---
title: "How to stay organized and not fuck anything up"
author: "Stan Voo"
url: https://www.99rabbits.com/blog/how-to-stay-organized
published: 2018-01-20
summary: "Thirteen rules from 2018 for keeping tasks and projects under control. Number 8: promised someone something? Write it down. Don't be an asshole."
---

# How to stay organized and not fuck anything up

1. Keep a list of tasks and projects. A project is a task that takes more than one action.
2. Sort projects by status: To do, In progress, Waiting and Done.
3. Start every working day by reviewing your list of tasks and projects.
4. You can start with "Waiting". That's where your delegated tasks are, so ping the people responsible. Check whether the conditions you were waiting for have come about. If they have, move the item to "In progress". Decide what needs doing, but don't do it yet: right now you're doing a review.
5. Try to limit the number of projects "In progress". If you drop one, move it back to "To do". But that's shameful. Better not to drop it.
6. Put every incoming task on the list as soon as you can. If there are lots of them, use a separate "Inbox" list. Once a task has sat there for a while, move it to the main list.
7. If a task is tied to a fixed time (a doctor's appointment), put it in the calendar, not on the task list. Treat it as an event.
8. Promised someone something? Write it down. Don't be an asshole.
9. For each active project (statuses "Waiting" and "In progress"), ask yourself:
   - What can I do right now to move this project toward completion?
   - Do the people involved know what I expect from them on this project?
   - Do they need my help? Maybe I should remind them?
10. At every opportunity, remind everyone involved what you expect from them.
11. Don't repeat yourself one more time. Ask the other person to say back what he or she is going to do. They should tell you the planned steps one by one, with their own mouth.
12. Work from the task and project list. Don't think it's better to record the changes at the end of the day. It's your working tool, not a reporting form.
13. Mark finished projects with the date they were completed. That way you can look back over what you've done at the end of the month. But you don't have to. It's just nice.