Tasks are often the most important things to any business or project. You will have a ton of them, but it is essential that you manage them efficiently in order to keep your employees on the same page, help you get the best out of their time, and ensure that nothing slips through the cracks. Personal task management software offers a variety of features in order help you with this.
In this guide, we review the aspects of Personal Task Management Software, What is a personal task management system, best personal task management app, and Which software helps you perform personal tasks?
Personal Task Management Software
Personal task management software is a program that allows you to be more productive. It can help you organize your tasks and prioritize them so that you can get things done efficiently. If you’re looking for ways to become more productive at work, check out some of these features:
When you want to start using task management software, you have many options.
When you want to start using task management software, you have many options. You can look at the different types of task management software and their features. Task management programs are designed specifically for individuals or teams who need to keep track of their tasks and projects. These programs help users stay organized by providing tools that encourage organization, as well as features that make it easy for users to access their data from anywhere (on desktop computers, mobile devices, etc.).
Before choosing a program, consider what kind of tasks you need help with organizing. Do you have trouble keeping track of personal or professional commitments? Does your job require working on multiple projects simultaneously? Are there areas where your productivity could use some improvement? If so, then a task management program may be just what the doctor ordered for improving your workflow!
What should you look for in a program?
In order to find the best personal task management software for your needs, it’s important to know what you’re looking for in a program. There are many different types of programs available and some are better suited than others depending on what you need from them.
Some of the most important things to look for include:
- Features – How many features does it offer? How much can it do? Is there anything missing that you really need that might be useful?
- User interface – How easy is the user interface to use? Can you navigate around easily and quickly or does everything feel clunky and disorganized?
- Ease of use – Is this program easy enough that even someone who isn’t very tech-savvy can pick up and start using right away…or will they have trouble figuring things out on their own without having someone else walk them through every step of the way?
- Cost – How much does this program cost overall–with monthly subscriptions or one-time payments–and what extras come with those options (for example, will they charge extra fees if there’s data loss after your free trial period ends)?
Do you want to use a program that is based on your phone or on the software that is on your PC?
There are two main types of personal task management software: those that are based on your phone, and those that run on the software that is on your PC. Each type has its benefits and drawbacks, so it’s important to consider both before making a decision about which kind is right for you.
The advantage to using an app based on your phone is that it is more portable. If you want to take notes or begin tracking tasks while away from home or work, this could be very helpful in keeping track of all of your tasks as they arise. On the other hand, if you usually work at a desk with a keyboard and mouse (or trackpad), then using this type of program may not make sense because it can be difficult to navigate without being able to use these tools effectively. Additionally, if there are certain features in particular that make one operating system better suited for managing tasks than another (such as having access to more apps), then using an app specifically designed for each OS would ensure everything works smoothly together without any issues arising due solely how well each component was built by itself separately.”
What kind of features do you want the program to have?
The first thing you’ll want to do is decide how you want your software to function. Do you want a program that will help manage tasks and deadlines? Or do you need a program that can create projects and sub-projects? Maybe it’s the ability to share tasks with others that matters most, or perhaps it’s setting reminders for yourself. There are many different features available for task management software, so make sure that whatever feature set best suits your needs is included in the programs under consideration.
Do you want a program that allows you to create projects and sub projects?
You might want a program that allows you to create projects and sub-projects. This can help you be more productive because it lets you organize your tasks into categories, set deadlines for each task, prioritize your tasks, and see at a glance what tasks need to be done.
Some personal task management software can help you be more productive.
If you’re looking for a new way to get your tasks done, there are several options available. Some of these are free and some require a paid subscription.
Task management software can help make your organization more productive by providing a central location for all of your tasks, reminders and notes. By putting everything in one place, it will be much easier for you to stay on top of the things that need doing in order to get them completed on time. It also means that if someone needs information from another part of an organization, they can easily retrieve it without having to spend too much time searching through emails or internal documents.
What is a personal task management system
Personal Task Management is the way that you organise your tasks, projects and to dos for your personal life.
There is no single “best way” to do personal task management.
There are simply different ways depending on how you like to work and organise.
Here is how I do personal task management today.
This is the system that I have been using and evolving ever since I read Getting Things Done over a decade ago.
Take it, learn from it, and adapt it to your own needs and requirements 🙂.
Why Do I Need Personal Task Management in the First Place?
In a business, the need to organise what the company does into projects, lists and tasks is obvious.
But what about for our personal lives?
The main reason we need to organise tasks in our personal lives is because of the distinction between tasks, information and trash:
If we don’t manage our tasks somewhere, they end up in the wrong places – in our journals, in our notebooks, or simply forgotten about.
