The Ultimate iGeek's Guide to Managing, Prioritizing and Completing [dream on!] Your To-Do-List

This year I've stepped into new realms of professional challenge and found the workload more than a little overwhelming at times. You've probably noticed my long absences from the blogisphere and it's not that I don't have anything to say (I am still me after all), I just haven't had any time to say it!

This blog post will take you on a whirlwind tour of my last 6-8 months in mastering the fine art of to-do-lists.

Bare with me as I travel through a variety of ways that have worked for others, but didn't really work for me, and then let me share with you, the ultimate iGeek's tool for maintaining, managing, prioritizing and completing [dream on!] your to-do-list.

But first... the journey so far...

When it comes to being organised. I seem to be in a constant state of organizing and yet never quite feel actually organised! This year one of my chosen appraisal goals was to manage my stress levels and find ways to work smarter not longer. It was particularly important as I took on some larger projects and responsibilities this year.

I'm lucky in that my boss is a constant "reality mirror". Though she does have a fondness for throwing me in the deep end and keeping the challenge level high, I'm blessed that she is also able and willing to reflect a realistic and achievable expectation for me. She communicates clear expectations of what I need to do and where to draw the line which is something I struggle with accepting. If it "could" be done, I tend to feel like it "should" be done which in reality often feels more like it "should have been done"

To achieve my goal, we talked about keeping a to-do-list and prioritizing what needed to be done. Thus began my experimentation with management strategies


Version 1: Mac's Dashboard Sticky Notes:  

Image from www.squidoo.com/sticky-notes-for-mac

At first I tried keeping post-it notes on my Mac "dashboard" (for the PC users in our midst, the mac dashboard is sort of like a hidden desktop which holds sticky notes and other widgets as in the picture to the left). 
Positively dashboard sticky notes didn't get lost like random bits of paper would but they did tend to multiply and not get finished or cleared and as completion was shown by deleting them, there was no record of what was achieved to give you the warm fuzzy "I actually achieved something today" buzz at the end of the day.
I also found them far too easy to ignore as I had to deliberately go and look at them. I also found that I ended up with multiple post-its because I could only have a limited amount of text on each one.
There was also no way to prioritize things so I just ended up dealing with a lot of stuff as it arose and what went on the sticky notes tended to get forgotten and ignored among the many other bits of information, html code, contact details and even recipies which also ends up on sticky notes on my dashboard.
Ultimately, Sticky Notes work great for me to store bits of random data but, as a to-do-list, it didn't work for me.



Version 2: The Exercise Book:
The positives of this method, was that there was unlimited space for a growing to-do-list, I could see what I'd already achieved and it looked really cute (I covered it in Pooh Bear duraseal). This worked for awhile.
An annoying factor was that it wasn't so portable so it wasn't always there when I needed to add a new task and meant some tasks where still kept in my head. This had meant it didn't help my stress levels as I was always trying to remember what I had to do. I often ended up feeling like there was heaps to do and it all became a bit too daunting. I also risked forgetting stuff and I couldn't see how much I'd achieved because many of the tasks from the day had never made it into the book. Plus, again, it wasn't visual enough for me. I wanted it right under my nose so I knew what I had to do and could keep track of my progress and not forget important jobs.

Version 3: The Bedroom Wall of Work:

This was getting better. It was visual and hard to miss. I still have these on my wall. A3 printouts of annual plan pages within my responsibility areas and laminated A3 paper "whiteboards" full of my to do lists in various areas.
These are easy to monitor and have the satisfaction factor when marking things off. (Look at all the ticks Mum!)
It's great for ensuring you don't drop the ball by forgetting something big and important.
The downside is that it works better for the big and longer term stuff. It's not portable at all and it's not so useful for the little everyday tasks which generally don't even make it to the wall. This means you don't always have a true picture of just how much you really need to do, in which case, I tend to imagine having more mega stuff to do than I actually do and thus, again, I find myself suffering from elevated stress levels.
Having said that, as part of the picture of what works for me, this does help.
Although, for those of you with husbands and partners, I'm not sure how well will go down if you filled their inner sanctum with all your work to-do-lists. I know my colleague/flatmate was also horrified that I had school work on my bedroom walls and my boss will probably hit me when she reads this post.

But wait!.....

Here entereth "The iGeeks Ultimate To-Do-List Solution!"


Priority Matrix - Cloud Sync:

Priority Matrix (available on iTunes App Store) has been the right answer for me.
I had a previous free version on my iPhone and used that with some success but they have now created a cross platform version which syncs via an account on their network. I can now have my to-do-list on my iPhone, iPad and Mac.
So far I haven't felt the need to buy the Mac platform but it's good to know the option is there if I choose to use it in the future.
Each platform is sold separately and, at approximately NZ$8 per platform, it could be considered expensive in terms of Apps, but I've found their improved functionality and portability to be worth the cost.

I always have my phone with me so I can add a task on the fly and I can use the increased capabilities of the iPad App to manage my to-do-list more conveniently the rest of the time.
I've also found it to be highly customizable right down to the colour schemes.

The top benefits I've found are;
1. I can have multiple task lists to keep my church, work and life responsibilities separate and well managed. I also have separate matrices for my key responsibility areas. This makes the to do lists more manageable and less daunting and as I can get into my ICT head space and just the related tasks to that area or if I'm in my life head space, I can see and manage those tasks.

2. I can put dates to activities and they show a little countdown on their icons (I can choose an icon for each task to give a visual reminder of what that task is). The App can pull up a list of tasks which are overdue, due today, or due within the week. Great for seeing at a glance what is actually needing to be done and when.

3. I can sort tasks into different quadrants; "critical and immediate", "critical but not immediate", "not critical but immediate" and uncategorized. I can change the quadrant titles too. The App can then produce a list of tasks in each quadrant (across all my different matrices).

4. I can drag the cross bars in the centre of the matrix to one side or another so I can focus more (or entirely) on one particular quadrant. That's great for my Blog to-do-list as this is more a place to record post ideas rather than a to-do-list as such. So I don't need to see the other 3 quadrants for this matrix.

What I really love is that the App remembers my cross hair positioning from one visit to the next AND from one platform to the next. For example, I positioned the cross hairs on the iPad, then viewed another matrix on the same platform and later accessed Priority Matrix on my phone. It sync'd on arrival, as usual, and not only did it remember the positioning of the cross hairs but it also took me directly to the matrix I'd viewed last on the iPad, even though it was different from the matrix I'd last viewed on the phone. That made it very easy to switch from one platform to another and back again with continuity.

Since I've been using the updated Cloud Sync version of Priority Matrix, I've been buzzing about how much I've been getting done (and yes, V does have a bit to do with that too, but) I've found the App really functional and useful. I've loved the fact that I've known what I needed to do and I've enjoyed being able to clearly see that it wasn't a never ending list. Knowing what you are up against and seeing the lay of the land really helps with the motivation levels and I tend to be more productive as a result.

I'm sure there is more I could tell you about this App but instead, let me just encourage you to try it.

If you're a wanabee organised iGeek like me, then I'm sure you wont regret the out lay.