Discussion Forum > DIT and working on projects NOT daily
I would take my calendar and reserve timeblocks for meetings with myself. It's the only way to make sure the time I need for project work won't be reserved for other purposes.
It doesn't matter whether the system is DIT or FV or whatever, a meeting with yourself should be prioritized in the same way as a meeting with others.
It doesn't matter whether the system is DIT or FV or whatever, a meeting with yourself should be prioritized in the same way as a meeting with others.
March 16, 2013 at 21:44 |
pkNystrom
pkNystrom
@pkNystrom:
While I agree with you generally on scheduling as a means to get important things done, your answer does not address my question. I specifically asked how to solve the problem according to the rules of DIT using the Task Diary (which is a component of DIT).
Also, I am not sure if scheduling as you describe it is the /only/ way to assure the completion of a task, IF you do DIT. According to the rules of DIT you ought to leave enough time in the day to complete the Task Diary plus Will Do list. See also the second question of the audit process!
I agree with you: time blocks make only sense if one manages to take appointments with oneself as serious as meetings with other persons. Certainly a skill with which nobody is born with!
While I agree with you generally on scheduling as a means to get important things done, your answer does not address my question. I specifically asked how to solve the problem according to the rules of DIT using the Task Diary (which is a component of DIT).
Also, I am not sure if scheduling as you describe it is the /only/ way to assure the completion of a task, IF you do DIT. According to the rules of DIT you ought to leave enough time in the day to complete the Task Diary plus Will Do list. See also the second question of the audit process!
I agree with you: time blocks make only sense if one manages to take appointments with oneself as serious as meetings with other persons. Certainly a skill with which nobody is born with!
March 16, 2013 at 23:20 |
Christopher
Christopher
When I was doing DIT (from July 2012 till about two weeks ago), I found a few ways of handling this, each with its own trade-offs.
(1) Always re-enter things on tomorrow's page. Going strictly by the rules, you are allowed to "get behind" for a few days, so this means it's OK to let it sit there for a few days. For example, today is Saturday. I work on a project, and don't expect to work on it again till Tuesday. I would still re-enter the project on Sunday's page. On Sunday, I may decide to work on it earlier than I had originally planned, or I may just decide to skip it and let is stay there on Sunday's page. Then on Monday, I will have Monday's items and also at least one item left over from Sunday to deal with. Then on Tuesday, I will have Tuesday's items to deal with, and maybe items from Sunday and Monday -- and this would include my project. So I finally work on it.
Good: Helps regulate your commitments. If you enter things too far in advance, it tends to spread things out and give you a false sense of having a balanced workload, when in reality, you are just spreading yourself thin. By always entering things on Tomorrow's page, you maintain full awareness of your total load of commitments. This is why Mark recommended this approach repeatedly in the forum postings on DIT.
Bad: It seems to wreck the basic idea of trying to clear the day's page, every day. It can lead to an ongoing sense of always being behind. Also, repeatedly seeing these tasks and project when you really don't want to deal with them till later can be annoying.
(2) Slight alternate from (1): Today is Saturday. I re-enter the project on Sunday's page. When Sunday comes, I think, "I don't want to do this till Tuesday". So I cross it off and re-enter it on Monday. When Monday comes, I think, "I don't want to do this till Tuesday." So I cross it off and re-enter it on Tuesday. When Tuesday comes, I finally take action on the project.
Good: It helps keep the overall commitment load in balance, just like (1). It also gives you a sense of "closure" at the end of the day, since you can cross everything off.
Bad: You have to cross it off and re-enter it every day. It has the same annoyance as (1) since you really don't want to see this project till Tuesday.
(3) Breaking with strict DIT rules, you can re-enter the project on the day you want to work on it some more. So if today is Saturday, and I want to continue on the project on Tuesday, I simply re-enter the project on Tuesday's page.
Good: Simple. Keeps the project out of sight and out of mind till Tuesday.
Bad: If you get in the habit of this, you can lose awareness of the total amount of workload you are carrying. You can develop the habit of pushing things out more and more, first touching projects every 2 or 3 days, then later just once a week, and so on. It spreads your focus and effort very thin.
