How to track tasks and what software solution to use for better task tracking

Everyone who deals with daily task management needs to know how to track tasks and make work more efficient. There are common rules for the best task tracking. These rules are listed below:

• Track Status. The first step in the best task tracking is to review current status of your tasks and percentage complete. When you know current status you can consider whether your tasks are done on schedule.
• Track Deadlines. It is important to compare current task status with task deadlines to find out how much time (minutes, hours, days, weeks) are available for you to complete your tasks.
• Track Priorities. Together with deadlines, you should track priorities of your tasks, so that in case of any delay or procrastination, you could decide which task to do first considering priorities.
• Delegate in Case of Necessity. In some situations you will not be able to do all your tasks personally, so some help will be in great demand. You can delegate a part of your duties to someone who have enough competencies and time to do your tasks.

By following these simple yet important rules you can make your task queue less loaded and achieve better task management. The rules will be best for those people who still do not know how to track tasks but who strive at achieving success in managing their tasks and jobs.

Task management software will be required to follow the rules. For example, some people like to track tasks in Excel, Outlook, and other solutions. However, using Excel to track tasks is not convenient because originally MS Excel is designed for managing spreadsheets and making calculations but not for managing and tracking tasks. Using SharePoint to track tasks in MS Outlook is a great but expensive solution because SharePoint requires installation and administration of MS Server. Today not so many small companies are ready to invest much money in deploying and maintaining MS Server to track tasks in Outlook. Other less popular yet powerful solutions for managing and tracking tasks require some evaluation and testing before users are ready to purchase and install one of the solutions.

However, users can get a free trial copy of task management software to find out whether it gives the best way to track tasks. Trial editions do not require any money investments, and they are called shareware solutions. An example of shareware is VIP Task Manager. You can use VIP Task Manager for free during 30 days and evaluate its task progress tracker tools during the trial period.

VIP Task Manager is an affordable client-server task management shareware solution that features powerful tools and built-in systems for better task management. For example, its task grading system allows you to prioritize tasks and indicate task importance. Its scheduling tool allows you to plan task durations and track task time usage. Its chart building tool allows you to create task diagrams and charts. You can try all of the features of VIP Task Manager by installing an evaluation copy on your desktop PC or laptop. The shareware will be best for small- and mid-sized companies that need to track and solve task issues quickly and painlessly.