Suggestions on Managing the "To Do" list
 

Looking for some input from the 'high achievers' on this site...

;)

As is the case with most professionals I'm probably doing the work of what two engineers did in the old days (This is actually a relief, down from my previous job of about 5 people).

As a result I get about 300 emails per day. Buried in there are probably 10 - 20 tasks of some kind, ie: requests for information, part number questions, requests for a minor design change (move a stud, put a bash in a panel), input a project status into a tracking database. These might only take a few minutes up to a half day to perform and are not particularly hard in and of themselves but there are quite a few of them. There may also be one or two major tasks - like a significant design release or creating a sourcing document. These are hard, and require between 8 and 40 hours of uninterrupted time. Some need to be done that day, some by the end of the week, sometimes I am prompted and have to remember to perform the task as long as a year from now. In any event there is no way that everything that comes in gets done that day. Anything that doesn't get done doesn't go away; it moves to the "to do" list for the next day.

My problem is in tracking all of these things to do. I've tried sorting emails into folders and using them to prompt the work but there are just too many and too much chaff and hey don't capture requests that come in from other venues. Handwritten lists on paper seem to accumulate too fast and are clunky to sort and manage. I started an excel spreadsheet with items listed and cross referenced by overall project, corresponding release documentation (part work orders) and chronological order but it still feels like something is missing. I don't like the discomfort of not being sure everything has been accounted for (my peers tell me to simply get used to it).

My goal is to keep stuff moving and not let anything (important) fall through the cracks but not spend all my time managing a stupid list. I'm ok with not everything getting done and there seems to be an understanding from our management that not everything will get done. I guess I at least want to be aware of what's falling off the table (and for it to be a conscious decision).

So - my question is: Is there an app for this? What about a class? What do some of you professional guys do?

Whatever technique I adopt will probably get applied to managing home projects, too.

K

I'm in engineering as well, I have to use a combo of handwritten notes, email files, physical job folders and memory to juggle all the design projects I have going on at any one time. Then add the ones in production or in the field being installed that I have to be available for phone conferences and such and it gets messy.

Mgt doesn't seem to understand just trying to manage the amount of information we have these days is becoming a full time job unto it's own, processing the orders into manufacturing is now taking a back seat to information exchanges.
Personally, I'm not sure how or when that's likely to change, but as a designer what I need is an assistant to handle the mudane tasks.

I'm looking into using spread sheets to help, but that requires even more time just to load it. For some repeat projects I've decided that once or twice a week I'll process those all at one time, used to do them as they came up.
Guess I could take the time I spend on this forum and apply that... Nah!!!!!!

I don't get anywhere near 300 emails a day, it's probably more like 50 but it's still a pain. I have a little thing that pops up in the corner of the screen whenever a new email comes in, and if it's something inconsequential I can click on it and delete it right away (we seem to have a lot of unnecessary inter-office emails, I hate it when someone sends out a mass email and then other people click on 'reply all' to respond.)

As for keeping track of stuff I need to do I'm a big fan of Post-It Notes. I have a wall calendar where the square for each day is the same size as a small Post-It, and I can stick notes on there to remind me of specific things; I also use a lot of them on my desk next to my keyboard. I can rearrange them in different order as required, and toss them as that particular task is resolved.

I also use the calendar feature in Outlook Mail a lot. You can set it up with reminders that pop up at selectable time intervals

I used an old tool that I still use with modern day "tools". The MUST do stuff I Always put on a physical calendar of the type shown, so its ,more or less "in my face" . its faster than spending time making a spread sheet and then keeping it updated. All these need a is a good old fashion check mark. There are programs ( for phones anyways) that will take an email or text and make it an "event" which can be alarmed, notify, etc. I use the The Lined tablet on the desk, and cross them off. I re do it next Am and add in older to the new one. If you use this set up in a "day timer", you have wasted your time.." outta site= outta mind".
Get up to date on whats spam, and personal, etc in email folders.
I find that the more you know as and Engineer, the more others rely on you for small things they could look up, but are too LAZY too. So phone/email support for "codes", part numbers, and strengths, and tolerances, MUST end....


