I’m trying out a new task manager. It’s not that I’m looking to replace the app I currently use, it’s that trying out a new app makes it easier and more fun to do a “task reset,” something I do periodically but especially at the beginning of a new year.

Basically, that means I’m cleaning house.

I’m purging old tasks and projects I realize I’m not going to do, organizing the ones I still want to do, and moving my most important tasks and projects front and center.

No matter how effective our systems are, they tend to slow down after we’ve used them for awhile, often to the point of overwhelming us. When you feel like you don’t want to look at your lists anymore, it’s probably time to do a reset.

Moving things to a new app makes that easier because it forces you to go through everything one by one, and consider its importance. A new app helps that process because it is unfamiliar. You have to slow down as you figure out how to use it, what you want to add or keep, and where to put it.

When you’re done, you should have a smaller number of important projects to focus on and fewer things to distract you.

But you don’t need a new app to do this. You can do a task reset in the app you currently use.

First, move all your tasks and projects and routines from their current place of “residence” in the app into a temporary home, a new project labeled “reset” for example, leaving the rest of the app empty.

Then, go through everything you just moved, item by item, and move them back to either their original home (project, area, file, folder, etc.), or a new one.

Make each task, project, or goal earn a place in your new setup.

New year. New you. New setup.