Organising your work/To do lists

[Theldron]

Hi all,

 

Hope you are well.

 

I am taking on more responsibilities in my role, so need to get myself more organised than I normally am.

 

I try to maintain lists of jobs, but I usually end up working from memory, emails or fly of the seat of my pants (a pantser).

 

Thing is I can't carry on like this. Does anyone recommend a M365 app that helps them stay organised? I have tried To Do, but I know there is also Lists, Planner, Loop etc.

 

This is just for me, I don't have a team.

 

Thanks

[Olliedawg]

Probably better options but I just use OneNote, works well for me. I'm not in a Team either so no need to share with anyone.

 

I have various tabs for Todo, reminders etc..

[Oaktech]

I use Google Keep for my own notes but MS ToDo for work stuff.

[TechMonkey]

I like using MS Planner, as you can group and label items and keep notes to yourself about where you are at.

[PotNoodleTech]

I use google keep for daily notes. Realistically if you want to organise your workload properly you need to implement an IT helpdesk so that all jobs go on the system for you to see. You should theoretivcally never miss a job then!

[Cat_Jam148]

I use Microsoft Lists for our job log here. Works great.

 

Even got Power Automate running so that if there's a specific job which requires a calendar reminder, just tick a box and enter the date, that job is then added to the IT calendar.

 

Filtering is set so that any job marked completed, is moved from the main view to the completed tab. Helps keep things decluttered.

[NegativeKillDeath]

Admittedly we had 3 in the department but we had a ticketing system for incoming jobs (self hosted Manage Engine Service Desk). For internal we had a M365 group, Teams for coms when one of us worked from home. Sharepoint for our documentation, Planner for internal works, Lists for change logs, Onenote for brainstorming. It worked well for us and even if I was a lone staff member I'd set up something similar so that the IT stuff was separate from my account.

[ThomL]

To Do is integrated with Outlook, I can reply to an email confirming action with a user then click to To Do Icon and add a task/reminder to one of my lists of things I have yet to do...

 

It's rather simple, it can do some fancier things like shared to do lists, adding due dates and sub items - but I mainly use it as an overall place to store jobs I need to do, three lists (short, medium & long term items to complete), management meeting agenda items (single shared list that multiple people can tweak), and random reminders. Better than the tons of postits or trying to keep track in a notepad. The items also make a satisfying DING when you check them off as complete.

 

Work flow for me day to day it check email for actionable, check helpdesk, check To Do, rinse, repeat.

 

I find it just easy enough to use and maintain, just functional enough that it's useful and just accessible enough that I can easily access it (from Outlook) without much hassle - so I use it.

 

Might work for you too?

[PotNoodleTech]

I use Microsoft Lists for our job log here. Works great.

 

Even got Power Automate running so that if there's a specific job which requires a calendar reminder, just tick a box and enter the date, that job is then added to the IT calendar.

 

Filtering is set so that any job marked completed, is moved from the main view to the completed tab. Helps keep things decluttered.

 

Oo that sounds interesting I need to look at microsoft lists. Training course, er I mean Youtibe here we come!!

[TechMonkey]

It may be a step too far at the moment but I would also try, or have an eye on, making whatever you do expandable or shareable. If you get a new teammate (however unlikely you may think that is) you don't have to completely re-engineer your solution or if the worse happens to you your current departmental situation is laid out to whoever has to pick up the pieces.

 

If you are on your own, maybe look at something like FreshDesk that gives 2 free licenses, to allow you to get on the Ticket bandwagon. This would also enable you to better document what you are doing and how you are spending your time/resources to manglement

[dhicks]

Does anyone recommend a M365 app that helps them stay organised?

 

We use Trello - we use our Google accounts to login, but I'm pretty sure it handles Microsoft accounts too. I find the "Kanban" style layout of items very useful - you can arrange items into columns, and re-arrange the order of items by simply clicking and dragging. We use to paid-for version so we can handle incoming emails and use it as a helpdesk betwen three people, but for a single user I think the free tier is still very usable.