Recommend Time Management/Project Management Software???

I'm looking to try using some kind of software package to help organize my daily, weekly, monthly activities better.

Something free or cheap would be nice.

Able to work with long term and short term planning of activities.

Can anyone recommend anything while I'm off looking blindly in Google for something.

 

Looking for anything in particular? Outline software? Checklist software? Where do you intend to use it? Desktop? Laptop? Palm Pilot?

There is a great program for the Palm/PC called Shadowplan. It allows customization with selectable fields that show for priority, due date, etc. Ties in with the date book as well.

You can find it at codejedi.com

 

I dont know what i'm looking for. I've never used one so I have no idea what's available.

This looks cool => http://www.dotproject.net

 

I like that software too. Shadow isn't as business focused, it is more personal. What do you like about dotproject and what do you not like?

 

Hi,
You can try DevPlanner http://devplanner.com. I'm not sure if it helps you much with long term planning, but for day and week planning it looks very good.

Alex.

 

google calendar is the best!

 

Just been playing with this for past couple hours. I like It. May suit my needs till I get used to using something to help stay organized and become disciplined to continue to use it.

 

dotproject

http://www.dotproject.net/ this system rocks and runs on PHP mysql ..

Tod K :0)

 

You can try Achieve Planner. It's not free, but it's pretty good if it suits your way of thinking & planning.

http://www.effexis.com/achieve/planner.htm

 

I recommend "http://www.backpackit.com/" it's free and simple.

when it comes down to time management/project management, it is 95% directly dependent on the person, the 5% software/tool will only help those who are already organize im my opinion. those who are not organize, will only make a mess of the tool/software they chose to use, therefore making life more complicated.

that was my experience when I thought there was a magic tool that could organize everything

hope the backpackit is something you are looking for, if it is, green a rep for me! =)

 

you can install http://www.activecollab.com/ for free (opensource) and it's basically a rip of backback but in PHP instead of Ruby.

I like www.smrty.com they've got a free version account level as well as paid ones, it's a little more simple than backpack and activecollab, but it integrates billing with I like and the "timer" function let's you track things actively while you're working on them

 

http://www.activecollab.com has no calender
http://www.backpackit.com/ calender does not do daily and weekly views

Google calender + Google Docs and Spreadsheets seems to fit my bill nicely.

 

For todo management i am using todo manager plugin of google desktop. And for time tracking i developed a simple alarm clock which alarms when a specified period passes but i am not using it currently

 

I have been asking the same question. I have been starting to make my own.

http://www.iprioritize.com is cool - but does not go very deep yet

 

Good for you! If i was a programmer I would build my own too.

 

I use http://www.phprojekt.com/

 

If you are looking more toward organizing thoughts rather than project management, why not check out free mind - it is a free mind mapping software product.

JMb <><

 

If you go down the route of Mind Mapping to help personal organisation - combining Mindmanager (mind mapping software) and Biggerplate.com (hosts lots of personal organisation mind maps and templates) can be very effective.

 

I would definitely suggest Replicon's easy to use time management software which is a simple cloud based solution and has got nice calendar view interface with robust features. And I completely agree by what all TopTenReviews.com says about it - bit.ly/Oxkqf0

 

Hi Axemedia

I think I may definitely have the answer for you!

Use the Getting Things Done method of David Allen together with Evernote. And you can certainly do it for free. There is a paid version of Evernote, but the free version has most features anyway and certainly enough to make this work.

Since I started using this method to manage my time I have never looked back. It is easy to implement and highly effective in practice.

I am a long-term admirer of Getting Things Done but I never really got it to work hundred percent for me. Until, that is, I combined it with using Evernote. Again, I am a long-term use of Evernote but it was only six months ago that I transformed my work life by combining the two in a time management system.

I am currently creating a 25 video training series on exactly how best to implement the system. There are some other trainings out there, but mine will not only be easy to understand but is also specifically aimed at the very small business, or one man band.

I will be posting a more comprehensive explanation of my system on Digital Point soon, for the benefit of all members. But here is a summary, and then I will link to other people who are making use of this valuable combination to manage their time.

Achieve Planner: As a side note, one poster mentions Achieve Planner. This program can be used to implement Getting Things Done and I have used it extensively in several different configurations to do just that. But it's just too complex: once I swapped to using Evernote for time and task management I found it 10 times easier to use this system and to track all my To-dos. And it was super-quick to implement.

GTD: The basic idea with Getting Things Done is that you get all of your tasks, or to dos, written down in a trusted system. So, for example, you don't keep anything in your memory. Write it down. Secondly, you only write down specific actions on your task list. So, rather than: "buy a new computer", which involves several steps, you would just write the first action down, perhaps: "decide on the specification I want for a new computer".

Then: "buy a new computer", is written down not on your task list, but on another list you maintain called: "active projects". Okay, it's not a big project but, being a collection of tasks, it is found to be most convenient to regard it as a project, for the purpose of putting it on your project list. It's best to have it somewhere so you don't forget it.

Evernote: Now, each of your tasks becomes a separate note in Evernote. And each task is tagged to show its urgency. I use the tags Now, Next, Soon, Later, and Someday/Maybe. Each task has one tag.

My Now tasks are the things I intend to do today, or very soon. I keep around 5 to 8 tasks in this category. My Next tasks are obviously the things I intend to do next. But, during the day, I will be glancing at Now as well as Next and may well move tasks from one to the other as the mood takes me and as circumstances change.

I'll have maybe 10 or 12 items in my Next category. In Soon I have maybe 20 items, and so on ending up with "all the rest" in Someday/Maybe.

Once tagged, I only have to look at my Now and maybe my Next category for most of the day. To do this with Evernote is easy - all my tasks are in a notebook called "Tasks", so I just click on this notebook and then the Now tag.

If you are familiar with Getting Things Done you will recognise the elements from that system in this method.

I hope that gives you a flavour of how conveniently Evernote can be combined with GTD. It has been a revelation for me and it is something I will be definitely teaching to my members at HeyMalc.

Here are some links to some people who are combining these two brilliant systems for time management purposes:

Free resources:
http://ruudhein.com/evernote-gtd
http://www.40tech.com/2009/08/25/getting-things-done-gtd-in-evernote-with-only-one-notebook/
http://www.attorneymarketing.com/20...ers-get-organized-and-get-things-done-part-3/

And my favourite (except they miss out how to handle projects):
http://thesecretweapon.org/

Also, the best known independent author on the topic of Evernote is Daniel Gold. He sells a book for just $5. He also implements GTD.
http://www.degconsulting.net/evernote.html

On my own blog I have Top Ten Tips for time management which highlight some additional points which I use together with my use of Evernote and GTD.

I hope this is useful and that you follow up on my recommendation of using Evernote plus GTD which is quick to implement, effective in use, and which can give you complete confidence that you are working on the most important thing right now, and that you have overlooked nothing.

I have tried every time management system going over the years and, for me, nothing comes close to the method I have - briefly - described here.

Malc