Avoiding the Curse of Task Management

Today's Guest Post is from Loren Pinilis who operates Life of a Steward, a site about time management from a Christian perspective. He’s passionate about helping God’s people manage their time and showing them that busyness, stress, and procrastination are answered by the gospel.

We may use OmniFocus or Nozbe. We zealously chase Inbox Zero by using the two-minute rule.

But our focus on task management and productivity can often bring with it a curse – a weakness which actually makes us less productive.

It all started with David Allen’s Getting Things Done. Allen’s approach to the frenzied amount of decisions and information flying at us was to drill down and refine workflow. In other words, focus on mastering the basic building blocks of our day. Get really good at being efficient.

The problem is we then stay in that mindset. We stay at the “runway level” of task management. We become obsessed with efficiently adding items to our lists and efficiently crossing them off.

But we never look up to ask ourselves the big questions. In our zeal for efficiency, we move away from effectiveness. Yes, we may occasionally take a look at the bigger picture when we consider weekly planning or annual goals. But that’s not the big picture I’m talking about.

Do we ever take a step back and ask ourselves why we’re even on Earth? Do we see our daily lives in the context of eternity? Because when we do, we get a very different view of our work.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

This insight absolutely changes our life.

Now, crossing things off of our list isn’t our primary focus – it’s stewarding our resources well. Now, meeting our deadlines takes a back seat to bringing glory to God. Now, we work with purpose – every second of our day. Now, we will strive towards goals that really matter.

Now, we have to depend on Christ because we won’t be able to measure up to his perfect standard in our own power.

But now, we are given tremendous freedom. We’re not called to be somebody else. We’re not punished for failing to be as influential as a celebrity, author, or CEO. The sovereign God who created the universe doesn’t call us to achievement in the eyes of the world – but to obedience wherever we are right now.

And to bring this full-circle: that obedience can be achieved, in part, by efficiency and task management.

Mastering workflow is great. Efficiency is to be prized. But be sure to connect that efficiency to true effectiveness.

Question: Do you struggle with forgetting what true effectiveness is? What are some practices that can help us remember?

*Photo courtesy of LP

You Don't Need Another Productivity System

Don't get me wrong, there are times when a new tool is what you need. A tree falls in your back yard and the puny hand saw just won't do the trick. Better to invest in a chainsaw that will get the work done in a fraction of the time. Folks here in Jersey saw this first hand in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

When it comes to your daily work though, I'm not sure that a new tool is what you need. Let me explain.

I go through a bit of something every 3-4 months. I slowly use my productivity system less and less and then hit the 3 month mark. It's at that time that I mistakenly think that I need a new tool. I actually don't. What I need is to recalibrate, refocus and spend 1-2 hours getting clear and current with my lists. Then, I'm good to go and can tackle the big projects that keep me up at night.

Busyness tricks me into thinking that I can use my systems less and expect the same results. In the end, there is no substitute for being disciplined, using my system daily and sticking with it. That's not a sexy solution but it works every time.

How about you? Do you think you need another app or "tool" when discipline/refocusing is what you really need?

A Look Inside my Productivity Apps

Do you ever wonder what makes people tick?  Is it their tireless work ethic or the support system around them?  Is it their DNA or an incredible role model that inspired them to be great?  Or, maybe if all else fails, their good looks.  

The answers probably vary for each of us.  (except for those of us who are actually good looking in which case appearance is mighty important for just about, well, everything!  I submit Gisele Bundchen as proof.)

If we're really honest with ourselves, the answers are like a layer cake.  Many layers make for many victories in daily life. Remove one layer and the others start to sag.  

In my life, an essential component to staying productive is my toolbox of productivity apps.  Some of these translate onto iPhone for mobile use but for now, I'll stick to what's working on the desktop for MAC.

We'll update these 1-2 times per year but for now, here is my list:

• Nozbe: my ToDo app of choice.  Works on iPhone and iPad and my favorite, on the Mac.
• Gmail: the email client I use for work.
• Google Docs (Google Drive): we use Google Drive as a file sharing system in the cloud.
• Google Calendar: while Google Calendar doesn't sync perfectly with my iPad, I can settle for a "most of the time" success story.
• Tweetbot: it's pretty and has a nice multi-collumn layout.
• Apple Mail: not very fancy but simply works well.  Configure the keyboard shortcuts and you can really fly through email.  I use Mail for my personal email.
• Google Chrome: browser of choice.
• Omni Outliner: a simple outliner that I use for my podcast prep.  Simply amazing!
• Pocket: while Instapaper has its fanboys, I reallly enjoy Pocket for anything I'm reading online or via Twitter but can't get to right away.  
• Scrivener: every blog post begins in Scrivener.  
• Camtasia: what I use for my screencasts and demos.  

 These are what are helping me get more done.  What's in your toolbox of apps?

 Photo courtesy of BH

Could Siri Manage Your Team for You?

Have you ever wandered into the grocery store and stopped, scratched your head and wondered what you needed in the first place? 

