category is sometimes defined as ‘minimum usable subset.’ This ensures that the iteration enables a minimum level of usability of the features.

A must-have feature typically is critical for the customers, a compliance requirement, or a safety/accessibility prerogative. Without these features, the product itself would be pointless to take to market.

Tasks considered to be “should-have” are second in priority. These tasks are important but not critical for the current timebox and can be deferred if necessary. 

A could-have feature is typically a minor bug fix or performance improvement, without which the product functions, even if not optimally. Teams often use some kind of temporary workaround to manage these items.

The third category is “could-have” tasks, i.e., desirable but unnecessary. The critical difference between should-have and could-have is that the former is important and can considerably impact product success (customer satisfaction, revenue, profitability, etc.), while the latter can be comfortably left out without much damage.

Teams prioritize could-have tasks only if they can be delivered without affecting the development team’s cost or effort. As the situation evolves, could-have items are often re-prioritized and developed.

“Won’t-have” tasks are recognized as not necessary for the project’s current scope. These tasks or features are of the lowest priority and omitted at the first sign of resistance. 

Won’t-have features have a very low impact on the project’s success. They neither harm outcomes nor create additional value. 

As helpful as this technique might be, it’s not universally effective. Here are the situations in which it works best.

MoSCoW prioritization is a great decision-making tool for several personal and professional scenarios. When decluttering your home, instead of asking if an item “sparks joy,” you can ask if it is a “must-have.”

For an agile project manager, it can be a lot more valuable than that. Here’s how.

Time : The primary determinant of MoSCoW analysis is time. The categorization is for the current sprint or timebox. It is highly effective for time-sensitive projects with tight deadlines.

Resources : What if you have a limited team of developers? Use MoSCoW as it helps maximize deliverables within available resources.

Product initiation : Early in the project, you must decide what to focus on first and what makes your minimum viable product (MVP). MoSCoW prioritization can be incredibly useful in guiding these conversations.

However, it’s important to note that MoSCoW may not be suitable for all projects, especially those with complex interdependencies or where all tasks are equally critical. 

How to Implement the MoSCoW Prioritization Method

Successful MoSCoW prioritization needs clear and effective processes. Here is an outline of a process and pointers on how to prioritize your work with any free project management software like ClickUp to get it right.

Before you prioritize tasks for the future release, it is essential to create a list of possibilities. Typically, this is outlined in the product backlog. Based on research and input from cross-functional teams, build a select few from the backlog.

On ClickUp, you can set these as tasks, milestones, features, defects, and more to facilitate better prioritization.

ClickUp Custom Task Types

Like we mentioned earlier, one of the non-negotiable factors of MoSCoW prioritization is adequate information about the task. Without the what, why, how, when, and who, it would be impossible to prioritize right. So, add all the information you can gather. This could be:

  • Description of the user story
  • Business impact
  • Engineering impact, such as time/effort estimate
  • Measures of success
  • Dependencies for other tasks

ClickUp tasks allow you to add sub-tasks, checklists, time estimates, users, tags, custom fields, and more. Use ClickUp’s hierarchy guide to organize information effectively.

What does must-have mean? What parameters should a task have to be considered a must-have? Does the entire team have to agree to categorize something as won’t-have?

The most commonly used methodologies are weighted scoring, the Kano model, or buy-a-feature. If that feels like another layer of frameworks/models, here are a few project prioritization templates you can use. 

Choose yours carefully. It is essential to set these definitions before getting into prioritizing tasks. This would help process standardization for proper priority management . Also, place an escalation matrix so that someone can make a decision in case of disagreements.

To ensure everyone understands and follows your priority definitions, document and publish them on ClickUp Docs . Collaborate on them to ensure the team agrees on them. You can also use ClickUp AI within Docs to summarize longer definitions for easy reference.

With all the foundational work done, it’s time to prioritize. Bring the team together to evaluate every option and set priorities.

