“We all have the same 24 hours in a day.” There is no truer statement, yet in practice we see that some people are able to get an unbelievable amount of work done while others struggle to accomplish anything. We should all know that being busy certainly doesn’t mean you are getting things done. Many of us have spent hours “busy” on Facebook only to realize that those hours could have been better spent on something else. For those of you who are “organization freaks” (myself included) it is important to remember that being busy making to-do lists and checking them off does not necessarily mean you are getting things of value accomplished. For that you need to look at your priorities and have a good long chat with yourself about what is valuable in life and in death. In all your list making also remember to make time to just be and remember that your value does not consist of what you accomplish. That being said, getting things done is important and helpful and often enjoyable.
Perhaps this list will help someone out there who just needs a reminder of some ways to be more productive. Some of these tools are just funny, but others have truly helped me accomplish much more than I would have without them. Here is the list of my top 5 proctivity tools in descending order:
#5 – The back of my hand.
This is at the bottom of my list, but is occasionally helpful in a pinch, particularly if my phone is dead and I am out of paper. I have noticed that this method is especially popular among Irish women. A linen hankerchief tucked in the sleeve and writing on the back of the hand is a sure sign of a productive Irish mammy.
#4 – Toodledo
Toodledo is an awesome tool that I used for years on my old iPhone. It is free and very easy to use. It has a task list that you can use on the website that links to your iPhone or Android device. I also noticed today that they have an app for the Apple watch. Highly recommended.
#3 – Pareto Sheet
This Pareto Sheet was something I found years ago when I was in college. I believe it was something developed by John Maxwell. It is based on the 80-20 rule (a.k.a. Pareto Principle). The purpose of the sheet is all about prioritizing your day by listing out your tasks in order of priority and then doing them in that order. I found this very helpful over the years particularly when I was overwhelmed by a very busy day.
#2 – Sticky Notes
I had a professor in college who hated computers. All his class handouts were from a copy machine. He was very productive. He had a family, ran and owned a construction business and taught some of the most thought provoking college classes I have ever been in. He swore by sticky notes (or a small piece of paper) as the best productivity tool he ever used. If you would look in my wallet you would often find a small piece of paper with a list of things that I need to get done that day.
#1 – Asana
Asana is a tool that I have only used for the last 18 months or so. It is much like the the other application I mentioned (#4 Toodledo), but it is much more feature rich. The free version has a huge amount of features for organizing tasks, but it has the added features of being able to add unlimited files and the ability to link to emails for communication among teams. I use the Premium version of Asana for my business and found it very helpful in communicating and collaborating with my clients who can join as users for free. Daily I use Asana for both business and personal projects and day-to-day tasks.
