Electronic Task Lists: Use Them Whenever You Can
February 7th, 2012
This blog post is based on a question I received from Rachel Ramey and she asks:
“Do you still recommend an electronic task list for those who don’t have portable devices? I like the idea of an e-list except that I’d never have it with me when I’m away from my desk! Just wondering if I’m overlooking something.”
Rachel Ramey
www.titus2homemaker.com
Note: Through additional communication with Rachel I found out that she is starting to work from home, she has a laptop, but does not have a smart phone. She also says, “If I could find something that would function as a PDA + cell phone, but did not require a data plan, I’d jump on it. But thus far I’ve been told that anything that does those two things will require a data plan or the phone company won’t even activate it.”
First, thank you, Rachel, for your question! And second, yes, it’s true… the “data plan” allows you to get things on your computer – like documents and your e-mail system – to synchronize with a smart phone. That’s actually what you want! And the way technology is speeding along these days, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Anyway, whether you operate with or without a data plan and a smart phone (or tablet) my answer is still “yes” to using an electronic task list. It’s important to use an e-list whenever you can, especially if you have something as powerful as Microsoft Outlook® on your computer.
Here’s why…
An electronic task list, if you build it completely, will really help you get a TOTAL picture of what you need to do from day to day so you can get a sense of how much time you’ll need to accomplish everything you planned. If it’s not on the list, you don’t have a clear picture of all your to-dos.
For instance, if your tasks are currently on post-its, legal pads, planners, calendars, in your memory, in your e-mail, and all spread out, then you’re not getting a TOTAL picture of everything you need to do, have to do, want to do – and everything you said “yes” to – as far as tasks are concerned.
So your e-list on the computer can and should encompass all actionable tasks, whether personal or business in nature. One of the personal tasks I’m referring to could be a task like calling the dentist for yourself or calling the school to talk to someone about your child. Whatever it is, if it HAS to be accomplished between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm in your work day (or beyond if you’re an entrepreneur!) then it still goes on your electronic Task list with all the other business tasks you have planned for that day. Why? Because it takes TIME out of your day and it has to be represented somewhere and prioritized with everything else. And your list should be grouped by target date of action so you don’t have an endless list of 100 things to do all on one day.
One thing I recommend against is creating two different action lists – one for personal and one for business. One of the exceptions is when you pull ideas away from actionable tasks. Then you can have two lists because one set is actionable and the other set (the ideas) is not actionable.
In some cases, you may want several “ideas” lists, because I don’t know about you, but I have LOTS of ideas for my home or personal life and then I have a whole bunch of ideas for my business. As a matter of fact, that’s where I separate out what kinds of ideas I have for my business. For instance, I keep a list of “Writing” ideas, “Marketing” ideas,” “Social Media” ideas and more.
None of these ideas on my lists are actionable yet, but when I want to put one into action, I pull it over into my daily task list and plan when to take action. This daily list is where I can see what I plan to do literally from day to day. And each day is separate from the next.
In the end, if you don’t have a smart phone or tablet, and don’t plan on getting one, you can still set up your e-list on your computer in whatever e-mail system you have, and if you need the list when you leave the office, you can always print it and take it with you. However, this is only necessary if you need to make calls or do other tasks “from the road” or elsewhere when you’re out of your office.
If you’re just running personal errands and crossing things off a short list while you’re out, there’s no reason why you couldn’t still use a small pad of paper for that kind of stuff. I still use paper for a grocery list and for running personal errands when I’m out and about. When I get home, the paper gets tossed. That may shock some of you that I would say that, but I don’t consider errands to be “tasks” and when I’m away from my office, I don’t need my task list with me. I have it on my Blackberry, but I don’t reference it, because when I’m out I’m either focused on working with clients or I’m doing something else. So it’s easy for me to separate these two.
I welcome additional questions or comments if you have them!
Hello Leslie
I just finished listening to you on the Joy of Marketing and now this post. I believe what you say about the importance of an e-list of tasks, so I started mine this weekend. My trouble is that I’m a Mac girl, so I loaded up my iCal and tried working with Mobile Me, but the limitation of not being able to see it on my iPhone is frustrating. Is Outlook for Mac really the best way? Does that mean I have to change my mail to come in through Outlook instead of my Mobile Me account? If its so much better, I’m sure the hassle of switching will be worth it, but I just want to make sure. Thanks!
Hi Crystal,
Thank you for listening to my tele-class on the Joy of Marketing and for your question here. I have not heard great things about Outlook for Mac, but I don’t know first hand. I do have a client who’s got Outlook on their Mac and it’s fine. And yes, switching can be worth the trouble because of the great benefits of using the system in the Productive Day way. What I’ll be doing in the very near future is more research on what the Mac can and cannot do. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with a client who had a Mac, so I haven’t seen the latest and greatest when it comes to the Mac. And I don’t know much about Mobile Me either. What I envision is a new program I can roll out in the future called “Taskology for Mac” and that way I can help all of you Mac users out there! And if Outlook for Mac is working well or it improves, then that would be one of the potential solutions as well. For now, using the strategies in Taskology can help, even if you have a few software limitations on the Mac or using Mobile Me. So I would recommend following what I said on the call just using what you have now. Then seek out the advice of an IT professional – maybe someone who already helps you with software, hardware, back-ups, etc. – who can tell you what it would take to get Outlook on your Mac. I wish I could be of more help at the moment, but do stay tuned for more information from me about Taskology for the Mac!