Should You "Prioritize" Your Tasks?

[Nathan Womack]

Should you "prioritize" your tasks? I say "no"... and here's why.<br /><br />The power and functionality of Tasks in most PDAs is far beyond how most of us use them. “Most” people I know use the Task list as a 50+ item list of Prioritized items. These are listed in what the user thinks are the most important item down to the least important item. I mean, who wouldn’t want to work on the most important stuff… right?<br /><br />Unfortunately, a really important phone call cannot be made when you are not near a phone, and a really important email cannot be sent when you are not near your computer.<br /><br />The questions I have are: <br /><li>Why are you scrolling through, and looking at, the phone call you need to make, or the email you need to send, when you are at the grocery store? <br /><li>Why not set up your system so that you are only looking at the things you can DO given the resources available? <br />Read on for the full details...<!><br /><br /><span><b>Overview</b></span><br />There are several ways to organize Tasks on a PDA. The following method of organizing tasks comes from a portion of the “Getting Things Done” seminar presented by David Allen (<a href="http://www.davidco.com/">www.davidco.com </a>). His company teaches certain methods/procedures for "Action Management" which are tailored by each individual participant to maximize his or her personal productivity.<br /><br />The following method allows the user to organize his or her system so they only see the items that can be done in the current location, and with the current resources (time available, location, energy level, priority, etc). By filtering out Tasks that cannot be done, the user can make a logical and prioritized decision on which action to take that CAN be done.<br /><br />Most people try to keep all Tasks on one or two lists, creating a huge list of things that are not related. Items are prioritized in order of importance. Work, personal, shopping, emails, phone calls, etc., are all being placed on the same list. When it comes down to it, each task can only be completed in a certain location, with certain resources.<br /><br /><span><b>What are your lists called?</b></span><br />The Standard lists that come with most PDAs are generic, like Personal and Business.<br />The following is an example of a typical Personal list.<br /><br />IE: PERSONAL LIST (PRIORITY)<br /><ul><li>Call Bob about school board meeting (1)<li>Find the number for the auto store to get new stereo (2)<li>Finish assembly of desk in home office (3)<li>Oil door in hallway (3)<li>Pick up milk (2)<li>Paint bathroom (3)<li>Print pictures from vacation on home computer (2)</ul>So, again, here’s my question… When you are at the grocery store, why do you have to scan all of these items (feeling bad that you can’t take action on most of them) only to find the Task of “Pick up milk”?<br />Why not use your PDA to create Lists that you want to look at because you know that you'll be able to get something done? The actions on that list will correspond to the location and resources that you have, and allow you to make the highest priority decision at that time. You’ll actually be able to start crossing things off as “Done”.<br /><br />For example, why not have a Call list, and an Errand list, and a Home list? Each list would have the actionable items for that location with the resources available there.<br /><br />IE: CALL LIST (PRIORITY)<ul><li>Call Bob about school board meeting (-)</ul><br />IE: ERRAND LIST (PRIORITY)<ul><li>Pick up milk (-)</ul><br />IE: HOME LIST (PRIORITY)<ul><li>Find the number for the auto store to get new stereo (-)<li>Finish assembly of desk in office (-)<li>Oil door in hallway (-)<li>Paint bathroom (-)<li>Print pictures from vacation on home computer (-)</ul>Setting up your lists like this allows you to go to that list where you will only see items that relate to your current situation.<br /><br />When you are at home, you open your HOME list. You see the items you can do at home. You are not looking at ERRANDS you need to run. When you have five minute of discretionary time, and you have your cell phone, open you CALL list, and make a call. Don’t spend time scrolling through 50+ items, just look at those items that can be done given the resources available.<br /><br /><span><b>Additional Lists</b></span><br />The setting up of list names is a personal thing…<br /><br />The lists that I have are:<br /><li>Call - Items that can only be done on the phone<br /><li>Errand - Items that can only be done when I’m out and about shopping <li>Errand-Home - Items that can only be done when I’m out and about shopping in my HOME town <li>Home - Items that can only be done when I’m at home <li>Hotel - Items that can be done from my hotel (four nights a week) <li>Internet - Items that can only be done when I’m on the Internet <li> Someday - Items that I want to think about sometime in the future, and take note of, and not take any immediate action on<br /><li>Waiting For - Items that I’m waiting for (tasks, phone calls, or email from other people) <li>Work -Items that can only be done at workSo, when I’m on the road or at the office, I don’t even peek at the 64 items I’ve got on my HOME task list. Why bother! Why should I spend the one second to look at paint bathroom when there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it from my hotel or my office! Over the course of a week, 64 items, one second each… the time really adds up!<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />Using the application that came with your handheld in a more efficient manner is a quick way to see improvement with the use of technology. Setting up your lists in the manner described above allows users to view those tasks that can be worked on at that time. More gets done in the same (or less) time.<br /><br />Try it… you just might find something you like… for FREE!

