My new favorite productivity tool: Toodledo

Productivity is a loaded word.

There are dozens of very good resources out there on productivity systems. They promise ways to get a hold of all the complex goings on in your life.

The problem is, as I’ve written before, productivity is highly personal. A system is all fine and good, if you’ll use it.

But if the system is too complex for you, or not complex enough… If it’s paper based and you prefer electronic, or vice versa… You won’t use it, and you’ll be back where you started. Except perhaps a little poorer and having wasted a little time trying out the new thing.

So while I’m always looking for ways to be more effective, I had set aside looking for new tools. Until, on a long car ride where I was bored and playing with my iPhone, I started looking again for a way to manage my to-dos online, and came across Toodledo, a free (except for premium packages) online task management tool.

To start with, Toodledo solves a number of the problems that I’ve had with other task list management tools. After I go through them, stay tuned for some thoughts on how this could be beneficial for professionals and job seekers alike.

Toodledo lets me leave my pen and paper at home

As an iPhone user, I have it really easy. The Toodledo app (cost: $1.99) makes it very easy to add new tasks and view your task list on the go. The website is also accessible through a mobile browser, although when I tried it there was no special formatting for access on a mobile device. Still, with some tweaking you should be able to see the entire interface and manage your tasks accordingly.

I no longer have to copy electronic tasks to paper or vice versa, or run a sync process to ensure that all my data appears on my phone and computer.

Toodledo can be as simple or complex as you want it to be

You can start by simply entering tasks into your task list. As you work towards better task management, you can easily add contexts a la Getting Things Done (@home, @work, @calls, etc.), prioritize the tasks, add due dates and more.

One of my favorite features is the ability to use folders. This allows you to group related tasks together, such as by project, or by person. Toodledo does offer subtasks as part of its premium version, but using folders is a great and easy substitute.

Plus, when you add a task to a folder, it also appears in your “All Tasks” list and other views, so you don’t have to constantly switch windows to monitor your tasks, but can effectively focus on the issue at hand.

Another great advantage of Toodledo is the recurrence settings for tasks. You can have tasks recur on custom schedules (I have everything from “every Monday and Thursday” to “every 4 days”) and can repeat based on due date or completion date. Toodledo also handles start dates, which leads us to another powerful feature.

Toodledo makes it dead simple to plan your day

Toodledo also provides a “Hotlist.” The Hotlist uses all of the data you share about your tasks to prioritize them for you, calculating “Importance” from the priority level and due date that you’ve entered and ranking them appropriately. I’ve found that the Hotlist is usually dead on about my priorities for any given day, although you have to ensure that you’re keying in the due date and priority on an ongoing basis.

The Hotlist keeps me focused  and on track, and greatly reduces the amount  of time I spend re-reviewing my priorities.

How Toodledo can help your job search

Systematizing your job search can do wonders for your success rate, so finding a good system for managing your job search activities is a great way to keep yourself on track. Here are some ideas for how to manage your job search using Toodledo:

• Manage your time blocking. Time blocking is a way to ensure that you’re spending time on your priorities rather than reacting to what is thrown at you each day. Try scheduling a recurring task for every Monday called “1 hour of career education” and one on Tuesday called “follow up with 10 networking contacts.” By listing a start date of the same day, you can keep from seeing these tasks on your hotlist until the day that it comes due.
• Organize your efforts towards a target company. Create a folder called “IBM” or “Pepsi” or whatever corporation you’re hoping to work at. Then, keep track of the tasks that you have to do in networking into an organization in that folder. Once a week, look through each company’s folder and make sure you’re making progress towards your goals.
• Maintain and grow your network. Create a folder called “Networking” and keep a list of everyone in your network. Set recurring tasks to get in touch with people every 30 days, 60 days or whatever feels right for you. Set start dates of the same day to keep these tasks from cluttering your hotlist. Never lose touch with a business contact again.

How Toodledo can make management easier

If you’re a manager, Toodledo can also help you juggle your complex to-do lists, and can help you systematize your career management and administrative processes. Try:

• Touch base with each of your direct reports weekly, monthly, or on any schedule you choose. Start a folder for each person that reports to you, and insert tasks for weekly one-on-one meetings, status reports, or any goals that you have for them to achieve.
• Keep track of meeting agenda items. Every time something crosses your mind that you “should talk to so-and-so about,” add it to a folder or context (@agendas). Then, when you sit down with so-and-so, you can look at the list you’ve made and not walk out of the meeting wishing you’d remembered to talk to them about that Very Important Thing.
• Make delegation easier. In a separate folder or context (@wf for “waiting for”) every time you assign something to someone in your team, create a task with a due date that matches the deadline you’ve provided them. Again, by setting a start date of the same day, you won’t see it until the day that it’s due, at which time it will prompt you to follow up with them to ensure that deliverables are met.

These are just a few ideas of how an effective task management system can help you increase focus, decrease lost time, and free your mind of clutter to allow you better focus. If you’re looking for a solution to help you achieve that, Toodledo may be one to try.

Have you used Toodledo? What do you use to keep track of your tasks?

Related posts:

1. 5 things you can do right now to get out of your productivity hole
2. Make the decision: Managing your attention
3. Getting into alignment: Putting passion into your everyday
4. The Stopover Job: The midpoint between here and the dream
5. Achieving Balance: Do more of what you love