Choose from any of ClickUp’s views to see the information that suits your needs. For instance, most agile teams typically use the Kanban board view to have all the uncategorized items in one column and then drag-and-drop them into their relevant priorities. You can also filter items on the Kanban board based on what you’d like to see.

ClickUp Kanban Board View

Discuss business requirements openly. Here are a few things to consider.

  • Set all tasks as won’t-have and then debate about why you must have it
  • For must-have requirements, ask, “Without this item, is the increment as good as canceled?”
  • If there is a workaround, even if it’s manual, don’t categorize it as a must-have
  • If a must-have has a dependency on anything other than another must-have, re-evaluate it

Remember that something you categorized as a could-have in the previous increment might become a must-have for the next. For example, while building the MVP, you might have categorized some items as could-have because they are not crucial for the current sprint. Once the MVP is launched, these features might become a must-have now.

Once you’ve agreed, set them up on your prioritization tools . ClickUp priorities give you four options: Urgent, high, normal, and low. You can make these MoSCoW priorities.

Alternatively, you can use the MoSCoW method with custom statuses . While setting task priorities on ClickUp, add a line or two in the comments about why you made the decision. This will help future prioritization sessions.

Custom statuses on ClickUp

Priorities are not just about what’s important, they’re equally about what can be built within that timebox. You don’t want to overcommit and underdeliver just because you think everything is a must-have.

Before committing to a plan, look for each team member’s current workload and capacity. Use the time estimates for each task to simulate capacity. Use the Workload view to ensure no one is over-stacked.

ClickUp Workload View for capacity planning

Prioritize The Right Things with ClickUp

Product teams must remain laser-focused on what’s good for the business and the customer. They need to eliminate distractions. So, project prioritization is a superpower. Good prioritization is as much a choice about what to do as it is about what not to. 

ClickUp’s project management tool is designed to enable exactly this. The hierarchy, task management, priorities, and custom statuses help teams effectively understand and prioritize their work.

The Workload views help ensure the prioritized tasks are deliverable, and the ClickUp Dashboards help keep the priorities on track.  Try ClickUp for free today and build the right thing.

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

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Best free task management software in 2024

Mehdi Punjwani

Sierra Campbell

Sierra Campbell

“Verified by an expert” means that this article has been thoroughly reviewed and evaluated for accuracy.

Published 7:24 a.m. UTC Feb. 15, 2024

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A good task management software will give you the tools you need to organize projects for your business and help individuals, teams and businesses stay organized and productive. They offer a range of features and capabilities depending on the complexities of your business and projects, allowing you to set deadlines, assign tasks to team members, allocate resources and track and report on progress.

Finding the best task management software for your business means considering a range of factors, like the core features on offer, the customer service you’ll get and the ability to scale up according to your needs. We’ve tried and tested some of the biggest platforms available to give you our list of best task management software in 2024.

Best free task management software

  • Notion : Best for flexibility.
  • ClickUp : Best for customization.
  • Trello : Best for automation.
  • Hive : Best for collaboration.
  • Zoho Projects : Best for startups using Zoho.
  • Teamwork : Best for client task management.
  • Monday : Best for individuals and freelancers.
  • Asana : Best for complex tasks.
  • Podio : Best for app building.
  • GoodDay : Best for scaling up.

Why trust our small business experts

Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of business products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.

  • 62 companies reviewed.
  • 164 products reviewed.
  • 2,028 data points analyzed.

Best for flexibility

Notion

Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly)

Number of users, number of projects/tasks, what you should know.

Notion is a versatile task management platform that gives you a high degree of control and customization even on its free plan. With an abundance of views and formats, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts, calendar views and to-do lists, it offers users multiple ways to track and organize projects. You can also make use of thousands of templates built by Notion and its users, catering to an array of health and fitness, work and office and day-to-day home management needs.

