Chapter 1: The Foundation of Organization

I often hear remarks about how there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I find those comments intriguing. The secret lies in being organized. In fact, I dedicate about half an hour each day to refining my already structured routine. It may seem minor, but these small efforts accumulate over time.

This article is part of a broader series available on my website.

Perfect Project Management: Achieving True Organization

I hear frequently that time is a luxury we often lack to complete daily tasks. However, there’s a solution...

www.dinocajic.com

Starting with Project Management Tools

You might believe that tools like Jira are meant solely for workplace tasks. I'm here to argue that you can apply project management principles to every aspect of your life. If that sounds overwhelming, you might want to reconsider. But for those who find joy in organization, I have just the guide for you.

Before diving into specifics, I want to share some organizational methods I've experimented with:

• Sticky Notes
• Digital Sticky Notes
• Sticky Notes synced across devices via Dropbox
• Project binders
• To-Do lists in Apple Notes
• Google Chrome checklist extensions
• The Google ecosystem
• Using Rocketbook for emails and whiteboards
• Custom software that opens a Word document daily for priority checks

While each of these methods has its merits, they all eventually hit a wall. The more you try to accomplish, the more chaotic your organization can become, leading to potential failure.

I eventually recognized that all of these tools were just that—tools. What I truly needed was to manage everything in my life through a project management lens. Thus, I turned to Jira.

Organizing Work Tasks with Jira/Confluence

I began my organization journey with work-related tasks. As someone in the IT sector, I’m accustomed to structuring tasks using various methodologies. However, many workplaces lack strict documentation and task management. I've always advocated for using Atlassian products because of the seamless integration of Confluence (for documentation) and Jira (for task management). Understanding that this would be my central knowledge repository was the turning point.

It's crucial to establish a unified structure for tasks agreed upon by your team, which should be consistent across all projects. For instance, titles could appear as [Home] Gallery Feature, which succinctly indicates that the task pertains to the gallery feature on the homepage.

What attributes need to be filled out? This is where you should introduce custom fields for each type of task. For example, the fields for a bug report should differ from those for a user story.

Will your team adhere to two-week sprints? Schedule meetings for sprint planning, backlog grooming, and retrospective discussions in advance. These meetings should be brief—around 10 to 15 minutes—to keep everything on track.

This video, "How to be Assertive at Work [WITHOUT BEING AGGRESSIVE]," offers insightful strategies on maintaining a balance between assertiveness and aggression in professional settings.

Maintaining the Sprint Schedule

Stick to your sprint schedule. Create new sprints and transfer any unfinished tasks to the next one. During sprint-planning sessions, assign story points and hour estimates to enhance your team's efficiency in estimation. Understanding your team's capacity is vital; the more efficient they become, the less time you'll spend justifying project hours to stakeholders.

Documentation is next on the list. Tasks should be clear and concise, but the real depth of information should come through structured documentation. Each project on my Confluence page is organized as follows:

• Project Overview
• Functional Requirements
• Meeting Notes
• Quality Assurance

The project overview provides a summary, including team members, project duration, and key statistics. The Functional Requirement Documents (FRDs) contain all necessary details, ensuring developers have all the information they need in one place.

For example, if we examine the About page, the FRD would include header and footer details, relevant links to other FRDs, and associated tasks. When tasks are added to Confluence, they automatically link to tagged tasks.

UI/UX designs and screenshots are included when relevant, providing project managers with visibility without needing to sift through individual tasks. Once all tasks are completed, the FRD should be signed off by the client, eliminating any uncertainty and reducing stress for both parties.

Meeting notes are documented after each meeting, including:

• Participants
• Date and time
• Purpose
• Notes
• Action items

After meetings, action items should transition to tasks, which can be exported and shared with attendees.

Enhancing the Main Work Jira Board

Having projects listed on individual Jira boards is beneficial, but other tasks may not fit neatly into those categories. If you bill hours, some tasks might relate to projects; however, many daily tasks fall outside this scope, such as:

• Organizing emails
• Expense reports
• Purchase request tracking
• Reviewing project boards

I maintain a dedicated Jira board labeled "Work," which includes a daily To-Do list. The top task is to organize emails, which I categorize meticulously. If an email contains actionable items, I create a corresponding task in Jira.

Expense reports are addressed by checking transactions against my expense management app. If an expense isn't recorded, I add it immediately, which takes just a few minutes daily.

Purchase request tracking can become overwhelming if you receive multiple requests daily. My billing board contains columns such as:

• Bills
• Quotes Received
• PR Sent for Approval
• Approved by Finance
• Paid

Keeping up with projects in Jira is crucial. I allocate time each day—around 10 to 15 minutes—to check on the status of ongoing projects, and there's satisfaction in moving completed projects to the "Daily Done" column.

In this video titled "7 Things Organized People Do That You (Probably) Don't Do," viewers can learn practical tips to enhance their organizational skills.

Expanding Beyond Work Tasks

What else constitutes your work? Are you writing daily or creating YouTube tutorials? I've developed a "Dino Programming" board with columns for various platforms, including YouTube and social media, to track my content creation.

My Work Jira board reminds me to check this programming board regularly. Each column contains numerous tasks, with daily tasks moving to the "Daily Done" column upon completion. For instance, this article, titled [Article] How to be Aggressively Organized? is under the Medium column until finished.

The Final Layer: The Main Board

The Main board is the ultimate abstraction level. Mine includes:

• Backlog
• Things to Buy
• Daily Tasks
• Monthly Tasks
• Quarterly Tasks
• Yearly Tasks

Daily tasks range from reading to checking off work-related items. Monthly tasks are broken down by room to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the size of the house.

For example, I track oil changes under the Quarterly column, noting any vehicle maintenance as comments. Additionally, I maintain yearly tasks like pressure washing the house.

Daily Optimizations

When children enter the picture, the project management board becomes essential. If you’re anything like me, spending quality time with family is a priority. You need to strategize when to tackle tasks, especially when work is non-negotiable.

Here are some of my daily optimization strategies:

• Early Rising: I wake up at 5:00 AM to hit the gym while it's quiet.
• Daily Walks: I combine cardio with task management by reviewing simple Jira tasks or listening to investment podcasts during long walks.
• Commute: I utilize commuting time for podcasts, making the most of every minute.

Conclusion

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or neglecting family time, it's time to reassess and reorganize. Identify areas where flexibility is possible—most of them likely are. Now, it's time to get organized!

Dino Cajic is the Head of IT at LSBio and serves as CEO at MyAutoSystem. With over ten years of software engineering experience and a background in creating enterprise-level applications, he is dedicated to sharing knowledge through writing. Connect with him on LinkedIn or follow his journey on Instagram.