Stop Using Your Task Manager As A Project Manager!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2020
- Are you trying to manage projects inside a task list manager? Here’s why this is not a great way to manage projects and what to do instead.
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#Productivity #Projects #TimeManagement - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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My mind is blown by how a simple shift can potentially make all the difference. I think part of the issue is that the marketing of task management apps push their project management features.
I think you are right there, Gary.
I think you are right there, Gary.
Before watching this, I was confused between task list (to do list) and project management. This video helps me to clarify the difference between them. Thank you !!!
you're welcome. Very happy to help.
awesome! I love this evolution in your teachings. Im verry curious to see where you are gonna take us with regards to project management!
Not sure there's an evolution going on, just looking for better ways to help people. 😀
Great video and great information! I love this explanation makes everything make more sense!
Thank you, glad you found it useful.
Very good theory explanation! I have been trying to squeeze everything into one application because I don't like having to constantly switch between apps and realize now that this is not a good idea.
It can get messy when you do that. To make that work you would need to spend a lot of time maintaining your system.
@@Carl_Pullein Been trying to do it all in Asana because I can't bother with switching apps all the time, plus they don't play well together. Now based on what you're saying I'm going to use three apps.
Microsoft To-Do for my errands
Asana for my projects
Airtable for my editorial calendar
@@darlingtonjonesimagery9247 Test it and see how it goes. The thing I noticed when I shifted my content calendar out to Asana was it helped me to focus better. There was one app that did one job. I found I wasn't distracted by other things in there.
Many thanks for this video! It helped me to take the next step, figuring out how to bridge the gap from my Task management to my project management.
- I am very comfortable in dealing with knowledge and information.
- Task management is pretty straightforward.
However, when I think about project management, I tend to see it as some kind of strange mixture of action items and information. This leads me to
1. Liking Things 3 for its simplicity and ease to use.
2. Begrudgingly flirting with Omnifocus because it has the power needed to handle the complexity of my projects.
Thanks a lot!
Glad to have been able to help, Sascha.
Thank you so much, this is helpful.
im so glad youre helping me understand THIS DIFFERENCE
You're very welcome.
This is such an important lesson! Just curious, are you managing your projects and client notes in Notion now?
This is your best video. Really from the bottom of my heart
Thank you, Miguel.
I agree with you there. I use the hipster pda where you make references on index cards attached by a binder ring. What I do is divide the tasks according to importance and in this way I can capture New ideas and tasks thoughts on separate index cards. On each index card I have the main task on the front, estimates duration to complete it, and importance, and in the back any sub tasks go there to complete the task. If it’s an errand task I just use sticky note or Apple reminder . The index cards behind the do now divider is what gets scheduled in my todo app. This way I have the hard copy of the tasks and don’t have to worry about an app not starting up while the tasks in my todo app will only have current and active tasks to do’s and I don’t get overwhelmed.
I use the same system for my projects but just use a separate index hipster pda labeled projects and divided by Eisenhower matrix labeled index cards.. To manage my projects in more detail I use notion.
I once tried to manage tasks in notion and lost what I needed to do all the time besides their app being too slow.
Fantastic! There are times I admit I am tempted to go back to paper. 😎
Very insightful Carl. Thank you.
You're welcome, Uday.
Thank you Carl very helpful video!
Thanks a lot Carl!
It's plain but game-changing advice.
I have been trying to put all in one place for many years (daily tasks and projects in one app) but every time I feel the same confuse, but don't catching - what wrong?
Eventually I found an answer - projects and to-do must be kept separately.
Thanks a lot for your advice!
You're very welcome. Happy to help.
informative video Carl! Thank You.
Thank you, Malcolm.
Carl many thanks this confirms why my todoist is a never ending trail of projects tasks and sub tasks. Time to change, can you recommend a a note system and what to use e.g. excel. Should you use the tags as GTD contexts instead of setting up loads of project folders
Happy New Year and Thanks
Hi David, I've found Tiago Forte's PARA method to be the best way to manage projects, areas and resources. You can find out more about this here: fortelabs.co/blog/para/
I have always struggled to find a project management app that had a related to-do list app.
