Skip to main content

23. Time-management: made simpler with 'DayPipe' applications software

This blogpost is quite different from all the others - this is a guest post.

I was approached by a fellow blogger - Matic from DayPipe, whose team have invented pretty awesome applications software that individuals and small organizations can use to ensure efficiency and seeing results in the work, projects and / or tasks we have.
The guest post included here focuses on the 3 applications software they have invented. These applications are free for single users, and are charged for use by a group of people (like companies).

To get a complete picture of what DayPipe is about, check out their blog-post titled 'How to better use the most valuable resource: http://www.daypipe.com/blog/2017/06/27/how-to-better-use-the-most-valuable-resource-3x3-matrix/


Guest post by Daypipe
How to better use the most valuable resource: the 3 apps

This blog post is part 3 of the 3 series of blog posts, written by Matic from DayPipe team, about how we can better understand time organization in our 3x3 time organization matrix, which is further described in this post on our blog.

In the next lines, I want to present 3 online tools we use and are crucial for achieving pinnacle productivity.

Even though the post is oriented on team collaboration, which is often a part of student work and without exception a part of any real job, I also included some hints about how applications we use are useful in individual time organization, which is extremely important for a student.

1.) Team organization app: Trello


With Trello, we manage our team's activities. There are multiple methodologies for team organization that Trello can be used for, such as Kan Ban and Scrum. In our team, we use Scrum methodology with 1-week sprints. This means in a nutshell that the whole team gets together once a week when we define which tasks will be done in a week and who is responsible for each task. Then during the week, we'd have 15-minutes meetings whereby we only try to remove any roadblocks that occurred in the execution of the tasks.

During the weekly meetings, we often need to solve some problems with a good dose of creativity, and on Trello we only write down the findings and goals to which the team came to, together. Those are usually the best times with laughs and creativity.

On Trello, we usually keep the "large tasks" which are then executed during the weekly sprint by members, and include a bunch of smaller sub-tasks. Those sub-tasks are executed by all team members and kept in DayPipe by each member individually, together with any repetitive tasks each of us needs to take care of.

2.) Individual organization app: DayPipe


In our day-to-day operations, there is usually 2 types of work to be done: a constant workflow (for some it means marketing, for some development, for some running the business), and execution of sub-tasks or micro tasks, which help execute the larger tasks which sit in Trello in our case. The latter is some kind of a development job which is done by all of the team members, no matter in which field we work.

With the help of DayPipe, everyone keeps track of own activities and commitments, and two things are achieved as a by-product of a simple work process: (1) tracking of time which is spent on particular work or larger task, and (2) daily planning which assures each of us personally to meet the deadlines without pressure.

If Trello is used to help each of us, have a general overview of the team's movement, then DayPipe is used by each of us individually to profile our own time and know how much we can do with our current work-load. What's even more, DayPipe's collaboration features help us to have a peek into each other's flow of to-do's and have a crystal clear picture about who has too much on their plate, and who can take on more. It's the ultimate tool to organize the day when you want to get the job done and spare some free time for the good stuff in life, and to analyse where your most valuable resource, time, is going.


3.) Organized Cloud storage

Cloud storage is crucial because it helps us keep the files securely backed-up in case an issue occurred on the device (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.) of any of the team members, and helps us work on the same files flawlessly when we are not at the same location. Please notice that the title starts with the word "Organized", and this is very important. Having a logical structure of the directories, folders and files, in combination with an agreement about what needs to reside where, is mandatory to minimize communication about what needs to sit where in the cloud.
Today, there is a large number of cloud storage service providers, which include Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud and more, and basically all of them offer the basic functionality and usually also a limited storage space for free.


Hope the article helps you either with organizing your personal or study life better! :) What do you use today to organize yourself?

About the Author:
Matic is an organization freak at DayPipe, taking care that DayPipe team is always on track and having fun. He takes care of the DayPipe features, and DayPipe blog. A while ago, he was a student, and today he is immersed in full-time activities on the web (but he often still feels like a student).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7. Employability: a qualification alone might not be enough - part 1

When I entered university for the first time, graduate attributes were the last thing on my mind. I did not even know what a graduate attribute was. I entered university with the mentality of getting the degree, proceed further to obtain a higher qualification so that I could complete my training and get a permanent job. Apparently, that is not all that is required to be an employable graduate. I only heard about graduate attributes during my second year at university from Mr Rodrique E. George, my then lecturer of the ‘Intensive Reading and Writing’ module. Graduate attributes are the qualities, skills and knowledge that we as students must develop while at university. Some graduate attributes include: the ability to use knowledge to solve problems; the ability to use and apply information effectively; the ability to interact with people from different backgrounds and being able to understand their views, to name a few. There are characteristics and skills that stem from gra...
2 comments
Read more

24. Experience versus qualification

This is a topic I feel very strongly about, especially now that I have entered the working world and see the need for both experience and qualification. Qualification I believe that a qualification, be it a diploma or a degree, is merely a resource to assist one in whichever field they intend to work in, for that particular occupation/(s). The concern I have is when we spend years to obtain a qualification that we don't even know how we will use it, or even worse - obtain knowledge that may not be used at all! Obtaining a qualification is good for getting knowledge, a foundation, a background of the field of work and/ or area of expertise one intends to be in. I realized that through the B.com Accounting degree I obtained. However, it is not enough alone, and that's where the need for experience comes in. Experience I feel that experience is better than a qualification. Let me tell you why: A person with experience obtains knowledge, the actual knowledge required for th...
2 comments
Read more

22. Cooking

This is most probably the one topic you wouldn’t have expected from this blog, hey? Well, I didn’t think I’d find myself writing it either, but it is quite relevant. As much as some of us cook for ourselves at university, some still buy ready-made food from the dining halls. It may also be that some never had the opportunity or took the chance to cook while at home. Eventually, we'd have to get into the habit of cooking, especially because there will be a need to do so when we start living on our own. How I started cooking I was always cooked for – from the time I was a child right up until I started my first year at university. I confidently started my cooking journey at university and I loved it! I even went to the extent of making samp - umngqusho as we call it in the Xhosa language: do you have any idea how long that takes?! I didn’t care, as long as I was cooking. I suppose it was the excitement of starting something I did not do before. I did not like buying at the dining...
2 comments
Read more