Our lives are incredibly complex nowadays and it is incredulous that people do not have task or to do lists of some sort.
For those of us with growth mindsets, there is always something going on and something to do. And we need to track those things. That is where personal task management comes in.
Personal Task Management Apps and Tech
The first thing people tend to ask is “what task management app should I use?”.
So let’s get that out of the way.
There are many, many, many task management apps out there and they all work. The key thing is picking one, setting it up properly, and maintaining it over time. In this case, principles are more important than the technology.
I cannot stress this enough.
If you do not set up or maintain your app properly over time, it will not work. And simply switching to a different app will not solve any task management problems you have.
Here are some notable mentions:
If you don’t like any of these, you can find plenty more via a Google search. The main thing is to pick one that you like the look and feel of, set it up as discussed in this guide and learn to make it work for you.
Task Management App Features
If you need some help deciding, here are some features to keep an eye out for:
How to Structure Your Task Manager Projects and Lists
I used to recommend that people compile all their tasks together, and from that work out what projects and lists they need to create.
I no longer recommend this.
Instead, it is better to take a top-down approach – set up your project and list hierarchy based on your purpose and goals.
Here is how I have mine setup:
Feel free to take this and change it to match your own areas of life, rituals and routines and goals.
How to Set up Your Task Management App
The first thing you need to do is to collect and write down all your tasks – from your papers, post-it notes and your mind.
The second thing to do once they are all in there is to sort them into your project hierarchy – you can literally just drag and drop.
If you discover that you have tasks that don’t fit in your project hierarchy, then either:
The final thing to do is to add additional data to your tasks. This could be:
How to Use Your Task Manager Daily
If you have your morning ritual set up as suggested, then you will load that up in your task manager on your phone the first thing every morning, and run through it.
For your projects, you will work on the next available action when you have time set aside for personal tasks.
For your life management actions and once-off lists, you do them as they are due or as they need to happen.
You can close off your days by running your evening ritual from the list in your task management app.
Maintaining Your Personal Task Management System
You must regularly maintain your personal task management system.
If you don’t, then it will become disorganised and overwhelming and you will want to stop using it.
What does “ongoing maintenance” for personal task management look like?
Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Task Management
What about custom views and perspectives?
Most task management apps offer custom views and perspectives. These could be built-in like the Today view in Things or they could be a custom-created perspectives like those commonly set up in OmniFocus.
My suggestion would be to use them as you need to, and don’t worry about the rest.
Some custom views I have found useful are:
How do I use due dates properly?
My personal take is that due dates should not be used unless something is absolutely due on a certain day.
Most people use due dates incorrectly.
They set an artificial due date a few days or a week before something is actually due, and then when they don’t complete the task on time, they push back the due date.
The problem with this, is that you are conditioning yourself to not trust due dates in the app, which means you are less likely to continue using the app or managing your tasks.
Instead of doing this, it is better to operate in free-flow and work on “available actions” as time allows.
You could also just flag or tag tasks with “today” to have them show up in the Today view of your task manager, but this is more clunky than using journal entries in my opinion.
best personal task management app
When it comes to different types of time management software, we’re certainly not starved of choice—and if you’re looking to organize and manage your workload more efficiently long-term, you’ll definitely want to think about investing in a task management app. The right task management tool helps you stay on top of all of your commitments and visualize progress as priorities change.
But of course, not all task management apps are created equal, and whether you intend to use the tool for personal or professional reasons can make a huge difference. To help you find the right solution for your needs, we’ve broken out the main difference between personal and professional task management apps —with best-in-class examples for both.
What are the main differences?
While many task management apps share similar features, they often have very different levels of detail, incorporation and control—and much of this hinges on whether you want to use the tool for professional or personal purposes.
If you want to use a task management app for personal use, you probably only require basic to-do list features to keep on top of things, but if you’re using the app for professional purposes, it’s a whole other ball game. To be able to track progress on work, report on where effort is spent, update status, prioritize tasks and create planning timelines, you’ll likely want feature-rich project management features, as well as budget tracking and time tracking capabilities. Some professional task management app also let you set deadlines, compare estimated time vs actual time on tasks, and set automatic reminders.
Then of course there’s the issue of whether you’re working as a team or as an individual. Not all task management apps offer team collaboration features, scheduling, and shared visibility. Even as a solo professional, you may want personal goal and milestone features which more basic personal task management apps don’t offer. With these nuances in mind, we’ve pulled together some of the best task management apps for personal and professional use.
