Ask HN: How do you manage your plans and projects? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you manage your plans and projects?

6 pointsdictum3 comments

Recently I noticed that my work routine is very disorganized. This leads to some anxiety and distraction. I mainly used (or tried to use) to-do lists and sometimes sheets of paper with instructions and notes about current projects. Lately I've become worried about my lack of organization and how it has affected my long term plans. After reading Stefan's post yesterday[1], I decided to end this source of anxiety and design something that suits my needs better than current project management software does, and maybe solves someone else's problems.

I'm specially frustrated by the fact that most of these apps, when they're not glorified to-do lists, are focused on collaboration. I mostly work alone, and it's keeping track of my own work, not my interactions with other people, that frustrates me the most.

I dislike to do lists because they always seem to require me to know exactly what to do—but most of the time I don't know what I have to do. I figure it out as I go. So, I start a to do list and quickly give it up.

How do you organize your ideas, projects and plans for the future?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5390138

I use a notebook, and a nice Pilot G-2 pen with a Mont-Blanc cartridge in it (a hack). That's all. Everything goes into the notebook. I plan each day the day before, and next week on Friday. I have monthly goals (flexible) that are defined at the start of last month (meaning that my March goals where defined on the start of February). The same for tri-mesters, and years. I also have a five year plan, but its mostly a simple statement of where I'd like to be.

Here is an example:

Today at 5:00 pm, I will sit down and write what I have to do tomorrow in order to get to my weekly goal. Say: build tests, finish writing some class, deploy to server, etc. That way, when I start tomorrow morning at 9:00 am sharp, I simply start doing whats on the list. No need to get settled. Just log in and code.

Thanks for your reply! Your method is simple enough to work well without becoming tiring over time, but I wonder: would you want to change it somehow? Would you use software (specifically, a web app) instead of paper?

How do you keep goals "coordinated" (for lack of a better metaphor in a paper-based system) between days, weeks, months and trimesters? For instance, if something new appears or if something doesn't happen as expected, does it interfere in your project? Do you just rip the page off and start writing a new one, or is it as simple as striking stuff that's no longer valid?

Do you have any difficulty to know what tasks you should write down for the next day, or for the week?

Do you work on multiple projects at a time?

0. No, I would not change it. At this point, I'e tried everything, and this works for me.

1. I tried software. It does not work for me because the act of writing down the plan helps me think about it.

2. I keep them coordinated by visiting my longer term goals every week.

3. I always plan from a negative point of view. Meaning that I work as if the worst case scenario is the most likely thing to happen.

4. I never rip pages. Everything I write can be useful for future plans. I actually have notebooks dating back to more than 5 years. Full of business lessons and plans from back then. They are worth their weight in gold. :)

5. I dont have a difficulty picking over tasks. Planning with the worst case scenario as the default makes that easy.

6. Yes. Right now I'm working on a professional project for a client (really huge project), and Nuuton (personal project). I also do business development consulting.

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