Bye bye pen and paper. Hello Todoist.
We’ve built OneFifty on a small number of tools, which help us be more effective and mirrors the way we need to work. One of our latest Architect’s of Next, Becki, has broken a habit of a lifetime and fully embraced the single way we run tasks and projects…
Efficiency. What a word. It’s something I have always struggled with (both personally and professionally) but to be clear I don’t mind so much. I’m happy to get up 30 mins earlier than I need to, if it means I can potter around and not be under pressure to leave the house. Ironically, I’m always 30 minutes early for most things. Where am I going with this I hear you silently cry through the screen… Todoist, that’s where I’m going.
I arrived at OneFifty, new pen and pad in hand. Stationery is one of my loves (alongside pizza and wine #classic) It’s perfectly formed, add a unicorn or some velvet and there’s a slip of my personality, like a badge of honour, neatly beside me on my desk. This is how I do my lists. Sorry. Rewind. This is how I used to do my lists. Because when you join OneFifty, efficiency has to become your new best friend. Let me tell you that pen and paper just doesn’t cut it anymore. There is no time to transfer my notes from my pad to a doc, no time to rewrite my to do list (colour coded for importance FYI). There’s a bigger piece to this however. It’s about how I work with my colleagues and how I let them know what I am doing and how I see what they are doing.
See Todoist was the thing I was most concerned about when I started here. Slack – done it. New people – got it. New ways of doing things – ummmm old dog new tricks much? So when Alex, sold me into the vision of Todoist, that actually my life will improve, my days become more efficient, I was unsure. During the busy days of on-boarding, I struggled with taking my lists online, of organising my days online, of just being online (I know, I’m in digital, it’s laughable) but my organisation had always been offline, my trusted sidekick in paper form. I struggled to remember to assign tasks to other people, I struggled with the shortcuts: to be frank I just struggled. I had a little secret list in my lovely notepad that I’d refer to. But it wasn’t working. When everyone else is doing it another way, successfully, I knew I had to give up my dirty little secret.
So after watching and reading everything Todoist had to offer, and a session from the Todoist Master (Alex), I flung myself wholeheartedly into the digital list thing. I’m 3 weeks into my new way, and oh boy am I a new person. Now I won’t profess I’m perfect (yet) but actually this has transformed my days. I don’t worry about what I’ve got to do, it’s there. Something comes to me in the middle of a train journey, I fling it on the app. Something sparks my attention, guess what it’s on my list. I’m proficient in all things “shortcut” for my new favourite thing which makes it more joyous. I need a hand with a task – oh I’ll just take a look at their todoist – to gauge what’s fair or achievable. I’ve even colour coded my app on my phone to fit in better (yes I also judge books by their cover.) And don’t even get me started on Karma points. Points for doing work? I’ll take that every day of the week!
But in all seriousness, this app is now an extension of me and is helping me to become a better team mate, a better leader and one of those people that remembers to switch off, because I can, because it’s written down on the app. So, what are my top tips for those of you wanting to fling themselves into an organised state? Here you go:
Make time to learn it – don’t give it a day and revert back (guilty!) take time to use it, and mould it to your style
Put everything on it – don’t half use it, that’s way more stressful than not using it at all
Organise! I miss my colour coded notes sometimes, because colour helps me, but if I spend just 5 minutes moving my list around, I know I’ll be more productive the next day
Review and rewrite – don’t leave other people’s notes on your list. Look at them when they are assigned (hello email notifications) and adjust as soon as you can – this was a breakthrough for me
Do not, and I repeat again, do not just hit reschedule everyday. If you are having to hit the reschedule button – ask yourself why. You might just find the answer lies with someone else
And if you still aren’t convinced may I refer you to this.
