UI of my task management system in Notion

 In order to be faster in note-taking and task management, I have designed a model that has allowed me to work quickly on both personal and professional projects.

The key component of this system is utilizing Notion as the primary management tool. While I also use other tools like Keep for occasional notes and subscribe to Microsoft 365 (taking advantage of spliiit.com to reduce costs by sharing the account), Notion remains the central hub of my workflow.

My management method in Notion, refined over time, involves minimizing the use of shortcuts in the left sidebar. These shortcuts enable easy navigation through notes categorized using the traditional GTD (Getting Things Done) system by David Allen, supplemented by Tiago Forte's PARA system.

I have a direct shortcut to the PARA system, followed by GTD categorized notes. Admittedly, this approach is exceptional and the result of years of trial and error. While there are areas for improvement, such as integrating software development tasks, I am in the planning stages of incorporating these ideas.

Additionally, I have shortcuts for daily tasks, calendar view, inbox, PARA System, life categories, labels, recent captures, and recently edited items. The depth of each category is significant, contributing to a comprehensive management system.

This system allows me to navigate and manage swiftly across all areas of my life. While not perfect, it provides a framework for diving into each area and working on improvements.

;)

Optimizing My Productivity with Microsoft 365: A Revelatory Experience

Last month, I decided to conduct a thorough test of Microsoft 365 by downloading OneDrive on my main computer, an additional device, and my mobile phone. The experience has been, without a doubt, exceptional, as it has provided an efficient way to consistently organize my files across all my devices.

The ability to access and update documents seamlessly, regardless of the device I'm using, has proven to be an invaluable tool in boosting my productivity. For instance, the ability to view a document on my mobile when my computer is not available and then continue working on the same document when I return to my computer is a functionality that, until now, I had not found in other office suites, such as LibreOffice.

Although LibreOffice is a valid option, the utility and integration that Microsoft 365 offers are incomparable. After a month of testing, with a focus on the utilities of Word and, especially, Excel, which I frequently use in my work, I have made the decision to exclusively adopt the Microsoft suite. Currently, I subscribe to the personal version for €69 per year, which averages a monthly expense of 5.5 euros. I passionately believe that this cost is more than justified by the smoothness and effectiveness it brings to my daily work.

An additional revelation I experienced when migrating to Microsoft 365 was the improvement in managing my emails. When checking my Gmail account in Outlook, I discovered emails that I had surprisingly never seen before, which turned out to be important at the time. It seems that Gmail had categorized them in such a way that they went unnoticed. This integration between Outlook and OneDrive has been a positive change in my daily routine.

Furthermore, I have decided to review and reduce subscriptions to emails from various websites, as I noticed the saturation of messages I received daily. This adjustment will allow me to focus on what truly matters and avoid the accumulation of non-essential information.

Currently, I am using the web version of Word, and a feature that has truly surprised me is the ability to work in dark mode. This functionality is not only aesthetically pleasing but also contributes to a more comfortable user experience, especially during long work sessions.

So, those who can afford the transition to Microsoft 365 will find a set of tools that not only enhance productivity but also offer seamless integration between applications and efficient data management. Personally, I am delighted with this transition and am confident that it will continue to enhance my effectiveness in daily work.

Using the Pomodoro

It is a very simple concentration technique but if applied with discipline it gives very good results, personally I use it in a configuration of 45 min of concentration and 15 min of rest, however lately I have been using only 15 minutes of activity and I give it with the next one until completing 1 hour on average and this because I am at home and with the family, so I have enough interruptions in concentration that I try to stop them with shorter periods.

The application that I frequently use is called marinara pomodoro that is in the Chrome app store and that also works for Edge, which I have used lately and it works great, but well, the technique as such is to use a timer if it we take it to its minimum expression.

Another thing I do is put the date with time in a simple table and in another column write down the pomodoro time, this is a bit meticulous but if you are aware it is the best thing to do to see what if you are doing something and that you are advancing as little as it may seem.

So the steps are simple.

1. Set your preferred timer
2. Find your ideal time (may vary with time or situation), 15m 25m 45m
3. Record in a 2-column table.
4. Analyze and improve.

Bye....

Reserve a time at the end of every 4 days

Well then, for those 15 min of daily reflection you must ask certain questions to give objectivity to your daily, weekly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual, biannual, five-year to ten-year projections.

Since the organization in huge installments go hand in hand with what you spend every minute of your day.

