Review of the Systems: DWM (Day, Week, Month)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 18:43 The full instructions for the system can be found by clicking here.
Brief Summary
Unlike the Autofocus methods the DWM system makes the dismissal process the key. The system uses a page-a-day diary. New tasks are entered one calendar month from the current date (e.g. if today is 26 January, new tasks are entered on 26 February). All re-entered tasks are entered one week from the current day. All pages older than the current day are deleted together with any remaining tasks on them.
Advantages
The automatic dismissal after one month for new tasks and seven days for re-entered tasks concentrates the mind. It also encourages the little and often approach.
Disadvantages
The use of a page-a-day diary is rather clumsy. It is difficult to keep the two entry points clearly marked. The automatic timed dismissal is rather a blunt instrument, and doesn’t provide a good fit for many tasks.
Conclusion
The problems with using a page-a-day diary are solved in DWM2 - see the next review.
Reader Comments (2)
Here's another disadvantage that you didn't list:
The re-entry of tasks one week from today is arbitrary and may not fit real world work.
Matt
If you mean that the page-a-day diary does not act in the same way as the Task Diary in DIT, you are right. But I don't see it as a disadvantage because the diary is intended purely to keep track of the automatic dismissal.