Personally, I found (3) to be most satisfying and efficient. But I also was careful to re-enter projects in this way only when there was a real reason to postpone the project more than 1 day. For example: I really cannot proceed with the project till I get input from a coworker, and I will not get that input till Tuesday. Another example would be for regular maintenance tasks that need attention only once per week or once per month, like calling my aunt on the phone once a month, or preparing an agenda for a weekly meeting.
If there is no real, practical reason to postpone it, then go ahead and re-enter the task tomorrow. If this causes you to feel overwhelmed, that's a good thing: DIT has revealed to you that you have been overcommitted, but perhaps were disguising it by spreading out your projects over too many days.
(1) Always re-enter things on tomorrow's page. Going strictly by the rules, you are allowed to "get behind" for a few days, so this means it's OK to let it sit there for a few days. For example, today is Saturday. I work on a project, and don't expect to work on it again till Tuesday. I would still re-enter the project on Sunday's page. On Sunday, I may decide to work on it earlier than I had originally planned, or I may just decide to skip it and let is stay there on Sunday's page. Then on Monday, I will have Monday's items and also at least one item left over from Sunday to deal with. Then on Tuesday, I will have Tuesday's items to deal with, and maybe items from Sunday and Monday -- and this would include my project. So I finally work on it.
Good: Helps regulate your commitments. If you enter things too far in advance, it tends to spread things out and give you a false sense of having a balanced workload, when in reality, you are just spreading yourself thin. By always entering things on Tomorrow's page, you maintain full awareness of your total load of commitments. This is why Mark recommended this approach repeatedly in the forum postings on DIT.
Bad: It seems to wreck the basic idea of trying to clear the day's page, every day. It can lead to an ongoing sense of always being behind. Also, repeatedly seeing these tasks and project when you really don't want to deal with them till later can be annoying.
(2) Slight alternate from (1): Today is Saturday. I re-enter the project on Sunday's page. When Sunday comes, I think, "I don't want to do this till Tuesday". So I cross it off and re-enter it on Monday. When Monday comes, I think, "I don't want to do this till Tuesday." So I cross it off and re-enter it on Tuesday. When Tuesday comes, I finally take action on the project.
Good: It helps keep the overall commitment load in balance, just like (1). It also gives you a sense of "closure" at the end of the day, since you can cross everything off.
Bad: You have to cross it off and re-enter it every day. It has the same annoyance as (1) since you really don't want to see this project till Tuesday.
(3) Breaking with strict DIT rules, you can re-enter the project on the day you want to work on it some more. So if today is Saturday, and I want to continue on the project on Tuesday, I simply re-enter the project on Tuesday's page.
Good: Simple. Keeps the project out of sight and out of mind till Tuesday.
Bad: If you get in the habit of this, you can lose awareness of the total amount of workload you are carrying. You can develop the habit of pushing things out more and more, first touching projects every 2 or 3 days, then later just once a week, and so on. It spreads your focus and effort very thin.
Personally, I found (3) to be most satisfying and efficient. But I also was careful to re-enter projects in this way only when there was a real reason to postpone the project more than 1 day. For example: I really cannot proceed with the project till I get input from a coworker, and I will not get that input till Tuesday. Another example would be for regular maintenance tasks that need attention only once per week or once per month, like calling my aunt on the phone once a month, or preparing an agenda for a weekly meeting.
If there is no real, practical reason to postpone it, then go ahead and re-enter the task tomorrow. If this causes you to feel overwhelmed, that's a good thing: DIT has revealed to you that you have been overcommitted, but perhaps were disguising it by spreading out your projects over too many days.
March 16, 2013 at 23:31 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
It's been a long time since I tried DIT. My desire for order made DIT my favorite approach, but I just couldn't use it. I would very much like to test it again in the future using my new understanding. But I have some more problems with it that I would have to resolve first.
1. The Current Initiative. The problem I had with it is you can only have one, though the reason for that is very understandable. But if the CI takes a long time and you have multiple other must-do projects, it's confusing to me as to how to proceed. My take on DIT was that it works best for people who get work in today and commit to finishing it tomorrow. But a project doesn't work as easily with this scenario because many of them will take multiple days, making it more like a current initiative.
2. Little and Often. In your scenario above, Seraphim, I wonder if you aren't taking advantage of little and often. I had no concept of this when I tried DIT. I thought I had to finish every task I had written down from the day before. When I test it again, I will have the idea that I have to do some little thing on that project each working day (I won't be working on Sunday) to move it forward to the next day.
