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Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

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Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#41

Post by nickjj »

I just keep a text file near the project and jot down notes / other things accordingly in free form.

This even includes recaps for freelance work. Like I would have an entry of:

2/7/2018: 3 hours

- Did such and such

- Implemented this and that

- Fixed foobar to return foo

I keep to that exact date / hours worked format so when I invoice clients I just grep the file and cut / sum the total hours (if I'm not doing project based pricing).

It works really well for the solo developer / freelancer. No time is wasted on BS and there's a log of work rendered + notes + TODOs + etc..

I like it because I can do all of this from within my code editor which is where I'm doing the work. The efficiency level is very high.

Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#43

Post by a3n »

hashmal wrote: post #10

For small/solo projects I prefer to use a notebook with the first few pages reserved for an index. I complement it with a kanban board on the wall (post-it notes). What I like about it: No procrastination in a management tool (over-planning, formatting, etc). No illusion of order (technology/computers have a tendency to make you appear disciplined, or to pretend you will be more disciplined by using them… I think it'…

> For small/solo projects I prefer to use a notebook with the first few pages reserved for an index.

You might consider starting your index on the back page, and let it grow "backwards" toward the content, sort of like stack and heap do in memory.

I think I first saw this suggested by the Humphrey/PMP people, where a notebook is (used to be?) a prominent tool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model

Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#44

Post by faitswulff »

jcadam wrote: post #31

Here's my project: https://www.contabulo.com . It hasn't gotten any love via Show HN, but it's relevant to the thread, so :) Basically I wanted something sort of like Trello, but more geared toward Knowledge and Content management and collaboration. I was unaware of the existence of Google Keep at the time, but it does look vaguely similar, doesn't it? Oh yea, example (read-only) board: https://app.contabulo.com/boar…

Little bit of feedback: "Contabulo’s flexibility enables a wide variety of uses" would be a lot stronger if it specifically named a use for a problem that I encounter.

Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#45

Post by jcadam »

faitswulff wrote: post #44
jcadam wrote: post #31

Here's my project: https://www.contabulo.com . It hasn't gotten any love via Show HN, but it's relevant to the thread, so :) Basically I wanted something sort of like Trello, but more geared toward Knowledge and Content management and collaboration. I was unaware of the existence of Google Keep at the time, but it does look vaguely similar, doesn't it? Oh yea, example (read-only) board: https://app.contabulo.com/boar…

Little bit of feedback: "Contabulo’s flexibility enables a wide variety of uses" would be a lot stronger if it specifically named a use for a problem that I encounter.

Thanks for that. Yea, I need to work more on the landing page. Being too close to the product myself (having built it) of course I think the utility is obvious (and I don't think it's an outlandishly new concept), but I definitely need to work on my marketing-speak and salesmanship (not my forte, apparently). :)

Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#46

Post by hboon »

nickjj wrote: post #41

I just keep a text file near the project and jot down notes / other things accordingly in free form. This even includes recaps for freelance work. Like I would have an entry of: 2/7/2018: 3 hours - Did such and such - Implemented this and that - Fixed foobar to return foo I keep to that exact date / hours worked format so when I invoice clients I just grep the file and cut / sum the total hours (if I'm not doing proj…

I do this too, but I have 1 file for everything, with each project having a section. At the end of the day, I rotate the file and archive it in a directory. I can run a script and figure out how much time I spent on a project over several years.

Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#49

Post by giarc »

nagarjun wrote: post #2

I've used https://trello.com/ for most of my projects even when I am working with a team. We love it. Here are some basics on how to manage a project with Trello: https://trello.com/inspiration/project-management .

I second the vote for Trello. I find it simple enough that even novice software users can understand it. As a team, we've recently switched to Asana which I find more feature rich, but overwhelming because of this.

Re: Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management

#50

Post by rkhassen »

hboon wrote: post #46
nickjj wrote: post #41

I just keep a text file near the project and jot down notes / other things accordingly in free form. This even includes recaps for freelance work. Like I would have an entry of: 2/7/2018: 3 hours - Did such and such - Implemented this and that - Fixed foobar to return foo I keep to that exact date / hours worked format so when I invoice clients I just grep the file and cut / sum the total hours (if I'm not doing proj…

I do this too, but I have 1 file for everything, with each project having a section. At the end of the day, I rotate the file and archive it in a directory. I can run a script and figure out how much time I spent on a project over several years.

hboon - that ability to run a script and see time spent from a text file sounds like a fantastic combo of simplicity to use and the ability to mine data. I'd love to see an example of your file format and script to see exactly how it all works together, if you are up for sharing.
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