Or, in a workplace scenario, have you ever been in a meeting and forgotten exactly what you wanted to talk about with the person on the other side of the table?

The problem isn't your brain or the store or the pad of paper in front of you.

The problem may lie in your ability to keep lists and then activate their content at the right time.  After all, an idea may show up at the most random of times and escape you at precisely the moment when you need it most. 

In this post, I'll be showing you how to use Apple's Reminders app and Siri work together to make your lists work for you.  When your lists are on high octane and working well, your team will benefit all the more.

Here is where I posit an almost heretical thought: could Siri actually manage your team for you? Could an app do your work for you?  Let’s find out.

Here are the steps involved: 

1. If you haven't already, set up Reminders on your Mac or iOS device.  This is easy and can be done by pulling up Reminders and creating some lists that will be easy to remember when you are on the go.  

2. Set up a few, can't forget lists.  In your personal life, this could be Grocery Store or even Walmart.  For work, I recommend lists named after the person you manage.  If you manage Barbara, create a list called Barbara.  If you have someone report to you that has a super-difficult name, you may want to give him a code name as Siri can have difficulty with tough names.  As Craig mentioned in a recent post, this list naming can become a game (which isn't a bad thing for your productivity).

3. Try it out on the go.  You can watch my demo here using the iPhone as my input device.

4. Now test it out with a person that you manage.  This is where the magic happens.  Rather than try to remember what you wanted to talk about with Barbara, let your list in Reminders do the work for you.  As I showed in the demo, my next team meeting regarding Saturday’s event has a reminder that I might have otherwise forgotten to mention while at the meeting.

I use Siri and Reminders every day.  My team has no idea that I use both applications to keep organized and that's part of the fun.  When technology makes you look smarter than you are, I’m all for it.

Back to my wild idea: could Siri manage your team for you?  Probably not.  There is no substitute for honest to goodness human interaction and deep down, we all know that teamwork isn’t built on an app, no matter how smooth it may be.  

Siri along with Reminders does a great job of keeping you on task and putting your ideas in front of you when you need them most.  As a manager of people, that’s another thing…

How are you using Siri in order to get things done?

Photo courtesy of AMDG

How One Little Button Reduces Friction in Your Work

This is a post that Merlin Mann would hate. In the so-called age of post productivity where tools don't mean as much as conquering meaningful work, I just can't help but notice the importance of something very tiny.

The input button on your iOS task manager.

That little plus thingee or inbox dodad that we sort of take for granted in our iOS apps. The deal is this: it actually matters more than you think and here's why: anything that helps you reduce friction will translate into greater productivity.  If you want to input an idea very quickly, the button you press could make a big difference. 

So let's take a look at a number of popular productivity apps and their iOS (and iPhone specifically) home pages.

Here we go!

Nozbe: you'll notice that the input button is nicely placed to the bottom right of the screen.  What Nozbe also allows is the three-stack button to its left which allows you to create a context or project as well just from the click of a button.  My only complaint is that it doesn't really stand out from the other buttons.  Grade: A-

The Hit List: while The Hit List isn't as intuitive as Nozbe or Omnifocus in terms of what's under the hood, the input button is nicely placed and overly large, to the top right of the screen.  Still, it could stand out just a bit more.  Grade: A-

OmniFocus: the Ferrari of task managers has a different approach, offering an inbox instead of a plus sign. Those come as you go deeper into the application.  I'd like to see the inbox either larger or a different color.  Right now, it's sort of plane-Jane.  The location is fine but it's just boring to look at.  Grade: C+

Producteev: in my mind, the input button in Producteev is simply genius.  It's large, placed in the center and really fun to use.  All of the other developers should use Producteev for a week to see how much fun this input button is.  Grade: A+

Remember the Milk: I like the layout of RTM's iOS home screen.  It's clean and looks very nice.  My only complaint is that it's all the way to the left.  Grade: B

ToodleDo: While ToodleDo may not be as sexy as Producteev or as robust as Nozbe or OmniFocus, the input button is rectangular and to the top right.  It feels great to use- simple as that.  Grade: A

Conclusion: while this post may seem a bit over the top (I mean seriously, who else compares the input buttons in such detail?), it shows that details matter.  If you feel good using a tool to get things done, you're more likely to use it again and most importantly, you will do more meaningful work.

Which application have you used and which feature do you enjoy the most? 

How the Porsche of Task Managers Just Got Better (Nozbe)

If you aren't using a task manager, now is the time to consider one.  Seriously, is that .99 cent notebook really working for you when it comes to complex projects and follow ups?

Ok, so I'm being a bit snarky but if you're familiar with this blog, you know that I'm a big fan of Michael Sliwinski's GTD app Nozbe.  Turns out that Michael Hyatt also uses it as does John Kendrick.

Nozbe is currently in the final stages of a promotion that will allow you to get their new Mac App Store version of Nozbe for free.  CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS.

The new desktop app is very fast, nice looking and the sync is flawless.   I think you'll enjoy Nozbe so why not take it for a spin?  Click here for the free trial.