You won’t need to pay anything to get unlimited pages and workflows as an individual, but you’ll need to upgrade to give multiple users full functionality. While you can upload unlimited files on the free plan, you’ll be limited to 5 MB per file, as well as a seven-day history and one synced database.

We’d recommend it if you want to use one platform to manage a variety of project and task types with flexible views and displays; it’s particularly good for content creators.

Pros and cons

  • Multiple views, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts and to-do lists.
  • Thousands of versatile templates for things like health and fitness, work and home.
  • Free version offers individuals unlimited pages and workflows.
  • Custom automation features only available on paid plans.
  • Maximum file upload of 5 MB on free plan.
  • Limited admin and security features on free plan.

Best for customization

ClickUp

ClickUp’s free platform gives you a highly capable and customizable task management platform with an unlimited number of tasks and members. It also offers 24/7 customer service on all plans. You’ll be able to view tasks in unlimited lists, boards and calendars, but you’ll only get 60 uses of Gantt charts, timelines and workloads.

The free plan also allows custom statuses and up to 20 custom task types, as well as other useful features like multiple assignees, checklists, dependencies and a basic custom field manager. However, you’ll only be able to create five “spaces” as part of the free plan — unlimited spaces are only available on paid plans. There are also no time-tracking features and very limited other reporting capabilities.

  • Free version offers unlimited free plan members and tasks.
  • A range of views, including Kanban boards and Gantt charts.
  • 24/7 customer support on all plans.
  • Limits on how many views, custom fields and workloads you can use.
  • No time tracking features.
  • Only five ‘spaces’ on free plan.

Best for automation

Trello

While Trello’s free platform only offers its Kanban-style board view, its two main highlights are its automation services and unlimited power-ups. With its Butler automation, you’ll be able to create rules, buttons and commands, and repetitive actions are recognized with suggested automations that help increase productivity. Third-party apps you can integrate include Slack, Jira, Gmail, Microsoft Teams and Google Drive.

You’ll be limited to 10 MB file uploads and only 10 boards per workspace, though with unlimited storage and workspaces for all plans, this isn’t too restrictive. It’s not ideal if you want to see projects and tasks in calendar or timeline views, but as a basic task manager with smart automation tools, it can be a useful platform for individuals and small businesses.

  • Very straightforward and easy to use.
  • Built-in automation features, including an automation bot called Butler.
  • Unlimited power-up feature lets you integrate third-party apps.
  • File uploads are limited to 10 MB per file.
  • You only get up to 10 boards per workspace.
  • Limited view options.

Best for collaboration

Hive

Hive comes with its own native communication tools, allowing for straightforward collaboration with up to 10 workspace members on its free plan. As a task manager, it’s fairly capable, offering unlimited tasks and subtasks as well as multiple views such as Kanban, Gantt, calendars and tables. However, you’ll only get two pages and 100 workflows, and while Kanban views are unlimited, the free plan only offers 100 uses of Gantt, calendar and table views.

Your ability to customize projects and tasks will also be fairly restricted with no custom fields or labels, and your storage limit on the free plan will be 200 MB overall. Its free plan also comes without a few other features, such as AI assists, custom dashboards and analytics. We’d recommend it as a simple free task manager for small teams working together that will benefit from its native collaborative tools.

  • Native collaboration and communication tools.
  • Multiple views and layouts.
  • Unlimited tasks and sub-tasks.
  • 200 MB storage limit.
  • 10 projects and two pages on free plan.
  • No custom project fields or task labels.

Best for startups using Zoho

Zoho projects.

Zoho Projects

Zoho offers a project manager as part of its larger suite of tools and products, offering a free version for up to three users as well as a 10-day free trial on its paid plans. You’ll be able to manage two projects, create feeds, share documents and custom statuses and set up task dependencies within projects. It’s particularly useful for startups already making use of other Zoho products like CRM, Meeting and Sprints, all of which integrate into the free platform.

