Sometimes the best project management tool is a pen

Lame post about my office whiteboard incoming. So this is a photo of my whiteboard with a to-do list on. Groundbreaking, I know.

I’m sharing it because I think a lot of us (especially in digital/techy spaces) feel pressure to have the perfect project management setup. There are so many tools out there, and they are brilliant (I use ClickUp for detailed project tracking, for example) but sometimes it’s just too much and the bigger picture can be lost.

Sidenote: I’m old enough to remember when a pen and paper was pretty much all we had to project manage on. That and the joy of coding websites using tables and having time to make the entire household a cup of tea whilst you waited for dialup to connect. Shoutout to Macromedia Fireworks (RIP).

Sometimes a whiteboard and a green/red pen do the job better than a dozen dashboards. I was using a pen and notebook before investing in a whiteboard to do a sort of weekly list, but was getting through notebooks too quickly and that’s just a waste of paper (what do you do with old notebooks?!)

This system works best for me. I only need to take a look first thing in the morning, or glance up at my board during the day, and see a quick overview of what I’m working on and what status it is. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by tools like I often do, maybe it’s a sign to strip things back a bit.

Here’s how I use my whiteboard:

• Current projects: with quick status notes like “feedback” or “dev” so I can see what’s active or blocked
• Potential projects: if a new client emails me, or a new project gets mentioned, I add it here.
• This week’s to-dos: from “send invoice” to “write that blog idea down before I forget”

It’s not revolutionary. It won’t sync across devices or send me automated reminders. But this little whiteboard setup really keeps me on track.

Anyone else still doing project management old school style? Got any other tips?