To continue my series on the 4 Programs / Services that I am thankful for today, we are going to talk about my project management system, Asana. I share with you four reasons why I am thankful for Asana and that it is a tool you should consider adding to your toolbox.
I have used Asana for a number of years. I have tried many other project management systems over the years. Some of them are still in existence, and some have fallen by the wayside. I have stuck with Asana the longest. It is a program that, like Canva, I use every single day. I have four reasons that I am going to share with you today for why I am thankful for Asana. Asana is a great tool to add to your toolbox for your business.
The first reason I am thankful for Asana is that it keeps me organized. Asana allows you to create projects, milestones, task lists, and subtask lists. Asana allows you to share tasks with others. You can set up team members. The best part is that you can do all of this on the free version of Asana. I do not have the paid version. I love that I can color-categorize my projects to make it easier to keep them separated and view them at a quick glance. There are various ways to view your task by upcoming, due today, or even by task completed. It is very organized and helps you see what you have accomplished. It also helps you gauge how far you have to go.
Asana also allows you to view tasks in list mode, boards, a calendar, and other various modes. It is very user-friendly. It gives you the ability to customize and use Asana in the way that you are most comfortable with it. You don’t have to do it all one way, either. You can customize how you use Asana for each project. When you start a new project, you can start from scratch, use a template, or even import the project list from a spreadsheet. This works well if you are moving between programs. You can also use Asana as a timeline, but that requires the paid option. Asana also allows you to create reports and set goals. It is a tool that helps you stay super organized and keep everything in one place.
The second thing that is great about Asana is that it allows for repeatable tasks. The reason I put this on my list is because I have used other tools, much like this one, that did not allow for repeatable tasks. What I mean is this: When I go in and set up a new task, I can set a due date, and if I want to repeat that task in a week, I can set it to do that. We talked about statistics a few weeks ago on the podcast, and every week I update my stat sheet. I do this every Sunday, so in Asana, I have a repeatable task set for every Sunday to remind me to update my stat sheet. This way, I don’t have to keep typing it every week. It is already there, and when I check it off for this week, it will create a new one for next week. There have been other project management systems that I have used in the past that didn’t offer this, and it was frustrating.
The third reason that I love Asana is that it tracks my steps. If you have standard operating procedures, then you can create a list just for your standard operating procedures. I have a list of standard operating procedures for my team in Asana. They are set up as tasks and subtasks that tell my team how to do each particular task. Instead of me having to recreate this every time I get a new team member or intern, I can add them to the project on Asana, and they can see this list, which will walk them through how to do the tasks that I have my interns do on a regular basis. It essentially teaches them how to do the task without me having to do it every time. It is a tool within a tool.
The fourth reason I love Asana is because it helps me track the steps needed and keeps me on track and focused. Over the years, I have tracked my projects in many different ways. I still use many of these in conjunction with Asana. I used to write everything down on a to-do list and track everything on paper. The problem with these methods is that it can be difficult to keep up with due dates and such on paper. Asana allows me to open it up and see the task that I have for that day. I can see tasks that are past due, due that day, or coming up. It gives me a forecast, if you will, of what I have to do in the future. It helps me to see where I am at in the project and if I am progressing as I need to. This, in turn, makes me a much more productive business owner. I believe that is one of the reasons; if you do not use a project management system, then you should.
These are the reasons that I think it should be Asana and the reasons that I am thankful for Asana.
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