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Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 16:33 I’ve just discovered that I have a Wikipedia entry!
I wonder how long that’s been there?
October last year apparently.
And who wrote it?
“Wirefree” - no other details.
The writer’s done a reasonable job but there are a few inaccuracies.
Never mind!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 14:55 A reader, J.S. Smith, has drawn my attention to an intriguing variation on the mind-mapping theme - the Universal Organiser (UNO).
If, like me, you find mind maps difficult to follow because they confuse the levels of hierarchy, you might find this an improvement for certain types of work.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 14:14 There’s a great audio interview with me by Stever Robbins on his The Get-It-Done Guy blog. The subject is mainly about how to handle email.
Length of interview approximately 19 minutes.Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 16:23 In my recent article Auditing Your Time Management I said that I would write about each of the three parts of the audit procedure in turn. The three parts are:
1) Have you got too much work?
2) Are you working efficiently?
3) Have you left enough time to do the work?
So now let us look at the first of these. If you are carrying out an audit of your time management, then the question should be posed in the 1st person “Have I got too much work?”
As I have often remarked, being on top of your work leads to a hugh boost in your energy. You can’t be on top of your work if you have too much of it. So the net result is that not only do you end up overburdened, but you also lose the energy to handle it all.
In spite of the benefits of focus and energy in keeping on top of your work, many people have a great deal of resistance to admitting that they have too much work. One of the causes may be that they see it as the equivalent of admitting that they are incompetent. But also I’m convinced that the amount of work that someone does is important to their self-image. Only if they realise that they will have a far healthier source of self-image by having the success (however they define success) that energy and focus will bring them, will they start to let go of some of the work.
The fact is that humans take on work and commitments like bushes grow in my back garden. Each now and then, I have to go and prune them back.
So how do we go about auditing our work?
The most important principle is that you don’t audit tasks, you audit the projects and commitments from which those task have come.
The easiest way to do this is to enter all the tasks you are behind with into an outliner or mindmapper. If you have failed to complete the tasks in your Task Diary for four or more days (which is the signal for carrying out an audit), then your are probably going to have quite a number. Now group them together under projects, so that you end up with a hierarchy of commitments.
The next stage is to look at the projects. Your aim is to cut the number of projects you have committed yourself to so that you have time to do all of them as well as they deserve. In order to do this you need to identify exactly what your real work is. If you are self-employed this will be the work that impacts the bottom line. If you are an employee it’s the reason why your employer thinks it worthwhile paying your salary.
Of course this audit can apply just as much to your private life as to your work life. What are the projects and commitments which are going to take forward your life goal and vision?
Also bear in mind that one and the same rule applies in life and business: it’s better to concentrate as far as possible on one thing at a time. You may have loads of ideas for your business, but it’s better to focus on one of them until it’s up and running successfully, rather than disperse your focus by trying to implement too many ideas at once.
Don’t be afraid to cut your commitments ruthlessly. The harder you prune a bush, the more vigorously it will grow.
And remember - there is no point at all in going through the audit procedure if you don’t do something about the results!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 9:29 I’d like to draw your attention to some important recent discussions in the Comments and on the Discussion Forum.
Getting Going Again Day 20 Update. I answer a reader’s question about how to deal with a really large backlog of paper.
Task that Do Not Need to Be Done this Week But Later. A question about why a task which is due in 2 weeks time should be put in the Task Diary for tomorrow. I say why I think it’s important it should be.
Task Diary and spreading out tasks over the week? Should tasks be scheduled forward to days when you know you are going to have some time? I say why I think they shouldn’t be.
Monday, March 10, 2008 at 16:25 Exactly as I forecast on Saturday, today I succeeded in getting back on top of my work. Everything is now either scheduled for tomorrow or in the backlog from last week (which I cleared approximately half of today). I finished work by 4.30 pm. Tomorrow I have an easily doable list in my Task Diary so should have no problem finishing it - I hope most of the backlog will be cleared too.
If I hadn’t taken action when I realised that I couldn’t catch up last week, I would probably have fallen even further behind today. It’s amazing how quickly a backlog can be dealt with once it is recognised as such.
Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 9:28 There are a couple of lessons that I have been learning:
1) How easy it is to go wrong
My failed experiment has had a severe knock-on effect, not helped by the fact that I have been out of the office a lot in the second half of this week. As a result I have not succeeded in re-establishing the Do It Tomorrow system. Today I am conscious that I am beginning to slip behind badly. Now this is the point at which a lot of people start saying things like: “I’ve got too much to do to use DIT at the moment. I’ll get back into it when I’ve caught up with my work.”
