Whenever I’m asked for apps to organize projects and tasks, I always recommend something like Reminders, Todoist, or Things. The GTD method and well-categorized tasks are the best way to manage our time, or at least it’s a good first step in testing the waters.
But there is a saying that makes perfect sense here: In the blacksmith’s house, wooden spoon. One of my resolutions for 2023 was to adopt one of these task managers to better organize myself and get out of my “addiction” to the calendar, but it was not possible for me.
More minimalism or more classification, that is the dilemma
Over the years I have been an avid user of various task managers. Things, Doo, and Workflowy have been my most used options, but over time I’ve adapted to managing my entire life in the calendar.
Having it like that gave me several advantages: I can make the call Blocking timeIt’s made of estimate the time it will take me to complete a task and thus distribute the day as appropriate. It also lets me color-code each group of tasks, which tr anslates to several different calendars in iCloud.
This is particularly interesting in a case like mine where I am multi-employee, because this way I can clearly see what I have to do for each project and block the travel time between one task and another if I have to move. And at the slightest unforeseen event, all you have to do is move these tasks on the calendar to redate them. Very comfortable.
But there came a time when my diary was filled with events, so I thought about dividing it between the events as such and the tasks I might have at a more traditional manager. I migrated to reminders with these tasks, creating a list for each project and setting deadlines for each task.
And for a few days everything was fine, but I realized that I was missing an important advantage of having everything on the calendar: you didn’t have to switch between apps to handle these tasks. Everything was concentrated in one place. For me, that’s the key.
I in no way underestimate the capabilities of Reminders: for me it is a task manager that has nothing to envy to the main paid alternatives. A little adaptation and it can be your best productivity ally.
But in my particular case, I’ve come to see how much I prefer having everything in one place and mixing it up with the classic calendar events. There are some things I have to adapt to, but I always end up feeling better on these calendars than on any to-do list.. I guess every head has its own way of working.