Daily Task Management Template

Want to use my system to manage your daily tasks?

As a perfect task management solution, I use a mix of Microsoft to-do and Notion. MS To-Do, because it has no other functionality and works very well across all devices, and Notion because it has the most robust database management solution on the market.

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The purpose: 

‍I want everyone to stop overpaying for unnecessary software and manage their tasks in the most effective way possible. 

‍The time:‍

Just duplicate the template (copy/paste) and start using it right away.

The learning curve:‍

No learning curve is necessary; however, because tasks management is a habit, I recommend you use it every day for at least a week and continue using it first thing in the morning and as the last thing in the evening. 

Here are some tasks management tips to boost your productivity today.

1. Be prepared for anything, always

This is the first, most important and most apparent rule when managing tasks. When you evaluate a task to plan ahead for it, you must consider all possible outcome scenarios. Consider, for example:

• What would happen if someone made a mistake?
• What if the person responsible doesn’t show up at work?
• What are the consequences if the task isn’t completed within its deadline?

Analyze all the possibilities (reasonably) and be prepared to overcome any obstacle on your way.

If errors and delays are recurrent, that’s an indicator that your task management isn’t ideal, and maybe it’s a good idea to double-check your process’s efficiency as well. Take a look at this comparison to understand better the problems caused by managing processes with task management tools. 

2. Use Kanban to plan ahead.

Kanban is a management system that allows you to fully visualize the status of your processes through a board with dynamic columns. With a Kanban tool, you can properly keep track of all your team’s tasks visually that’s easy to understand and analyze. Having all tasks on a board and the quick visualization of bottlenecks will help you become much more efficient. 

3. Break a big task into smaller pieces

Starting with a big, complex task may be scary and put your team in the wrong mindset. However, it becomes a lot easier to jump into more extensive achievements after you’ve got a more minor, more manageable task off your plate.

To get things rolling, it’s always best to divide big tasks into small ones. That way, you’ll have that fantastic achievement feeling we all get when moving a card to “done.”

4. Provide detailed instructions

Provide clear, detailed instructions for your tasks and their steps so that your team members always know what they need to do. This avoids a waste of time redoing activities and asking questions that could’ve been already answered. 

5. Focus on one task at a time

I’ve seen many great professionals struggle because they thought they could do it all simultaneously. They can’t. No one can. That’s what makes this one of the essential task management tips.

Multitasking is the quickest way to occupy your time doing more than you can handle and end up having done nothing at all. Avoid multitasking by breaking big, complex tasks into smaller pieces and focusing on getting one thing done at a time.

Engage in one task at a time. Give it your complete, undivided attention so you can be as effective and productive as possible.

6. Do scary tasks first.

We’re human. We have a natural tendency of avoiding difficult things. That’s ok; it’s our nature.

What isn’t natural, though, is avoiding challenging tasks (or even the ones you don’t like doing) to the point of feeling sick and anxious, going through your days with fear. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. 

Consider this: if you gather all your courage and tackle the ugly scary tasks first thing in the morning, you’ll feel accomplished for the rest of your day and way more motivated to keep ongoing.