How to Simplify Your Ever-Growing Network of Tasks

It’s not news that the professional landscape is undergoing change. Over the last year-and-a-half, we’ve seen work move from the office to the home, and we’ve also seen a rebound from that trend that some might call sharp. Despite the hardships of 2020, many aren’t ready to return to the old status quo, with some 40% of workers now stating they would rather quit their jobs than return to a strictly in-person workplace. It’s clear the modern professional craves the autonomy and agency our digital age demonstrably offers them.

That’s true regardless of your stance on remote work. After all, office workers have seen their jobs evolve rapidly over the last few generations — not just during the COVID-19 pandemic — with computers providing new angles of attack, raw numerical power, and revolutionary multitasking ability. It’s that last one, however, that might be the most challenging to fully implement; the ability to manage tasks with computers has played no small part in shifting the functional nature of our jobs from a nuclear one to a nebulous one, but that doesn’t mean things are necessarily easier. While we once expected computers would single-handedly increase our ability to juggle different tasks, it’s been established this isn’t really true.

We shouldn’t overestimate task management capacity just because we can outsource some thinking to machines. However, by employing some basic good practices and seeding helpful habits, you can get a grip on your network of tasks and enjoy increased productivity as a result.