Living in a tool is the worst way to work

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Summary

Task managers can work like an unpaid assistant by telling you what to do. The problem with most project management tools is you end up living inside them instead of doing the actual work.

Basecamp is the one I use because it keeps everything in one place, so I can look, figure out what I need to do, then go do the work. Keep it simple and don’t live inside your tools.

Raw

I’ve spoken about having an unpaid assistant when it comes to having a task manager. So effectively, you put your tasks in, make sure you date everything, absolutely everything, 99% of things. And then it will tell you what to do, like an assistant will tell you that you have an appointment. Task manager will tell you that you have something to do.

Now, with project management tools, it’s a bit different because if you’re a project manager, you generally have to live inside the tool to get any work done, to tell, other team members what they need to do. The problem comes when you’re a small team and you are or you are an individual like me. You don’t want to be living in the tool because that’s detrimental to your work, the actual work that you need to do.

So for instance, if you’re working with a client, you want to work with the client, not think about what you’re doing in that tool. Oh, have I done that? Oh, have I done that? Yes, tasks within project management tools do have due dates and alarms and notifications, but there’s a difference between having a notification for something that you need to do there and then and having to be living inside that tool and not getting your work done.

Now with Basecamp, which is obviously the tool that I use and consult and collaborate with, has the ability to make sure that everything is in one place so you don’t have to go anywhere else to figure other stuff out. Because I’ve seen other project management tools, other task managers and so on, where you have to actually live in it.

With Basecamp, you can look in it, figure out what you need to do, and then go and do the work. With other project management tools and some task managers, in fact, effectively you’re living inside your notifications, your task list, I should say, not notifications, your task list to make sure everything is done. Because it’s set in such a way where they’re usually set in such a way where you have to look in multiple places, click multiple times to do certain things.

And as I say, keep it simple. And that’s why I use base camp because it’s so simple that I don’t have to live in it. I can go out and live outside and then do the work, go back to base camp, see what I need to do, then do the actual work rather than, again, living inside the tool. Because it doesn’t help my work if I’m all over the place. And I’m sure it doesn’t help you either.

If you need help with Basecamp, let me know. There’ll be a link below, depending on where you’re watching this. If you receive this via email, just reply to the email. As always, keep it simple, and I’ll see you in the next one. Ciao.