The Best Productivity App That You Won’t Live Without
Our lives get busier and crazier, and finding ways to stay organized and manage our time becomes increasingly important. One popular method is creating a to-do list, a simple and effective way to track tasks and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. This approach works exceptionally well for project management, allowing you to break down complex tasks into smaller, manageable steps. In this article, we'll explore how to create a to-do list for project management purposes, using the popular app Things as an example. With these tips, you'll be well on your way to mastering your project management skills and staying on top of your busy schedule.
Simple Design
The first thing I like about Things is that it is simple. The last thing you want is a complicated app that takes forever to learn. Things3 is built so well that it feels like a native iOS app. You start by adding things straight to the Inbox. Think of this as your dumping ground as you come up with ideas or need to remember something quickly. From there, you can swipe over and add a date, a due date, a time, or even add it to a different folder or project. Once a date is added, it moves it into either the “Today” view or the “Upcoming” one. If you want to move it out of the Inbox but don't have a date, keep it in the "someday" or "anytime" bins.
Within each task, you have a few options. You can add notes, including links and tags for other organizations, and task searching. For example, you can label "urgent" for tasks requiring immediate attention and "low priority" for jobs that can wait. Another great feature within tasks is the ability to create subtasks, which is especially helpful for breaking down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. You can quickly develop subtasks and add due dates or reminders within each task. This way, you can track progress on each step and make sure everything is on schedule. If a task is reoccurring you can set to the desired frequency and it will automatically add a new task when the current one is completed.
Projects
Projects are another great feature of Things. Start by creating project bins for home, work, or projects. When an assignment is assigned to a bin, you can view all those tasks independently in each bins view. On the Today tab, tasks are separated into different bin sections, so when it comes time to do that task on that day you don’t get confused what project it is from, you can easily see what you need when you need to do it.
Email Integrations
My favorite new feature of Things is the integration with the Spark email app. Now you can prioritize emails by swiping in Spark and adding to Things. Add it to the Inbox bin, assign a date, and have it quickly go into your daily To-do list; a great way to keep emails you may need later on and set reminders. It consistently links to the email in the task notes, so you can quickly get back to it without scrolling through weeks worth of emails. Use this instead of Pinning or flagging emails. Add them to Things and add them into a project for easy storage.
In conclusion, creating a to-do list is a simple yet effective way to stay organized and manage your time, especially in project management. With the help of apps like Things, you can easily break down tasks into projects, prioritize them, and track your progress. Remember, the key to successful project management is staying organized and focused. A to-do list can help you do just that. So, why not simplify your life and start using a to-do list today? You'll be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you have a clear plan in place.
