Many people end up at a certain point in their life looking for a task management software to help them refocus and keep their finger tips on what is important. Task management products organize, schedule and ensure that tasks get done on time. On short it can boost your productivity. When you are better organized and much more focused on what you want to do, you save time and reduce stress.
Good task and project management software was hard to find a couple of years ago when people were using Outlook. Nowadays productivity has become almost an obsession of geeks everywhere, therefore the increasing obtain such tools generated a large base of good task and project management solutions. There are a lot of choices to help manage the tasks, ranging from standalone applications to web-based services.
Exactly what are users looking for?
Most of them are in fact looking for a personal organizer application to place some order in their busy and messy life. "Initially, I somehow managed to keep everything in my own head. Then, when i began to undertake more projects, I realized that I needed an activity management system to help keep me organized and focused." says Deborah Woehr a freelance researcher and writer. These personal organizers generally take the proper execution of the so called "TO ACCOMPLISH List" applications where users create a list of tasks that they set a start date, some deadlines and a priority - something very simple.
The Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology
The majority of the to-do-list applications nowadays adopt, to one degree or another, the GTD method of task management based on the work-life management system by David Allen that delivers concrete solutions for transforming overwhelm and uncertainty into a system of stress free productivity. Apps vary concerning how tightly or loosely bound to GTD they're. The issue, though, with To Do lists and personal organizers is which are only good for your work. Task management or task tracking software is a lot more than just a to-do list. In a business most of the tasks are collaborative and require multiple team members to fulfill several tasks within a project. In cases like this you need a credit card applicatoin where assignments could possibly be made, all tasks could be tracked, and completed work could possibly be archived. This can be a true task management tool. Users sometimes need to manage multiple projects and delegate work to resources, schedule tasks with time or even create plans. That is a further step to an upper level: project management or project planning software.
Why do we are in need of a task management application?
Every day we spend more often than not on urgent but low priority tasks as the most significant ones get delayed until another day. Unfortunately, that "a later date" might never arrive. The famous Pareto principle of 80/20 rule applies here: 80% of most important work gets completed in the event that you try to find out the 20% of high priority tasks. Basically a highly effective task management software must provide you with the best way to get these top 20% of important tasks for a effective project management process. This is the significant problem with task management applications: they require an excessive amount of effort on users part. It is easy to spend too much time on organization, and not enough on getting things done. Too many apps spoil the productivity. Task management apps should flow, should make using them easier than writing things down on a piece of paper.
Benefits of a task management tool
allows you to organize, assign and prioritize tasks
enables you to establish goals and milestones and to manage deadlines
you don't need to remember all tasks and much more productivity using reminders
entire work integration, effort delegation for increased efficiency and reduced costs
the breakdown of complex tasks into smaller deliverables which might be controlled with minor difficulty
An activity management software can be an essential component for organizational and business operations and can make managing the project simpler.