Planning your tasks

Context

In this post, I will present tasks planning and discuss how you should consider them in your work schedule. I hope that, when you finish reading this, you will be able to start a new efficient way of integrating your tasks into your professional agenda.

Capacity planning system (for tasks)?

This is the moment where I need to manage your expectations: Microsoft Outlook Tasks does not have any capacity planning system!

I am assuming the risk of losing your attention, but let me explain, please!

The capacity planning system Microsoft Outlook has for their tasks is the same as (in the "world "of Production Management) called infinite capacity. In other words, the computer does not perform any capacity management calculations; instead, it places the responsibility for planning its allocation on the human being. For example, if we have a list of 30 tasks to complete in a single day, and each task takes 1 hour, the computer system (or, in this case, Microsoft Outlook Tasks) allows you without any constraint. We (human beings) are responsible for defining the order and planning our tasks, as a manual operation.

But... why do we need it... if we won't get any "automated" help from the computer? First of all, it is very important for you to identify the tasks and evaluate the time needed to complete them. This is a process that helps you validate, recorrencely, the real needs of each task. We need to "dig" into our subjects and evaluate the time needed to execute them... and, only after, plan when to start. If you miss this step, you'll probably pick the first one you see on the list or the one someone is asking you at a certain moment.

Estimate first!

OK, let's continue! I think it will become clear in the next paragraphs.

One of the main steps to plan your tasks is to define an estimate for the execution of each task. In this post, I will use the minute as the estimate unit for work, but you could choose hours or days, for example. In Agile environments, you will hear Story points as the unit to estimate your work.

It seems simple... but it requires some persistence! If you ask someone (from your team) to estimate a task you will probably hear "I don't know", "I don't have all the variables", "It depends", etc, etc. It takes some time to refine your estimate technic. I am sure you will fail (a lot!) the first times but, with experience, you will become more accurate.

In my case, I'm not worried about knowing exactly how many minutes it will take to complete a task... but I need to have a figure! Usually, I use intervals to help me. For example, tasks that take less than 15 minutes to perform, I define as an estimate of 15 minutes. And, above this, I try to estimate using an "integer" number (1, 2, 3...). This is enough to help me organize my agenda.

And... where should I register this information? As presented in my second post, you can create a user field to record this data; but I advise you not to do it! Although you can include user fields as columns on your task list, I prefer to include them in the description of the task (that way it is always visible on your apps without any additional configurations or possible restrictions). Usually, I include the estimate "inside" parenthesis in the description; in the case of less than 15 minutes, I don't include anything. But you can follow the assumption that suits you best. For example, in the below image, tasks signed with a red arrow have an estimate of more than 15 minutes.

Planning your tasks for a day, week, etc...

The next step is to plan our work! In my case, I evaluate the due date and importance of my tasks (and since I have the estimate for each) I have the tools to "handle this puzzle", which is allocating each task for a certain period or day.

But there is one thing that we are forgetting: How about my work calendar? If you have an agenda like mine, you will have dozens of meetings in which your presence is requested and will impact your task planning. But how can we manage this?!

How can I "mix" my task list with my work calendar?

I think I can help you!

You will need to make the following decision: What is the estimated time you assume as the limit to "transform" your task into an appointment on your calendar? Because since that task will take you time, you must reserve it on your work calendar.

Let me share how I do it! In my case, tasks with an estimate lower than 15 minutes remain as tasks; the others will become appointments in my calendar. Let's assume the following table from the assumptions I follow:

And how do I create an appointment from a task?

We have good news from Microsoft! ;)

You can access your Microsoft Calendar and click on the View tab. Select the "Daily Task List" option as presented in the image below:

For now on, Microsoft Calendar will include a bar at the bottom with the task list (distributed by each day according to the due date of the task). And, as presented in the image below, you can drag & and drop a task to your calendar, "becoming" an appointment. Simple as that!

Be aware that, when performing this drag and drop:

• The task will remain on your task list;
• Any changes you make to the appointment (like the due date or even delete it), won't make any impact on your task.

Next post

In this post, I have focused on estimating and planning your Tasks from Microsoft Outlook. I have also explained my criteria to "transform" a task into an appointment. I hope you enjoyed it and, somehow, enlightened you on searching and applying a strategy to plan your tasks. Feel free to leave some comments.

In the next post, I will share some additional variables (from my personal experience) that might help you plan and execute your tasks.

Stay tuned!