What they should be saying of course is: “I’ve got too much to do NOT to be using DIT at the moment. I’ll get back into it straight away and then I’ll easily catch up with my work.”
2) How easy it is to get right again
To get back on top of my work I need to do three things:
That’s it! What could be simpler? I’m now instantly back on top of my work!
Related articles:
Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 17:46 Some extremely important points about how time management systems, specifically GTD and DIT, can cope with the demands of extremely busy people are raised by a university professor on my Discussion Forum.
Read his post and my replies at http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/364395
Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 11:00 The March 14th seminar is no longer available for booking.
There are still places available on the March 25th seminar.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 11:58 Do pay a visit to my recently updated bookstore. It contains a great selection of the books which I have found most useful myself in my life and business, plus plenty of other recommended books in related fields.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 16:48 Normally I try at least to keep an experiment going for a reasonable time before abandoning it. But in the case of the “BBC” system, I’m having to admit defeat on only the second day.
Although I felt quite optimistic yesterday, today I realised that the system was just making me procrastinate. There was none of the sense of purpose that comes from DIT. It was also very cumbersome and I seemed to spend more time making lists than actually doing any work.
So with a sigh of relief I’m going back to DIT tomorrow!
Monday, March 3, 2008 at 14:55 I should know better than to talk myself into a new experiment just as I’m getting back into the swing of a well-established system - but here goes!
In my recent blog entry Inspiration from the BBC I talked about whether it was possible to make a time management system out of the 7-30-7 pattern which the BBC iPlayer uses for timing out downloadable TV programmes.
Anyway I’ve decided that it is. And, as always, the first person who gets experimented on is myself. So if there’s a long gap in blog postings, you will know that it hasn’t worked!
I’m going to continue to keep a standard Will Do list for things like Email, Paper, Voicemail, Daily Tasks, etc. I will also be continuing to use the Task Diary for follow-ups and tasks that relate to specific dates. But for all other tasks I’m going to use the “BBC” system. This is how it will work:
I will be using three lists:
Possible Tasks. Every task that I consider taking on has first to be written down on this list. There is no need to assess tasks at this stage. The tasks on this list time out after seven days if they haven’t been transferred to the list of Probable Tasks.
Probable Tasks. When I decide that a task on the Possible list is feasible, I transfer it to the next list: Probable Tasks. This list times out after 30 days, though to make it easier to keep track I will make it a calendar month rather than exactly 30 days.
Active Tasks. Before any task can be actioned it must be transferred to the Active Task list. Tasks on this list time out after seven days.
What do I see as the advantages of doing things this way? I hope that it will prove the solution to a problem which any list based system is prone to, and that is the fact that lists tend to expand uncontrollably. Even with the Task Diary in the Do It Tomorrow system, there is a tendency for each day’s list to be longer than the day before until it is impossible to keep up. DIT solves this problem by insisting on an audit when this happens. What I am hoping is that the “BBC” system will tackle this automatically. There is a three stage process of sifting tasks. It’s impossible for the list to grow to unmanageable size because of the timing-out procedure.
Another great advantage is that there is no need to assess tasks when writing them down initially. The sifting process will deal with this. This means that any passing thought or impulse can be written down. This may well have the additional effect of reducing distractions too.
Anyway this afternoon I started off the system by drawing up a Possible Tasks list which consisted of all the tasks in my Task Diary, plus any others that came immediately to mind. There were 60 tasks on this list (to which I have subsequently added four more).
Then I did my first “download” of 30 items from these “possibles” onto a Probable Tasks list. And finally I put 10 of the “probables” onto the Active List - writing this blog entry was one. I have already completed 5 of these tasks, and have nearly completed the 6th. Time to make a few more active, I think.
I have to say that my first impression is that this could work very well. I won’t really be able to tell until the first week is up and I start timing out some tasks. The crucial factor will be whether it’s the right tasks that get timed out!
Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 16:47 I’ve started a Blogroll of useful blogs for time management and personal organisation. You’ll find it at the bottom of the left-hand margin. I’ve only got a few entries on it at the moment but will be adding more as I go along.
If you have a blog relevant to the subject and would like me to consider it for inclusion, please let me have the details by email ( mf@markforster.net ).
Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 15:14 If we look at projects from the point of view of deadlines, we can identify three types:
Most people have a problem with dealing with Type 3 Projects - the ones that don’t have a deadline. Sometimes they try to get them done by pretending that they are Type 1 Projects, in other words by giving them an artificial deadline. This can work - but often, because the mind knows that the deadline isn’t a “real” deadline, it gets ignored in favour of the projects which really do have to be done by a certain date.
