Let us know how ToodleDo is working for you.
Workflowy (
https://workflowy.com ) is so very simple and flexible. It's almost like using a
whiteboard. You can use it for anything, and any way you want to.
Right now, on my Workflowy, I am experimenting with this...
I call it "Time Slicing".
I have two sections... kinda like this...
- business one
- business two
- things on extremely tight deadline
- everything else
To describe the Second Section first...Under "time log", I am simply logging my time so I can keep track of what I am doing, and see where my time goes.
Under "projects", I organize my big picture plans. I list every project, with every sub-project, tasks, and sub-tasks all broken down under each one.
Under "lists", I keep all sorts of random lists.... for the list-maker in me. Shopping List is the one I use most, but any list I think I need to make, I keep it there.
The First Section is where all the action takes place...I call it
Time Slicing. Here's what I do: I set a timer and spend 30 minutes on each of the four sections, then move on to the next one... After the fourth one, I go back to the first one, in an endless cycle.
I have all the tasks I currently need to do for my "business one" itemized and prioritized under "business one". The same goes for my other business, we'll call, "business two".
Then, under "on extremely tight deadline" I put only the few items that absolutely
must be done within the next few days --- or else.
Obviously, under "everything else", I list everything else I want to also work on.... in little slices... or increments. For example, I might have an item like: "Call one contact from [Lead List] about [Sales]." .....or something like that. In other words, I take big projects --- some of which seem endless --- and slice them up into discreet little one-off tasks. Another item I might list there, as an example, "Do some HIT (high intensity training) in the gym (for 15 minutes)." Or, "Drink a glass of water." etc....
During the 30 minutes I spend on "everything else", I cycle through each item on that list contained under "everything else".... and at the end, I start at the top of it again. In computer programming terms, we might call that structure a "subroutine".
In fact, that's where I came up with this idea..... from the way computers work. There is a list of processes that are currently "running" ( actually, on the list to run, and in reality, only one thing happens at a time). The processor just cycles through each item on that list... very quickly... then starts at the top again.
If you find yourself getting bogged down and not getting enough done, you can always tweak your list by...
- adjusting how much time you spend on each top-level category
- adjusting how much time you spend on individual items under "everything else" - each item can be different
- pruning back the number of items on the "things on extremely tight deadline" category, to make sure they really are very urgent and very important ( if not, move them to "everything else" )
And if you're still too bogged down....
- remove some items from your "everything else" cycles and move them down to your "projects" section... and plan to make progress on them at some point in the future ( just be sure to keep your projects listed in priority order so you don't forget to add tasks related to them, back in to your "cycles" again.... when you have more time ).
If you try this method.... or any parts of it.... Please let me know how it works out for you.
