I am always on the look out for great little ways to organize daily life in an attempt to improve upon my general level of productivity. Here’s the problem: I find this to be a daunting task in itself. I’m impatient when it comes to organization. I need something that is straightforward and returns a result quickly, if not instantly.

I remember when I was in elementary school and was given an “agenda” to track homework and school schedules in. Sure enough I would diligently fill it out for about a month or so; come winter break, it would be merely a collection of doodles and blank pages. When monotony rears its head in regard to an organization process, if possible, I  typically abandon the said process.

Recently, I have tried using project management software (dotProject & Clocking IT ) to manage day to day tasks for both work and home. When it comes to long development projects where scheduling and milestones are key, these are two excellent options. Using them to manage to do lists and smaller projects often tips the productivity vs. usability scale out of balance. Where the monotony of using the tool outweighs any productivity success. The more clicks and button pushes it takes me to add a task or project, the harder it is going to be for me to adopt into my daily organization process. Managing more than one worker, long time lines and ever changing requirements all but tip the scale the opposite direction. A few more clicks and a little longer session could be seen as a small price to pay for the fine grain detail and oversight the organization tool will record.

Enter: Emergent Task Planner

When it comes to everyday time and task management,  project management software just won’t cut it. In addition, I  don’t require a tool that can be accessible anywhere at anytime. I just need something that is easy to use and  lets me plan out my day with as little pain as possible. The Emergent Task Planner (ETP) by David Seah does just that. Simplicity at its finest. Print it out and fill the sucker in with your favorite writing utensil. Gaaassspp! But you’re a web developer…shouldn’t you store your to dos in the vast storage arrays of the internet? I do and I don’t. When it comes to simple things  I find that writing them down helps me remember them far easier than typing, clicking and tagging inside a web application ever will. With the advent of technology rooted task management utilities, the shear bliss that comes when you get to briskly cross off an item is all but lost. Most of my “analog” based task lists were overly simplistic and congregated in large numbers making reference a little chaotic. The Emergent Task Planner solves this issue by providing usable structure to ensure your efficiently jotted notes are easy to reference and take action upon.  Below is a list of my favorite components which make up the ETP:

1. Schedule Blocks
   Great way to visually see how you planned your tasks for the day.
2. Task “Timer”
   I don’t use this too much, but for longer tasks it can be useful to track the time you spent working on it, in a given day. This can also provide insight into how you should schedule the task the following day.
3. Plenty of Note Space
   Below the scheduled tasks you’ll find a good amount of room for jotting down daily “scope creep”. I find this especially useful. I’ll get an email or an IM detailing another task or an addition to a current task, and I can quickly jot it down for future scheduling.

Resources

If  you would like to give the Emergent Task Planner a test drive you can find all the information you need below. Check out the other great downloads David Seah has available on his site. If ETP doesn’t fit your style, he has other productivity downloads which may provide a better match.

Emergent Task Planner:
http://davidseah.com/blog/comments/emergent-task-planner-free-version-updates/

Twitter – David Seah: @daveseah

Have a great productivity tip or process? You can leave a comment using the form below. I’d love to hear your recommendations and tips.