You can also use third-party app integrations for Microsoft Teams and Office 365, Slack, Dropbox, Zendesk and Zapier. However, there are some significant limitations to the free version, including limited customization — you can’t create custom fields or views, and there are only basic reporting capabilities.

  • Integrates with Zoho CRM, Meeting and Sprints.
  • Straightforward and easy to use.
  • Offers useful core features, including document sharing, subtasks and custom statuses.
  • Only three users and two projects on free plan.
  • No Gantt charts, custom views, time tracking or custom fields.

Best for client task management

Teamwork

Teamwork will be particularly useful for agencies needing to manage client tasks, as it comes with built-in billable time-tracking features and estimated time management. It also offers client-level insights and client-company management, though you’ll only get client users with premium paid plans. With Teamwork, you’ll also get a range of automation features, including automatic Slack updates, HubSpot deals and Microsoft Teams messages.

It does have drawbacks in the shape of limited reporting capabilities — while all plans come with a dashboard, only premium paid plans offer reports on status, portfolio health, time, utilization and profitability. You also won’t have any phone, live chat or email support options on its free plan.

  • Billable time-tracking and invoicing features useful for agencies.
  • Client views and management features.
  • Wide range of automation features.
  • No phone, live chat or email support.
  • Limited reporting and customization options.
  • No client users on free plan.

Best for individuals and freelancers

Monday

Monday is a popular task management platform with businesses worldwide, but we’d recommend its free plan specifically for individuals and freelancers managing their businesses. It offers a straightforward Kanban interface only, with over 200 templates available, so you’ll be able to create up to three boards with two users and unlimited documents.

However, Monday’s free plan is missing a number of wider features like timeline, Gantt and calendar views, as well as offering no integrations or automations. It’s a relatively simplistic platform compared to others, so we’d recommend it more for individuals than teams that will need more advanced collaboration and reporting capabilities.

  • Over 200 templates available.
  • Apps for iOS and Android.
  • Intuitive and easy to use interface.
  • No integrations on free version.
  • Only offers Kanban view.

Best for complex tasks

Asana

We’d recommend Asana’s powerful platform as an ideal choice for small businesses managing complex tasks or projects with plenty of moving parts. With unlimited tasks, projects, file storage, assignees and messages alongside multiple views such as boards, calendars and lists all included on its free plan, it’s a capable piece of software. You’ll also have access to over 100 free third-party integrations such as Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud, Okta and Tableau.

However, you won’t be able to use timelines, Gantt views, goals or portfolios with the free plan, nor time-tracking, workflows or various automation features. The free plan is also fairly limited when it comes to reporting, with only status updates and CSV and PDF exports available.

  • Unlimited project management essential features.
  • Multiple views available.
  • Over 100 free integrations.
  • Limited reporting features.
  • No 24/7 support.

Best for app building

Podio

Podio offers a unique solution for businesses that will benefit from building their own customized project management apps to suit their specific needs. As well as the ability to design a bespoke task manager for your team, you’ll have access to hundreds of user-created apps online. It allows you to keep all important aspects of your business and projects in one central place, depending on the requirements of you and your team.

However, its free version is limited in the other features it offers — including the number of items and client users you can support. It also doesn’t offer automated workflows or visual reports, so keep this in mind if you’re considering Podio.

  • You can build your own customizable apps for project management.
  • You’ll also have access to hundreds of pre-made apps.
  • Live chat support available.
  • Limited features on the free plan.
  • Takes a while to set up and customize to your exact specifications.

Best for scaling up

GoodDay

With a robust set of features and capabilities as well as relatively affordable price plans for upgrading, we’d recommend GoodDay for businesses looking to scale up their operations. Its free version is already quite powerful, offering unlimited projects and tasks for up to 15 users, with views including lists, boards, tables, calendars, event summaries and portfolios. You can customize views, priorities, workflows and statuses, as well as set up dependencies, reminders and to-do lists.

Other customization options are only available on paid plans, such as task, project and user fields, as well as task types and IDs. Additionally, many security features and all CRM features are only available when you upgrade, but with the next price plan up only costing $6 per month, it’s an affordable choice for scaling up.

