DAILY PLANNING

An important part of better productivity that is too often dismissed is

consistency. We suggest daily.

1. Choose a consistent time to plan. Most people plan either

at the end of their day or first thing in the morning. What time
works for you?

Tip: Set a daily recurring task with reminders to alert you to do your

planning. Learn how.

2. Review all the different places that tasks are stored (e.g. email,
calendars, voice mails/texts, written notes) and move tasks into Todo
Cloud for tracking. Learn how to forward your emails to Todo Cloud.

Tip: Don't feel forced to put 100% of the task details in Todo Cloud,
but enough details should be there to get you started.

3. Add details to your tasks. Giving time to thinking and organizing

your tasks every day will pay off. This is a general attribute of
successful people. There are 12 primary task details available for
tracking. Learn about all of them now or we will cover them over 14
days in the "HOW TO" sections.

4. Track your progress. At the end of each day, review your progress
and make notes. Ideally this happens right before you sleep, so that
you can unload your mind of things to track. You'll rest better knowing
Todo Cloud has everything tracked for the next day.

Tip: Don't limit Todo Cloud to just being a

great prospective productivity system. It is also an
incredible retrospective system to track all your work. The most
successful productivity users also create tasks even after they are
already completed. Stay tuned as we continue to build functionality
to do this even better.

GOAL SETTING
Todo Cloud can be a great system for tracking and achieving your goals. To
show you how, let's consider your own situation.

1. Create a list for that goal.

 Tip: The best goals are specific, measurable, actionable, relevant
and time-based.

2. Now quickly create the top-of-mind tasks to achieve that goal.

3. Many of your tasks will be related. Consider converting your task to
a project so you can use sub-tasks. Learn how to create a project.
4. Then create custom Smart Lists to keep track of your tasks
progress. Learn how.

Smart List Examples

 Tasks completed in the last 7 days.
 Tasks starting in the next 7 days
 Tasks with due dates in the next 7 days
 Tasks with high priority
 Tasks without start or due dates.
 All other tasks 

HOW TO'S
Want to learn every productivity feature? Click over to our Todo Cloud
product features page. For now, here are a few features.

CREATE CUSTOM SMART LISTS

SmartLists are virtual folders organizing tasks based on search filters so you can cut
across everything in Todo Cloud to see just those tasks that matter right now. Once
created, Smart Lists are always gathering tasks so you can build your workflow around
them.

Every user account begins with standard SmartLists that can be customized or
duplicated and changed so you can create your own.

Included Smart Lists (a selection of the total)

 “Important” – Any task that is marked with a star is included. This organizes
your most important tasks in one place independent of List.
 “Next seven days” – Any task that is due in the next seven calendar days. This
creates a near-term view of upcoming tasks.
 “Assigned to you” – any task to which you are assigned. This is very helpful
 when you have tasks and lists shared with other people like a spouse or
teammate.

Custom Smart List Examples

Lists also allow you to create custom lists based on multiple task attributes like the
following:

 Tasks with Certain Tags – You could create a Smart List including all tasks with
the “Personal” tag.
 Tasks with Priorities – You could create a Smart List including all tasks that are
“high” priority.
 Overdue Shared Tasks – You could create a Smart List across all tasks that are
less than a week overdue and that are assigned to you.
 Recurring Tasks for Current Quarter – You can limit your future view of tasks
to a defined time-frame and task type.
 Tasks With Near Term Dates – Some users want to limit their view of future
tasks until they are 2 weeks from being due. Yes this eliminates you spending
mental time on a task until within that window.
 All Projects – You can view tasks by task type including ‘checklists’, and
‘projects’.
 Tasks assigned to a specific person.
 Tasks with or without task details (e.g. start / due dates).

TAGS
You can assign tags to a task, checklist or project as a way of organizing to-dos.

You can assign multiple tags to a task.

Tags can be added to a task from the task-edit screen or via the quick menu.

Tags give you control of how to categorize your tasks and lists.

Here are some tag categories often used:

People (e.g. Abdul, Mary, Juan, Sariah)

Projects (e.g. Product launch, Home Renovation, Trip Planning)
Activities (e.g. personal, volunteer, work)
Locations (e.g. home, office, school)
Time (e.g. 2019Q1, 2019-23-10)
Process (Step 1, Phase 2, Draft 3)
Teams (Marketing, Sales, Engineering)
Create your tags

Open Todo Cloud. Create a task. Click on the tag icon to add your keyword. See it
selected. That's it. Nothing more to do. Your tags are auto saved.

14-DAY PRODUCTIVITY CHECKLIST

Download Todo Cloud on all your devices.

Unload all the tasks from your mind into Todo Cloud.

Assess your productivity. Consider productivity challenges & solutions.