3. Routines. I don't recall there being scheduled days for activities in DIT which are very sensible in my opinion. In other words,rather than writing down a blog task to complete the next day, it works better for me to have days devoted to blogging tasks. The more routines I use, the less effective they are for me because I resist them, however. Having some is very efficient.
4. Blindly recording tasks. When I did DIT, I wrote down every conceivable task and idea and foolishly thought I could manage them all the next day. I could have an entire staff and they couldn't handle all the stuff I throw at a to-do list. :-) In future testing of DIT, I will begin the week with a focus in mind. Only the must-do tasks and should-do tasks that I've pre-selected will be worked in DIT fashion.
What do you think?
1. The Current Initiative. The problem I had with it is you can only have one, though the reason for that is very understandable. But if the CI takes a long time and you have multiple other must-do projects, it's confusing to me as to how to proceed. My take on DIT was that it works best for people who get work in today and commit to finishing it tomorrow. But a project doesn't work as easily with this scenario because many of them will take multiple days, making it more like a current initiative.
2. Little and Often. In your scenario above, Seraphim, I wonder if you aren't taking advantage of little and often. I had no concept of this when I tried DIT. I thought I had to finish every task I had written down from the day before. When I test it again, I will have the idea that I have to do some little thing on that project each working day (I won't be working on Sunday) to move it forward to the next day.
3. Routines. I don't recall there being scheduled days for activities in DIT which are very sensible in my opinion. In other words,rather than writing down a blog task to complete the next day, it works better for me to have days devoted to blogging tasks. The more routines I use, the less effective they are for me because I resist them, however. Having some is very efficient.
4. Blindly recording tasks. When I did DIT, I wrote down every conceivable task and idea and foolishly thought I could manage them all the next day. I could have an entire staff and they couldn't handle all the stuff I throw at a to-do list. :-) In future testing of DIT, I will begin the week with a focus in mind. Only the must-do tasks and should-do tasks that I've pre-selected will be worked in DIT fashion.
What do you think?
March 17, 2013 at 0:33 |
psychowith6
psychowith6
Hi Mel
(meds....worse than usual)
Most people misunderstand the role of current initiative. You can have as many projects as you can handle. Your project management is outside of the day's closed list proper. You add to the closed list which ones you've committed to working on that day. You can plan ahead also. You're not restricted to the one day. Be cautious however. You plan and maintain your projects themselves outside of just the dairy page. Example: Like Flylady, I have days assigned for specific jobs. The difference for me is that I can work on them little and often to make the actual "round up day" less overwhelming. For example: My accounts day is Friday for 2 hours (just a guide: not to the exact minute) Since I HATE accounts and sometimes the pain and brain injuries make it almost impossible to predict my abilities, I do what I can to pare it down. I also have an implied 1/2 way marker of one hour to boost my efforts. Come Friday, they might be already done but that's the day it's "due". I rotate my projects very similarly to Chris L. All in one book with a project focus. My favorite is the current initiative. It's the project that you work on daily without fail. It's great for backlogs, getting a project on it's legs, initiating a new skill or habit similar to authors committing to writing a bit each day. Even if I'm starting up something (example: learn an instrument, new exercise program, get a passion project started, etc. This allows the flexibility of NOT totally committing to something.....kind of like a testing ground...or giving you a commitment to start the scaffolding process of a project. Actually it's my favorite part of DIT (I use a weekly format. It allows the flexibility of plugging items into a daily focus list. I rotate my projects to allow for fallow time if creativity, research,etc is necessary. Most people do it as a daily thing. I like the overview of a week and the flexibility to choose from my weekly aims depending on the day, my disabilities, my calendar, etc.
In summary, you don't have to work on each project daily. You plan it or wing it how ever you like. Chris L. integrates his projects right into his book. He writes his completion criteria and works from that. I also like to focus on that especially if I don't enjoy it! Much of my scut falls into that category. The why is usually some like maintain my chosen lifestyle, maintain my character and reputation, stay on the right side of the law, etc. Passion projects or contracts have the WHY already known. It's the dreaded stuff that I sometimes need reminding about! *blush* (think: taxes)
The only "rule" is implied in the name. WILL DO. Don't write a list with items you're not SURE that you will do that day.
