With my role in project management a large portion of my day is unfortunately taken up with prioritization. I have to decide which things can be done instantly so I can move on and which can’t. Once I have those that can’t be done instantly identified, I have to decide which need to be done next and which can wait until later in the day, week or even month. Nothing in my daily job gets the “Someday” tag.
I have found that if it comes in via email life is grand because I have it in Outlook. Outlook allows me to flag items with various color flags. I keep my inbox sorted by flags unless I need to search in it. I place all my high priority items as red flags. Medium priority items get yellow flags, then blue and finally purple are placed there for reference. I have been able to to sort through a couple hundred emails this way in a short while and then work on completing the tasks associated with each email.
I would like to use one application for everything, but Outlook, even with its notes and tasks, doesn’t allow me to look in one place for all my tasks. Subsequently I end up using some old school methods combined with some web 2.0 magic to handle with non-email items.
I have begun making voicemail my number one priority. I use a notepad to record every message and so far this month alone I have nearly filled one 70 page pad. I focus on phone calls first in everything because while I am on the phone call I can answer usually one or two emails (thank goodness for handsfree headsets).
If a co-worker comes to my desk and I am on the phone with a customer, another co-worker, or a supervisor I will mute the phone and ask them to email me. If I am not on the phone, I deal with the situation right then as it usually only takes one to two minutes.
I have started using Google Notebook for my outside projects. I have installed the Firefox extension on all my computers (work pc and home mac). Inside Notebook I have created an inbox, next actions, projects, and someday (yes, my home life has a someday). This has really helped focus these items. Combine this with Google Calendar and I can plan out projects for my freelance customers and make the calendar public. They can see where their project is at on a given date and schedule a meeting with me when they need it.
Ideally I would like to use just one application that allows for tracking of all of this data even while on the go, but alas I have not found it yet. The good thing is I have a set of tools that is working in conjunction together to get me to the end of the day with a clear and organized plate.
Tags: Getting To Done, GTD, Organization, Priorities, Project Management