  • Unlimited projects and tasks.
  • Unlimited views, with most available on free plan.
  • Powerful features for big businesses with affordable plans for scaling up.
  • Many customization options unavailable on free plan.
  • No finance, time tracking, chats or automation.

Best task management software comparison

Methodology

We extensively research the key competitors within an industry to determine the best products and services for your business. Our experts identify the factors that matter most to business owners, including pricing, features and customer support, to ensure that our recommendations offer well-rounded products that will meet the needs of various small businesses.

We collect extensive data to narrow our best list to reputable, easy-to-use products with stand-out features at a reasonable price point. And we look at user reviews to ensure that business owners like you are satisfied with our top picks’ services. We use the same rubric to assess companies within a particular space so you can confidently follow our blueprint to the best free task management software.

The best task management software has positive user reviews on customer review sites and app stores. Task management software companies should provide customers with fast and reliable support. Using a combination of phone support, live chat and knowledge bases, customers should be able to quickly resolve issues 24/7.

Task management software should have role assignment features, timelines and dependencies. It should also allow businesses to use customizable templates, track expenses and track milestones.

And the best task management software should offer client access, billing and invoice capabilities and budgeting features.

What is task management software and how does it work?

Task management software is a digital tool you can use as an individual or a business to manage, organize and prioritize tasks. While levels of features and capabilities will vary between platforms, many also offer the ability to communicate between team members, share files and updates and track progress toward objectives. 

You’ll be able to use task management software to create and assign tasks, set deadlines, allocate resources and allow for collaboration between colleagues. These tools can help you and your business increase productivity and efficiency. However, it’s important to be aware of how complex your needs are. 

Some task management programs can be complex and could end up reducing your productivity and organization, which is why it’s so important to find the right platform for your needs.

Benefits of free task management software

Using task management software can offer a number of benefits for individuals and businesses, including:

  • Free forever: A good free task management software will offer unlimited projects or workflows without any extra costs — not just a free trial before you have to pay.
  • Productivity: Task management platforms can increase your team’s productivity through automation, progress tracking and reporting, saving time on repetitive tasks.
  • Centralized workflow: You can use task management software to keep all workflows centralized, allowing easy access for all team members and collaborators to stay updated and informed.
  • Collaboration: You’ll be able to clearly assign roles and allocate resources on projects and tasks to different team members, and many platforms also allow team members to work together and communicate. 
  • Manage big projects: Complex and lengthy projects can be broken down into separate tasks and workflows with multiple teams and team members. 
  • Remote workers: If you rely on remote workers or freelancers, many task management platforms allow all team members to collaborate online from any location.

Who needs task management software?

Task management software can prove useful for a variety of individuals and businesses. You might be a freelancer with a number of client tasks to manage or a hobbyist running a side hustle — in which case, a free task manager will be ideal. 

Likewise, small teams and businesses can also benefit from using task management software to organize and track workflow progress for team projects. A free plan or trial period offers a great way to try out different platforms and products so you can find one that suits your needs best before committing to a paid plan with more features and capabilities required by your business.

How to choose the best task management software

Choosing the best free task management software for your business means considering a range of factors and how each of these will best suit your needs. You will need to think about the core features offered by each platform, as well as whether it plugs into any existing software you have and how easy and intuitive it is to use. 

Additionally, you should look into the customer support options each platform offers, as this will be crucial in case things go wrong and your work is at risk.

