How do you handle task management? I feel like every six weeks I try a new system and none of them seem to stick. Email reminders, iCal To Dos, “Things” for iPhone/iPad. I even tried index cards on a spare bulletin board.
Do you have a system you like and have stuck with?
— Jack
Atlanta
I use Things for the Mac, iPhone and iPad.
I like it, but I share everyone’s standard complaint about it: your various devices should sync through the cloud, not just on local wi-fi.
Before Things, I was using a pretty standard GTD/Moleskine dash-plus setup. It worked reasonably well for me, but I didn’t like carrying around the extra notebook when I already had my iPhone. Plus, I’m at my desktop computer 80% of the time, so the ability to generate linked items with a quick keystoke pushed me over to Things.
Any system is only as good as the person using it. Task management thrives on small, quickly accomplished items. Learning how to break big jobs into little ones is a pretty crucial skill.
While I don’t go to nearly the OCD levels of many of his followers, I think David Allen’s Getting Things Done is a good primer for anyone.