Why I Use Asana Tasks Management System to Bring My Work Under Control
Pro(ductivity) Tip# 88
Task management is the foundation of efficiency. If I can’t manage tasks well nothing will go well.
My days quickly become filled with a litany of fire fighting exercises. This is not only exhausting but it takes away from any efficiency I may develop.
When I am jumping from task to task it’s difficult to work towards predetermined outcomes. My landscape quickly becomes littered with half completed projects.
A task management tool like Asana is crucial in helping me stay on top of my daily obligations.
A major benefit of Asana is that it is available on mobile devices and the web. There are no excuses to let tasks go. I have access to my system wherever I am.
I find it helpful to organize my work using the following Asana features:
- Projects
- Tasks
- My Tasks Tab
My work is organized around projects. I can create projects that align with a succession of tasks I must complete to produce a desired deliverable. Or I can create projects around different contexts of my life.
For example I created a project regarding the SharePoint library I need to create. I also created a project dedicated to things I need to pick up at the store. The essential factor for me is capturing of the work essential for my personal productivity.
A third type of project I found helpful is one that I use to document responses I am waiting for. For example if I send an email and am awaiting for a reply, I create a task in my “waiting for” project list. The Getting Things Done system by David Allen talks significantly about the importance of both work and context based project lists.
In writing my tasks I found an ideal format is starting with an action and ending with an object.
Example:
- Send John an email about the proposal.
- Write the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting
The more specific I can be regarding my task the better. I dont want to guess about what a task is regarding. The expectations should be very clear. Clearly written tasks saves me time when it’s time to execute. Ambiguous tasks leads to inefficient actions and rework.
Another practice I found helpful when creating tasks in Asana is to add an estimated completion time as part of the task name. If a task is going to take about an hour to compete I put 1.0 in front of it. If a task will take 30 minutes I add.5 in front of the task name.
Example:
1.0 Write promotional article
.5 Proof read Jim’s brochure
1.5 Conduct sales training for new staff
The “my tasks” tab in Asana is also helpful. This tab allows me to view all my assigned work organized by due date. I can review my tasks days, weeks and months in advance.
By reviewing “my tasks” tab everyday I am able to stay on top of all my obligations. I found that this allowed me to progressively think further and further ahead.
An additional benefit was that I was able to visually see if I was over loading my daily schedule. If my day was too heavy with task work or the tasks would take too long to complete I could move things to other days. The time markers makes this excercise of balancing my schedule easier.