Key features to look for

Levels of complexity and customization will vary between platforms, but in general, you should look out for the following features as part of your task management software:

  • Sub-tasks: Key to keeping big projects organized, task managers should allow you to split tasks and assign different deadlines and workers to each sub-task.
  • Views and visualizations: You should also be able to see your tasks and projects in different views, like Kanban dashboards or Gantt charts. You may find these to be limited in free versions of some platforms, so check price plans to ensure you’re getting what you need.
  • Integration: If you have any existing software or hardware in use for your business, such as finance and accounting apps, design tools or communication platforms, it’s worth seeing if these will plug into the task management software you want. It helps keep everything synchronized and centralized.
  • Tracking and reporting: Your task manager should also allow you to track task and project progress against deadlines and objectives, as well as generate reports. 
  • Automation: Some platforms will even offer automation services that let you set up automatic tracking and reporting.
  • Collaboration: Lastly, if you’re managing a team’s workload, it’s vital they can work together, so look for task management software that allows for communication and role delegation.

Ease of use

Some task management tools will be relatively simple and easy to use, with intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces that allow for straightforward organization. However, others offer more complex capabilities, including multiple views like Gantt charts, calendars, lists and galleries, automated reporting and collaboration between multiple team members. 

Consider what you’ll need the software for, how many people and tasks you’ll be managing and what kind of insights you’ll want when making your choice.

Security 

You should also factor in any security requirements you might have, especially if you’re a big organization or you use third-party apps, providers or even freelancers. Being able to control access on multiple levels may be particularly important. Additionally, consider things like two-factor authentication, secure sharing and data protection when choosing platforms.

Customer service

If something goes wrong with your task manager, it can affect your business’s ability to complete projects and assure stakeholders of progress. Customer service is a key part of being able to resolve issues, so look for providers that offer both round-the-clock availability and instant contact by phone or live chat as a priority.

How much does task management software cost?

When looking for free task management software, consider whether it’s truly free forever — meaning you’ll have access to all the features on the free plan forever without having to pay. 

While this might mean many advanced features are hidden behind paywalls, you’ll at least be able to rely on the software for your basic needs without restriction. This is in contrast to free trials that often give you access to the entire platform for a limited time, after which you won’t be able to use it without paying.

If you’re looking to try a free plan in order to get a feel for a specific task management software before committing to a paid plan, you’ll likely be more on the lookout for usability as well as scalability. Consider which paid plans offer the most bang for your buck to narrow down your options, but focus on which free software feels the most natural to use for your business. 

You may find that some software platforms offer prices on a per-user basis while others offer a set number of users for each plan. Others may even have a minimum-user requirement, so if they charge a set price per user and require at least three users, you’ll need to pay three times the price you see given as a minimum.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

The best free task management software will depend entirely on your needs and requirements as an individual or business. ClickUp and Notion both offer great customization features, with Notion especially good for content creators.

Paid task management software plans offer a range of extra benefits, including more users or projects, additional features and advanced integrations and security. These will often be more useful for bigger teams and companies managing complex projects with multiple moving parts and stakeholders that need to be kept informed. 

When prioritizing tasks in project management, you should consider the resources available, any dependencies on the task being completed and the urgency of the request. 

Task management software lets you manage multiple tasks at work by allowing you to create, organize and assign tasks, set deadlines, track progress and, if required, add sub-tasks. All tasks are kept in one place and accessible for anyone who needs to see them, often in digestible formats like calendars, boards and timelines.

Improving task management skills will require you to be disciplined and attentive to detail in order to get the best from task management software and boost your productivity. You should: 

  • Focus on prioritizing tasks on your to-do list.
  • Create a manageable schedule for delivery with realistic deadlines. 
  • Ensure you’re communicating with stakeholders to keep everyone on the same page.

The best software will make this easy and help you manage your workload efficiently and effectively — but it’s made even easier when you know you’ve picked the right task management software for your requirements.

Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy . The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.

Mehdi Punjwani

Mehdi is a writer and editor with many years of personal finance expertise under his belt. He's a spirited money-saver, with a passion for making personal finance accessible and manageable. When he isn't writing, Mehdi likes to read about history and travel, hike along coastlines and in forests, and watch his beloved team Manchester United underperform.