Most of us have got a huge number of things which we want or need to get around to “sometime”. How can we deal with them?
Here’s my four stage process for getting these projects done:
Stage One: Draw Up a List
The first thing to do is to make a list of all the projects you ought to do, should do, would like to do, have been meaning to do or haven’t been able to get round to doing. Don’t hold back when you make this list. Don’t worry if some of the items are contradictory, or you’re not sure about them. Include everything. If you’ve done the exercise properly, the list should be quite an impressive size.
Stage Two: Edit the List
Ok, you’re really going to get these projects done now. So first you need to edit the list to make sure that you really do want to do them. Remove the ones you’re not sure about (you can always put them back later), the ones that would get in the way of other ones, and the ones which it’s not feasible to do now.
Stage Three: Order the List
Now take the items on the list and decide what order you are going to do them in. No, you’re not going to attempt to do them all at once. You’re going to do them one at a time (see below). So what order should you do them in? This is for you to decide, and there may be all sorts of things which you need to take into account. One important consideration is that projects which would make the other projects easier to complete should be done early on (for example sorting out your office procedures might make it quicker and easier to expand your customer base). Don’t get too hung-up on getting exactly the right order - you’re going to do the lot anyway!
Stage Four: Action the Items One by One
This is the secret to getting this type of project done - do them one at a time. This is far the quickest way of doing them, not just because it’s easier to focus on one at a time but for mathematical reasons as well.
To illustrate this, imagine that we have three projects to complete each of which will take a week and we have three weeks to complete them in. All other things being equal, is it quicker to do them all together, or to do them one at a time?
The answer is that it is quicker to do them one at a time. Why?
If you do them all at the same time, all three projects will be completed at the end of the third week.
If you do them one at a time, the first project will be completed at the end of the first week, the second at the end of the second week, and the third at the end of the third week. You will have gained two weeks on the first project, one week on the second project and the third project will finish at the same time as before. If these projects earn money as soon as they come on-line, you will have gained three project/weeks income by doing them one at a time.
If you want to refine this further, there are another two things you can do with the list before you start actioning it:
Stage 3B. Estimate how long each project will take
It’s a good idea to estimate in working days how long each item on your list will take. Don’t just leave it at that though - when you complete an item, write down how long it actually did take and compare it with your estimate. That way you will continue to get better at estimating - a very useful skill.
Stage 3C. Put an estimated completion date for each project
Since you’ve already worked out an estimate for how long each project will take, it’s easy to put a completion date for each item on the list. If you do that, you will arrive at a completion date for the whole list. That’s right - instead of having loads of projects hanging around with no idea how you are going to fit them in, you now have a date on which you expect to have them all done. That in itself will give you a real psychological lift. Try it!
Related articles:
Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 14:50 The day following my horrific experience of the 19 cups of tea, my consumption went down to 12. So I decided for the next day (yesterday) I would set myself the target of drinking the same number of cups. Interestingly by the late evening I still had a couple of cups to drink and had to force myself.
So I have come to the conclusion that the best way to proceed is to follow the same pattern of two alternating days - one day drinking as many cups as I want without restraint, followed by another day in which I have to drink the same number as the previous day.
Today is a no restraint day, and I am on my 4th cup of tea as I write this at 3 p.m. So it looks as if I will be well under the previous figure of 12 cups by the end of the day.
It’s early days yet, but I do get the impression that the method is reducing my cup of tea consumption. I’ll be very interested to see if this continues.
Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 8:34 I have often said that it is structure that controls our actions - and that given different structures we will act in different ways.
So here are two different ways in which I act:
Why the difference?
Amazon has no time limit and there is no penalty for not returning a DVD. As long as I continue to pay my monthly subscription they are perfectly happy!
The BBC iPlayer site has programmes available for 7 days after they are broadcast. If you download a programme you can keep it for 30 days before it is deleted automatically. But once you start watching it, it is deleted automatically after only 7 days.
So the result of the BBC’s system is that I never fail to watch the downloads.
My question is: could this 7-30-7 pattern be adapted into a time management system?
Any suggestions as to how that could work?
Friday, February 29, 2008 at 12:57 One of the essential parts of the Do It Tomorrow system is the auditing procedure. You need to go through this whenever you get behind on your Will Do list for more than 3 or 4 days. Miss out on doing this and the entire system will collapse. Carry it out properly and your work will reach new heights of focus and effectiveness.
The DIT system has the great advantage that it preserves the link between the amount of work coming in and the amount of work going out. This means that it is easy to see what the problem is if you are having trouble keeping up with your work - much more so than with any other time management system I am aware of.
