A reader recently suggested that I write about my workflow as a developer, as well as some of the software that we use to manage projects. I like this topic because, like most of you I’m sure, I am constantly trying to improve productivity. But I don’t think I have a great answer to it. And I don’t think any of the software tools out there have fully solved the work/project management problem, for any kind of project.

We all live in our inbox and our calendar. Over the years, I, as well as the companies I have worked for, have tried a number of different document management (building things creates lots of documents) and work management tools. None of them really stuck, other than 

I know people who have elaborate flagging/tagging systems within their inbox. I flag things, but I don’t find the time dimension strong enough. Lately I have instead become is a prolific archiver. As soon as an email has been actioned, I archive it so it’s gone and it is clearer what I have left to address. If there’s further follow-up, I’ll add it to my calendar as a task or enter it into Asana (more on this later).

I like adding tasks to my calendar and sending meeting invites (sorry) because there’s a time dimension to it and it creates a greater sense of urgency. I also try to be very disciplined about digitally filing everything. There’s no magic to this other than creating lots of date stamped folders organized by discipline. When a set of drawings come in, they go into a folder under the appropriate discipline (architecture, planning, structural, and so on). This is way better than searching through an inbox trying to find what you need.

We kno

Email. Calendar. 

Box. Asana. 

Google Drive.

S

MS Project

Project management tools