What we need here is...

When I was working full-time at an office, a to-do list was not really necessary. By the time work, kids, sleeping, and bathing were accomplished, there was very little time left over for projects at home. I think that this can reasonably be categorized as a crisis/triage approach to tasks.

But, on my first day consulting from home, my head was full of ways I COULD spend the day... fix that clunk from the front passenger tire? mow the lawn for the first time this season? work on the treehouse? update my LinkedIn profile? catch up on paperwork and shred old receipts? get pricing for that CAD package I'll need, or maybe just a nice long bike ride... I think this is a common problem for engineers - we possess the skills to do many tasks, but each one of them takes time and focus - where to begin? At the office, project managers are assigned to keep us on task. At home, I usually start the morning with one high priority task, one fun task, and maybe some soup for supper. Suddenly, it's 7pm, the kids are hungry, the dining room table is covered with a project, and the soup is only half complete. Where did the time go?

If this consulting gig is going to work, I need to make sure that my weekdays don't devolve like so many Saturdays of the past; it's time for some prioritization! I'm sure that this could be done with Post-It notes or a whiteboard, but this is 2015, and everything needs a web interface! So, on the top of my priority list: choose a work/issue tracking tool: I've used Jira in the past, had some brief exposure to Rally, and heard good things about 43 Folders. Stay tuned for a decision.