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Alessandra Anyzewski
Alessandra Anyzewski

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As a SWE, I prefer to plan my tasks using paper

Every day is the same routine: sip a cup of coffee while trying not to be late for the first work meetings in the day. And as long as I have at least 15 minutes available in this meanwhile, I work in a very specific question: what do I have to come up with today so my day is successful?
Argh, not easy. First of all, there are the tasks I wasn't able to accomplish yesterday and usually they get into the zero priorities without invitation. Then.. usually no space left. But I always believe that my highest potential workforce will make it possible not only to finish all delayed tasks but also invest on my health, do the housework, all regular duties AND 5 new tasks that I have not started yet. That's the recipe for finding yourself completely anxious at 9am.

Just being drifted by the work that comes up is not a good strategy to reach your goals, so I have always been a huge fan of thinking proactively about what I expect to evolve in myself for the next x amount of time. That has brought me to a place I really never thought I would be. However, since I changed my job to work in a software company, I could not avoid the anxiety: lots to do, lots to learn, many possibilities..
I have always loved to organize myself into task lists, but it felt crazy. My favorite app in the past days was Todoist: great usability, amazing set of free features, and very reliable. BUT, the number of projects kept increasing, the backlog lists were overwhelming and starting the day or week was torturing. I felt like I was not progressing at all (even though this feeling was totally unfair to my results).

Afterwards, I changed to use one of the bests technologies ever: paper. Planning became slooow, in a good way. It was not anymore about filtering a never ending list already charging me in the app. It was about filling a beautiful paper with my never ending dreams, using my amazing colorful pens (that I have postponed buying for years and now brings me so much joy).
I use colors for tagging different goals: self care, family, work, love life.. and I use a pencil for tasks that I need to do but are not aligned with my life goals.
At Sundays I just throw the past week paper away, and have the great feeling of a fresh start again. I guess that is how life is supposed to be taken.

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saviofelixmuniz profile image
saviofelixmuniz

Awesome! I love planning tasks and it's always great to see different ways of doing so. The beauty of simplicity ๐Ÿ˜