Remember that the aim of DIT is to get everything done. If you are going to get “everything” done, then it is essential to keep under close review what “everything” consists of. The most common failure in time management is to fail to keep “everything” focused enough with the result that you don’t have a hope in hell of getting it all done.
If you carry out the DIT auditing procedure properly, it will virtually automatically ensure that you keep focused. That’s not to say that it may not present you with some tough choices or some tough confrontations, but you will be quite clear what needs to be done.
Although the auditing procedure works best with DIT, it is also effective with other time management systems - or none at all!
This is what the procedure consists of:
1) Have you got too much work?
2) Are you working efficiently?
3) Have you left enough time to do the work?
Every problem with time management is caused by at least one of these. Often of course all three are involved. Of course, it’s not enough just to carry out the audit - you need to do something about the answers as well!
What I am going to do over the next few weeks is write about each of the three stages of the audit procedure. As I write each one I will link back to this article.
Related Discussion:
Friday, February 29, 2008 at 11:49 I’m delighted to see that this blog has been promoted back up to a Google page ranking of 5, having been a 4 for most of the last year.
Google’s PageRank assigns each website on the internet a number between 1 and 10, representing a relative importance factor (in the eyes of Google). This number is determined by the number of credible links to your site that Google can identify. The higher your site’s PageRank is, the more precedence your site is given within search queries on terms that your site references — it’s your credibility rating with Google. Most sites on the internet have a PageRank 0. It becomes exponentially harder to move up in PageRank as the numbers increase. For example, there are only around 25 or so websites with PageRank 10.
According to the Google Backlink facility, there are around 235 sites linking to this blog.
Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 17:29 I finished my Will Do list today at 5.30 p.m. which means that I have caught up with the last two days when I didn’t finish it completely. As I said in an earlier update, not finishing the list for a couple of days is no cause for concern as long as one catches up within 3 or 4 days.
I would have finished earlier if I hadn’t allowed myself to be distracted by all sorts of ideas I had about improving this website. Getting distracted is not a good habit to get into, but there are times when the ideas strike and you just have to ride with it!
I don’t intend to publish daily updates any more as I’ve now got the system working well. But I’ll write about anything interesting that arises as and when.
Previous posts on this subject:
Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 16:44 There’s a famous book on military strategy written by a Prussian general in the Napoleonic wars - “On War” by Carl von Clausewitz. It’s still studied in Military Academies all over the world. One of his concepts is that of “friction”, by which he means all the messy real-life things which get in the way of a commander’s beautifully conceived plans.
For example a commander issues orders for a battalion to advance to a certain line during the night in order to be ready to attack at dawn. But the rations are late coming up, the ammunition wagon loses a wheel, it starts to rain, the vehicles get bogged down, the streams flood, they come across an unexpected enemy patrol, the lead company gets lost, the maps are inaccurate, and someone calculated the time of dawn incorrectly. (Anyone who’s been in the Army will recognise all of these!)
Clausewitz stresses that any commander who doesn’t take the effects of friction into account when making his plans is asking for trouble. Friction is an ever present reality in war. It was in the days of Napoleon (and long before) and still is now.
In exactly the same way if we don’t take the effects of friction into account when we are planning our days, we are going to be in trouble. Often when I am talking to a meeting I ask the audience how many of them draw up a plan for each day of what they intend to do. Usually about 60 per cent put their hands up. Then I ask how many succeed in finishing their plan most days, and most people put their hands down again!
When I ask what the reason is for not getting to the end of the plan, the answer is always “Interruptions”.
Now interruptions are one type of friction, and anyone who doesn’t take interruptions into account when planning their day is asking for trouble, just like von Clausewitz’s commanders. There are many other types of friction in our work lives too. One example happened to me when my computer decided to stop working last Tuesday. Another is that I seem to have lost the charger for my laptop - just as I need to use it this weekend. Those are just two examples out of thousands.
Have a think about your day and see what types of friction are affecting your work. Once you’ve identified the concept in your life, then you can do something about it.
There are basically two things you can do about friction. One is to recognise that there is always going to be some friction however well organised you are, and not to schedule yourself so tightly that you are thrown out by it. The other is to make sure that your systems contain as little friction as possible. This is largely a question of thinking ahead to get systems right before they are needed, and taking the time to put systems errors right when you notice them.
Finally Clausewitz’s solution:
Perseverance in the chosen course is the essential counter-weight, provided that no compelling reasons intervene to the contrary. Moreover, there is hardly a worthwhile enterprise in war whose execution does not call for infinite effort, trouble, and privation; and as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective. It is steadfastness that will earn the admiration of the world and of posterity.
Related article:
Related discussion:
