How to Organize Tasks, Commitments, and Projects at Work using Notion (Part 2)

Effectively managing tasks, commitments, and projects is essential for maximizing productivity and achieving your goals.

Step 1: Setting the Table – Start with Clarity

The first principle is to "Set the Table," which emphasizes the importance of gaining clarity on your goals and priorities before diving into tasks.

1. Define Your Goals:Write down your top work-related goals. Be as specific as possible. For example:Increase sales by 20% this quarter, Launch a new product by the end of the month.
2. Identify Your Key Projects: Break Down your goals into specific tasks. For instance: the goal is launch a new product. Tasks: "Conduct market research," "Develop marketing materials," "Coordinate with suppliers."
3. Prioritize Tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize tasks that you should do immediately by the most urgent and important then the one that is not urgent and important, the key here is to prioritize all tasks by closed deadlines.

Step 2: Capture Everything – Building Your External Brain

Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain focuses on creating a reliable external system to store ideas, tasks, and commitments so you can free your mind. The "Second Brain" approach ensures nothing important slips through the cracks.

1. Capture Tasks and Ideas: Use a tool like Notion, Evernote, or a simple notebook to jot down all your tasks, commitments, and ideas as they arise, Don’t rely on your memory—your Second Brain will act as a trusted repository.
2. Clarify Commitments: For each task or idea, ask yourself: is this actionable? if yes, what is the next step? if no, should i save it for futur reference?
3. Create a tasks list: Maintain a master list of all active tasks. This list should reflect the goals you identified during the "Set the Table" step.

Step 3: Organize with PARA – Structure Your Work

The PARA system (Building a Second Brain) helps you organize information and tasks into four categories:

1. Projects: Specific, time-bound outcomes (e.g., "Prepare Q1 financial report").
2. Areas of Responsibility: Ongoing commitments (e.g., "Team management," "Marketing strategy").
3. Resources: Reference materials or information to support your work (e.g., market research reports, training guides).
4. Archive: Completed projects and inactive items.

Integrate the PARA system into your workflow to quickly locate information and stay organized.

Step 4: Tackle the most urgent and impotant task First

1. Review your tasks daily: Look at your active tasks and identify the critical tasks that must be completed to move them forward, order the tasks by the ones that is most urgent and important then move on to important not urgent, the key here is to classify them by close deadlines.
2. Use Time Blocks: Schedule focused time blocks to work on your tasks without distractions, for this you can apply ideas from the tutorial about how to manage time for tasks using Google Calendar and todoist task manager. Here is the link for it: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7274384004559040512/
3. Eliminate and Automate: Delegate or eliminate tasks that fall under the "D" and "E" categories in Eisenhower Matrix which is "the urgent not important" and "the not urgent not important".

Step 5: Reflect and Optimize

Regularly reviewing your system ensures it stays aligned with your goals.

1. Weekly review: Assess your progress on active tasks, Identify incomplete tasks and carry them forward to the next week and archive completed tasks to maintain a clean workspace.
2. Evaluate Priorities: Revisit your goals and priorities. Adjust your task list using the Eisenhower method to ensure you’re focusing on what matters most.
3. Refine your second brain: Organize your digital notes and files using the PARA framework, Delete or archive outdated information to keep your system streamlined.

Conclusion

By combining the principles of clarity and prioritization with the organizational framework of Building a Second Brain, you can create a robust system for managing tasks, commitments, and projects. Start by defining your goals and organizing your tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix. Then, build an external system (your Second Brain) to capture, organize, and reflect on your work. Finally, focus on tackling high-impact tasks first while continuously optimizing your system. This integrated approach ensures you stay productive, reduce stress, and achieve your objectives efficiently.