[jared_141]

Great article! I am actually reading Getting Things Done by David Allen right now. I have been struggling getting all of the things I need to get done organized and this is perfect! Thanks for the (unsolicited) input! This made my day!

[JonathanWardRogers]

This is exactly why I have categories set up for @Home, @Work, @Car, @Grocery store, etc..

The @ puts them at the top of the list and I can quickly see all the tasks related to where I am or what situation I'm in.

Now if I could just get a GPS receiver to enter those categories automatically based on my actual location...

[Sven Johannsen]

Now if I could just get a GPS receiver to enter those categories automatically based on my actual location...

That's not out of the realm of possibility. There's a guy (pt) that has his media playlist set up to change based on location, so that the right kind of music is playing based on the terrain during his runs. Location based services have some interesting possibilities.

[azhiker]

I think most people do not use the tasks portion well at all. In fact for me making it an appointment with a date and time (with a category) is better than creating a task. It shows up in my appointments instead of getting missed in my list of tasks. I tend to me the tasks if I forget to view them in PI.

[zzzmarcus]

Very useful! I've been using my task list less and less because it just didn't seem efficent. I think this makes a lot of sense.

[Tierran]

Yeah, I figured out a while ago that this was the real way to use your task list. There's just no sense in doing it any other way...you'll have piles of things that you have 'to do' and no way to do them!

[johncruise]

this is the main reason why I have ListPro. You can easily sort through your task list which is more prioritized. Good tip by the way... but just to add, you might as well put the priority number in the front (i.e. 1 - buy new pocket pc; instead of buy new pocket pc - 1)... again, it's easier to sort.

[JimPAQ]

How many of you folks use the Start Date and End Date feature of the Task List? I personally find it very hard to assign start dates and end dates to my tasks. Is this something that I should try harder to do, or am I just setting my self up to fail, when I don’t meet the date and I have to push it back?

--Jim

[MikeUnwired]

I personally like the FranklinCovey planning system. You can get an Outlook / Pocket PC plug-in called Plan Plus that does a great job.

There's also a guy named Larry Becker that has a book written for Palm users on time and task management. It carries over nicely to PPC users for the most part.

[bvkeen]

I talk about task prioritization on my site, with a focus on the David Allen method of going by context (where you are): http://www.dkeener.com/keenstuff/index.html

What seems to work best for me is to use the context-based categorization and to supplement with a week-ahead look, as recommended by Covey, so I allocate some time to the Q2 type tasks, just to be sure that I do not keep putting the important but not urgent stuff off. Worked well for me when I had a Palm and works well now that I am a PPC user. Pocket Informant is great for working with task categories, letting you filter by category.

Just assigning dates to tasks is often more wishful thinking than planning - it's worth doing to some degree, but to really get things done, it's best to work off categories, adding dates to tasks only as really needed.

If anyone has feedback on how I can improve the site listed above, I'd be glad to listen.

[ignar]

Since my tasks are pretty much trivial to do items rather than parts of large plan or projects, I also found specifying start date as well as due date is a bit too much work. But, I made myself getting used to enter both dates since I like to use "Active tasks". I think the simple and easy way how PalmOS handles to do's suits me better though.

[T-Will]

Excellent article, I never even thought of setting up my categories this way, I'll have to add this to my to do list! ;)

[mashtim]

This is one of the reasons that I love Pocket Informant so much: The ability to organize tasks both by subject/location (A-Z fields where I use S for shopping, W for work, E for errands, etc.) AND by priority (0-100 with 0 being most important). I can't even BEGIN to tell you how much time this has saved me over the years. If I have 10 minutes to surf the Net, I simply look up what I have under I0-I3 and get the important stuff done.
Great article!

[bridgecrosser]

I have 481 Tasks on my 4150 iPAQ. Without David Allen's system, it would be nearly impossibe for me to manage and execute them to completion. Allen has really nailed this and I highly recommend his books to anyone interested in making sense of all the "stuff" you have to do at work and in your personal life. And by the way, Pocket Informant really works nicely with Allen's system.

[ctmagnus]

Personally, I use categories for all the stuff Nathan Womack suggests and sub-sort the categories using priorities (or vice-versa depending on the weather, lunar phase, day of week, mood, etc ;)). All within PI, of course.

