Working Calmly — The sjTasks Blog
How to run projects without the noise — from the sjTasks team.
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Developers and clients think differently
The same piece of work is two conversations. A task tool that joins them has to know which words belong to whom, and let nothing cross by accident.
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What a task is
One unit of work, one owner, one due date. Why "Redesign the site" is not a task, and what to write down instead.
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Compound tasks are how work gets lost
The word "and" in a task title is the tell. Split it into two tasks, or admit it is a project, before it sits half-done for a month.
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Subtask or new project?
A subtask only makes sense inside its parent. A project is something a client asks about by name. Here is how to tell which one you have.
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How to structure a project
A name, a key, the first ten tasks, and who is watching. Task lists only when you have phases. Everything else can wait.
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Estimates without a timer
Hours typed by hand beat a stopwatch nobody remembers to stop. What "are we over estimate?" tells you about how you price work.
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Questions, not reports
What did Sandy finish last week? What is on Joe's plate? Who is overloaded before Friday? Ask the question; do not build the report.
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Clients in the room
The status email is a symptom. What changes when the client can see the plan, and why the line between seeing and steering is the whole design.
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The Monday email
What a daily summary email has to carry so you do not have to open the app to know whether your week is in trouble.
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Complexity you switch on
Time tracking, tags and task lists stay out of the way until the day you need them — and when something is off, its fields are not there.
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Moving off a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a fine task list until the second person and the second client. What it does well, when it stops, and what to carry across.
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