I want to set up and design projects and schedules in the app, assign tasks and resources (in coordination with resource management), add task delegation "to-do", review completion, track time/cost consumption, earned value etc.
Just finding something that covers and connects it all but isn't ridiculously complicated.
THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOO TRUE. Thank you.
You’re very welcome, Tommy.
Ta for this. I have too many tasks in my Todoist, so what I'm now thinking of is having my future tasks in Evernote (as a holding pen) and then move them to Notion as projects become active or 'pending'. This would mean my Todoist would just be for personal tasks and things I need to do this week (as part of my weekly review).
Would it not be better to keep everything in Notion (or Evernote)? Using 2 apps means that's now places you need to keep managed. Having one would likely be more efficient.
Hi Carl, I've watched your videos and agree that separating projects from to-dos would simplify my life significantly. I was already organizing my projects by AOF, but still found these so complex. As a school principal I consistently have a million "projects," some new, and others repeating time-based projects/activities (monthly, quarterly, yearly), daily interruptions/"urgent" things to do, and a full calendar. How do you advise using your notes app to organize all these types of items. Also, how can organizing your projects in a notes app help you to prioritize and see next actions that need to go in your task app? (maybe this is a podcast question or another video idea) :) Heather
Hi Heather. Thank you. I will add it to the podcast list. I think a lot of people are finding the same issues you are finding.
Heather’s challenges sound very similar to mine but I’m in realestate. Juggling random new tasks is a perpetual challenge, as being seen to be super-responsive to both existing clients and potential new ones is so important in my business. But at the same time I have to keep track of certain essentials for each active listing, which although the same for each can occur all within 10 days or over 6 months!
This is fantastic! One question: what about a Waiting For list? I rely on this list a lot; this would go in Todoist, right?
If you're using it and it works for you, Claudia, then absolutely. It all about making sure it works for you.
Yes. Thank. You.
Thank you too!
Great video Carl. Great video Have tried Notion? It’s great for project mgt
Yes. And I hated it. It's so fiddly and I spent fat too much time inside Notion playing around with all the features I didn't actually get much work done.
I do agree, however Trello, or at least kanban boards, are used for project management. Redmine, Trello, Jira, Click Up, even Notion boards are all ones I have seen for this. This is predominantly with Agile projects (and probably mostly software) but kanban and scrum boards are used as the backbone for running some projects. I prefer to have an IMS for my projects and Excel for planning my team's work but I have worked on many multi million £ projects that used something like Trello for management, so it can and is done. Doing it in a todo list though... No. Definitely agree with that.
I use MeisterTask as my project/task manager. I can do almost everything in it. But with Todoist adding boards, and the customization of "today's focus" as Carl teaches us to make, I might be able to move back here. Though my level of customization on MT is way better, and much more visually appealing (for a visual person like myself). Things to think about it. I'll have to wait for them to get more improvements before trying it out again.
I think it will always depend on the type and size of project a person is managing. My projects fit perfectly inside a noters app with a little help from a spreadsheet. But for others they may prefer something more purpose built.
Very helpful - thank you
You're very welcome, Peter.
Thank you for all the work you to help people. Organization is one of my biggest Areas of focus and I follow you since many years and you helped me a lot. I really think lack of organization is the begining of problems for many persons. So a big thanks to you. In this video you're speaking about Franklin ... I didn't get the name can you help me ?
Thank you
Hi Pierre, thank you for your kind words. I mentioned the Franklin Planner
shop.franklinplanner.com/store/
@@Carl_Pullein Hi Carl, thank you very much for your fast answer. I will take a look.
Excellent !
May I ask you which App you use to take notes?
I see you are highly committed inside the Apple ecosystem: do you use Apple Notes?
And great video as always! Thank you!
Generally, I use Evernote. That’s my workhorse. But I use Apple notes for quick entry. It’s faster on an iPhone/iPad.
Simple yet..... how many times are we not doing this? Thx.
Facts. I'm a To-Do list grand mess survivor 😂
😅 I feel like this video respond to my last comments.
I still need to think about it, and even more since Todoist added board 😅. I was planning to have a column done. Then having not completable tasks (Features of my product or Blog post) with potential completable subtasks such as check copy or design or backend.... And finally main tasks which are like fix this bug as completable.
