From saying no to Kanban: successful strategies in task management

Organizing your personal tasks on a daily basis can sometimes be as confusing as a maze. With every corner you turn, there's a new method or tool that promises to make your task management easier. Even though I admittedly haven't yet found a golden thread to guide me perfectly through the task management maze, I'm armed with a map full of helpful tips and tricks that I'd like to share with you! 

Task management: What makes a good method? 

Before I dive into the various methods, I would like to briefly explain what I consider to be the important aspects of successful task organization: 

• Organization and clarity: You should be able to organize your tasks efficiently without making things complicated. 
• Clear priorities: It is essential to know what is important now and what can be done later. 
• Concrete, realizable tasks: They should be precise enough to be completed without major problems. 
• Thinking in terms of results: Here I am inspired by Objective Key Results (OKR) to look not only at outputs, but above all at the desired outcomes. 
• Flexible planning: Tasks should be able to be grouped and reprioritized as required. 

• Everything in one place: Notes and thoughts on tasks should be easy to find, especially when working in a team. 

Methods that could support you in task management: 

• Getting Things Done (GTD): A system that helps to focus on tasks and divide them into manageable chunks. 

• Getting Sh*t DoneA less complex alternative to GTD that relies on daily planning. 
• The Agile WayA method that is strongly inspired by agile approaches. 
• Eat the Cockroach / Eat the FrogA simple approach: start with the least enjoyable task. 
• Eisenhower Matrix: Helps to quickly decide what is important at any given time. 
• OHIO (Only Handle It Once): An approach that encourages completing a task as soon as it is undertaken, rather than repeatedly putting it off. 

• KanbanA method that provides a clear visual representation of tasks that need to be completed, are currently being processed or have already been completed. 

The trick with saying no

Sometimes the simplest tool, saying no, can be a lifesaver. A clear prioritization helps to reduce the to-do list and focus on the essentials. 

The right choice of tool: 

Choosing the right tool can be overwhelming. Here are some tools I've come across over the years: 

• Clear, simple to-do lists:
  • Agenda,
  • Todoist,
  • TickTick

• A visual Kanban board that is particularly suitable for projects:
  • Trello
• Various tools that facilitate task management and teamwork:
  • Workflowy,
  • Awork,
  • Asana,
  • Zenkit
• Intuitive tools that help organize and prioritize daily tasks:
  • Any.do,
  • Things,
  • Notion,
  • Craft

At the end

Sometimes the simplest tool is often the most effective: notes and a wall. You can write your tasks on individual pieces of paper and arrange them on a wall to have a clear overview of all your tasks. It can be refreshing to put aside digital tools and rely on this basic method. 

No matter which method or tool you choose, the most important thing is to keep at it and not be overwhelmed by the sheer number of possibilities.

I hope this article gives you a clear starting point and wish you every success with your personal task management! And if you know of any other methods or tools, please share them in the comments. 

In case you're curious about how others manage their tasks: In another blog post, I go into my colleagues' experiences of personal task management - what helps them, what doesn't and how they find their way through the flood of to-do's. You can read this blog post here read.