Whether freelancing, or in the corporate world, we all have to contend with deadlines. Deadlines generally come off sounding like shlock horror villains: they inch closer, approach, loom and grow larger. I’ve worked in settings where deadlines were paramount, and followed rigorously, and in situations where they meant surprisingly little.
In this post I’m going to discuss deadline management. Successfully managing deadlines is part knowing why specific deadlines exist in the first place, part knowing which are soft and which are firm, and a big part relationship management. Striking the right balance depends on the situation at hand, but generally speaking, deadlines fall into one of three categories and should be managed accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
A while ago, I wrote about Planzone, a collaborative project management app, and how it allowed me to organize and manage all the pieces and players of two major projects I have going on. I have the free plan, which includes two projects. But I also needed something that would help me manage my most chaotic project (the one called “My Life”) and keep track of everything else: a to-do list for an upcoming trip, personal and professional side projects, those brilliant ideas…I know you know what I’m talking about! All the things that float around in your brain, coming and going whenever they please, popping back into your head at 2 a.m. or, when you’re in the shower, which is really not helpful.
Just when I needed her most, along came Doris, a free, web-based task management app developed by Seagull Systems originally for their internal use. (Disclosure: Seagull Systems has done development work for one of my projects.) Doris, their personal assistant, turned out to be so helpful that they dressed her up, in the form of a nice UI, and decided to let her help the rest of us get organized, too. Read the rest of this entry »
As I continue to struggle to find the ideal project or task management tool for my growing Web business, I find one app that really tracks project progress well but doesn’t handle individual task management then another app handles task assignments but doesn’t give me a view of the big picture.
Then there are the enterprise level apps that give me a headache to even look at because they cram a gazillion features and functionality into their interface. Or the apps that have robust features that I can’t find or figure out how to use.
Task2Gather is a pretty straightforward application for managing tasks plus it has an iPhone app which in my book is always a plus. On their site, they define their app as:
“…a free online service for task and project management that organizes your personal, family, social and business lives by keeping all your commitments in one place.”
I have mixed feelings about an app that organizes every aspect of your life although I know my whole like – not just my work – needs it. Still, when I see “organizes your family” on the same app that is supposed to organize my business functions in an efficient and cost-effective way, I get a little wary. But maybe this is the way organizational tools are moving – apps to take care of every aspect of your life because ultimately, they really are inter-related.
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There’s a new application in town for those who want a simple approach to maintaining their appointments: Deadline. They boast of being “the simplest calendar ever made,” though a variety of features are already in place or being planned.
After signing up for a free account, you’ll get a web interface with a box to type. Put in something like “Feed the cat next week” and it will strip off the “next week” part, parse it to get the date, and make the rest the text of your reminder. Then it adds it to the rest of your reminders on the web page. A search box lets you find reminders with particular text, and brighter white is used to highlight the more immediate tasks.
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There’s never a shortage of applications to track your task list, from online choices like Remember the Milk to full-blown GTD applications like OmniFocus and Things to simple lists like Today or the built-in tasks in Mail.app on OS X. Lately, though, I’ve found myself looking for a middle ground: something on the client side, not just a simple list, but not as complex as the high-end applications. I’ve found two OS X choices that fit for me: What ToDo and ActionGear.
Both of these applications supply ample organizational tools for treating your tasks in strict GTD fashion or reducing them to a flat list: they both allow having a hierarchy of groups and tasks, they both support contexts and tagging. Either one can help you keep track of what you’re intending to do, and remind you when you’re lagging.
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Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
