The system that saves me 2+ hours daily

Hey there,

Your biggest competition isn’t other companies - it’s your own disorganization.

You've got Q3 planning to finish, three team members who need coaching, that CRM implementation to oversee, and somehow think you'll magically find time to actually move deals forward. Meanwhile, your family time gets sacrificed because you're juggling invisible leadership projects in your head.

Without a system to track what's actually happening, you become a chaotic project manager who never clocks out.

Here's what we're covering today to fix this mess:

• The 4-step system that keeps 20+ projects moving without mental overload

• How to always know your next action across every project

• The exact setup that saves me 2+ hours daily

4 Steps To Manage 20+ Projects Without Mental Overload (Even If You’re Not a “Project Person”)

The key to getting more done isn't about working harder – it's about having a system. Here's mine:

Step 1. The Complete Brain Dump

Most leaders try to keep projects in their heads and wonder why they’re always stressed out.

Start by capturing everything on your plate in one place.

Here's how I do this:

• Open Todoist and create two main projects: Work and Personal

• For each major initiative, create a nested project underneath

• Dump all related tasks under each project

• Don't worry about organization yet - just get it all out of your head

Need help with the initial setup? Check out my complete guide to the two-project system here.

Step 2: Flag Your Next Actions

Next, instead of getting overwhelmed with a bunch of tasks and not knowing where to start, ask yourself:

“What’s the next action I can take to keep this moving?”

During your weekly review:

• Go through each project

• Identify the single next step that needs to happen

• Flag it as Priority 3 in Todoist (turns blue)

• Quick tip: Just type "p3" when creating tasks

Step 3: The Filter System

Hunting through 20 projects every time you need something to do wastes time and creates decision fatigue.

Here's how to create smart filters:

• Go to Filters & Labels in Todoist

• Create "Work Projects + Next Action"

• Use query: "all work projects and p3"

• Favorite it so it appears in your sidebar

• Repeat for personal projects

Now you have visibility into every next action across all projects. But there’s one last step.

Step 4: Group by Project View

Group your next actions by project to maintain strategic context. This prevents you from just picking random tasks.

When you open your Next Actions filter:

• Click View in the top right

• Select "Group by Project"

• Now you see actions organized by their parent project

Now you can make better decisions about where to invest your limited time.

That's it.

Here's what you learned today:

• Focus on next actions, not entire projects

• Use filters to create focused views of priorities

• Group by project to maintain strategic context

Start with flagging your next actions this week. Pick one element of this system and implement it. Build from there.

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