I used to use Outlook for my task-keeping, or more specifically a PDA syncing with Outlook. Recently I’ve switched to using an iPod Touch, which does not come with anything for making to do lists, let alone something that syncs with Outlook and is as helpful as what Windows Mobile uses.
Necessity, however, is the mother of invention. I’ve adopted to using Excel as my to do list, and I actually like it much better than what I used to use. Read on for details.
Outlook vs. Excel
I know, I know: if I can’t get my to do’s on my handheld, I might as well just use Outlook. However, I’ve never cared for Outlook’s large resource footprint. It causes the fan on my laptop to run constantly, which leads me to suspect it is indexing email content in the background.
Excel has a much smaller footprint, likely because it is not doing any indexing or trying to connect to the internet. It has worked much better as a background program.
The Timeline
I’m using Excel 2007, but most features should translate to older versions (though the specifics will vary a bit). From a new workbook, highlight everything using Ctrl+A. Then drag the column width until the cells are approximately square.
Put some dates or times across the top of the spreadsheet. An easy way to do this is to type 1, 2, and 3 into the first few cells, then highlight them. Click and drag the black box in the lower-left corner of the selection frame. This will continue the pattern as far as you want. I’ve expanded it out to 31 days.
Turn on “Snap to Grid” by going to the Page Layout tab and clicking Align on the far right. A menu will drop down with an option third from the bottom for snapping to grid. (Sadly, you will have to do this each time you open Excel. If somebody knows a way to make this the default, be sure to let me know.)
Now comes the magic. Not long ago I would have used merged cells to create tasks spanning several days. Text boxes, however, are much more flexible. Go to the Insert tab and select “Text Box” in the Text panel. Click on the grid at the beginning date and drag to the ending date. The text box will snap to the cell lines, creating a nice box to show that the task spans several days.
If the deadline moves up or back, it is easy to adjust the text box to reflect that. Merely select the box and drag the edge left or right accordingly. It will snap to the cell lines, giving a clean way to make adjustments.
Text boxes can also be moved easily. Suppose you had a project postponed until later this month. It is easy to simply select the text box and move it to the new dates without having to make sure the length of the project has stayed the same.
I prefer this for making my to do lists because it presents them in a visual way rather than merely as a list. I can see what is coming up and what I should be working on.
Further Suggestions
Here are some other techniques I’ve developed over the last few months:
- The default font size is a little big for the text box, so I generally make one I like and copy it, changing the text to what I want for the new task. I also give it a background color based on what the task is for.
- A completed task can have its transparency changed by right-clicking on it and selecting “Format Shape”. I generally go with 70% transparency for completed tasks.
- For tasks that are only applicable on a certain day, I tend to make their boxes white to distinguish them from regular projects.
- I tend to highlight columns (days) through today’s date. This gives an easy way to see where I should be looking. I also like to hide the columns for days long gone. They could just as easily be deleted. Both of these options often make text boxes too short to display the text that is in them, causing words to be stacked vertically in an awkward fashion.
- If you know anything about panes, I tend to freeze them such that I can always see the date, regardless of how far down I scroll.
Here’s a section of my current list to show just how well Excel can array different projects. Most of this section is homework, so none of the projects are lengthy, but it still illustrates the point.
