Methods of task management: Your game plan to get things done

1. To-do lists

There is something satisfying about grabbing a notebook, tearing a lone piece of paper out, jotting things down, and crossing them off when you accomplish them. Those micro-doses of wins that snowball into triumph is the kind of traditional success that modern software can't compete with. Whether you prefer humble sticky notes, colorful planners, or digital note-taking apps, the goal remains the same—note things down, tick them off when you're done, and breathe a cathartic sigh of relief.

2. Kanban boards

When tasks get overwhelmingly difficult to juggle, rudimentary to-do lists are not going to cut it. Digital Kanban boards, with their "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done" columns, drag-and-drop maneuver, and seamless progression, allow you to track multiple tasks in tandem, collaborate with teams effectively, and achieve task completion. All you have to do is move one card from one column to another and watch your success unfold, card after card.

3. Time blocking

Your phone's buzzing. It's your colleague—they need you to review their presentation. They ask you, "When's the best time to schedule a meeting with you?" You peer into your calendar—4 p.m. to 6 p.m. looks free. You block off a chunk of your evening, but not without it bearing semblance to the first half of your day: Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. When are you ever going to find time to get to those tasks? Do away with the "I'll get to it when I find time" (and try not to work overtime!) and start time blocking. Dedicate some part of your day to tasks that need undivided focus, block your calendar, and keep everyone informed. Time blocking makes you accountable, keeps you focused, and will not submerge you into multitasking exhaustion.

4. The ABCDE method

Remember the alphabet song? Turns out, A-B-C-D-E isn't just a childhood sing-along; it's an adult prioritization method that prioritizes your tasks with sharp clarity. ABCDE is a task management method which lets you earmark your tasks with letters from A to E: A signifies urgency; B is important but less urgent; C tasks are less important and less urgent; D is low priority (better to delegate), while E translates to unimportant tasks that can be eliminated. This method distinguishes important tasks from unimportant ones, freeing up your calendar to take up meaningful work.

5. Gantt charts

Does your brain do a happy dance when it sees boring tasks being represented as fun, colorful bars on a chart, with flexible timelines and dependencies making regular appearances? Congratulations, you'll love Gantt charts. These charts provide bird's-eye views of all your tasks across their timelines, actively making their way towards the end of the project. With projects having multiple moving parts, a tool like the Gantt chart can assist in seamlessly planning, tracking, and managing complex projects effortlessly.

6. Eat that frog

Mark Twain, the celebrated American writer who gave life to Huckleberry Finn, said that if you wake up in the morning and eat a live frog, you can rest assured that your day won't get any worse than that. Seriously, what is the worst that could happen after eating a slimy, live frog? Remember, frogs aren't ones to sit still and patiently wait for you to make a decision. You need to be quick on your feet and not take too long to ponder your next move.

By now, you might've guessed that we're not talking about gulping down a real frog (phew). The frog is your toughest, longest, and most strenuous task that you should look to complete before you progress to the rest of your relatively simpler tasks. In that way, you've got the most difficult part of your day out of your way, making room for a slew of other low-effort tasks that you can get done in no time.

7. Agile and Scrum

Gone are the days when the concept of Agile was restricted to software teams. Working in short bursts of sprints, striving for continuous improvement, and eventually delivering actionable results should be everyone's right. So are Scrum's structured roles, rituals, and time-boxed meetings that keep teams in check. These frameworks were built for achieving speed, embracing adaptability, and producing consistent results.

8. MoSCoW method

Found yourself swamped inside a barrage of tasks yet again? Book your tickets to Moscow and give yourself a vacation from a ruthless barrage of muddled tasks. Of course, we're talking about yet another prioritization technique, MoSCoW, that categorizes your tasks into:

• Must-haves - Without these, your project would hold no value.
• Should-haves - Important things, but they're not critical.
• Could-haves - Nice-to-haves that can be implemented, provided time and resources aren't a challenge.
• Won't-haves - Your project will remain unaffected without them.

This method defines your tasks, giving decision clarity, setting expectations realistically, and delivering achievable results.

9. Bullet journaling for tasks

Your brain is on its best behavior when it goes analog mode—items like bulleted task lists, daily to-dos, and a monthly planner map out all your tasks synchronously. Bullet journaling, or BuJo, is a planning technique that puts pen to paper (or fingers to keys), and brings mindfulness to task tracking—think planner, meets to-do list, meets diary. You can create customized task templates digitally to give shape to any BuJo format that aligns with your goals.

10. Checklist with an accountability partner

Accountability does not have to be a one-person job. It can sometimes be a two-person endeavor, too. Hand over your checklist to a trusted colleague, and allow them to hold you accountable. Your procrastination, weak excuses, and lack of motivation can fly when a task is still a regular task, but give it an upgrade to loop someone else in, and you have an commitment you can't get out of. This helps you save your reputation by completing tasks on time, so you don't look bad in front of a friend or colleague.