To Do Today: Create a Better To Do List
Today’s blog post is written by Aaron Schwartzbord, Marketing Manager, Patron Technology.
As a marketing manager here at Patron Technology, I find myself balancing active projects and requests from colleagues for my assistance and input in their projects. I had a really fantastic method for keeping track of my to do lists for these various tasks, or so I thought– I wrote them down on paper. For the past few years friends and colleagues have chastised me for my low-tech method, but I held my ground. I really enjoyed the physical sensation of crossing something out (I like to cross things out with a thick sharpie), it was cathartic. Well I have turned over a new leaf, I am a changed man.
Last month I began to use a program called Asana. While there are many different project management websites and apps available these days, as is proof in this article from Hubspot Blogs, Asana was the one that really spoke to me. (And for full disclosure, we have no referral business relationship with Asana.)
You can create tasks (and subtasks), apply due dates, attach files, and even assign tasks to and collaborate with colleagues on items. I’ve even synced mine with my Google calendar so I see deadline in my calendar as well as on the Asana platform.
We’re now using it with our entire marketing department. As a manager, it’s allowing me to better assign and collaborate with my staff. I can check what our marketing assistant is working on this week so I don’t overload her with work, and she can see what I’m working on and when to expect certain items from me.
Think about the time and energy you’re spending to manage tasks and keep them straight. How often do you wonder when a staff member is going to deliver on a specific project? And how many back-and-forth emails do you have with colleagues about the various activities in your department? This tool is helping us streamline all of these functions with good results. I’m also finding my to-do list is a lot less scary now that I can see items prioritized by due date and project.
And what about the catharsis I found in manually crossing items off my written to-do list? I have to say, it’s even better in Asana! For every 5 items i mark “completed” an animated unicorn flies across my screen.
What could be better than that!?
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