Create a daily productivity plan. Set goals and map them to lists.

Learn about the GTD productivity system. Choose a daily workflow.

Tackle procrastination and interruptions. Implement sprint workflows.

Adjust your Todo Cloud default settings for new tasks. Create a smartlist. Add details to
existing tasks (location alerts, reminders, tags).

Learn about Success Orientations.

Take the 4 Tendencies Quiz. Consider an accountability partner.

Get authentic feedback by joining/forming a MasterMind group.

Better understand how to set or break habits.

Join The Productivity Hackers group on LinkedIn.

Create a task in mere seconds using Siri, or Google Assistant.

Share a task or list with another person.

Productivity Problems
Another insight from our survey were the top reasons people aren't as productive as
they'd like to be in this order.

1. Interruptions

2. Low Motivation

3. Lack of Time

4. Disorganization

5. Forgetfulness

HACK #1 - THE TWO FOR ONE

Increase your productivity by pairing thinking tasks with non-thinking ones. Here are
some examples:

 Treadmill walking while reading or catching up with your emails using a laptop
computer stand.
  Folding laundry or getting dressed for the day while listening to podcasts or audio
books or taking a phone call.
 Making hands-free phone calls while walking.
 Eating while reading.

Now let's clarify our two-for-one hack by busting the multi-tasking myth.

Here it is . . .

Our brains just can't do two 'thinking tasks' at once.

It just cannot be done. I know you are saying, but I've done it and others say they can
do it too. Yes, there is a qualifier to our statement here and we'll get to it, but stick with
us for a moment more.

Scientists and researchers are among the many sources who validate that this idea
can't be done including McGill University Psychology Professor, Daniel Levitin.

Okay, so here is the qualifier. What some call multi-tasking is actually rapid focus

shifting that depletes the brain of chemicals we need to concentrate.

So, yes, what may feel like multi-tasking is actually rapid shift-tasking, but this effort is
not productive. Apart from the individual impact depleting us of energy to be creative,
and impairing our listening, shift-tasking creates huge team inefficiences when a poor
listener tries to cover their shift-tasking with a distracted answer or asks that information
be repeated.

For too long multi-tasking has been praised. It shouldn't be. Focus should be.

Do us a favor and help us reset team cultures the world over. 'Being present,' focusing,
and listening are characteristics that we should engender.

HACK #2 - VALUE YOUR TIME

What is your time worth on an hourly basis. Figure it out and then trade off decisions
based on whether you have more time or money.

You choose. And if you have more money than time, consider hiring help.

New business models like TaskRabbit or Upwork have created opportunities. We

really like the work of Thomas Friedman whose work describes the leveling of
competition across the globe because of technology advances.

Be cautious not to make loved ones feel like they aren't worth your time.
HACK #3: JUST SAY NO. REALLY, DO IT
To get stuff done that matters, say no to things that don't.

Here are a few ideas applying the principles of James Clear, productivity author.

Say no to meetings unless you know your role.

Get the meeting agenda and ask to join just for your part.
Request to not be cc'd on information-only email threads.

Hard to do, yes it is, but liberating it also is.

Spend time to explain your actions so others don't take offense.

HACK #4: GO FOR A WALK

Great thinkers have long gone to nature to unplug and discover great insight. Florence
Williams, author of The Nature Fix has studied the relationship of great thinkers with
nature concluding:

More time outside can increase productivity.

The sounds of nature quiet the mind. William's studies show that merely gazing at green
landscapes reduces anxiety and replaces stress with calmness. And calm is the fertile
soil where ideas grow and productivity can increase thereafter making up for time taken
on the walk.

So, next time you cannot focus, take a walk in the nearest park with greenery.

If you liked these tips, join The Productivity Hackers group, a private LinkedIn group
where we share for more actionable hacks. Join us. It is free.

TASKS - SET LOCATION ALERTS

The task recurrence lets you set a repeating cycle for tasks.

The difference between repeating on completion date or from due date is material.

Completion Date

This setting is best for flexible dates like exercise or meditation, prayer or reading.

When you complete a task, its new due date is calculated from the moment you
complete the task.
For example when you create a task with the repeat option of Every Week and the due
date of a task is tomorrow, but you don’t complete the task for 4 days, then the 2nd task
will be set 7 days from completion or 11 days from today.

Due Date

This setting is best for non-negotiable fixed dates like the trash removal or 2x reporting.

When you choose the due date, Todo Cloud creates tasks for every subsequent
recurring task.

If a recurring task based on due date is missed, the tasks will stack up and require you
to dismiss each of them.

For example when you create a task with the repeat option Every Week and the due
date of a task is tomorrow, the new due date would be one week from tomorrow.