[jkendrick]

I think most people do not use the tasks portion well at all. In fact for me making it an appointment with a date and time (with a category) is better than creating a task. It shows up in my appointments instead of getting missed in my list of tasks. I tend to me the tasks if I forget to view them in PI.

Nice article. I use Taskline for making tasks into appointments with complete control. Once they are appointments they sync nice with the PPC, too. Very nice program for Outlook users on the desktop.

http://www.taskline.info/

[cambium]

Thanks for the article - - well done. I really think this is what stalls a lot of people who get a handheld and then try to make sense out of the power it gives them. The PPC IS an organizer, but first you have to organize the thing to make it work for you. MS's "personal" and "business" categories just do not bely the power a little creativity with categories can give you. An article like this can put a lot of people working in the right direction.

Thanks again!!

[baralong]

I talk about task prioritization on my site, with a focus on the David Allen method of going by context (where you are): http://www.dkeener.com/keenstuff/index.html

What seems to work best for me is to use the context-based categorization and to supplement with a week-ahead look, as recommended by Covey, so I allocate some time to the Q2 type tasks, just to be sure that I do not keep putting the important but not urgent stuff off. Worked well for me when I had a Palm and works well now that I am a PPC user. Pocket Informant is great for working with task categories, letting you filter by category.

Just assigning dates to tasks is often more wishful thinking than planning - it's worth doing to some degree, but to really get things done, it's best to work off categories, adding dates to tasks only as really needed.

If anyone has feedback on how I can improve the site listed above, I'd be glad to listen.

Thanks for the link. I've just read your site and it's great. You render nicely for the PPC as well. I've made it a mobile favourite so I ca sync it to my PPC. It'll take a bit of digesting but it's well worth it.

[Janak Parekh]

Good discussion here. I largely do what Nathan suggested, with one exception: I prioritize based on when it has to get done.

I use categories (e.g., Home, Work, etc.), and under each, I use high-priority for tasks that have a deadline, normal priority for tasks that have no deadline but need to get done, and low priority for long-range tasks that I don't have to think about.

The additional benefit of this is I can get around the fact that Outlook seems to sort task deadlines backwards if you sort by date. If you sort dates descending, they come out in the wrong order; if you sort dates ascending, the "no due dates" come up top. I sort by priority first and then by dates ascending, and get the desired effect. :D

Outlook 2003 also has some predefined views that are fantastic for managing tasks. The "next seven days" and "overdue" views are fantastic, and while you can create them in previous versions, Outlook 2003 lets you quickly switch between views without using the menu bar.

It's totally made a difference in my task organization. :) Now, why does Exchange Server Activesync not support tasks?!? That's one serious omission. :evil:

--janak

[cyp]

I have 481 Tasks on my 4150 iPAQ. 8O

I only have 70. Man I'm not living my life to the fullest! :D
I am also using David Allen's GTD method in tracking my tasks. Just wondering how you have more than 400 tasks in hand. Do you mind sharing?

[jkendrick]

I have 481 Tasks on my 4150 iPAQ. Without David Allen's system, it would be nearly impossibe for me to manage and execute them to completion. Allen has really nailed this and I highly recommend his books to anyone interested in making sense of all the "stuff" you have to do at work and in your personal life. And by the way, Pocket Informant really works nicely with Allen's system.

One word for you- DELEGATE. :)

[BobWitt]

I also use catagories, but I take it a little further, beyond tasks to information communication and follow-up...

If a subject comes up that I should review at my Staff, at an other weekly meeting and with someone (say Joe) - I will add each (Staff, Joe and meeting) as a catagory...

So when I'm sitting with Joe, I filter for Joe, at Staff the same... Once I have reviewed with Joe I do an ("insert date" - reviewed with Joe) and remove him from the Catagory. Once the last catagory is gone - I mark it complete (with the last date and note)... Now I know when I reviewed what with whom...

It helps me coordinate a lot of information with a lot of people, not just keep my "To Do" list...

Bob Witt

[Andrew]

This was a really nice article, thanks for taking the time to put it up. It seems quite a simple, obvious thing when you look at it, so you cant understand why you werent doing it or thinking of it sooner. Its definitely gave me a few ideas how I can better organise and streamline my task list.

Great article.

Andrew

[bvkeen]

I talk about task prioritization on my site, with a focus on the David Allen method of going by context (where you are): http://www.dkeener.com/keenstuff/index.html


Thanks for the link. I've just read your site and it's great. You render nicely for the PPC as well. I've made it a mobile favourite so I ca sync it to my PPC. It'll take a bit of digesting but it's well worth it.

