The last few weeks seem like groundhogs day. The same long day replaying itself over and over, I seem to lose track of days and time. Before covid I would describe my task organizing as “herding cats”. Now, I think it’s more like juggling cats (Steve Martin reference). Staying organized during these hectic times is very important, I can increase my productivity saving time and helping me to maintain balance and my sanity 😊. Having an app to track task all my tasks is key. I have changed apps many times over the years always looking for the perfect one. Lately, I have been using Microsoft ToDo. Its not perfect and I doubt I will ever find one that is. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it and how it helps me to stay organized and boosts my productivity. Here are some of the reasons why I like it.
Aggregate Tasks from Other Apps
I can add tasks from different applications and ToDo aggregates them for me. This is helpful because I don’t need to break my workflow by going to another app. If a task comes to mind I add it and keep my train of thought. Tasks added in OneNote, Word, Planner, Outlook and Flagged emails are all aggregated and appear in ToDo. ToDo also has a Power Automate connector so you can connect to many other programs and automate task creation. As an example a can use a Power Atomate Flow to create a task for me when an activity is created in my CRM system.
Lists to Organize My Tasks
I can create lists and add my tasks giving me flexibility in the way I organize. I can have lists by person or project, time period, priority or anything else in whatever combination of categories makes sense to me.
Share Tasks with Others
I can share my lists with anyone I want. If I am working on a project with someone we can easily share status of our tasks.
Available on All My Devices
Through out my day I regularly use multiple devices. Having a seamless experience across all of them is an absolute requirement. If I’m walking the dog and I need to create or update my plans I can do it quickly and easily on my phone.
Hashtag Refines Searching
I can use hashtags to further refine how I organize and search. This requires a bit of discipline because you need to be consistent however its extremely powerful way of further orgainzing and refining your tasks.
Organize my tasks by Identity
The app allows me to switch between identities and my tasks are associated with the corresponding identity. I keep my home tasks associated with my personal identity and my work tasks associated with my corporate identity. This gives me a way of separating work and personal life while still using the same app.
