My Personal Task Management Method

Summary and Benefits

I'm going to walk you through my solution for a common pain point we all have - a very long personal task list and not enough time in the day.  If you adopt some or all of this method, I'm confident you'll realize several benefits, including: 

1. Reduce missed tasks 

2. Maximize your effectiveness by working on the most important tasks first 

3. Minimize distractions and task switching 

4. Experience less anxiety because you'll have a detailed execution plan each day  

This personal task management methodology was honed over decades of experience successfully managing an array of projects, programs, and initiatives at multiple companies. I've tried many different processes and tools for task management and have found this method to be the most effective because it results in my tasks being structured, prioritized, and scheduled. 

Setting Up for Success

To accomplish structure, we need to make five key decisions for how we will manage and organize tasks. 

1. Software.  For this method you will need two apps - a calendar and a spreadsheet.   I use Outlook and Smartsheet, but any similar apps will suffice.   Google Calendar and Google Sheets are good, free options to consider.

2. Time frame. To mitigate becoming overwhelmed by staring at a very long list of tasks, I split everything I have to do into short-term and long-term tasks. Any tasks due within 2 weeks goes into my short-term list and everything else goes into my long-term list.  This isn't a strict rule, so if you think a different time frame is more appropriate - go with that.   The short-term list is my focus for daily task planning. 

3. Planning time.   Decide on a consistent time block of 15-30 minutes at the end of each day to plan your tasks for the next day.   This lets you start the next day focused on executing.   

4. Intake.  To avoid missing tasks, identify your official channels for intaking new requests so you can check them consistently.   For me these are: 1. Verbal requests 2. Project plans 3. Meetings. 4. Email 5. MS Teams.   

5. Categorization. To avoid the confusion of viewing a random list of tasks, I group my tasks into related categories.  Common categories include projects and processes.  I also recommend a general category that serves as a catch-all for tasks that don’t fit under an existing category. 

The Task Tracking Sheet

With those decisions made, let's walk through the spreadsheet where we will track and prioritize tasks. 

1. Status.   The first column is Status. I set up this column to have a drop down with options that will also automatically update the color of the row.  The color coding helps me know what is going on with my list at a glance without reading the specific statuses.   The status and color coding are as follows:  "Not Started" has no color and is for newly added tasks to the list that have not yet been reviewed.   "Queued" is yellow and is for tasks that have been reviewed and prioritized.  "In Progress" is orange and is used for only the one task that I am focused on executing.   "Pending" is green and is for tasks where I am waiting for a dependent action to complete. And "Done" is gray with a font strikethrough.   The strikethrough is purely for personal satisfaction, as I'm old school and still like that feel of crossing something off my to-do list. 

2. Priority.  For the priority column I use a red exclamation mark for high priority and blue down arrow for low priority.  Alternatively, you can simply just enter the words High and Low.   High priority tasks are those due same day or ASAP.  Low priority tasks don't need my attention for a few days. If the task's priority falls somewhere in between I just leave the cell blank.   We want efficiency, so not every cell needs to be filled in. 

3. Rank.  The rank column is critical to success.   We all have many things we need to do and a limited amount of time, so it is imperative that we are judicious in the use of that time, and we plan the order we will accomplish our work.   Prioritization is a whole other discussion, but for this context I will recommend that you reference a higher-level prioritization to help inform your own ranking.  For example, your organization will have annual goals.  Determine which of your tasks drive progress towards those annual goals and prioritize those first.  

4. Task name.    The task name column is where I enter my categories of work and their associated sub tasks.  I suggest writing your tasks in a way that specifically describes the result you will deliver, as seen in these examples. This mitigates any questions about what you need to do for a task when you come back to it after a while.  My work categories are colored a dark blue with white bolded text.  Under each of these categories I enter and nest related sub tasks.   This is helpful as it allows me to visually see which tasks belong to which category. I can also roll up categories if I don't need to see the sub tasks.   Each main category also has a "Completed" "bucket" where I archive all my completed tasks for reference if needed.  

5. Deadline. I use the deadline column to enter the date I need to complete the task, or when I plan to complete it.   

6. Progression. This is a visual indicator column I only use for complex tasks that have multiple hand offs between me and other people.  Since this is my personal to-do list, I do not include tasks owned by other people.  I use symbols in my Smartsheet to indicate how far along I think the task has progressed, but you can also simply use a percent complete system, like 25%, 50%, and so forth.   

7. Comments. The last column is comments.  I use this column to enter important notes about the task that help me remember what I need to do, or what I’m waiting for.   

