Like (I suspect) a lot of freelancers relatively new to the working world, I often struggle with setting and recording tasks for myself. This problem was exacerbated when the Pixel Foundry was formed… suddenly tasks and goals had to be shared between 2(+) people.

Now, I don’t really like using little cutesy apps for my task lists. I find I have an initial liking for the software, then gradually use it less and less until I’m back to writing To Do lists in my ubiquitous sketchbook.  Let me go over some simple things I’ve tried for project/task management:

1. Writing To Do lists in my sketchbook. I keep reverting to this like an old, old friend. Recently, I mistakenly left my sketchbook at a clients’ in North Van, and was unable to pick it up for a week. Obviously this system has flaws.

2. To Do lists in iCal. This works very very well ‘cos I can set reminders in iCal as well as deadlines, colour code categories, etc. iCal’s printed lists of weekly tasks and events are, easily, the best I’ve seen for free or OS software… they’re formatted, attractive, and readable. However, iCal will sync events to your iPhone, but not the To Do list. This needs to be remedied before the iCal app becomes useful to me.

3. EasyTask. This is an iPhone app I installed once I realized my poor iCal To Dos were AWOL on the iPhone. It gives you a great sense of satisfaction to be able to press a huge red (COMPLETE TASK) button. Like iCal’s To Dos, it lets you set deadlines and categories. This is probably the best of the iPhone (free) apps I tried for tasks. However, it’s on the iPhone only (for free), and my phone likes to run out of batteries. Clearly, I need a solution that works on more than my mobile device.

4. Various trials for paid software. I have a real aversion to paying for things, I have to admit. Hence my love of open-source code, bars without cover charges, and tasting samples at Costco. Of the paid software/systems out there for project management, the Action Method looked the most promising (for those of us who love paper and hate trees, they offer printed notebooks and pads that use the method.) Since my track record for actually using these things is pretty sad, there’s little to no chance I’m actually going to pay for task management software.

5. A whiteboard checklist. This is actually in use at one place I’ve worked at… similarly, this office didn’t accept that emails are better/more efficient than faxes, that computers have to be newer than 5 years old to run new software, and that floppy disks really weren’t the best way to backup data. I think I might’ve convinced them to switch to iCal, however.

Lately, I’ve been trying something that seems to work for me. Most importantly, it also works for Kelly and the Pixel Foundry. It’s Workable. That’s the name of this web-based project management software, currently in beta.

Workable allows you to create a page full of tasks and goals for your company. Rather than category based, it’s project based, which is perfect for a small design studio. You can create projects, “pin” important tasks to a urgent list, and assign tasks to projects.

Workable allows you to share things with your team members – or not, depending on who’s working on which project. I could see this being useful for studios with a few employees… if items aren’t assigned to you, they’re hidden from your view, so you can just focus on what you need to do.

Here’s how it works… after signup, you create a Workable “space” for your studio/company. This is your workspace, where you can control and view all tasks and projects. It’s a unique url you can access from any web browser – there’s no software download.

You can add people to your workspace by email address; from there they can sign up and contribute.

You create and add new projects in the sidebar, then invite team members to view/contribute to the project. From there you can add tasks.

A task is a short sentence, and they’re best kept to the point with an action word. Tasks are about DOING, they are not vague goals. A good task is “test this website in Internet Explorer BEFORE you give the client the testing URL.” A bad task is “finish this website” – too vague, overwhelming, and daunting.

In Workable, you give your task its sentence, but can add more information in an attached note. You can also apply labels to the task, helping to keep them sorted if you have a lot of tasks or team members. You can also “delegate” the task to someone and send them an email letting them know.

Pinning your task sticks it in the Pinned category. I use this for urgent stuff.

There’s also a possibility of logging time/hours on tasks, but I haven’t fully explored this since we have our own system for timekeeping.

Some things I’d like to see Workable do better:

• I’d like to see a listing of completed tasks; if only because it makes me feel better about my own progress on a project.
• I’d like to be able to delegate a task to more than one person at a time. Currently this is a drop down menu, allowing you to only delegate one name on the list.
• I’d like to assign deadlines to tasks with email reminders the day of.
• I’d like to link files to tasks. (I think the files functionality is currently in development.)
• I’d love an iPhone app. I can then review important tasks on transit to work and mentally plan my day before I even get into the office.

Workable is currently in beta, and therefore free. I hope it continues to be a free online app, rather than paid software – not because it’s not worth paying for (with more features, it would be worth it,) but because I think it’s a great tool for small companies/startups without a lot of money or desire for a complicated project management system. In the meantime I highly recommend you check it out!