It often seems there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done that we planned on, and that do-to list seems to grow bigger and bigger even when items are scratched off the list. There are many books, webinars, and strategies out there that focus on time management, but time cannot be managed unless we focus in on the tasks that consume the workday.

So, what is Task Management and what are some of the methods that can aid us in managing that forever growing to-do list.

In construction tasks are clearly defined as a schedule is developed and milestones are documented. The tasks that reside on the schedule are assigned, tracked, and monitored and are sequenced based on what needs to happen first in order for the next task to begin. Outside of construction, tasks do not seem to fall in such a linear pattern and figuring out how to manage these tasks can at times be daunting. However, there are a few strategies and methods that can tip the scales in shrinking the to-do-list.

Prioritizing Tasks

The Ivy Lee method created in 1918 by Ivy Lee, a productivity expert suggests that after each workday log tasks for the next day, organize the tasks in order of importance, complete the first task before moving on to the second task and repeat every day. This method was developed for Charles M. Schwab to improve ship building and steel production at his company, he wrote Lee a check for $25,000, so the story goes, because it was so successful.

Audit Your Tasks Through Visualization

The Kanban method, developed by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, allows teams to visualize a task success. Kanban meaning signboard in Japanese is a set of ordered cards that allow a team to visualize and track the progress of tasks taking them down the journey from To Do, Doing and Done!

Task management is not just about getting things done. It is about planning for the future and achieving success.