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Task management

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Day do day management of tasks

Here I explain how do I manage my day to day flow of tasks. I use todoist app which is great to put dates into tasks. Here I get into detail on:
1) Task management processs - definition of tasks and prioritization
2) Matrix of types of tasks - how to identify different types of tasks and how to group them together

Task management proces

3-tier task

I have 3 different tiers of tasks which have their own tags in todoist.
Priority for the day - Today
Must dos for today, have to stay late if needed be
Need to be well defined
how much time it takes
is it well defined
Refined every week in
Week Journal
⁠
and in the morning review of the day
Backlog - @backlog
List of tasks that are important to do but not urgent, not in today todo list but should be the ones
Need to be prioritized
if has specific deadline put there with 1 week before / add buffer
Add a deadline if I want to make sure I review by certain date
Ideas for projects
Big ideas that should become projects
reviewed every week and moved to proper projects when prioritized

ADHD principles of a task - how to define well a task

🧠 Make the task SMART
Specific: need to know what the outcome is exactly
Measurable: outcome is obvious, quantifiable and verifiable
Achievable: make sure the goal is realistic in the timeframe
Realistic: even if you can achieve it, should you?
Time-bound: when are you completing it
🎁 Rewarding
Make sure you know what is the reward in the end
Break it into small rewards in the middle if task is long
Make the task creative - one option is to put colores
🏃 Easy to start - Chunking into different tasks
Start is the hardest part
Break it into small sub-tasks, and create a subtask that is very easy to start to get going (SPS: smallest possible step)
💯 Aim for 80% completion, not 100% perfetion
what 80% would look like?
👬 👭 Accountability
Make it visible to others so it increase your motivation
Find a work partner for the parts of work that are less motivating to keep you on track

Matrix of type of tasks groups


When to group tasks

Cognitive load - if a recipe is smth you know well you might be able to listen to podcast, if is complicated you might need full attention

Task Types

Planning tasks
Require breaking tasks into smaller steps and planning how much time something will take
Examples: preparing a meeting; planning a project, planning the day

Pure execution tasks
Methodical (finite steps)
No need to think just keep pushing through
Examples: Paying a bill, clean dishes, buying something online

Deep thinking / “flow” tasks
Require high level of focus and concentration in that task. Goal is clear but requires deep thinking, getting into a flow state
Trial and error (simulations)
Eg. Interview case study; Coding

Mind wandering / Research tasks
get inspiration by reading somethings, or listening to something. no concrete goal
Insightful (creativity; out-of-the-box thinking; innovation)
eg. listening to some classes as inspiration, listening to a podcast or reading an article

Learning tasks
require focus on what I want to take out of that
Shifting the way your mind is set up to think (mindset)
eg. React course, flask course

Meetings - attending
require energy of being present of listen
Meetings - leading / 1:1
require energy to lead the session

Other type of tasks
prepare coding eg. break down elevator simulator architecture - is this deep work or

Ways to execute tasks

Where?
Home - at desk
Home - at standing desk
Home - balcony
At Café
Office
Sound
No sound (noise cancelling)
Ambient sound
Podcast
Music
Time of day
First thing of morning
Morning
After lunch
Afternoon
Evening / after dinner

Rabbit hole tasks 🐰 🕳️

how to notice a rabbit hole
when you lose sense of big picture and end up spending too much time in one tasks
when the timer ends you check if you are further from when you started
for not straighfoward tasks make sure that you budget time to planning the task itself
for some tasks that you discover at the time know when you
stop and reanalyze the situation; make sure you put time to planning
readjust the prioritization
Trigger: you went into a rabbit hole; losing sense of 🐰 🕳️ ; slamdunk; task requires planning time
How to deal with rabbit holes
option 1: make it task require planning (readjust/ deprioritize task)
option 2: deprioritize the task and move on

Rubik Cube Task 🧊

Definition
Task is lengthy and will take time to develop, specially if you just try trial and error
You don’t know how to do it yet (there is no defined process)
Task is something that was already solved by someone else (there is advantages in learning the best practice)
Approach
Define the minimum requirements you want for the task
Put a brake before execution: set a timer to do research upfront (minimum time)
Start with list of questions you want to answer in the researrch
Define the process that you are going to adopt for the task
Be your own critique of the process
What are the flaws? What would you recommend if someone was presenting. you this plan

Day do day management of tasks
Task management proces
3-tier task
ADHD principles of a task - how to define well a task
Matrix of type of tasks groups
When to group tasks
Task Types
Ways to execute tasks
Rabbit hole tasks 🐰 🕳️
Rubik Cube Task 🧊
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