I wonder if you read the book and forgot a lot. The second part of the day's WILL DO contract is to do your daily checklist which involves bundling the normal, predictable work flow: emails, voicemail, snail mail, pending/follow up, etc. As I mentioned before, I use both a daily checklist and my implied weekly checklist called round up days. This allows me to catch the wave of flow if it presents itself with a project. My way, I can skip some days knowing that on roundup day it will all be done. If I'm unusually busy or my body betrays me, I can pare down some of it and easily catch up.....same as going on a three day weekend. I'm not going to have a system that will produce anxiety because I'm on a painting,writing, etc jag. I LIVE FOR FLOW. When it happens, I catch the wave and enjoy the reverie. If I'm in horrible, debilitating pain I don't need to feel guilty. I just pare down the days requirements to keep things afloat. When I feel better I just catch it up. That's the beauty of it. Weekly DIT makes it easier for me to stay current or intentionally get ahead for future days I want to free up. In my condition I'd be lying to myself to create a daily WILL DO list that's too long. Even people with lots of meetings and appointments could benefit from roundup days.
DIT works in conjunction with your calendar. I'm a huge fan of timeblocking. I treat my day's page as my focus list and my weekly aims as my deadlines with lots of flexibility as when to work on them and stay current.
Because of my short term memory loss and pain knocking out thoughts, I write down lots of stuff also. I also write a lot of ideas (most of them hare-brained....similar to my next bookmark. When I'm on a break, I'll put the page I'm reading in my bookmark. Many times on my next break, I wonder why I was interested in that page at all....(internet trance). My ideas are like that. Out of 50 ideas, I end up scrapping over 45 of them! But I write them anyway. When the pain abates, I can review them with a clear head.....Also meds (heavy narcotics) help to contribute to my assine scribbings.....example....this post! LOL! I simple review them on the page and scratch them off. I keep a rolling list of one offs not easily bundled and then write the date and my will do list. I'd rather scratch things off (when I last took my meds and the dosage, ideas that seem genius at the moment, phone numbers, notes....) than not write them. I'm the queen of dross but sometimes a lily is growning in the sludge! I'm glad I wrote it down then! If I know that it's worth saving, I keep it in the notes section. Also, when I'm on heavy meds, it's highly likely that I'll toss that page when I'm straight. LOL! It doesn't matter. It's not a legal document. It's simply a reminder system and holding tank. The calendar has the most important information for deadlines. It's OK to write what you feel like at the time if it makes you feel more assured at the time or intentionally brainstorming....or doodling to pump your brain...It's yours....Nuntym says the messier the better! LOL!
To end this drugged up opus....The most important part of DIT is commitment vs interest (just my opinion... but the point of DIT is to maintain a doable workflow which is grounded on the commitments you choose either real or implied. I think keeping my promises, being known as reliable is more incentive to me than the date the thing is due. The commitment vs interest helps you to make clear to yourself what is important to you and how much load you can put on yourself and reliably do the work. The book goes into more detail about project management.
If I were you, I'd read it again. I've read it several times. Using the principles Mark offers allows you the ground work to know how to successfully keep a WILL DO system.
Good luck with it. I'm still enjoying it since 2007 with my personal modifications.
and good luck making any sense out of this post! LOL!
(meds....worse than usual)
Most people misunderstand the role of current initiative. You can have as many projects as you can handle. Your project management is outside of the day's closed list proper. You add to the closed list which ones you've committed to working on that day. You can plan ahead also. You're not restricted to the one day. Be cautious however. You plan and maintain your projects themselves outside of just the dairy page. Example: Like Flylady, I have days assigned for specific jobs. The difference for me is that I can work on them little and often to make the actual "round up day" less overwhelming. For example: My accounts day is Friday for 2 hours (just a guide: not to the exact minute) Since I HATE accounts and sometimes the pain and brain injuries make it almost impossible to predict my abilities, I do what I can to pare it down. I also have an implied 1/2 way marker of one hour to boost my efforts. Come Friday, they might be already done but that's the day it's "due". I rotate my projects very similarly to Chris L. All in one book with a project focus. My favorite is the current initiative. It's the project that you work on daily without fail. It's great for backlogs, getting a project on it's legs, initiating a new skill or habit similar to authors committing to writing a bit each day. Even if I'm starting up something (example: learn an instrument, new exercise program, get a passion project started, etc. This allows the flexibility of NOT totally committing to something.....kind of like a testing ground...or giving you a commitment to start the scaffolding process of a project. Actually it's my favorite part of DIT (I use a weekly format. It allows the flexibility of plugging items into a daily focus list. I rotate my projects to allow for fallow time if creativity, research,etc is necessary. Most people do it as a daily thing. I like the overview of a week and the flexibility to choose from my weekly aims depending on the day, my disabilities, my calendar, etc.