I'm glad the site is useful to you. I wish I could figure out what to add to it to help in note-taking, as that's the one area I still struggle with. But, I'm glad to see this discussion on tasks as I think the average person has a horrible time managing tasks.

Take care

[Rob Alexander]

Nice article. I use Taskline for making tasks into appointments with complete control. Once they are appointments they sync nice with the PPC, too. Very nice program for Outlook users on the desktop.

http://www.taskline.info/

jkendrick, you're my hero of the day! Way back in the early days of Windows 3.x, but before Outlook, I used a time management program that did exactly this. You entered your appointments and your lists of tasks and it fit the tasks around your appointments based on your time available and the priority of the tasks. It was brilliant! But then everyone went to Outlook and I had to adapt to the system, so I lost that program and have often thought how great it would be if I could do that inside of Outlook (i.e. not manually). And here it is, exactly what I've been pining for all these years! (And it's so cheap with the educational discount.) Thanks for mentioning it!

[jkendrick]

Nice article. I use Taskline for making tasks into appointments with complete control. Once they are appointments they sync nice with the PPC, too. Very nice program for Outlook users on the desktop.

http://www.taskline.info/

And here it is, exactly what I've been pining for all these years! (And it's so cheap with the educational discount.) Thanks for mentioning it!

Sweet!

[Janak Parekh]

Sweet!
I missed this link. Pretty neat - I'll have to play with this. :)

--janak

[ignar]

And here it is, exactly what I've been pining for all these years! (And it's so cheap with the educational discount.) Thanks for mentioning it!

Thanks for mentioning education discount! I didn't notice there is a discount available and was considering buying it for a full price. With the discount it's a no brainer. Thanks Rob and jkendrick!

[Wudy]

I've been a long-time PDA user and have struggled often on how to use this amazing tool as a productive part of my life. Articles and ideas such as these provide tangible, results-oriented suggestions. One of the things that I think got lost somewhere between the simplicity of the first palm pilot and the multimedia sales pitch for the latest handhelds is the premise of using these devices as productivity tools, not just to satisfy the ADD in all of us.

As my first post (and the weight that that carries &lt;grin>) I vote for more articles like this one.

[T-Will]

This is exactly why I have categories set up for @Home, @Work, @Car, @Grocery store, etc..

The @ puts them at the top of the list and I can quickly see all the tasks related to where I am or what situation I'm in.

Great idea! I just reorganized my tasks using this method and I can't wait to see how more efficient this makes me! ;)

[Carlos]

Great topic, and excellent timing since I've been working on making my task handling more efficient. I'm a project manager for IT projects, as well as a contracted IT director for several companies who are too small to have one full time. This keeps me moving from place to place, and shuffling between different sets of needs. It can get complex, and I thought I'd fix that by categorizing tasks by client. That didn't work very well, for all the reasons mentioned in the first post of this thread.

I do take issue with the argument that you need to schedule tasks by available resources. I mean, this is a PPC forum, right? And a wireless-enabled PPC is available to everyone. So...why wouldn't you always have the resources in front of you? I use a Phone Edition, so there is very little that I can't do at any given moment. Sure, some things are less efficient on the small screen; the other day I was reconfiguring a Cisco router while someone else was driving, and found myself wasting a lot of time scrolling. So there should be some prioritization based on efficiency by location, but that's not a major portion of it.

What I find very useful is organizing by location AND by time required to complete the task. This is where Pocket Informant's letter labels really help. I assign an "A" through "D" based upon time I expect it to require. I can do an "A" task while standing in line for five minutes, and a "D" task will take hours. I can do a "B" while waiting for an oil change, a plane to board, etc. With PI's quick view changes, I can find a 5-minute task every time I find mayself waiting for any reason. And if my wait is going to be of an unknown time, I can use the category (task type) to find something that can be interrupted without loss. I wouldn't make a phone call, for example, while in a client's waiting room.

My current categories list is this:
Calls
Errands (do while out around town)
Home
Low priority (things to do "whenever")
Office work (can only be done with my laptop available)
Research (must have internet access, IE, can't do on a plane)
[various client names] (can only do while at their site)
Waiting (waiting for another person, usually PI-linked to a "call for status item)

So far I've not found a very efficient way to use multiple categories for items. I could see a way to use them as limiters as well as permissive. In other words, view tasks that can ONLY be done if two or more conditions are met. Or...view tasks that meet any one of several conditions. I can see need for both types, but don't think that's possible to set up.