I will consider both options. Knowing I am alone on those projects and I still always fight to find the project manager which could fit a specific project.
But now a small question, do you thinks the tasks managers should evolve towards being able to manage projects ?
Good question. The difficulty is some may want a fully fledged project manager, others would not. The trick is to find the right balance and that means a lot of compromises.
Carl - new Todoist Boards!!!
Yes. Haven't found a use for them yet. Still playing to see how it fits into my workflow... Or not as it increasingly looks like.
@@Carl_Pullein i bought your time sector course and instead of creating projects for each time sector i created all of them inside one project. This way I can see all of my sectors organized horizontally. It's also very easy to drag tasks from one sector to another.
Congrats on 100K 🎉
Thank you.
Thank you for this. I have spent a whole month trying to make a to do app work as a project management. Any suggestions for a project management app?
MeisterTask 100%
I just started using ClickUp and I really like it so far. There’s a lot of potential with it even though it’s free.
Monday.com looks promising. But it will depend on the rule of projects you want to manage.
madnessofmymind trying i, like it so far. Thanks!
Jeanette Hargis will check it out, thanks!
Hey, I can’t used to do it as a project management software. Therefore, what project management software would you suggest for a lawyer in his practice, while also working with to do it as a task management?? Any suggestions?
Hi David, most of the lawyers I work with use specialist practice management software to manage their cases. However, if you are looking for specific project management tools then look at apps like Click Up, Miestertask and Monday.com.
Indeed, I would not manage projects on the task managers you listed - Todoist, Trello, Things and the like. They are indeed too simple and limited for that. However, top tier PM apps like ClickUp or Notion are very powerful, and provide a single place to manage Projects tasks, documents, meeting notes, Gantt, etc. Managing a project using spreadsheets, simple notes apps and folders is, in my oppinion, ineffective and a decentralized nightmare, for having the project info spread in different places and apps
@Max D I didn't know it, so I've had a quick look at their site. Like I said above, a proper tool for PM must congregate, in a single place, Project's tasks, documents, meeting notes, general notes, Gantt charts, and online collaboration, which is essential, for in many cases, project members are all over the place. From what I saw, briefly, ThinkingRock does not meet those standards. Moreover, besides the functionality, since you're going to be looking at the tool for the most part of every single day, it has to be aesthetically pleasing to you, and I did not like that aspect of TR, that's another area in which Clickup, and especially Notion, shine. Hope this helps
Indeed.
My question is if I put my project info in a separate spot, how do I trigger reminders to pull specific items into your task list? I keep putting some projects in there because I like the idea that it might trigger me when I review. Is it helpful to put a task to 'check X project' in the task manager?
The way I manage this is to have a master project list in my notes app. I review this as part of my weekly planning session each week. This way I get to make decisions about what I will be working on the following week without the risk of getting lost in an ocean of tasks that may or may not need doing during that week.
I use Excel for work. I can’t imagine trying to keep track of everything without it.
Yes, I know how you feel. The humble spreadsheet allows for so much possibility.
What about task items that belong in both the project management app and the task management app? This would require a double entry, no?
Why would you need them in both?
Very informative 😁
Thank you, James. Glad you liked it.
I would say Pagico is an exception to that rule.
Beautiful
Thank you Manoj.
Well Carl. I have taken several of your courses. Tried to do it your way. The one thing I like and incorporate is linking notes that hold all the reference details outside of the projects / tasks. However watching lately some of the techniques of building a 2nd Brain, the guy keeps all his projects out in the open on the side of his task manager so those projects are in site at all times (not buried in folders on the side) and stacks them in order of importance. With your push on your NEW System, I am reminded of a class I took on writing in college. The teacher had written a book on a system of writing she was gung-ho on. That was suppose to make writing as simple as 1, 2, 3. But instead it was vastly complicated and hard to conceptualize and implement. I appreciate you are looking for new ways to organize things. But I am thinking you are too in love with your system and trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. But that is just my thought, especially after reviewing your updated lessons (which I notice you managed to do good production value all the way through this time, I guess although you were dismissive of my comments on that matter and used it as a excuse video, you actually did listen to my feedback) But I have reviewed your lessons three times and I find implementing them more confusing than helpful.
