Tools for task management

Last updated on 2024-05-02 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What are some of the tools available that learners might find useful?

Objectives

  • Discuss the different tools available for different types of tasks
  • Give an overview of the pros and cons using some of the tools
  • Allow learners to pick and choose what might work for them

Introduction

In this chapter, we present a list of tools. Our aim to showcase the types of tools that exist out there. This is not an exhaustive list, and, by mentioning particular examples, we are not expressing inherent preference, but merely showcasing what’s available out there. We hope that this helps learners pick whatever suits their purposes best.

If you already use a tool that works for you, stick to that! If you have a tool that you like, but isn’t fully working for you, bear in mind it’s not so much about what you choose, as it is about commiting to using one single tool and stick to a process.

Types of tools

  • Project management tools
  • Second brain tools
  • To-do lists

Project Management tools

These tools can be used to manage projects and their different aspects such as task progress, timelines, priorities and assignments. They can be useful tools to coordinate teams working on the same project, but are also adaptable to be used individually.

They can also offer multiple ways to visualise the tasks and issues. Kanban boards and roadmaps are popular structures for the same.

A few examples of project management tools are:

  • Jira
  • GitHub Projects
  • Trello
  • Asana

Second Brain tools

These tools are usually adopted as a system to organise thoughts. It can be used a repoistory to document ideas, thoughts, learnings and store information. They are an extension of traditional notes applications but can be the same too.

A few examples of such tools are:

  • Notion
  • Obsidian
  • Logseq

To-do lists

To-do list tools are meant to help you organise your thoughts. Some examples of tools are:

  • A piece of paper and a pen
  • Digital tools such as Microsoft To Do, ToDoist, and Tick Tick, which you can keep on your phone
  • Checklists which are integrated into more complex tools (e.g. both project management tools, such as Asana or Trello, and second brain tools such as Obsidian and Evernote, will have the checklist functionality which allows users to add to-do lists to “projects”).

Key Points

  • There are three broad types of task management tools: project management, second brain, and to-do lists
  • The tools we presented here are just a small sample of the vast choice of tools. Choose whatever works for you!
  • The tool you chose doesn’t matter as much as committing to whatever tool or system works for you