This Will take a little work, but "in your face" seems to be best for anyone over 30!! I have got a bunch of others on this method and things get done, and anyone can see at any time whats been done or not. just my Opinion of course...what everyone does themselves will usually be considered "best".
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...7&d=1386290514

i print the emails i get, i scan them into my NEAT system, and it lets me create folders and put them into my contacts at the same time,and i can search it by customer,topic, or even a names of business etc.... i load them on my computer and when im on the road i can access them on my smart phone with drop box...it sounds like alot, but no writing...no notes, its the discipline of getting it started, set x amout of time and make it happen...if im really busy i do it at midnight, and it puts me right to sleep...i dont have 300 emails a day

i put bids for equipment in with the customer..its all in one place...

the NEat system used to be a pain in the butt..but they got it figured out.. i can do cards, hand written notes etc...i can clear my desk off in about a 3rd of the time i used too...and i dont dread it....i do my receipts and everything i do business wise...love it

i gotta say..i kinda tweeked it for what i want...it works for me

I use a reporter's notebook. Lots of space and will fit in your pocket. As to emails, I'd set aside a certain amount of time twice a day to answer them, and use the delete button a lot.

My son's a busy mechanical engineer, and he only answers personal (or inconsequential) emails 2-3 times a week.

http://www.shellen.com/grant/gallery/notebook2.jpg

LOL-Kurt - Bob.;)
But seriously, get a G mail account lots of options. http://www.gcflearnfree.org/gmail/5

I did finally put a white board in my office to keep track of open items on projects, when things have to be ordered by, etc... helped some. The emails are the hardest thing to keep track of though. I don't know of a system that will let you save them into an explorer folder though, sure could use one. My email tree is getting pretty long. Sometimes I take the last one that has all the back and forth and just save that one, it can take 10-20 emails doing reply alls to figure out one thing, if I saved each one the file would be huge.

We have one guy that's great at tracking everything, he keeps notebooks on all his projects, writes up reports from meetings, action items, prints emails to put in the books as well.
I hate him... not sure where he finds time to design. Does a lot of work at home I think. 8-5 is all they're getting from me.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input; keep 'em coming.

ho428 - I could have written your whole post word for word!

(lol)

Thanks Stu and Bruce, I'll give that some more thought.

Bob - I filled up a few dozen of those steno notebooks over the last 14 or 15 years but abandoned them eventually because they weren't "searchable" (other than me flipping through page by page).

Mark - what is this NEAT program? Is that some kind of commerically available software? Or something your company created for internal use?

K

Keith are you using Outlook for your email? With Outlook you can create folders for your email and move the emails into the folders. But Outlook will do a lot more. You can take incoming emails and make them into tasks, the task can then be scheduled to send you an alert/reminder on the date and time of your choosing. You can check on your tasks and update them so at a glance you can see the task, when it is due, how far along you are on the task etc etc all customizable. Most professionals use Outlook to keep track of exactly what you said in your original post. Like you I manage various projects and tasks all with different due dates from a few days to several weeks or months. Right now I am tracking over a dozen different projects and from my task page in Outlook I can see each task and where it is at. On any one day Outlook will display a reminder of an upcoming deadline or task that is due. I schedule my alerts for in the morning between 8-9am so I can focus on what needs done for the day. Lets say I get an email telling me I have a project due in 2 weeks. Right from the email I can set up the date and time of my next alert, usually 3-4 days before the due date. From that alert I can then schedule the next alert etc right down to the time the project is due. After reading the email and setting it up as a task, I then move the email into the project folder for future reference. From the email page I can click an arrow and a box opens up with shows me the tasks due today, tomorrow, next week, this month and next month. Outlook is a powerful program that can manage email, tasks, send out meeting invitations, manage your calendar, notes, and manage your contacts. If you are not using it I would suggest starting there. If you are using it then you just need to look under hood and check out all the features besides email. Your Outlook calendar can also be exported to your smart phone, and tablet by linking it to a gmail account. Your calendar can also be set up to manage your tasks and provide alerts. Hope this helps.