I think for me it's more about focusing on one thing at a time. If all my projects were visible all the time I would feel overwhelmed. Instead, I select projects during my weekly planning and focus on those. I limit those to a max of three although these days I am trying to focus on one at a time until complete--which is not always possible.
I find I get a lot more done that way and I am not being tempted to add more and more work as the week goes by.
The bottom line is you can only work on one thing at a time so minimising distractions and focusing on that one thing is, to me, more important than being distracted by projects that do not need attention right now.
I think Workflowy is perfect for managing projects
Hello Carl, I just came back from training of Velimir Srića. Actually I don't look foor some sofisticated project management program, but only simple to-do list for onne persons work organization only ... mine :D But with a function of tasks planing from the overview of duration of each planed task for easy visibility of let's say "time gaps/holes" or overlapses :) Any tip? Thank you so much.
That depends on whether you like t see things visually (Trello / Asana) or in a list (Todoist, Reminders, To Do) any of these tools would do the job for you.
@@Carl_Pullein Thank you, I found that Trello will be what I am looking for. Today I tried to reorganize my Outlook weekly overview and drag and drop tasks directly into the callendar works also well.
@@David_Palka Trello's a good application.
I am just overwhelmed by the number of tools and different methods out there. I've been trying to manage some of my personal projects within a tasks app but I just find it overwhelming and stop. Tried doing it in a notes app but because it doesn't have reminders and deadlines then I just forget about them. Too many software options and an endless number of different methods of using them. I understand what you are saying here but I feel even more lost watching this lol. Notes app have tasks in them, so I seen an overlap and find it difficult to figure out what goes where
The tools are there to help you, not overwhelm you. If you find the tools are overwhelming you, pick one and commit to using it. Don't look for more tools and focus your efforts on learning how to use the tool(s) you do use to the best of your abilities.
Notion is the solution. It’s life changing when used correctly and thoughtfully. Took me a while to figure out a simple and effective way to lay it out but after watching a few tutorials from people who have mastered creating a streamlined process I’m blown away by the results.
Notion's too fiddly for me. Far too many bells and whistles and my personality would want to be always playing with them. That would stop me from doing the most important thing... The work.
Help me decide if I should use Jira or ClickUp for my projects. I am solo user.
Unfortunately, I don't know enough about those apps to be able to help. The best advice is to pick one and then learn everything you can about it.
Carl Pullein no worries. Been using them both and switching back and forth. I love SCRUM, so keep going back to JIRA but ClickUp has way too many features nicely baked in, except SCRUM which is a bit oddly baked in.
What about doing a video called “Stop using your task manager as a capture tool”? If anything catches our attention should we be putting it in the Inbox of our task manager or somewhere else?
Task managers are built for collecting tasks. So are to-do lists. That said, I've collected a number of tasks that when I processed later I moe out of the task manager and into my notes as the item collected needed further thought or development.
Carl Pullein I am referring to collecting screenshots, photos, links, document scans, etc... Should we be using a task manager app to capture anything that has our attention? You wouldn’t be typing in a todo/task. You would just be capturing/collecting and then processing what you want to do with it later. For example, if you saw something in a store you wanted to buy for somebody’s birthday. Would you take a photo in the task manager app and stand there attaching it to a todo? Or would you collect that photo in a different app then create a todo out of it later in the task manager app?
@@Patrick76399 That depends. Personally, stuff like that gets thrown into Evernote. But, my wife puts that into her to-do list and then simply adds a date to it when she wants to buy it. With screenshots, again, for me they would go into the relevant project note in Evernote.
Carl Pullein So a task manager app is for capturing anything that you can type or dictate as a todo/task? If you can’t type it or dictate it as a todo don’t capture it in the task manager app? If you want to capture anything that is not a todo in and of itself do it in a different app?
@@Patrick76399 Really it's up to you and what works best for you. I use an app called Drafts to collect everything text-based, others prefer to collect everything into their task manager and I know people who use a simple notebook and pen. The choice is yours and what works best for you. There really is no right or wrong way of doing it.
What project management apps do you like apart from spreadsheets (4:46)?
For me, Evernote. I prefer the flexibility of a simple note to collect milestones, notes and important emails etc.