Scheduling Tasks

After entering your tasks into the task tracking sheet, categorizing them, and prioritizing them, we then need to schedule them.   I’ve found scheduling my personal tasks for the next day maximizes my productivity, as it establishes a gameplan I can focus on executing against as soon as I walk in the door the following morning.  By giving every hour a purpose, I’m able to minimize the distractions of emails, calls, messages, and so forth.   Now let’s walkthrough the scheduling process.

I first split my browser to show both my task sheet and calendar side-by-side. Microsoft Edge has a split screen option in its menu that makes this easy.

If you are like me, your calendar will already have meetings, breaks, and end-of-day task planning time set.  I’ll schedule my tasks around these times. 

I then change to a single day view for the next day.

From your task list take your Rank 1 task and estimate how much time it will take you to complete. Then create a calendar invite for your Rank 1 task for that duration of time in your earliest available block of time in your calendar. I suggest using the same color coding for the invite as used in the tracking sheet for consistency.

Repeat the aforementioned for all your other ranked tasks until you have no more time in the day.

With all my ranked tasks scheduled, and my calendar for the day booked, I’m now done with the task planning process and ready to execute my plan for the next day. 

Putting It All Together

Now that we’ve walked through the details of structuring, prioritizing, and scheduling, here are the 10 steps to put it all together starting with your task planning time: 

1. Review intake sources to identify new tasks. 

2. Determine if each task is short or long term and add them to the appropriate lists. 

3. Enter each short-term task under the related work category  

4. Review each task for priority and mark high, low, or leave blank 

5. Enter any deadlines either assigned or self-imposed 

6. Rank your tasks in order of priority 

7. Update the status of each task 

8. Schedule your tasks by placing them as events in your calendar 

9. Execute your tasks in order of rank 

10. Update task sheet and/or calendar as necessary as tasks are progressed 

Then repeat this process before each workday   

Bonus Insights (Not in the original video)

1. Baby-step into it. If this whole method seems intimidating, I encourage you to baby step into it.  If you currently do everything from memory, start by writing it down in one place.   Then start categorizing your tasks so you don't have a random to-do list.   Then begin to prioritize your tasks – because if at the end of the day you only had time to complete the most important task you can do - that's a win in my book.  Once you get comfortable with that then try time blocking one or two tasks and committing to nothing else during that time if your job allows.   As you practice, you'll start to see productivity gains.  

2. Practice makes efficiency. Establishing and practicing this method at first will take more time than you may prefer, but once you've mastered it, I anticipate you will find yourself flowing through this process in 30 minutes or less. 

3. Schedule breaks first. Ensure to first schedule breaks to mitigate burn out, eye strain, or other health threats.  I suggest scheduling these ahead of your tasks. 

4. Be cautious of meetings.  It may look like just 30-60 minutes of your time, but I have found you need to consider the time you need to both prepare for the meeting and process your notes from the meeting. This is especially true if you are the one running the meeting.    This is necessary to accurately understand how much time you have to actually work on tasks. 

5. Things change fast. Plan Daily. While I primarily focus on daily planning, if necessary, I'll time block a few days out.   I normally don't do this because I find that I often have new, urgent tasks come up daily that will then require me to spend time moving things around.  This is a low value activity that I aim to minimize.  If your weeks are not as dynamic, then time blocking for the week can work well.         

6. Expect the unexpected. Often times unforeseen, urgent matters come up during the day.   Use your judgement to determine if the escalated issue is truly a higher priority than what you are currently working on.   If yes, switch to the new urgent task, then shift your previously scheduled task further down your calendar.   

7. Keeping going! If your current task is taking longer than expected that’s OK, keep going having confidence you’re working on the most valuable thing you can do.  Over time, doing this process repeatedly, you will get better at estimating your work.     

8. Say not right now. Don’t be afraid to say “not right now” to requests that pop up.

9. Leverage AI tools. Experiment with the various AI tools out there to see how it can help with make your task management more efficient and effective. For example, I personally use either ChatGPT or Google Gemini to provide a list of sub-tasks to help ensure I am not missing anything. It's also great for creating checklists.

10. Adapt - always. Generally, don’t be afraid to shift your tasks around as your situation or the environment changes.  Be like water my friends.  You Bruce Lee fans out there will know what I’m referring to ;-) 

Check Out the Video

In January 2024 I released a video on this topic. Check it out below.

Conclusion 

In conclusion I hope you learned some new, value tools and insights to help manage your tasks, or at the very least, found validation of what you're already doing.   

If you have your own tips to share, have a question, or would like me to address another business topic, I encourage you to leave your comments. 

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Thank you very much for reading.