Earlier this year I completed the Productivity Masterclass by Thomas Frank on Skillshare. I highly recommend the course if you’re interested in improving your productivity and time management skills. I’ve been using Frank’s system for almost 6 months and, as a result, it’s helped me become more efficient and less stressed. The most useful suggestion has been learning a new task management system called Todoist. Here’s how I now manage my tasks…

HOW TODOIST HELPS ME MANAGE MY TASKS LIST

Overview

What the heck is Todoist? It’s your to-do list but in a better format that is easier to manage (and did I mention it’s completely paperless? No more loose post-its!).

Todoist organizes my task list by project and date, which you can see in the left navigation bar or next to each task. I love this because I can focus on a single project or look at my whole week in advance.

Here is a screenshot of my Todoist dashboard for reference.

Sensitive information has been blocked out for privacy/confidentiality

It’s incredibly easy to input tasks

One of my favorite features of Todoist is how easy it is to add tasks to projects and different days. You don’t have to go to specific sections, you just start writing and Todoist organizes it for you.

You can create single tasks simply by writing it out and adding a day of the week (eg. “this Monday”). If the task is recurring you simply add the word “every” in your task and Todoist knows to cycle it every week, month or day depending on what you put (eg. “every Monday”).

Here are some examples:

The input Todoist uses to organize your calendar appears in red. Although I input everything into the inbox section for demonstration, they would normally appear under the correct date or project if you set one.

Todoist helps me build productive habits

With recurring tasks and a simple input, Todoist makes it easy to build habits and avoid decision fatigue. While Post-it lists are great they aren’t as organized as Todoist. Tasks written on a piece of paper can sit on your list forever because there is no defined deadline. In that way, Todoist is closer to a calendar but not as strict. Tasks are more likely to get done because they can have a defined date or time.

For example, to maintain a habit of keeping a clean house I’ve added a few maintenance tasks to my weekly lists. Vacuuming is set on a recurring schedule to appear on my list every Saturday so I don’t forget. It saves me the hassle of trying to figure out what to do and, as a result, I’m more efficient.

IF I CAN MANAGE MY TASKS SO CAN YOU

Until discovering Thomas Frank’s course I thought I had a good system. However, after getting used to Todoist I realized I wasn’t working as efficiently as I could. I make fewer decisions throughout the day which ultimately causes less stress in my life and less time wasted.

I currently use the free version of the app and it’s working great for my lifestyle. If you would like to test Todoist to see if it vibes with you as well you can sign up here or learn more from their website.

Do you have another task management app that’s improved your productivity? Share it in the comments below!