Suggetions on Managing
 

Simple. I retired 2 years ago.

its a scanner, i got mine from office depot...it comes with the soft ware, very reasonable...i dont use everything its capable of, except i keep track of my stuff like i said, and i do all my receipts..and i can do a report...i do the report and give it to my tax lawyer...done...breaks it all down...and i can do it 7 or 8 ways...and for me the entire cost was deductable the first year..and, because its an image, its all accepted by the IRS...and i feel that right there is valuable

no more shoe boxes and big envelopes with stuff in it...at the end of the year, i put all the reports on a thumb drive..and throw all the stuff away as i scan..ive been chasing paper work for 13 years and it SUUUUUCKS...not anymore...for me anyway..

it has software that can look at the scan, read what it is, pulls money out, the customer or the store etc but it give you an opportunity to place it..and thats how i abuse it....

i scan recievables make up a folder name and it does a report..its really a cool piece....

big thing is the scanner just reads it, not store it, my PC does that so i can drop box it, or back it up...i can access my computer on the road..so..its always available...

i have a friend that does something very simular with the cloud.

wow...i just looked and they have neat cloud....cool...

the only one worth buying is the neatdesk...the mobile scanner is junk...the other product i know nothing about..

if you read the reviews..lots of bad press..but since they fixed the soft ware no issues..20+ friends and business contacts i have use it now because i like it so much

the thing i abuse it is, communications with people bids and payments, i can put a folder together and everything i do for that customer, all the emails and letters i get thru the mail, sub contractors documents, email adresses phone numbers...checks everything in one place...one file...

http://www.neat.com/

As an engineer myself, I have a notebook, a computer with a personal filing system that works great for me, and a superb memory that allows me to remember so many mundane details and repeat them without having to consult every last book for them.

Biggest thing I do with email is if it's an important one, it gets to stay in the inbox until dealt with. Usually no more than 3 or 4 emails at a time get to remain there. Everything else is replied to as quickly as it comes in\I can get to and filed away or deleted if not important. I recently was given a staff of 3 people to help me manage the smaller details and train up, so I have managed to shift a lot of the mundane\boring stuff to them.

I think I have seen programs that do it without being married to Google.
Google I despise like no other...
For everything you "NEED" a google account....frig that, then they ask, why dont you put your phone number in here Please?? so we can use it for security, in case you forget your password, RIGHT..... wonder how much they sell a phone number for these days??.
I have a Droid.. keeping google at bay is an ongoing task... sigh...

LOL! My buddy (college roommate, best man in my wedding) hired in on the same day as me and retired August 31, 2013.

Unfortunately - I don't think that's an option for me yet.

K

This has been my strategy for the last several years. Unfortunately I see that, as of right now, I have 132 emails in my inbox (all read and awaiting getting dealt with; all junk already disposed of).

This is good news (for you).

K

...133...

(lol)

K

They used to have this thing that worked great for this. I am not sure what happened to them. I think they called it a secretary. Maybe you could find one at an antique store.

Dang it, Bruce - I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry.

K

All of our secretary's moved into other jobs and left us mostly on our own. I use Outlook as does everyone else in the company, 24,000 plus employees. Emails with meetings go right into the calender, setting up meetings is easy. One can add anything to their own calender anytime. We can use it on any computer tied to the web as well as a smart phone. Emails can be sorted and searched many ways. Any email with attachments can be sent to a file folder for safe keeping and easy to find reference, or subfolder under the main folder. I have hundreds of main folders with thousands of emails in sub folders under these that I use everyday, works well. Some days I get 100 plus emails and this system does a pretty good job of making them manageable.

I am an engineer also, communications. I started as a drafter in 1976, age 20. I have seen staffed engineering departments with drafters, engineering clerks, junior engineers, senior engineers, right of way agents, surveyors, etc. It has evolved over the years to a model where we are 1/3rd staffed, no support staff, just engineers only, and down to 3 from 9 in the latest group (not counting 6 or 8 support positions gone). They suplement with contract engineers who mostly are either geriatric has beens (retired came back and don't know new technology) or greenie weenie new ones you have to train. We used to have bosses who were ex engineers. Now we have project managers and bosses who never engineered. The model is 60 plus hour weeks, no overtime pay, and constantly getting "metrics" that they beat us up with because, magically, one can never do good enough. I am getting out and doing something rewarding soon. It sucks and there is no hope. But they gave me a good ride, but the glory days are gone. So as far as a work organization:

I keep a list by me with the red hot must do's. The rest of the work I never get caught up on is dealt with by who e-mails and calls until it gets moved to the hot list. Me, I like legal pads right next to me, no pull up data base and such, right in sight. Oh, learn great apology techniques for being constantly late.

