Keeping yourself productive is hard – especially when you work for yourself. Years ago I came up with a solution to help myself – I called it my “To Done List.” To do lists were great, but it was easy to write them and still not achieve anything. The To Done List was different – you had to actually do something before filling the list. Seeing the list was basically empty at any point forced me to step up and get something done – even if it was small. It snowballed from there. If you finished one task, the next one would be easier.
I used to fill various notebooks with lists of tasks I had done. They didn’t have to relate to anything in particular. They also didn’t have to be work related. I tracked everything I did that took some time out of my day – even if it was fun. I’d track work I’d done, household chores, meeting with friends, games with my kids – anything that seemed worth recording.
I’d look back at earlier days, weeks, and months through this list. It showed me just what I had been up to. Not only did it motivate me on any given day. It also made me feel better about what I had been doing. So, instead of feeling the dread at piling up to do lists, I can see that I was actually making use of my time.
A month or so ago, this idea came back up for me and I decided to write an app to help me track tasks. Thus was born TaDone. I want other people feel the same motivation that I felt. The app makes it easy to record tasks. It even makes it easier to record commonly used tasks. The app keeps a list of your most common tasks. You can simply click on one to add it.
So if you are interested in trying it out, here is a link.