So ask yourself this series of questions 1 hour before going to sleep, it would be ideal, but if not just put the reminder every day and decide to ignore it or apply it. Like a Check List, where it says "haa! This is today, well! NO better another day" but you will have it reminding you every day ADD a simple alert on your mobile that repeats itself. And when that moment comes when you decide to do it, you should have this list at hand:

QUESTIONS SECTION 1

Remember these questions related to your assertiveness and priorities:

Does this task help me to achieve my purposes? WHAT ARE MY PURPOSES?

Does doing this task give me any kind of satisfaction?

If I do this task, will I really be moving forward with meaningful work?

If the answer is NO, kindly decline the invitation.

Once the task to be carried out has been defined, it must be accomplished and for this, ask yourself:

What can happen that delays or hinders what I want to do? and How can I avoid it?

QUESTION SECTION 2

IF I CHECK IT TODAY IN AM HOURS

"What I did yesterday?

What am I going to do today?

Am I stuck or am I having a problem with a task? "

If you could do just one thing today, what would it be?

What do I have to do today to feel that my day has been really effective?

What did I learn yesterday?

What can I do to improve?

IF I CHECK IT TODAY IN HOURS PM

"What I did today?

What am I going to do tomorrow?

Am I stuck or am I having a problem with a task? "

If you could do only one thing tomorrow, what would it be?

What do I have to do tomorrow to feel that my day has been really effective?

What have I learned today?

What can I do to improve?

QUESTION SECTION 3

Others more:

Why are we doing this? | Remember the Future

Assign responsibilities | 'What', 'Who' and 'When'

QUESTION SECTION 4

Regarding Psychology

How has my day been? Achievements? Challenges?

Have I thrived or just survived? How is my physical, emotional and spiritual health?

Did the relationships thrive or did they just survive?

What has given me energy? Joy? Hope? Inspiration? Is there anything I can be thankful for?

What have I learned today? About me? Of others?

Reflection:

Finally I show the example of one day in these pandemics that I made a complete record of my activity at home and this is what I found on that specific day, all day focused on documenting everything done and I obtained this result:

How do I spend my time per day? # Another question to keep in mind

The numbers are minutes so you get an idea of ​​the hours invested in each activity.

A real geek, obsessed and unusual activity. I only did it that day because it requires a lot of effort. What a day!. The amazing thing would be to have that activity recorded every day automatically, which with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is achievable and may be in the next few years.

Until next time.

Get discipline by tracking your progress

I have decided to share a template that I have been modifying and improving using the constant improvement technique.

First of all

It is a template that can be adapted to any note system, in my case I use Evernote, but it can be used with Notion, OneNote or others (even in Word). It consists of several sections that are filled out to measure to have an overview of our projects or tasks or whatever.

Parties

TITLE: Here is the name of the task or project.

Objetives: The objective of that project.

Motivations: What motivates you to achieve it.

To-Do: You add the tiny tasks that must be completed to achieve that goal.

Else: it's about defining how bad it would happen if I don't meet the goal.

Tracking: it is a table to keep track of the note.

Date: of the day in which it has advanced.

1 or 0: Sometimes I leave it like this and other times I change it for:

Duration: where I put the minutes that it has taken me in the day.

Observation: if necessary

Notes: Some other simple note that should be taken into account or many notes. (Sometimes I paste a Notion link where I visually organize the information learned)

References and Links: Usually links closely related to the project. (If for example I am studying in a platform I leave the link to login)

Comments: One of the most important for follow-up, where I comment if I have stopped doing something or need to improve, or simply to unload my mind. (This is very personal, but your own comments are very important to analyze later)

Productivity tips

Have a daily reminder system, where you put the note as a reference and see it every day, every day it is updated and managed, even if it is only to run it during the day.

Put the percentage of compliance to the title, in my case to the date that I show my example I have 50%. Interesting right?

Try it.

Tracking, Discipline and Motivation.

Evernote as a task manager

A task manager should have these kinds of basic queries.

Today

Tomorrow

Delayed

Evernote handles:

Stacks = Hierarchy Level

Notebooks = Sublevel of Hierarchy

Notes = Object (Audio, Text, Images, Pdf, Reminders)

The way to manage tasks is to use them as the name of the Project, and the tasks themselves with a title of the action to be carried out.

Each note is a task that can be managed and commented on. Add files, set reminder, and calendar with cronofy. Tag according to state or add the runtime.

This type of administration is used by apps like Todoist, Microsoft's To-Do, Any.do among others.

The advantage of using evernote is that the free version allows very advanced options that other apps do not have.

But its disadvantages are in the edition of notes that are linear system "without format" and the format that can be given will be given by the user. It falls short of Notion.

A very important point to keep in mind is that the objective is to centralize all kinds of tasks in a single application.

Now try if you think this methodology of tasks ...