Secrets of productivity from the author of the popular task management service Todoist

Most people do not seek to streamline your workflow, let things take their course and hope for the best. But if there is a system that can be maneuvered between a plurality of tasks, set priorities and not feel overwhelmed.

His productivity system I called Systemist. I came up with it - and on its basis and Todoist - in 2007. At that time I lived in a hostel in Aarhus (Denmark) and studied computer science. I had two part-time work and a lot of personal projects. I feel to stressed and disorganized. Everything changed when the idea came to Systemist.

What helped me to achieve this system?

1. Based company Doist Ltd. and develop a product that enables people to achieve amazing results.
2. Successfully combining duties of the founder and CEO. I still have time and do not feel the strain. 50 people work in the company, and hardly any of them saw me exhausted.
3. Each day to prioritize aspects of the work process and always remember the important letters, meetings and projects.
4. To enjoy life outside of work: Spending time with my wife, travel, self-education and sports, watch out for health.

The balance between work and personal life - the key to personal effectiveness.

Systemist works best when coupled together with Todoist. But you can use any other programs and task management services. Basic principles of the system is much more important than the specific tools.

6 principles Systemist

1. apply everywhere

System and the system to use it anywhere and everywhere. You must have access to the planner from any device, anywhere.

We spent a lot of effort to Todoist was available worldwide. I recommend to install it (or another similar application) immediately on all devices and platforms that you have: your phone, tablet, laptop, browser, and so on.

2. Apply throughout

The system works if it covers all aspects of personal and professional life. This will give you freedom. You will control all important and will no longer forget about such things as meeting with a client or buying a gift a loved one.

Almost all of my work is ordered. In particular, I systematized:

1. Upcoming events (meetings inside and outside the company).
2. Complex projects, disunity into many small steps.
3. Repetitive tasks to control long-term projects.
4. E-mail (if I can not answer the letter at once, I translate it into the task with the help of Todoist for Gmail).
5. Reports bugs, if their removal is tied to me.
6. List of releases (shared with colleagues).
7. Shopping List (shared with his wife).
8. Web pages, the actions on which I can not make a right. For example, a page of some goods from Amazon.com (not yet decided whether to buy or not), the page of the film in IMDb, who want to see and article that I want to read later. For all this, I use Todoist for Chrome.
9. Tasks related to health (weekly use of the gym and jogging workout).

3. Break large tasks on small achievable

Small task easier to accomplish. Therefore, always break apart large projects into smaller sub-tasks that can be done within one hour (or less). Firstly, it helps to understand how much time you spent on a particular case. And secondly, you will see progress.

It is important that the task was feasible. You should be able to realize that making to-do list.

4. Prioritize

Every day I carry from 15 to 25 tasks. They are the most important at the current time.

In Todoist prioritize easily. Here's how I do:

1. Be sure to fix a date by which the case is to be completed. Important tasks put on today or tomorrow, subscribe unimportant for the future.
2. Designate levels of prioritization. In Todoist four of them. The service automatically sorts Tasca depending on the importance.
3. To further emphasize the importance of the task, using labels such as @high_impact. They conveniently keep track of how much important tasks It has done for the day.

5. Daily devastate list

Before I started using the rule "0 members"In my e-mail chaos. I felt terrible every time when you had to analyze debris.

Task management, I use a similar rule - "0 tasks in the to-do-list."

If you do not have time to make the day everything mapped out, do not put the remaining tasks for the next day. It is better to reset the list and make a new plan. This will allow you to take the interim results, to understand at what point you are and re-prioritize.

6. Always get feedback

Most time management systems are focused on what needs to be done rather than what has already been done. But what's the point if you can not see your progress and do not know how productive?

Therefore we have created Todoist Karma. It allows you to monitor, visualize and improve personal productivity.

Todoist Karma as a mini-game: to perform tasks, collect points and see how they grow colored graphics. It's very exciting, especially for those new to time management. To make it even more interesting, you can set not only daily, but weekly goals, and share the results on social networks, thereby increasing the level of responsibility.

additional tips

Working with e-mail

1. check email twice a day. For example, in the morning and afternoon.
2. Aim for an empty "Inbox" folder.
3. If you can, answer the letter at once. If not, set it to the task, be sure to include turnaround time and priority.
4. Turn off notifications on all your devices. This will not be distracted.

Working with the messengers

Messengers - killer performance, they twitch and distracting. Studies show that the average office worker spends an average of distractions and interruptions of more than two hours a day. This means that the working week increased by more than 10 hours, because the amount of work is not reduced.

1. Combine correspondence to the messengers with internet surfing. When you just need to work (writing a report, drawing layout, and so on), block chat applications.
2. Process a batch of messages: messenger opened, read everything, all responded and closed again.
3. Turn off notifications on your mobile messengers.

According Salihefendika, this system helps him to be focused, Sane and healthy.

Write in the comments what you think about Systemist, as well as share your productivity secrets.