Sierra Campbell is a small business editor for USA Today Blueprint. She specializes in writing, editing and fact-checking content centered around helping businesses. She has worked as a digital content and show producer for several local TV stations, an editor for U.S. News & World Report and a freelance writer and editor for many companies. Sierra prides herself in delivering accurate and up-to-date information to readers. Her expertise includes credit card processing companies, e-commerce platforms, payroll software, accounting software and virtual private networks (VPNs). She also owns Editing by Sierra, where she offers editing services to writers of all backgrounds, including self-published and traditionally published authors.

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IMAGES

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COMMENTS

  1. 7 Task Management Methods To Increase Your Productivity Levels

    Here's a list of task management methods you can use: 1. One task at a time strategies As you plan your day or week ahead, list your tasks and schedule time to prioritize specific items. During this allotted time, limit any distractions by silencing your devices and turning off notifications.

  2. 8 Time-Tested Task Management Methods

    8 Time-Tested Task Management Methods By Belle Cooper · May 12, 2015 Always on the search for a more efficient way to work, I have a penchant for exploring and writing about productivity methods.

  3. How to Improve Task Management: Roles, Skills, Tips, and Tools

    This "pull" method of task management offers a visualisation of tasks in progress by classing each task in terms of priority. Spreadsheets can be a way to manage tasks manually. This could be a spreadsheet only the task or project manager uses or a shared document. You could use colour coding to separate stages of a task or people working ...

  4. Your To Do List and Beyond: 8 Powerful Ways to Manage Your Tasks

    The "Grocery List" method, or just organizing tasks in simple lists, is by far the most popular task management method. It's the way you'll likely organize tasks without even thinking about it. It puts all tasks and their respective due dates front-and-center with no fluff.

  5. What Is Task Management? 10 Key Tools and More

    Task management is the process of effectively and efficiently tracking, managing, and executing the life cycle of a task or many tasks within a project, from inception to execution. The purpose of task management is to improve the decision-making, communication, efficiency, and effectiveness of a task or project.

  6. What is Task Management? How to Break a Project Down into ...

    Collaborating: Assigning tasks, estimating time, and scheduling your project How to estimate the time each task will take Use your time estimates to prepare your schedule and allocate resources Tracking: Grouping tasks into milestones and managing task status from start to finish How to break tasks down into milestones

  7. What is Task Management? 3 Proven Methods Explained

    How do they do it? When I was struggling to stay on top of my new responsibilities, I was asking the same question. Over time, I discovered task management techniques, to-do list apps and how to stay off Twitter to focus on work that matters.

  8. What It Is, Task Management Tools & Best Practices

    Task management is where every task is scheduled and managed using details and deadlines to deliver projects on time. Task management isn't as complicated as it sounds. It's just a fancy way of planning how tasks are handled from the moment you put them into a schedule until they're completed.

  9. 12 Effective Task Management Strategies for Modern-day ...

    1. Define everyone's roles Before getting started with task management and allocation, you need to clearly define everyone's roles and responsibilities in the project. It is important for everyone in the team to know what they are supposed to do, and how their work is going to impact the overall project progress.

  10. The Ultimate Guide to Task Management

    Task management is a process where a project manager identifies, monitors and progresses the work that needs to be done during the day. In terms of project management, task management is how the workflow is efficiently organized. It's task-oriented, detailed and part of the larger scheduling of a project.

  11. The Eisenhower Matrix: How to prioritize your to-do list

    The Eisenhower Matrix is a task management tool that helps you organize and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. Using the tool, you'll divide your tasks into four boxes based on the tasks you'll do first, the tasks you'll schedule for later, the tasks you'll delegate, and the tasks you'll delete. In this piece, we'll explain ...

  12. Task Managment Techniques: 10 Best Task Management Tips

    by Jennifer Bridges | Aug 10, 2023 Tasks are the building blocks of your work and your projects. You need to manage them in order to manage work at large. The problem is, it's easy to get overwhelmed in day-to-day tasks. That's why you need good task management techniques to be successful. What Is a Task Management Technique?

