Thank you for continuing to read our posts! We endeavor to continue creating content for you to view, and hopefully is useful to your life! In this post, we’re focusing on an interesting app that is native to the Mac and iOS platforms called 2Do. This app has become an integral part of our workflow for the past few years now, so we thought it would make sense to share with you our experiences thus far. We hope that you enjoy it, and we welcome your feedback!
Just recently, we were involved with not one, but 5 events, each of which were spread out successively over time, and in order to manage it all, we used the 2Do app! Kudos to the makers of 2Do (check them out at http://www.2doapp.com), as they have done a great job of continuously updating their app! Thus far, one of the best things about this app was that they placed “Start Dates” and “Due Dates” on the same level….
What does this mean for you? Well, for a long time, we’ve been researching a series of articles on the topic of “Getting Things Done,” and for the most part, all of them have been giving a “general overview” of what the topic is, but no one has given a “guide” on just “how” to use them properly! So, this post aims to do that very thing: This is to give you a “starting point” on how to properly use an app that helps you to “get things done.” Since we have been using 2Do heavily for quite some time, and because of the fact that we were able to get through 5 major events over a 4-day period using this app, we now can give you a good place to start! Here goes:
Organize Your Life
First, what is it that you would like to track? The key to using an app such as 2Do is to first organize your life. Quite simply, most of us have both a “Work” and “Personal” life. Our “Work” (which, in this case, is called a “Category”) consists of our job or business, and within this are our “Lists” of things that we need to get done during a particular day or week. Within the “Lists” are our series of “Tasks.” So, below is a “basic outline” of how these things could be broken down:
Business (this is the Category)
Client #1 (this is the List)
- Project: Video Creation Activity (10/20)
- Begin creation of video
- Import footage
- Etc., etc.
Client #2
- Checklist: Image Post-Processing (10/20)
- Post-process images
- Export images to respective folders
- Upload images to Facebook
- Upload images to Twitter
- Etc., etc.
Client #3
- Complete Website Design
- Receive Final Payment for Website Design
- Launch Website
- Send email to client requesting a Testimonial
- Etc., etc.
So, basically, so that you can see a “visual” of how this looks in 2Do, below is a screenshot:
So, as you can see, our “Category” in the screenshot above is “HIM,” and our “List” is “Ministry.” Within that List is our “Checklist.” (Caught it yet?) According to the makers of 2Do, with Checklists, you can assign a Start Date and a Due Date to your Checklist. On the other hand, with their “Projects” feature, you can assign Start Dates and Due Dates within the Project…. Best of all, you can easily customize it however you’d like. If you desire to have your Clients listed in one List, you can do that; on the other hand, if you would like to have your Clients separate from each other, you can do that too….
Now, if you were able to “catch” what was said above (which was a mouthful!), you will actually begin to understand how to use the app! Basically, whenever we have an event, we usually create it in the form of a Project, as this dynamic allows us to set Start Dates and Due Dates for the various things that are due. For instance, if we have to cover a Wedding, we create a Project for that, and within the Project, we can set our Start and Due dates and times respectively (such as at 4:00pm, the wedding starts; at 5:00pm, the wedding reception starts, etc.). And best of all, we can get very detailed with this, setting even the times (to the minute!) when the bride is supposed to walk down the aisle, when the Groom is supposed to enter with the Officiant, and SO much more….).
On the other hand, when we have a “list” of tasks that correspond to a particular thing that we have to get done for a client (such as Website Updates), we set those things in a Checklist. From there, we’re able to place the specific tasks in there, and for the Checklist itself, we can set a Start Date/Time and a Due Date/Time to the Checklist….
Make sense?? In essence, these features that we’ve described above have helped us to get through some of the most complex projects put forth by clients! At the same time, we’re able to not just balance our work life in here, but also our personal life as well, all within one app. And best of all, on the iOS version of 2Do, the native Calendar feature of iOS is built in, so as you’re using the app, you can easily swipe left to the Calendar view, where you can even input your Calendar dates and times!….
Hopefully this gives you a better idea of how to Get Things Done! Again, I welcome your feedback, so feel free to leave your comments below!
Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen….