Well, I’m so bombarded by modern productivity tools, huh?
I noticed an imbalance. The Internet is full of correct methodologies on how to solve problems and what to do with them, but it’s worth launching a specific tool… We see a banal TO-DO List with folders. Is it possible otherwise?
To the point and briefly
Hello! This is Ahmad from botcreators.
Nowany task tracker:
a set of attributes (timing, performer, priority, etc.);
task name;
task description;
project folders.
In a different way. The behavior of a task tracker might look like this:
highlight three things to do per day, rather than a list of endless tasks;
warming up routines to get into a “flow state”;
opposite each task, the questions “is this your task or can it be assigned to someone else?”;
“what locks are there to complete the task”?
opposite the task, minimal action towards its completion;
something else interesting and engaging.
Expanded
In fact, I didn’t immediately run to Habr to write that I was not happy with the state of things. Over my many years of career, I have tried the most popular tools: Jira/Trello/Asana/Bitrix. But it's not the same. It happens, everyone uses it, but somehow it’s not right for me.
There is the most basic thesis: task trackers simply record the state of things, but do not in any way create direction for task completion. I think, you will agree, most of the energy goes into thinking with oneself, the so-called bargaining. And where to start, how to approach the task. And here everyone will pose their own crowning question: “is it necessary”, “will it work”?
Moreover, the following thesis is also familiar to everyone. As soon as you get involved in the task, everything goes smoothly. Another person was imprisoned for the task? No, it’s the same, the veil has just cleared and now you can do the task. So why shouldn’t a task tracker take on this engagement task? You're a tracker, track me. I don’t need a pomade tracker, I need someone to tell me at the beginning of the day: here are your tasks, choose three that you will do, and we’ll hide the rest from you for now.
About routine matters
It’s cool, in the morning I opened the first automatic task, check email or read telegram chats for the previous day. Everything is done, you can move on. It turns out to be a kind of wizard that involves you in your work, and not a hundred tasks at once, please.
About other people's tasks and blocking
I don’t know about you, but I periodically suffer from such garbage. I interfere with the team's work. The task is trivial, but I’m already leaving with my “valuable” advice. I am being treated for this, but the treatment would be comfortable if there was a question opposite the task
Is this even your task?
And that’s it, it will be more difficult to take on unnecessary tasks. Or does this still happen? The task seems enormous, impregnable, but at the entrance you need to do a micro-action and that’s it, then just like clockwork. When you create a task, you can specify this micro-action and the task will begin from there. Moreover, after a couple of days, it can take up to half an hour to remember this micro-action.
What is missing from this article?
Obviously, an article with a title about productivity should include a methodology. There are many of them: Eisenhower Matrix, set Smart goals. Yes, even Beckenbauer's boots. I don't think that's the point. There are a dime a dozen techniques, but it doesn’t make problems move any faster.
This is probably my first article without pictures inside. There is nothing to show, how to show what is not in modern software.
By the way, I even went to in-depth interviews with the most popular creators of task trackers from the Russian Federation. But so far, apart from cosmetic changes, I don’t see any progress in 3 years.
How are you doing with setting goals? Where do you conduct your tasks? Maybe there is already software that can do all this?