I use Trello for project related tasks but it all goes into a single to do list.
Glad out works for you :-)
Witch Project Manager Tool do you use?
Evernote. (I use a template I created)
Thanks Carl. A common issue i see is that people who use project management software such as Asana to manage not only their projects but the software also allows them to manage checklists and tasks for a project within Asana. They get confused figuring out how to manage the actual tasks or ‘todos’ from that project mixed with their day to day todos in something like Todoist. How would you suggest they manage todos from projects mixed with the day to day in this way?
I use MeisterTask (an agile system similar to Asana). While I do not have specific daily tasks I must do, I do have a few weekly tasks. I set them up as recurring tasks that auto populate each week. They recently released a focused agenda section so I keep that open and all my new scheduled tasks show up there, and anything I've tagged for the week will be there. I can move it around to different "boards" as I need. I uncheck it after completing. Sadly I cannot show a screenshot here.
When I get the notification, I open that task and when I've completed the work on my other screen, I check it all off and close the task and delete. I use it to track expiration dates for all of my properties (real estate) and to see where in the process I am for getting extensions on those properties. I also track the progress of new listings with the help of checklists and a lot of preset automations. I always keep this open on one of my screens and do all my work related to those projects and tasks on my other screens. While I cannot do a today's focus like ToDoist allows, I have set up my own focus that I check on each night before closing up to make sure I've got everything moved where it should be and ready for the next day.
It takes dedication to get it to work as you need it. I finally stopped trying other systems about 2 years ago and have been slowly refining this and I'm really making progress. I'm very visual in my work and reminders, so this software works brilliantly for me (if only they would add a few things I need to do - but I've found ways around it). Not sure that really helps, but it's a glimpse into how I make that work.
madnessofmymind thanks for that. Would love Carl Pullein to expand on this in a video!
It's really about using a task manager to tell you what to work on. So, you'd have a task that says "review project X" or "continue working on project X" and then move to your project manager or notes to do the work.
@@Carl_Pullein Thanks! I've moved to a system where I time block 4 hours in my calendar for a project (which is also synced to Todoist as a single task "work on project x".) And the actual sub-steps and tasks relating to this project are kept within my project manager. Seems to be working well. The one thing that I'm still trying to work out is where to put NEW tasks relating to that project. Currently I'm adding them all to my Todoist inbox when I'm out and about and think of something and then manually moving them into the project manager.
One new thing I'd like to try is actually managing a a project within Todoist using the new Boards feature. New tasks that are added to that project would sit on the left and not assigned to a "section" or "board list" which means they need to be sorted. I would then sort them to either BACKLOG, CURRENT SPRINT, IN PROGRESS/SCHEDULED, HOLD or DONE.
If they are moved to the IN PROGRESS list, I would also assign a day to them which means they will actually show up in my Todoist filters under that particular process.
Will see how that goes as I still find managing project tasks in a project manager vs day to day tasks in a task manager slightly confusing with my current process!
@@drig9742 I think you need to be careful. On a day to day basis, the only thing that matters are the tasks that you will do. Projects, filters and labels are great for planning, but when you are doing the work, tasks are key. As long as the right tasks are showing up in your list of tasks for today and they get done, the projects will take care of themselves. If you have too many filters, project and labels to go to each day, that's when things start to slip through the cracks and tasks that need doing get missed or lost.
you are my savior
It really sounds like you could benefit from using Clickup.
It has pretty much everything you said. Including basic spreadsheets and even Gantt, and much more.
Only 2 downsides - the mobile app is inferior to the web/desktop client. And offline usage is not great.
Oh no! Another "new" productivity app? I certainly don't need another app. I have a system that works. I get my work done, I don't miss anything and I'm not stressed out and overwhelmed.
😄😁
Use a note app for notes
Use a to do list app for tasks
Use a project management app for projects
Use the right tools for tasks.
It's not the tools, it's the user.
Figure out the why, then you know the how.
Got it spot on there :-)
Todoist literally has one section called "Projects"
You are quite right, and if putting all your projects into that list works for you, that's fantastic.
🤯
This guy just likes to talk..You'll be farther ahead by just doing something than letting this dude accrue YT view minutes.
LOL - Thank you.