What to do about to do's?

?

I've found that I'm seldom at my desk to get messages or users who stop by . So I use a
back to basic approach with a dry erase board at each of the little cibicles in each physical
location I usually visit each day. Users who ahve questions or problems can write them down
and leave their building number and room number,
with a quick discription. It helps me to head off any real problems and field those questions before they get escalated to problems. Of course
you'll always have those problem users who leave
a daily note and you'll identify those users
quickly. I've tried using e-mail but with a problem that disables the users computer, they
have to drop by, or call their corporate help desk, that generates a service call and a neccesary visit. I'd rather spend my day
fielding questions and faults before they get that far into the organization. It's much easier for me to start a service call as I can identify the problem and the cure along with
what parts are needed and leave it for one of the underling techs to cure.

They have a To Do, and it works very well. Everything from prioritization to it letting you know when things are past due.

Of course you aren't going to go out and get a whole new mail server just for this, but it is just another example of the short-comings of the MS solution.

Domino/Notes is designed for huge global companies and has many group calendar functions that exchange doesn't even try to address.

time to get a Franklin Planner and sync to a pda.

I would be totally unable to organise my life without a dandy little program called "Sidekick."

It has been around in various forms since 1984. I use the 1995 version designed for Windows 3.1, but it will operate on every version of Windows up to ME. The whole program fits on a single floppy disc. [A Windows 95 version which they released was a disaster.] It will also function on XP except that it does not open automatically at start-up.

When I turn on my computer each morning, the first thing that comes on the screen is my appointments, phone calls and "to do" items for the day. "To do" items roll on from day to day until you have performed the task and then you delete it.

It also has address book and notes.

It features "Quick Menu" which is a small icon that enables me to access any or all of the features from ANY application, including internet, that does not use a full screen display.

I have tried Lotus Organizer from time to time, but have found it very clumsy compared to Sidekick.

There are/have been any number of programs of the "to do" type which were highly sophisticated and fully customisable. I do not recall their names at present.

Okay this program would not meet your needs at work, but for a home user it is a gem.

co-workers

I'm a senior programmer...

not a project manager...

or a supervisor...

Hence, it's not my task to keep track of what to do...but, to do the task I am assigned.

When they pay me the big bucks, I'll organize and schedule and keep track of things.

Until then, I design, code, test, implement and document projects...not schedule, organize and prioritize.

write notes on random scraps of paper that eventually get consummed by the other random scraps of paper on my desk. At least I think it's a desk. I haven't seen it in a while.

I just use a legal pad and pen. That way when asked "What have you been doing all this time?" I can just hand them the pads. It also helps when people ask "Why haven't you done ". I just show them the pad and move on.

"To Do Is To Be" -- Socrates
"To Be Is To Do" -- Plato
"Do Be Do Be Do" -- Sinatra
"Ya Ba Da Ba Do" -- Flintstone

(Hey, you knew that was coming ...)

Preferably the green ones, as they are easier on my tired old eyes.

Yellow legal pads for bigger projects, and a 3-ring binder and a hole punch for when things get outta hand.

Tho I do admit to a old B&W Palm m105 I use as an address book. And to play solitaire.

Then put your daily "to do(s)" on the left side of the spiral and document your activities on the right.

This works for me, because I can outline things neatly and put in time hacks during the day to facilitate manhour expenditures per activity.

The graph paper helps me document serial / model numbers readably. Also it makes it easier to make sketches and schematics that are neat enough to actually update Visio drawings later on.

Every day take all post-its that appear in your workspace and transcribe them or stick them to the left side until you don't need them anymore.

If I need to recall a phone number, all I need to remember is when (approximately) that the number came into my possession and look at the left pages for those days.

Thanks to all who replied, although most of you saw this as more of an occasion for humor than helpfulness.

I'll have to look into the MS Business Contacts manager and see if that offers anything more useful. Otherwise, I think that for now I'll continue to keep my long-term to-do's as Outlook tasks, but I'll start using the Google sidebar's Todo panel for organizing my daily work. That is, until I can think of something better.

If it's important it will come back to you, after which you can toss it in the round file. I can get away with that kind of crap. :D

[b]Dawg[/b] ]:)

Each Saturday I receive an email listing heavily discounted software from worldstart.com

I have not use this myself, but perhaps it is worth a try.