Best task management apps for personal use
One of the most popular simple personal task management apps currently available. As the name suggests, Remember the Milk is designed for staying on top of life’s small to-dos. It’s powerful enough to let you organize task priorities, due dates, repeats, lists and tags, and get reminders via email, text and mobile notifications. You can also share your lists to keep friends and family in the loop, and integrate with Gmail, Google Calendar, Evernote and more.
With Google Tasks you can manage, capture, and edit your tasks anytime and anywhere, with to-do lists that sync across all your devices. Though this app is simple and clutter-free, you can still add details and sub-tasks. An obvious choice for people who use Google products, Google Task’s integrations with Gmail and Google Calendar make it easy to link up information across your personal online space.
Microsoft To Do is a cloud-based task management app that lets you manage your tasks from a smartphone, tablet and computer. The smart daily planner helps you stay on track, and you can break tasks down into simple steps, add due dates, and set reminders, as well as share your list with friends and family.
One for the Apple crowd. Things is an award-winning personal task management app that helps you achieve your goals. You can use checklists to break down the finer details of a to-do list, view your calendar events with your to-dos, which gives you an outline of your schedule, and plan your week ahead with the new Upcoming feature, which shows everything in your diary for the next week, including scheduled to-dos, deadlines, and calendar events.
First and foremost an app for capturing and organising ideas, Evernote also helps you stay on top of your tasks by creating to-dos in your notes, which puts your jobs in context. It also removes the need to switch between notes and a dedicated task management app, which can interrupt your flow. You can even add due dates, reminders and flags to help you stay on track and ensure nothing gets lost.
One of the more developed personal task management apps, OmniFocus is designed to capture thoughts and ideas and turn them into tasks and to-dos, helping you focus on the right things at the right time. Because it’s deeply integrated with Apple, OmniFocus can become a seamless part of your daily life, and allow you to stay organized on all devices.
Best task management apps for teams
Unlike most team task management apps, Timely marries task organization and automatic time tracking, helping teams effortlessly visualize progress and see how long different deliverables actually take. Teams simply create or assign new tasks, and drag and drop them to their calendar to plan their schedule. With live progress bars, deadlines, and capacity calculations, everyone can plan work, track progress and manage priorities from one tool.
Flexible, agile, and super easy to use, Todoist allows you to create a to-do list on an intuitive note-taking interface, and then assign work from there to your coworkers. You can use the app to upload files, notify people, set recurring due dates, centralize repetitive admin, and even color-code tasks by their level or urgency or importance. There’s even a productivity view called Karma that gamifies your progress against each task.
As a task management app that allows teams to collaborate, plan, analyze and manage everyday tasks, nTask is popular with both small businesses and individuals. It provides tools that enable collaboration between team members, and makes it easy to generate progress reports, assign tasks, set recurring tasks, and share files.
If your team uses Microsoft, you might want to think about using their Planner, which helps you organize teamwork using visual, intuitive and collaborative task management. You can use the app to create content-rich Kanban boards complete with files, checklists and labels, helping everyone on your team feel empowered, no matter their role.
One of the most popular task management tools for teams is MeisterTask, which provides all team members with an overview of work in progress, from conception to completion. The Kanban-style boards help digitalize workflows, and the Gantt-style timeline helps drive efficiency, ensure deadlines are kept, and keep teams aligned.
Toodledo is a collection of powerful tools that help improve your productivity by creating powerful to-do lists. You can use folders, tags, contexts and subtasks to ensure your lists are organized as competently as possible, and the app also allows you to sort and search through your tasks, create structured outlines, and track your working habits, as well as collaborate with coworkers, friends and family.
Which software helps you perform personal tasks?
If you find yourself frequently missing deadlines or forgetting to accomplish tasks, it may be time to clean up your act. Personal task management tools help you get organized and stay on track. These free and paid applications make it easy to create a new to-do list, review what you have left on your plate, and mark off what you’ve already accomplished.
Some even sync with mobile devices so you can access your tasks from anywhere. There are several benefits to using a personal task management tool. It can help you stay on top of your workload, boost your productivity, and organize your tasks into manageable lists.
Check out the top options below to help with your personal task management and productivity.
Format: Web, iOS, Android
While ClickUp is a cloud-based collaboration and personal project management tool that offers docs, reminders, goals, calendars, and an inbox, it is also a great productivity tool that works as an excellent personal task management platform to help you work faster.
ClickUp is a completely customizable app, and so you can tweak and edit it based on your needs to list individual tasks and your personal todo list. While ClickUp is trusted by numerous leading companies like Google, Airbnb, Uber, and Nike, it is also trusted upon by millions of users who rely on it for their day-to-day personal task management.
