Gabriel Harper's Blog

No single human being can carry out one million substantial tasks daily, but it can certainly feel like there are a million things not getting done each day. After years of trying every complex approach in the book (okay, not every one, but quite a few), I use a dead simple tool for handling my daily tasks. The notepad.

I have often struggled with completing tasks on time, keeping track of projects, or just being simply overwhelmed by all of the work involved in daily business. If you are self-employed, run your own business, do contracting work or just freelance on the side, you probably face the challenge of tracking dozens, hundreds or even thousands of various tasks. From basic accounting and business operations to complex projects and campaigns, it can be a lot to manage.

Sure, you need SRS documents and folders full of project materials and specifications… but you also need to keep track of your day to day business to stay on top of things. For me, I have found that it’s as simple as organizing my tasks with a pencil and paper instead of juggling software apps and navigating my Pocket PC to check every little task or scratch a quick note down. Whenever I come up with a new task, I jot it down at the end of today’s list. I try to prioritize the list and scratch items off as I make progress through the day. Each day I’ll write the list again using the previous day’s incomplete and new tasks.

The added benefit of doing it this way is the short break you get from the computer, where you can let your mind wander a bit and even do some brainstorming. Not only that, but it’s quite satisfying to tick, check, or slash items off the list as you make progress.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 12:57 am and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.