Daily Tasks

I've been thinking recently about daily tasks. I use Outlook and my Palm (standard ToDo app) and don't currently use daily tasks in either one. In my Palm I follow David Allen's advice to have next actions with no due date, so all my categories, except tickler, don't use a due date. I've set Outlook up the same way with flagged items and search folders, rather than using the tasks module. I just email myself tasks and flag them as appropriate. But sometimes I would like daily tasks - the 3-5 things I would like to get done during the day.

Let's look at how tasks have been managed in different systems. The classic FranklinQuest system used daily tasks and they were then carried over from day to day if they were not completed. This had some of the benefit of the tickler file, in that you could write a task down on the day (in the future) when you wanted to be reminded to do it. All tasks that needed to be done as soon as you got to them went on the daily task list. Obviously in David Allen's world of 100+ next actions, this would be ridiculous, especially on paper, but also in PDA's or Outlook. What happens in reality is that most of a persons next actions are in the pseudo-tickler of future task lists.

David Allen's Getting Things Done and the FranklinQuest system come from a fundamentally different paradigms. Both systems are looking at tasks as actionable items. However, FranklinQuest values the "What should I do today?" view and David Allen values the "What should I do here?" view. Of course, both are valid and useful. Both views of your tasks lead to certain behaviors and attitudes, as well as to certain pitfalls. A Franklin planner guy will not be able to take advantage of the funny little intervals of time that are everywhere. A David Allen acolyte may put off certain tasks indefinitely because they're never important enough (one of my regular problems). Also, David Allen's strict delineation between the calendar and the next actions lists doesn't handle tasks with a due date very well - e.g. it needs to be done as soon as possible, but no later than next Monday.

Then there is the classic 7 Habits system, which focuses on the week. Daily tasks do show up though. They are placed on the day you'd like to work on them, either in the calendar or in a task list for the day. Here is merely another view put forth as an entire planning paradigm. The 7 Habits system has some of the same problems as the FranklinQuest system, in that items must be forwarded, at least each week. During the week they'll still be in front of you but you may tune out stuff that hasn't been brought forward to the current day.

(Note: You don't want me getting started on the horrible mess that the FranklinCovey made when they tried to merge the 7 Habits and FranklinQuest planning systems)

Ulitmately, you want a system with all of these views. However, such a system is entirely impractical on paper because of the overhead of keeping everything synchronized. Enter my ideal task manager. Obviously it would have at the very least the views we've discussed already. I love having a context based view: what are all the things I can do right here, right now. So does David Allen. But I also want a view of the tasks I decided to do today. They're not appointments and they're not on my calendar, and they don't necessarily have to be done today, but choosing a specific set of tasks to do in a day gives me a goal to work towards and allows me to get into a groove of similar tasks (not just similar based on context). I also want a view of my week with tasks, appointments and upcoming tickler items. This is the context that the 7 Habits system provides.

Wait! you say. Each of those systems not only provides you with the view, but also a way to use the view. Now how are you going to use multiple views? When do you switch views? How do you know that looking at one view won't hide something important or possible in another view? It all comes down to one question - When you can look at and organize your tasks in any way you want, easily and quickly, how do you then use those views of your tasks to be even more productive?

Sounds like a good problem to solve.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a developer on the Outlook team. I like to eat pizza, but I'm currently on a no-chocolate diet. My favorite movie is The Truman Show. My wife had our second son about a month ago. There, now you know me.)

Comments

• Anonymous
  August 30, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  July 23, 2005
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  February 04, 2006
  I'm really glad that you as a developer on the Outlook team understand the issues that I hold dear. David Allan's "Getting Things Done" provides one with too many tasks, and little guidance on what to do next; while the Franklin system also overloads you with tasks based on "soft" contracts i.e. if you don't get the task done today (like you said you would) just defer the task until tomorrow.
  
  What I would love to see is a view that shows me BOTH the tasks and appointments that are due on a given day, sorted by day. I don't want two columns --- one for tasks, and one for appts, because then I would have to scan through two columns to answer the question "what do I need to do today?"
  
  Very much looking forward to office 12,
  
  Hooman

• Anonymous
  May 15, 2007
  Is there any way to know the date-time of a defered task when you defered for some time to remind you of that task using the remainders functionality of outlook 2003? ie; My task is to talk to someone on a certain date-time. When I call that someone is not available and then I defer the calling task for 30 mins. but if I get close enough to the end of a business day, I defer that for some time next day, but I can´t see that date-time anywhere!!! I need to know when I'm going to do my scheduled tasks. Sometimes to complete a task that someone ask me to call back at some time and it is the same issue.

• Anonymous
  July 05, 2007
  “Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein.