This article describes my system for managing tasks and information. This system evolved over the past two and a half decades as I’ve consumed books, podcasts and blog posts on productivity, task management and personal knowledge management.

This system has enabled me to stay relatively sane as I’ve managed up to 20 simultaneous consulting projects across multiple continents. 

The catalyst for this article was chatting with someone who had lost their short-term memory due to a medical issue and had consequently decided to change careers. I realised and explained how my system might help him since my short-term memory is impaired when I’m overwhelmed and doing too much.

My productivity and knowledge management system is contentious. Some colleagues said I’m quite mad with all this structure and detail. They prefer to go with the flow and keep rough notes and ad-hoc task lists. In contrast, others have wanted to geek out over coffee and compare methods and apps.

If you’re one of the latter, this article will interest you. You might find areas where you can tweak your existing systems, and likewise, you’re welcome to share your methods with me.

Tracking and managing tasks

For over two decades, I have applied a task management philosophy and approach called Getting Things Done (GTD) which David Allan shared in a book called ‘Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity’.

GTD requires that you think of your tasks in terms of projects. Every project has a timeframe and set of goals. GTD suggests that you always record the next step in every project in your task system instead of listing all the steps involved like a project plan. Then as you do the task that is the next step, another next step emerges and so on. There is always a next step. This alleviates decision anxiety. It enables people to get stuff done and build momentum.

Most tasks are things that you must do. But sometimes, the next step involves waiting for someone else to do something such as prepare or review a document, send an email, confirm some dates etc. GTD calls these ‘waiting for’ tasks that you must monitor and follow up if overdue. 

There’s much more to GTD than what I’ve mentioned above. For example, GTD was one of the first productivity methods that emphasised the importance of getting tasks and notes out of your mind and into a trusted system like a notebook, diary or app. This frees up your mental space to think creatively about the matter at hand. GTD also includes a method of processing emails, linking tasks to the context where they are best performed and conducting a weekly task review. 

I’ve used a task management app called Nozbe for almost a decade. This company was founded by Michael Sliwinski who I follow closely online and find very inspiring. Nozbe enables me to set up my projects, filter projects, record tasks, assign reminders and attach information to tasks. People also use apps like Trello and Asana to manage tasks and implement their GTD systems. 

I consistently add notes, insert links, attach documents and paste email text into the tasks so that everything is bundled together. Then I have much of the information assembled when I need to perform a task. 

I often record tasks during meetings so I don’t forget something important. I might say something like, “This is important. Let me write it down quickly so I don’t forget.” People understand and often admit that they have the same challenge.

Finally, I use checklists for complex repeating tasks such as submitting my tax return or packing for a business trip. I refine these checklists each time I use them. This all makes my life much easier.

Taking notes to remember things

I take notes wherever possible and here are some of my key habits.

I split my screen when I have online meetings – the video is on the left side and my notes are on the right. I always create a generic MS Word document in each project’s folder where I can add notes under an appropriate subheading – every time I do any thinking or research on the project. When I formally interview someone for a project, I will create a separate notes document which I neaten up afterwards.

I always highlight interesting sentences in the books I read. I mostly read on my iPhone and iPad since they tend to be with me and synchronise my notes and highlights.

I learned how to type fast when I was younger using a free online typing tutor. I invested 15 minutes each morning for about six weeks. This was enough for me to learn all the key and finger positions. Things just sped up from there. Now I can type about 80 words per minute and not look at the keyboard. This makes taking notes during discussions much easier. 

I often use my iPad and Apple Pencil to review and annotate documents in PDF format. I also use this method to take handwritten notes in face-to-face meetings. It is less intrusive and likely to break rapport than typing might.

Some of my colleagues use artificial intelligence (AI) to record and transcribe meetings on Teams or Zoom – an AI called Fireflies.ai. I also have colleagues who use the Chat GPT to summarise these notes and extract any action points.

The book ‘Building a Second Brain’ by Tiago Forte helped me tremendously. It taught me how to think differently about taking notes. It builds upon the GTD concept of getting things out of your brain and takes it to the next level. Where GTD focuses on managing tasks to get things done, Tiago’s system focuses on filtering, refining and storing information. Tiago believes all our stored information must have a purpose – to help us move forward, create things and express ourselves. 

Recently, Tiago has been exploring how AIs can help to build our second brains but I haven’t dived into this yet. I’m open to AIs and see them much like any other tool that humanity has invented, as I explained in my article, ‘Artificial Intelligence is a Disruptive Technology’.

Using calendars to manage time

I use two Google Calendars – one for work and one for my personal life. I live according to my calendar and would be overwhelmed without it.

I see my work days as consisting of 15-minute units. I strictly label the time between 7 am to 6 pm with its tag and colour code. For example, when I do some work that I will need to invoice for, I use the following naming convention: “Billable, [project name], [activity name]”. This allows me to easily search for all the time I spend on a project when preparing timesheets and invoices at the end of the month. 

By the end of each workday, I can easily see how nearly every 15 minutes of my time was allocated and reflect on how I spent it. It’s also easier to remember what I was doing at any point in my past. This approach helps me to treat time as something very precious and fleeting.

Since I’m human, some days I’m stricter than others. I apply this method with about 80% success.

I learned this method from Kevin Kruse’s book – ‘15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management’. He explains the time-management systems of 7 billionaires, 13 Olympic athletes, 29 straight-a students and 239 entrepreneurs whom he interviewed.

Time is precious. This is why I did a time study on myself in 2018 and wrote about it in ‘A Month in a Consultant’s Life’. I hired an assistant once I’d reflected on the results.

Writing in a journal to record insights

I journal most days using one of two methods. 

The first is an online document where I ask myself the same set of repeating questions each day: what is going on, what am I grateful for, and what have I learned? This takes 2-15 minutes depending on how much time I have. With touch typing, I can put down a lot of information in a short time. Then I can easily search for a key phrase in this electronic journal to revisit my experiences and insights.

My second journaling method involves a Moleskine journal and my Lamy fountain pen. I use this method when I have more time and want to reflect more slowly and deeply on an issue. Handwriting slows down my thinking and makes me more mindful. I use an unstructured journaling method where I just write down what’s on my mind. I enjoy re-reading my old journals.

Managing folders, files and storage

I use the PARA Method which Tiago Forte also designed. PARA is an acronym for Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives. These are the four top-level folders in my filing system. 

‘Projects’ are sets of activities that have a specific set of deliverables and a start and end date. They include my work projects, admin projects like a tax return and marketing projects like designing a new business card. They can be archived once they’re done. 

‘Areas’ are ongoing areas of responsibility such as my invoices, accounting records or vehicle documentation. 

‘Resources’ are things that I often refer to while doing projects. These include various useful guides, policy documents, articles and infographics that I’ve taken the time to label and store properly. I also treasure exemplary strategic plans, reports and proposals from other consultants so that I can learn from them. Storing valuable resources saves me from searching online to find them again. 

‘Archives’ are where my old projects and other folders go. I review my folders monthly to assess what needs to be moved into my archives. It’s easy to search my 25 years of archives to access one of the 200+ consulting projects I’ve worked on. I catalogue my archives by year going back to when I started consulting.

Because I store everything in Google Drive, it is easier to access everything on my desktop computer, iPad and iPhone.

Reflection

These five components (task management, notetaking, calendar, journal and filing) underpin my personal productivity and knowledge management system. They help me to stay on track when I would otherwise have been overwhelmed.

These components have evolved through investigation, trial and error. 

I developed one component at a time and moved on to the next when it worked. This is a never-ending process.

Technology improvements have also made a big difference to my systems. For example, I used a physical diary and notebook before the Google ecosystem existed. I also kept my files on a flash drive so I could work on different computers since there was no cloud to sync things to. I remember using an app called ‘Briefcase’ which allowed my flash drive to synchronise properly as I manually moved between machines.

I encourage you to evaluate how well your systems are working and how you might improve them. This will not only help you to become more productive; it might also be fun.