Microsoft Works Word Processor - This is a fantastic word processor. It includes all the normal features like spell check, grammar check, thesaurus, word counts, undos, find / replace, etc. It also has handy stuff like page numbering, mail merge, label creation, envelope creation, tables, lists and tons more. You can even insert pictures, do WordArt, spreadsheets, and save your documents as web pages! If you didn't know you were using MS Works, you'd swear it was MS Word!

Microsoft Works Spreadsheet - Again, another fantastic program. This spreadsheet can handle all your formulas, includes dozens of cell formatting options, has a spell check, lets you create charts, has tons of editing options, allows you to sort data, and lots (lots) more. It looks like Excel, and does all the stuff 99% of the people do in Excel, it just costs a whole lot less.

Microsoft Works Database - Here's something we can all use! This program allows you to quickly and easily create databases to keep your information organized. You know, stuff like CD collections, recipes, home inventories, baseball cards, whatever! You can also create nice looking layouts for your data, sort, search, hide records, and more. It's a lot like MS Access, just way easier to use.

MS Works Calendar - We get requests for good calendar programs all the time, and this is one that really does a great job. It allows you to set reminders for, search for, and categorize appointments. It also lets you add repeating events, holidays, birthdays, and more. This alone is worth the price of the whole suite!

[b]My Projects Organizer - This is really cool too. It's the ultimate ToDo list. This is way beyond simple lists - this really can keep you organized. You can link items to the calendar for reminders, associate a document with a ToDo, keep notes and more. The best I've seen in ToDo lists, that's for sure![/b]

This really only touches the tip of the iceberg for this software. It can do so much more than described. PLUS - Right now it's just $18.97 and US shipping is FREE (retail 89.99)! Why shell out $500.00+ for MS Office if this will do everything you need? Check It out:

http://store.worldstart.com/product.php?productid=1891

PS - Remember, if you don't think it's great, you can send it back for a refund. So many features, all for less than $19!

I use Outlook 2000/Exchange tasks synced to my Ipaq. I don't get along with paper based systems and most people at work have now learnt that if they need something (non-urgent) doing then I'm more likely to respond if they task me.

I use Outlook 2003's task list but i would like a different aolution also. It just ends up depressing me to see that huge list with most of them in red because I couldnt get to finish them.

Have a look at David Allen's book "Getting Things Done". It has lots of good advice to organise your to-do lists and a procedure to handle incoming stuff.

For instance, everything that comes in goes straight into your In-basket (in whatever form you like); only at regular points do you process all the stuff in your in basket; you focus only on the current action, then review your lists for the next best action; 2-minute rule; weekly review of all your projects and to-do lists; etc.

Most important is to get it out of your head asap and into a "system" you can trust, be it paper or computer-based.

I don't foillow it to the comma, but still it helps me to organise my todo's a little less chaotic :-)

Hope this helps,

Stephan

A spreadsheet is my solution. One page for todo, another for contact info, another for scheduling, another for websites favourites and another for expenses.

I can have links from one page to another and I have macros to do useful tasks
This works well for me as I am a traveling consultant and each client may have different mail software or different web browsers.

Far from perfect, I use PlanPlus, an extension to Outlook. For the most part, the benefit to me is as a daily to do list. It gives you the ability to create recurring tasks that you can work your way through each day, week, or month. Otherwise my use of outlook tasks is pretty much limited to adding things I need to be reminded of.

One of the items on the my daily list is to process email messages. I go through them and handle each one or move them to follow up folders.

Each of my clients has a follow up folder and a completed folder - which essentially comprises my to do and completed lists for each client. If you need items to be scheduled, you could add a scheduled task at under a category named the same time you move the email to the client followup folder.

I believe Plan Plus also gives you more flexibility in sorting and working with Contacts, and some other features that I apparently find irrelevant, since I can't remember them, but you may find them useful.

I find the essential thing is to get the messages cleared out of the inbox and into the relevant followup folders each morning. It's very discouraging to have to search through the inbox, or worse a bunch of disorganized folders for the right message.

Good luck.

I have been using Info Select by Micro Logic for years and find it excellent for almost anything you need to keep track of.

