What tools do consultants use to manage their daily/weekly project and non-project tasks?

Question

Hi there,

will soon start working as a management consultant. I was thinking about "best practice" options of tools to use for managing daily or weekly tasks? What tools do you use and do you recommend? Do you rely on professional project management tools (e.g., Asana, ...) also for your private tasks? Do you use the same tools for private and work-related tasks? In my internships i used to use excel for creating simple to lists..however, i think there might be more efficient and user friendly ways.. :)

Excited to hear your answers!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

There is no universially used tools. Use whatever works for you. If it's Onenote tabs, use that. If it is excel files, use that. If you work best with setting yourself outlook reminders, go for it. Just make sure you have a solid system that works for you when you start your job.

I for myself use onenote for all my notes and to-dos, but that's my personal favor.

Answer 2

Its personal choice really, whichever is easiest for you to use and maintain. There are indeed many tools out there in addition to what the company might give you (Teams, Kanban Board, Confluence etc).

I used excel in past and now One Note :). For ugent items & appointments I put reminders on calendar (PC and phone).

Answer 3

Hi there,

The first thing to note is that you need to ultimately test a few out and use what works for you - everyone is different!

The main question is are you a virtual or physical person? Benefits of virtual are that you can access tasks from anywhere and re-organize/group things. Benefits of physical is, they're just easier to work with.

Physical Options (my preferred - I think most things in this world are over-engineered)

Notepad - specific page for tasks that I cross off
Sticky notes - throw them away when done

Virtual Options

Trello
Kanban
Mekko
Gmail (working email draft)
Gmail tasks
Microsoft sticky notes (virtual, on computer)
OneNote
Todoist
IPhone Notepad