How do you handle task management?

Managing my sites and doing daily tasks like backlinking has been getting harder for me in the last few months as I've been starting new websites. I probably have 15 sites now that I should be doing regular backlinking on, and I end up forgetting what I have to do, and end up focusing exclusively on my newer sites.

This is partially related to the number of different backlinking techniques and applications I'm using. I have RSS feeds to submit, I can make profile pages, blog posts, article submissions, submit to pligg sites, or even do directory submissions. The key for me is organizing everything so I can create a schedule of when I'll register accounts, and create backlinks to each of my individual sites without trying to do it all in one day.

I'm interested to know the methods you guys use to keep tabs on what you need to do each day? Do you use any specific task management type software? I've tried using outlook and setting up recurring "events" and have also tried ToDo on the Ipad, but these seem more suited to every day life then for IM or business. I would greatly appreciate all the input you have

I personally use activecolab. Works great for me. Without it, I would definitely be losing track of all tasks that need to be done for my empire. I usually setup my 'campaigns' a month in advance, each day is dedicated to a different task...article submission, blog, submission, comment spam, etc. I just log in, check things off the list and I'm off to the next thing.

I make a daily "to do" list with just a pen and a legal pad. I have text files, Word docs, and spreadsheets with project details, procedures, important URLs, etc., but the list is good for giving myself a high-level overview of what needs to be done that day. Some things may get pushed to the next day if I encounter some unforseen snag, and sometimes I add more to the list as I go along, but it's always quite satisfying to draw a line through a task after it's been completed.

I'm going to be outsourcing some tasks soon, so I may have the VAs use some type of task management application to keep track of their work, but for my own personal tasks, nothing beats a good rollerball and a pad of paper.

ToDoList, small and simple. But works like a charm.

magicjg said:

I personally use activecolab. Works great for me. Without it, I would definitely be losing track of all tasks that need to be done for my empire. I usually setup my 'campaigns' a month in advance, each day is dedicated to a different task...article submission, blog, submission, comment spam, etc. I just log in, check things off the list and I'm off to the next thing.

Click to expand...

Do you mean Activecollab? I just googled it and found it for $249. That would be overkill for me.

I love ActiveCollab, work's amazing since my accountant is outsourced, and my other assistants who help me with things. It is available in the Members Download section, or PM and I will send it to you.

I put Task Management and Time Management into the same category.

What saved my business:

I got an office. You can find really small offices for $200/mo in my area. I was hesitant, because waking up, scratching your balls while making breakfast, and then heading into your computer room seemed to be ideal. Well, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I would get nothing done because I was too likely to chill out and watch TV for a couple minutes while something downloaded, which made me want to download stuff. I was way too available to my family. They wouldn't hesitate to come and bug me, even if they didn't mean to. For example, I'm focused on working, and my girlfriend comes in and bitches because I didn't do dishes last night, so I get up and do them. well, that takes an hour away from my time, so it less I get done overall. When you are out of the home, it's unlikely your girlfriend is going to show and be like "Hey, look Asshole, you didn't do the ********ing dishes, do em now!" Or more specifically, people around me would complain that all I did was sit in my computer room for 14 hours a day. Well, they didn't understand that me doing small non-work related tasks all day like picking up the kid from his aunts' made it so that I couldn't do my work for an hour and a half. Then I had to do things like make lunch, and time cleaning it up. Then there were fights between the kids. As much as I told everyone "I am not available between 'this time' and 'this time' it never changed. At the end of the month, then came the complaints of "Well, we don't really have that much money..." So, renting out a small basement apartment at first for $400/mo, no utilities, free internet... yeah, that saved my business. Eventually I went out and got an actual office. My ability to complete tasks probably tripled. I would get there at 6 in the monring, just enough time to communicate directly with my employees in China. I would work until 3 or 4. Left my work at work, and my personal life at home. Very quick change.

Another thing I started doing was using Sticky Notes to remind myself to do things. I used Calendars to set my dates, and I have two notepads near me at all time. One for ideas, and another to write quick notes on what I accomplish through out the day, and what I need to focus on tomorrow or later. I set deadlines for myself and for others, and I try hard to meet those deadlines.

EDIT: Also, Prioritize. I put everything into three categories. "Will Affect Directly" "Does Not Affect Directly" "Affects in Time"

For example, when I started on eBay, I never set aside time to start my own eCommerce store, so I had it marked down in my notebook "start eCommerce store" but because I never prioritized it, I didn't get it done by X-mas, and I never directed traffic to it, because it was never done. Had I stopped listing new products for a couple days and focused on making the core of the website, I could then go back to listing more items, and then driving traffic to my actual store through eBay. I finally got this done now, and now I have traffic to my store, and thus I make more money. (Damn eBay Fee's)

I'd suggest you to try tools like proofhub or asana to manage your task effectively. Check out these tools

I make spreadsheets detailing what I have to do each day and how much time I have to allocate to each task. I try not to spin more time than what I wrote on the spreadsheet on each task.