I use it for to do lists, contact lists, reminders, notes, calendar etc. It allows data to be stored as text, in forms, grid (spreadsheets), database, and in a calendar. All this can be stored in a hierarchical format and allows links between items. Also there is the ability to sound an alarm (or email, execute a routine) in the calendar.

Of course no program is the do all to end all and there are no some features that I do not like or use.

Check it out at www.miclog.com.

BTW I do not work for or associated with Micro Logic, I just like this product and have been using it since version 3 and currently on version 8 (about 15 years).

I use Access for mine. This is the best because I designed it with what I need/want instead of all of the other items that are of no concern. I have a column for completed so I place the date in there and then when I run the report only the non-completed items are there. This also gives me a historical record of what I have done.

Just wanted to make that comment because it's where customers tend to focus first (ooooh - this tool, that tool will help me do this, that and the other thing but of course it only works if there is a logical, pragmatic workflow behind it).

First, you (generically) need to realize that organization is very subjective. Someone mentioned "organized chaos" and for me, that's how you could describe my system.

Second, what's your end goal? To have everything in one place? To be able to show people "this is what I did with my time"? To satisfy what everyone wants? To remind you what to do? To give you a vehicle to prioritize?

Yep - what I'm saying is that how you can best organize or even have a to-do list has a lot to do with the end goal.

Here's me (getting back to your original question). I am a project manager. I have structure to things that directly affect other people (i.e. that dreaded project plan that has enough explanation in it to give people an I idea of what they need to do).

For me individually - I cringe at perfectly made lists. It screams - don't color outside the lines! Don't mess me up. What I usually do is write things down in whatever form works (most of the time - it's a pad of paper and/or sticky notes). I make sure that I keep them generally, in one place (pile). Every couple of days, I'll take the pile and put them on one piece of paper (consolidating the pile) but I only do that once I feel like the chaos isn't workable.

Bottomline - it works for me, I get my job done (and well) and it doesn't cost me three thousand consultants, 6 new servers, an a new O/S to implement :).

Duplicate posting -sorry

This is a site with a post-it notes program that might be helpful. Do you remember a notes program called Tornado? Well this one isn't it, but does do Post-it notes with links to documents.

http://www.conceptworld.com/qnp/

Try this.. it works for me:

Get a phone or PDA that has a TO-DO/TaskList function, which also has the feature to synchronize with your Outlook.

While at work, diligently add tasks in your Outlook To-Do/Tasklist, as needed, and make sure that you synch your phone with your PC every so often, or at least before you leave work.

Synchronizing allows you to see what you've entered in your Outlook (while at work), in your phone's TaskList/To-Do List. Then you can update on either device.

Since I normally would take the public transportation on the way to work, (i don't like driving to/from work, cause you can't take a nap while driving.. unless you're nuts) i would just update my TaskList/To-Do List on my phone. Then once I get to the office, i'd synch both devices, and I'd get the updated list on my Outlook.

> Phone/PDA - Use To-Do list function when you're not in the office
> Outlook - Use To-Do list function when you're in the office
> PLUS Synchronization - self-explanatory

Good inexpensive software, creates catagories and sub-catagories naturally by its design.

I find that whatever method of creating a list, be it on paper, in diaries, on the computer, isn;t my problem. My problem is to go back and read the damn things

I have been using Franklin Covey planner plus and its an amazing tool to manage your tasks, projects, etc. They have one version that integrates with Outlook and there is one version that works as a standalone application. Whichever you use the ultimate result is the same, you can manage your tasks better.

By far from what I have seen and tried, the ultimate combination for managing your todo list is Outlook 2003's task list and the Pocket PC. It is my belief that if you don't like Outlook's task list, then you must have not used it that much. In Outlook's task list you can link them with specific contacts from your contact list and then see each activity on the activities tab on the contact. You can link emails as well as any other Outlook item.

Unfortuantly I know the first version of Business Contact Manager does not work with Exchange. I have not tried the Business Contact Manager Update yet, though I would surmise that it would not work as well.

I sort by date and use the text capabilities behind each task for sub-detail. I print a list of my tasks by date and that drives some of my day. It works for me.