In summary, you don't have to work on each project daily. You plan it or wing it how ever you like. Chris L. integrates his projects right into his book. He writes his completion criteria and works from that. I also like to focus on that especially if I don't enjoy it! Much of my scut falls into that category. The why is usually some like maintain my chosen lifestyle, maintain my character and reputation, stay on the right side of the law, etc. Passion projects or contracts have the WHY already known. It's the dreaded stuff that I sometimes need reminding about! *blush* (think: taxes)
The only "rule" is implied in the name. WILL DO. Don't write a list with items you're not SURE that you will do that day.
I wonder if you read the book and forgot a lot. The second part of the day's WILL DO contract is to do your daily checklist which involves bundling the normal, predictable work flow: emails, voicemail, snail mail, pending/follow up, etc. As I mentioned before, I use both a daily checklist and my implied weekly checklist called round up days. This allows me to catch the wave of flow if it presents itself with a project. My way, I can skip some days knowing that on roundup day it will all be done. If I'm unusually busy or my body betrays me, I can pare down some of it and easily catch up.....same as going on a three day weekend. I'm not going to have a system that will produce anxiety because I'm on a painting,writing, etc jag. I LIVE FOR FLOW. When it happens, I catch the wave and enjoy the reverie. If I'm in horrible, debilitating pain I don't need to feel guilty. I just pare down the days requirements to keep things afloat. When I feel better I just catch it up. That's the beauty of it. Weekly DIT makes it easier for me to stay current or intentionally get ahead for future days I want to free up. In my condition I'd be lying to myself to create a daily WILL DO list that's too long. Even people with lots of meetings and appointments could benefit from roundup days.
DIT works in conjunction with your calendar. I'm a huge fan of timeblocking. I treat my day's page as my focus list and my weekly aims as my deadlines with lots of flexibility as when to work on them and stay current.
Because of my short term memory loss and pain knocking out thoughts, I write down lots of stuff also. I also write a lot of ideas (most of them hare-brained....similar to my next bookmark. When I'm on a break, I'll put the page I'm reading in my bookmark. Many times on my next break, I wonder why I was interested in that page at all....(internet trance). My ideas are like that. Out of 50 ideas, I end up scrapping over 45 of them! But I write them anyway. When the pain abates, I can review them with a clear head.....Also meds (heavy narcotics) help to contribute to my assine scribbings.....example....this post! LOL! I simple review them on the page and scratch them off. I keep a rolling list of one offs not easily bundled and then write the date and my will do list. I'd rather scratch things off (when I last took my meds and the dosage, ideas that seem genius at the moment, phone numbers, notes....) than not write them. I'm the queen of dross but sometimes a lily is growning in the sludge! I'm glad I wrote it down then! If I know that it's worth saving, I keep it in the notes section. Also, when I'm on heavy meds, it's highly likely that I'll toss that page when I'm straight. LOL! It doesn't matter. It's not a legal document. It's simply a reminder system and holding tank. The calendar has the most important information for deadlines. It's OK to write what you feel like at the time if it makes you feel more assured at the time or intentionally brainstorming....or doodling to pump your brain...It's yours....Nuntym says the messier the better! LOL!
To end this drugged up opus....The most important part of DIT is commitment vs interest (just my opinion... but the point of DIT is to maintain a doable workflow which is grounded on the commitments you choose either real or implied. I think keeping my promises, being known as reliable is more incentive to me than the date the thing is due. The commitment vs interest helps you to make clear to yourself what is important to you and how much load you can put on yourself and reliably do the work. The book goes into more detail about project management.
