T is for Tags.

I apologise to anyone who only uses pen and paper to track their to-do lists, because T's subject is only useful for computerized to-do list applications. However, I think it's such an important and useful part of a computer-based solution that you lo-fi (and if paper works best for you then stick with it) system users will have to bear with me.

I may be biased, given that I've written and use a tag-based online to-do list app, but I believe that the ability to tag your tasks is one of the most important features when it comes to managing your tasks.

S is for Slope.

This is a technique I picked up ages ago for helping you to get the day off to a good start. It gives you a quick slug of momentum to build upon and ensure that you get your work off on the right foot.

Do you find that it's tricky to get started on your to-do list in the morning? You're still waking up, and there's always the temptation to check your email... make that pot of coffee... catch up on the gossip with your co-workers...

R is for Recharge.

One of the problems of keeping everything you have to do in your system is that there's always something more that you could do. Being more productive is one thing, but working yourself into an early grave is something entirely different. It's important to find time, however many things are left on your to-do list, to take a break from work and recharge your batteries.

Please note, though, that this entry is recharge, not relax. Finding a way to relax is a great way to recharge, but if you'd rather blow the cobwebs away charging down a twisty singletrack on your mountain bike, or get the adrenalin pumping cheering on your football team, then that's fine. Just get away from the daily grind.

Sadly I don't mean "complete things accidentally" in the sense of "whoops, I've just finished that 10,000 word essay... I didn't mean to do that until next week..."

No, I just mean your tasks in tedium. Every now and then I click on the wrong "Completed" button, and something that's still waiting to be done now has a line through it.

We're a quarter of the way through the year already! It doesn't feel that long ago that I was writing about the Annual Productivity Report for 2007, but the Productivity Reports for January through March have just been generated.

If you're a tedium user you should have received an email telling you about the report, or you can just log into your account and choose the "My Reports" link at the top or bottom of the page.

Q is for Questions.

Okay, I'll admit it: choosing a productivity topic for the letter Q wasn't the easiest of tasks.

However, when trying to pin down what you need to do, or how you should organize your work, it can be helpful to think through any of a number of generic questions. They don't always give you the answer directly, but help you to frame the issue differently and hopefully gain a new perspective on it.

P is for Procrastination.

Don't you just hate it when life imitates art? Or is it life imitating work? Either way, I was supposed to write this entry two days ago but have been putting it off. First it was because we had visitors and so I didn't get the undisturbed quiet time I need to write something; then I reasoned it was that I hadn't quite worked out how I was going to approach writing it; and finally I was busy doing other work which was just as important (although not quite as urgent).

There is some truth in all of these reasons, but the real reason that this entry wasn't posted on time is procrastination.

Of course, the irony wasn't lost on me that I was procrastinating about writing an article about how to beat procrastination. Maybe that's part of the problem - procrastinating is my biggest productivity vice. By far. So who am I to be telling you how to beat procrastination? I suppose if nothing else, I can sympathise with you.

O is for Organized.

Are you organized? Or are there little piles of paperwork scattered all around your desk and home? One of the best ways to get more done is to spend less time looking for it, and the only way to do that is to get organized.

You don't have to become a neat-and-tidy freak, aligning your laptop with a ruler so that it's perfectly parallel with the desk edge, but spending a little time working out a filing system will reap rewards when you're blitzing the tasks on your to-do list.

Late last night (although it was early this morning for her), I had an enjoyable chat with Celine Roque who writes about how to improve your working life with tips, tools and tricks over on Pimp Your Work.

We discussed a bit about what tedium is, how I came to write it, and also touched on my general philosophy for how I'm hoping to develop it in the future.

N is for Next.

You've just finished one of the tasks on your list. What is the next thing you need to do? Don't worry about whatever comes after that, or reviewing your entire to-do list each time you finish something. Review once, order the list, then bang-bang-bang work through it. You've already worked out what comes next, so when one item is complete, just move onto the next.

Otherwise you'll end up worrying about the order of things, and procrastinating by dithering over what your next task should be. When you're going back to the list isn't the time to decide on the order - that's something for when you're taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. Once you're working through the tasks you're just cranking widgets; the thinking about task order is done.