I’m always interested in learning how teams work within companies including tools they recommend. Methodologies like Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen has been great for me (I don’t follow it completely but did take several pieces from it). Today I had an entrepreneur shoot me an email and ask about project management software, so I wanted to share some tool ideas for both tasks and projects.
Tasks and Projects:
- Email – make a special folder to put action items in
- Google Spreadsheets – this is my favorite when it is something simple and I don’t want much overhead
- GQueues – good for task management with tight Google Calendar integration
- Basecamp – great for lightweight project management that just works
Of course, tasks and projects aren’t the same thing, so this list is just a starting point. My advice is to try out several tools and start using one to make your startup more productive.
What else? What other tools do you recommend for tasks and projects?
David Cummings on Startups 
Hi David,
I’m a micro-business (just me) manager (counselling/psychotherapy/training etc.) nearing the end of my first year in private practice outside of community & government organisations (Australia). I appreciate any information about how to get organised and stay up to date with emails in particular! I’ll try out your suggestions….thanks, Mala.
todoist is great but doesn’t seem to have been updated in a long time.
Google spreadsheets are great for the same reason that you mentioned, low overhead. I also like SlimTimer to track time on projects. Very easy to use.
For personal tasks, I like the Gmail Task feature. Especially the ability to quickly set email followup reminders within Gmail.