If I were you, I'd read it again. I've read it several times. Using the principles Mark offers allows you the ground work to know how to successfully keep a WILL DO system.
Good luck with it. I'm still enjoying it since 2007 with my personal modifications.
and good luck making any sense out of this post! LOL!
March 17, 2013 at 22:25 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
@Seraphim:
Thank you for your detailed explanation! It helps me to get an overview of the problem, to see where I am standing. It is written with foresight for my situation and I can appreciate that.
I searched this Site the last couple of days for many, many hours and could not find anything clarifying like this, I may have overlooked something.
Well, it seems to be the case that I have to try out each of the three possibilities. I also thought about having one project as shorthand for all those projects and than just choose one on the whim of the moment. Of course therein lies a general problem with DIT: you still can overcommit on the projects level by taking on too many crazy big things. Another thing that is unclear to me at this point is what happens, when I do not enter projects onto the list but a couple of individual tasks.
I think for now I will go with alternative number two (2) and see where this leaves me at.
Thank you for your detailed explanation! It helps me to get an overview of the problem, to see where I am standing. It is written with foresight for my situation and I can appreciate that.
I searched this Site the last couple of days for many, many hours and could not find anything clarifying like this, I may have overlooked something.
Well, it seems to be the case that I have to try out each of the three possibilities. I also thought about having one project as shorthand for all those projects and than just choose one on the whim of the moment. Of course therein lies a general problem with DIT: you still can overcommit on the projects level by taking on too many crazy big things. Another thing that is unclear to me at this point is what happens, when I do not enter projects onto the list but a couple of individual tasks.
I think for now I will go with alternative number two (2) and see where this leaves me at.
March 17, 2013 at 22:53 |
Christopher
Christopher
@learning as I go:
Hey, you either take terrific medicine ;-) or you are not as crazy as you thought! Lot's of interesting thoughts there. Specially the weekly checklist sounds intriguing.
How do you handle the checklist in terms of notation though?
I already am unsure how to incorporate the daily list, since I do a digital system. For now I enter the task "daily checklist" into my Task Diary, because otherwise I tend to forget to do it. Another way would be to start with the checklist and enter "Task Diary" on the checklist. I know this sounds pretty anal to say the least, but any advice on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated. Specially in sight of the lure of a weekly checklist as mentioned by 'learning as I go'.
>> If I were you, I'd read it again. I've read it several times.
Yep, will do, definitely. As for know I am more concerned with getting the details right on my digital DIT. It is really very subtle how it differs from paper and one has to be careful to "transcribe" the rules for crossing off etc right.
Thank you for your post, 'learning as I go', it was helpful. I wish you strength and courage in your battle against your medical condition! Squeeze the lemonade out of the lemon life gave you and don't forget to add some sugar! I like that you do not sound whiny despite of it.
Hey, you either take terrific medicine ;-) or you are not as crazy as you thought! Lot's of interesting thoughts there. Specially the weekly checklist sounds intriguing.
How do you handle the checklist in terms of notation though?
I already am unsure how to incorporate the daily list, since I do a digital system. For now I enter the task "daily checklist" into my Task Diary, because otherwise I tend to forget to do it. Another way would be to start with the checklist and enter "Task Diary" on the checklist. I know this sounds pretty anal to say the least, but any advice on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated. Specially in sight of the lure of a weekly checklist as mentioned by 'learning as I go'.
>> If I were you, I'd read it again. I've read it several times.
Yep, will do, definitely. As for know I am more concerned with getting the details right on my digital DIT. It is really very subtle how it differs from paper and one has to be careful to "transcribe" the rules for crossing off etc right.
Thank you for your post, 'learning as I go', it was helpful. I wish you strength and courage in your battle against your medical condition! Squeeze the lemonade out of the lemon life gave you and don't forget to add some sugar! I like that you do not sound whiny despite of it.
March 18, 2013 at 13:48 |
Christopher
Christopher
Hi Christopher
Thanks for your kind words and well wishes. re: whiny.....nah, cursing works better for me!
You system is digital? You're golden!
Warning: The above post I wrote to Mel is guidelines to maintain, manage my life....nudge forward my trajectory.....but BE FLEXABILE. To me, the whole point of any guiding system is to open me up to life, not forego it because my list isn't complete. I do my best to limit the amount of scut I'm willing to tolerate. Example: I use to mop my floors daily. After the accident? Heh....I'm not telling you how rarely I do it.....just enough to be clean, not spotless! LOL!