  13. How to Manage Tasks: 12 Proven Tactics 2024

    6. Tackle the least appealing (or scariest) task first. This time management tactic has been articulated in a couple of different ways. Probably the most well-known is the phrase "eat that frog," a strategy (and title of a popular productivity book) focused on deciding which item on your list is the least desirable and then completing that item first.

  14. The GTD method: 5 steps to manage time and tasks

    The GTD method, also known as the Getting Things Done method is a time management and productivity system introduced by David Allen in 2001. By using this method, you will be able to: prioritize tasks, meet your goals, one by one, clear your mind, and relieve stress.

  15. Tired of not Getting Things Done? Master the GTD method in 5 steps

    The Getting Things Done method is just one time management strategy. Like all time management techniques, it has its pros and cons. The strategy you choose to implement depends largely on which skills you want to improve with time management.

  16. Task Management Techniques: 7 Lists To Get Shit Done On Time

    In my seemingly neverending quest to get shit done, I've seen a ton of strange methods and lists. And, let me tell you, working at Process Street — a task management system for businesses — I'm making myself practice what I preach. Here are some of the task management techniques I've come across. The first step: Brain dump! Note down ...

  17. Task Management: A Beginner's Guide

    Chapter synopsis Introduction. What is task management? Learn what task management means, how to think about managing tasks through their entire life cycle, and the difference between task management and project management. Top task management methods and methodologies.

  18. 3 Simple Methods For More Effective Task Management

    #1 The GTD Strategy (Getting Things Done) The GTD strategy is a popular strategy for a lot of entrepreneurs and dedicated professionals. This process allows you to efficiently organize your tasks and keep track of what you need to get done so that you can reduce the stress of unfinished and pending tasks.

  19. Task Management Methodology • Checkify

    Task management is an essential component of any project management breaking down sections into individual tasks and then sequential tasks. Think of tasks is individual units of work. Task management is a pretty simple but effective way of breaking complex projects into smaller simple, and more manageable tasks.

  20. Task Management: How To Stay Organized And Productive

    These steps involve meticulous planning, thorough reporting, and clarification of objectives. By creating and following an effective task management plan, you can successfully achieve individual or team goals. You can do this by utilizing task management methods to: Organize, plan and monitor tasks. Boost productivity.

  21. Getting Things Done: A Simple Step-By-Step Guide

    Getting Things Done, or GTD for short, is a popular task management system created by productivity consultant David Allen. The methodology is based on a simple truth: The more information bouncing around inside your head, the harder it is to decide what needs attention.

  22. 3 Simple Steps for Effective Task Management (Definitive Guide)

    1. Write a To-Do List. First up, is the most popular and classic way to manage tasks before technology got involved, To-Do Lists. This way of managing tasks is a classic and effective way to keep yourself on track to complete both personal and business goals. All you need is a pen and paper.

  23. Task Management Tips: 10 Skills To Get More Done

    There's quite a few priority to-do list approaches, but the Eisenhower matrix is a notable one, allowing you to categorize tasks into four quadrants: 1. Urgent and important: Do it immediately. 2. Important, but not urgent: Schedule time for it. 3. Urgent, not important: Delegate it.

  24. What is the MoSCoW Prioritization Method?

    The MoSCoW method helps managers and teams see what is important and needs immediate attention. By classifying a high-priority task as a "must-have," managers can ensure they have everything they need to finish it. They can also discuss competing priorities as a team. Applicability. The MoSCoW method is nearly universally applicable.

  25. Best Task Management Software of February 2024

    The global task management market is expected to exceed $7 billion dollars by 2032, and with good reason—it's the catalyst and foundation for sustainable task completion, business growth and ...

  26. Best Free Task Management Software in 2024

    ClickUp's free platform gives you a highly capable and customizable task management platform with an unlimited number of tasks and members. It also offers 24/7 customer service on all plans.