I?ve had several positions, mostly as a project manager or coordinator of some sorts and I?ve got to be organized ? or appear to be. I?ve used Outlook, Franklin Coveys program, Lotus notes (what a beast) and stumbled upon ACT a few years ago. It?s evolved in a pretty comprehensive program with to-do?s, calendar, contacts etc. and may help. I could use ACT to track correspondence with clients or just keep a log of my interactions with them. Unfortunately, I became a slave to my PDA and notebook and ACT wouldn?t work on my Axim. I spent so much time getting organized so that I knew exactly what I had to get done thatI didn?t have time to actually accomplish much.

In the past, I?ve plunked down the big bucks for organizers and software and eventually got weary of them (I guess that?s what their intent is) So, the technique I finally started using is this.

I bought a 99 cent plastic covered binder, which I eventually upgraded to a leather binder, with a zipper (very important to trap all the evasive sticky?s and bit of paper thrown on your desk) that was big enough to hold regular sized notebook paper.

I wrote out my goals and objectives on a sheet of paper, both business and personal with timelines, and stuck it in the binder so when I open it, I know what I want to accomplish.

I use Outlook (or whatever your choice is) to make a full page calendar of the current month and the next month so that I can jot down any brief notes or comments.

I use Outlook for my contacts, including any pertinent information and print out my contact sheet so I?ve always got the phone numbers with me which, many times, has gotten me out of a situation where someone higher up has asked me for a number and all I could do was sit there scratching my head or some other part of my anatomy.

I prioritize my task list and then use Outlook to print out a page a day for the upcoming week in a tri-fold view which includes my daily schedule, tasks and a section for notes. That goes into the binder. The nice thing about this is that I can take the page with me as I?m roaming around and leave my binder at my desk.

I also carry around a spiral notebook so that I can take copious notes in impromptu meetings (yeah, right!)

I also got a set of alphabetical index tabs that I put in my binder. You can use them to categorize any paperwork or receipts that you might accumulate during the day.

Do I sound like I?m being too anal yet? There?s more to come. At the end of the day (or during a meaningless meeting that some muddle-head called) I can review what I?ve accomplished and what I managed to postpone for a later date. I review what I?ve written in my spiral notebook, and if I deem it important, I?ll scan it and save it on my computer, just in case my spiral gets misplaced ( I know it?s hard to believe but it does happen.) Then, I update my to-do list and synch it with my Axim and print it out if need be. I don?t spend much more than 15 minutes on this ? 30 minutes tops, but I know what I?ve accomplished, which is good, and know what I?ve got to do the following day and don?t have to lay awake all night worrying about tomorrow.

I guess the most important thing to remember is that there is not a perfect program out there. You have to glean and adapt the aspects of the various programs and formulate your own style. Whatever it takes, get organized and stick with it. Someone said that you can?t manage time ? you can only manage yourself to utilize time more efficiently and that about sums it up. Good luck!

... works. If it is important, it will come back to you. If it doesn't come back, you didn't need it anyway.

I usually use 3m desk top version of post it notes and keep the notes on top. It is very easy and the strike through for tasks accomplished is helpful.

I would add the need for a truly flexible Contact Management tool as well.
None of the current products that I have seen have the necessary flexibility. The best application I ever used was called "Agenda". It was published by Lotus and ran on DOS. This product was the child of Lotus founder Mitch Kapor and provided total flexibility for organizing and displaying tasks and contacts. A new product called "Chandler" is being created by the "Open Source Applications Foundation" www.osafoundation.org. By an amazing coincident, Mitch Kapp is on the Board of Directors. An experimental release is available for download. You obviously will not want to keep your important information on this release, but it may give you some ideas.
I will be looking forward with great interest to see the other methods or tools that are posted.

I've tried various to-do lists, dry-erease boards, forms, notes, sticky-pads, etc ... But, no matter what I plan on doing, something always comes up. If I am working on a project and something comes up that needs to be completed right then, I will take care of it. Other than that, I'll get to it....

Have you considered using the categories from within Outlook 2003? You can actually assign categories from within Outlook 2003 and then sort the task list by categories. Also, since Outlook 2003 uses grouping, you can view a group of each of your categories which correspond to each client. I think this may help with dilemma.