Keith I feel your pain, cell phone calls and emails can easily eat up 3 hours a day, having had this problem one of my solutions was to have walking meetings daily, we would hold emails and cell calls and discuss issues at the time of our walks it also spurred ideas and solutions, this saved a great deal of time with duplicate question and answers, discussions started out with bullet points schedule concerns and everything else, result was 20 minutes a day verses 3 hours a day, some other areas helped in the process was it gave team members a hands on and visual prospective, answered questions before they were asked and my favorite we became visual to all creating a stronger team collectively. Your deal is surly different, hope this helps a little.


Quick story at a family reunion at Boyett's in TN walked in place was crowded everyone looking down into their laps being the bible belt I thought all were saying a prayer before the meal as I walked through to my table I started to laugh at myself as they were all playing with their blk berries. People are in the communication mode as they think they type even as they sit next to each other.


Happy Holidays Gregg Blakemore

Years ago I worked for a semiconductor manufacturer. Someone in management noticed how much time was being wasted on meetings, so they took all the chairs out of the conference rooms. The number (and length) of meetings went WAY down after that. :)

I struggle with the calendar and managing tasks since mine all pop up at random. I basically use my phone as a note pad, which is treacherous as I have found out through losses, but I have one nugget to offer.

When I was in my 20s I worked in a busy law office. One of the old Attys I worked for had very successful ways of dealing with all of it. One element may still apply - he saved all his calls until the PM, usually the LATE PM. He made all of them at one time every day. Only scheduled or emergency calls got through beyond that. It shortens them when you know you have a stack of them to get through.

Like TheAMCGuy stated, if you're using Outlook you can set up rules to automatically redirect emails to go to specific folders, mark them as read, forward to another person and a whole host of other options. Rules can be set up for key words in the subject line, from certain individuals or content within the body of the email itself. I use rules all the time and the stuff that ends up hitting my main inbox is 90% junk after the rules are applied.

Bill

I'm also an engineer and for better or worse, I've graduated to the Program Manager role. (Read: less exciting design work and more financial responsibility for the group). Anyway, if you don't mind MS Excel, I've found that a spreadsheet with hyperlinks to any one or two critical files e.g. A solid model, drawing or contract obligation email is a great summary document to get all your info into a bird's eye view. The trick is to update it. I typically scan emails every hour and leave an email 'unread' (bold) until I update the spreadsheet or answer the question. I use cell fill colors to code projects that are funded/not funded, awaiting decision from someone, etc.

Having at least one dependable intern or other engineer to be able to task with items is HUGE. Heck, one of them showed me how to do hyperlinks! Micro managers usually get buried or stressed.

Just my $.02. Good luck Keith! I do like that scan software that Mark mentioned too-if I can hyperlink to PDF scans of receipts, that'll be another piece of info matrixed into the 'Master Spreadsheet'!

Btw, been a big fan of the '65 since I read about it in HPP. When did that article run?

V/r,
Chris

Thank you; I'm an Excel whiz and had been tracking a list of items on a spreadsheet, but I hadn't thought of links, or color coding. I like that and will incorporate that (I think) -

and, again, thank you. Part 1 was in the February 2004 edition of HPP; Part 2 was March of 2004 and then there were some follow up editorials in the May 2004 version. HPP was also kind enough to run a copy of Dad's obituary after he passed away.

K

multi task...i know how engineers love it..heres a tool that may help...


its a mechanical pencil that expands..and when not a pencil..it a tie clip...dude..i found an easy solution...im not sure what for but hey


came out of a fleet managers estate
http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps94b83d35.jpg
http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps5b6514d6.jpg

That 2nd Pic looks like a .30 round. Maybe you are onto something THERE. THAT would certainly reduce the workload/extraneous calls.

lol

I actually have a pencil tie clip, although I don't wear a tie to work anymore. :)

As others mentioned, Outlook can help organize info and calendars, but it can get cumbersome.
The easiest I've found is an Excel spreadsheet. Excel can easily schedule your entire life and really helps with CRS disease (can't remember sh!t) as you get older.

Dates are in the left column.
Next column is for personal stuff; birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, vacation days, etc.
Remaining columns across are for work stuff.
You can put incoming stuff anywhere and just drag tasks into cells as needed to fit your schedule. You can also link to emails, websites, or anything else, add pictures, etc.
A second sheet is for the past.
As each day passes, I cut from the present and paste into the past.
Additional sheets can be added for to-do lists for specific projects or info on certain subjects.
It makes it faster to know the keyboard shortcuts to add or delete cells. (Ctrl-minus, Ctrl-shift-plus).