Best Features:
“Overall, I love ClickUp and would recommend it to anyone looking to easily manage their tasks and projects.” – Capterra
Google Tasks is a great personal task management app for those looking to easily manage, capture, and edit tasks anytime and anywhere. Google Tasks effortlessly syncs across all your devices and is a smart choice for professionals and multitaskers who use Google products. Google Tasks easily integrates with Gmail and Google Calendar.
Best Features:
“The integration with my emails and not having to open a new software to log tasks. I also like how the data relates to involved stakeholders to track the tasks, the simple way to add them, the ability to add a description and a date in one simple click. It is a basic project management tool, without all the added features.” – G2
Format: Web, iOS, Android
If you want to organize your individual tasks and stay on top of your productivity game, then Asana is an app to consider. Asana is a tremendous personal task management tool and is available as a web and mobile application. Asana will help you to categorize, organize, track, and manage your daily individual tasks. However, large teams might find it too simplistic.
Best Features:
“Asana is a web and mobile application that works perfectly, providing excellent solutions and features, allowing us to organize, track and plan our projects, it is a software that I love because it allows me to develop my work in a productive and collaborative way, save our ideas of Visually safe and hassle-free, I like this tool because it adapts to my needs with flexible features.” – G2
Format: Web, iOS, Android
Trello is a Kanban-style, personal project management application that is perfect for listing your personal tasks and todo. Trello was originally created by Fog Creek Software in 2011 and is now a full-fledged, multi-faceted project and task management tool. If you are looking for an easy-to-use and effective personal task management app to use daily, then Trello’s kanban style of sorting and showcasing tasks will definitely help you stay more productive.
Best Features:
“I love how easy it was to just start using this software when compared to other more heavyweight alternatives. If you have a use case for just yourself or a team you will love Trello.”
Format: Web, iOS, Android.
ProProfs Project is a strong project management tool for individuals to manage day-to-day tasks. It offers a simple platform that lets you schedule your work for the day and accomplish them as per priority. You can set the priority levels at ‘Low,’ ‘Medium,’ and ‘High,’ indicating which tasks must be taken up first. This feature comes in handy, especially when dealing with time-sensitive tasks.
Best Features:
“ProProfs helped me manage my daily tasks so effortlessly. I can say it has been a knight in shining armor. In just a few clicks, I can now manage responsibilities across several assignments and squads, and from allocating resources to prioritizing, everything is a breeze.” -G2
Format: Web, iOS, Android.
Todoist is another great personal task management app that helps to stay on top of your daily activities and todo. If you are looking for an easy-to-use daily task management app for your personal tasks, then Todoist is a great choice. Todoist’s suite of rich features like scheduled tasks, personalized task views, subtasks, shared tasks, sub-projects, recurring tasks, labels, notifications, priority-based tasks, and more make it the perfect choice for multi-tasking professionals.
Best Features:
“The design is really great at promoting a sense of accomplishment when you mark something as done and this helps you keep going.” – Capterra
Format: Web, iOS, Android
Microsoft To Do is another great personal project management app that you can use to boost personal productivity and task management. The cloud-based checklist app works seamlessly on a smartphone, tablet and computer. With Microsoft To Do, you can stay ahead of your personal work tasks and daily action points with ease and efficiency. Microsoft To Do uses the task management technology created by Wunderlist, which Microsoft acquired.
Best Features:
“Microsoft To Do is very strongly recommended software for personal work managament. It is very effective tool for time management and progress tracking.” – Capterra
Format: Web, iOS, Android
Any.do is an award-winning productivity and task management platform used by millions of individual professionals and business teams. Any.do is a great option for high-performing professionals and mutti-taskers looking for a personal task management and productivity app. Any.do enables you to organize your tasks, lists and reminders in one easy-to-use app that syncs seamlessly across all your devices.
Best Features:
“This is the simplest and easy to use app. I have been using it for past few years and I really like this. The user interface is very well designed by keeping in mind users need. I feel like the issue with other apps is they integrate “ALOT” of functionalities in a single app, but the thing is as a user I am looking for something that I can just download and get started with manageing my day. Any.do excels in that area.” – G2
Format: MacOS, iOS, Android
Looking for a personal task management app that organizes all your tasks, to-dos, and meetings day-by-day, and work you need to do in one place? If yes, then Sunsama is definitely for you. Sunsama is trusted by the world’s most successful professionals and companies like Uber, Hubspot, Spotify, and more.
Best Features:
Format: MacOS and Windows
Akiflow focuses on helping multi-taskers and profesionals by getting more productive faster. Akiflow helps to manage personal tasks, process them, and keep your schedule under control. Akiflow is a great task management tool for personal use as it reduces the effort required to keep yourself organised. Akiflow helps to prevent the most common mistakes that affect productivity.