Good luck!

Priority Based:
Low priority great ideas that will help put on Whiteboard, as you get them done or partly done, edit the board, update the board anyway at regular intervals (week, month etc)

Medium Priority - Sticky notes stuck to the bottom
of the PC monitor (things you can WORK IN today or tomorrow)

High Priority - Things that must be done now and you may or may not have time to stop and work on them.
Use email to email yourself a note or use the APPT setting(OUTLOOK) for meetings (or some other popup reminder tool)

For tasks given verbally by others Write them down in a spiral notebook and date the top.

Keep notes on who you called throughout the day and just place a checkmark to the left(in the margin) when it is completed(or that person has been called back)

For Critical-Service affecting issues, there is no list. If you have more than one of these at a time, delegate to someone else what can be delegated.

I developed this system over many years of trial and error:
I create 3 columns in Excel - Call, Get, and Do.
Often I have to call someone and/or get something before I can get something done.
I also create clusters of rows for Personal, Business, Family and Friends, etc. I then list items under each cluster ranked in order of priority.
Excel makes it easy to add, remove, or re-rank items.
Good thing about doing your list on a computer: you always know where to find it.

I just installed BCM for Outlook 2003 last week. I am trying it out. So far my boss has been using it and likes it's features and ability to organize the way he wants to. I am still fiddling with it in my "spare" time.

It does appear to be a good tool for people who correspond with their contacts often. It helps to keep the notes, phone calls and appts organized.

As far as using it with Exchange, it appears to be working fine so far. However I must say that I know Outlook and Exchange are not setup the way they should be for optimal network use. Because of the problems I had getting the DSL back online with the new server, I ended up leaving each computer to connect to the POP by themselves. Eventually I will change this to have Exchange do all the work..but it's on my long list of to-do's!

I've been quite successful maintaining all of my To Do's on one Excel spreadsheet. I use the following seven columns:
? Due Date
? Date Assigned
? Priority
? Subject
? Description
? Date Completed

With the data sort capability in Excel, you can change the order based on the need at the moment, e.g., by "Due Date" to find past do items, by "Priority" to work on the most important ones now, etc.

A tip for priority: I use a letter as the first character, like "P" for personal, "F" for follow-up by someone else, "A", "B", "C", etc. for importance, etc., then a number to indicate the level of priority.

Finally, I keep track of when the task was completed. This is handy when issues arise or when documenting your accomplishments.

I love this $30 program. It allows me to create all kinds of list, color code, prioritize, sub-catagorize, ect. The vendors web page (www.iliumsoft.com) has lots of pre-fabed lists from customers that have proven to be a great help. It sync's with my pocket pc and has a desktop component so I can look at my lists from either my PC or my PDA

Take a look at "ToDoList". It is an ongoing open-style programming project and is constantly being updated; the author takes suggestions and responds to them. My most up-to-date version is 4.5.12 . The executable is available immediately for download at http://www.codeproject.com/tools/ToDoList2.asp , and extended feature DLL modules and source code are right there too.

We use our own custom trouble ticketing system. Our users (or us) will add a problem or project to our ticking system on our corporate intranet which send out an email to each of the 4 IT staff (to serve about 900 people!) and we can login and prioritize or assign jobs to eachother and write notes and provide a little feedback to the users (to tell them things like we've ordered equipment theyve requested etc). This works quite well for our company. It allows the users to contact us even if they can't track us down (how many IT people are actually at their desks?), shows the user a list of our current tasks so they can see how busy we are (though we can create hidden tasks only for IT), they can see our notes addressed to them, provides accountability for everyone involved, and at the end prints out a completed hardcopy that the user and IT staff sign as proof the task was completed. There are a few commercial and open source programs that do this type of thing but we needed something a little simpler and more refined to our type of business.

Notepad.
(Or nano on Linux.)

Seriously... Granted, I am an IT Manager with about 30 users, but it's worked. I can leave it running without having to worry about it being a cpu hog, or crashing. I can close it and re-open fast enough... (my work computer's specs are rather bad, but being a small firm, we have a very limited budget and I'd rather keep the partners happy)

I've thought about switching to Word, as I like to number things, but it takes too long to start up.

Am I crazy?

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