On digital, you've got it made. Decide one or more roundup days and either put them on your calendar as all day deadline. Sine my memory sucks, I sometimes need reminding about the less arduous tasks. The most dreaded ones are seared into my brain. I purposely put the worse ones toward the end of the week. Example: I hate Accounts.....so it's on Friday:about 2 hours. I have a 1/2 marker point on Tues/Wed for one hour....to avoid it to be too overwhelming. Here's the beauty part. It's right at the weekend PLUS I'm dreading it since the Saturday before. The result is that I usually get it done earlier to get to stop nagging and scaring my mind! You mind is most likely different. Just choose roundup days and feel free to change them around. If I wake up on Monday and complete my accounts by 8:30am....Friday is golden! I'm thinking 1/2 day....3 day weekend....Choose your own carrot. Since you're on the computer you won't have the ugly looking sheets that I have! Also remember that the daily checklist is "on average". If a buddy from out of town calls, you're not going to decline seeing him because you didn't finish your email, right?
Maybe I'm the wrong person to advise about this. It's all just guidelines to me. As long as I'm maintaining my lifestyle, my character and reputation and (hopefully) I'm guiding my trajectory in a good direction (almost imperceptible these days), I'm golden. Then I can pursue the aspects of living that don't need reminders, rules, etc. P.s. Even if I'm getting paid to do something I love, I don't consider it "work". Most of my grunting is the necessary but boring as hell necessities. If you're young and just starting your advanced education or starting your career and life trajectories, more planning will be involved.
Digital: Experiment with doing less of the mundane stuff or at least doing it less frequently. Leave as much of your day open to living your life how you want to. I used to think that I had decades to do it all.....A huge truck changed my plans! LOL!
The only reason I didn't go digital is because my hands sometimes work less well than my brain (scary visual) but I think digital is great because it would be easier to plan, change plans, archive, delete et al.....I hope your find your successes and satisfactions.
Thanks for your kind words and well wishes. re: whiny.....nah, cursing works better for me!
You system is digital? You're golden!
Warning: The above post I wrote to Mel is guidelines to maintain, manage my life....nudge forward my trajectory.....but BE FLEXABILE. To me, the whole point of any guiding system is to open me up to life, not forego it because my list isn't complete. I do my best to limit the amount of scut I'm willing to tolerate. Example: I use to mop my floors daily. After the accident? Heh....I'm not telling you how rarely I do it.....just enough to be clean, not spotless! LOL!
On digital, you've got it made. Decide one or more roundup days and either put them on your calendar as all day deadline. Sine my memory sucks, I sometimes need reminding about the less arduous tasks. The most dreaded ones are seared into my brain. I purposely put the worse ones toward the end of the week. Example: I hate Accounts.....so it's on Friday:about 2 hours. I have a 1/2 marker point on Tues/Wed for one hour....to avoid it to be too overwhelming. Here's the beauty part. It's right at the weekend PLUS I'm dreading it since the Saturday before. The result is that I usually get it done earlier to get to stop nagging and scaring my mind! You mind is most likely different. Just choose roundup days and feel free to change them around. If I wake up on Monday and complete my accounts by 8:30am....Friday is golden! I'm thinking 1/2 day....3 day weekend....Choose your own carrot. Since you're on the computer you won't have the ugly looking sheets that I have! Also remember that the daily checklist is "on average". If a buddy from out of town calls, you're not going to decline seeing him because you didn't finish your email, right?
Maybe I'm the wrong person to advise about this. It's all just guidelines to me. As long as I'm maintaining my lifestyle, my character and reputation and (hopefully) I'm guiding my trajectory in a good direction (almost imperceptible these days), I'm golden. Then I can pursue the aspects of living that don't need reminders, rules, etc. P.s. Even if I'm getting paid to do something I love, I don't consider it "work". Most of my grunting is the necessary but boring as hell necessities. If you're young and just starting your advanced education or starting your career and life trajectories, more planning will be involved.
Digital: Experiment with doing less of the mundane stuff or at least doing it less frequently. Leave as much of your day open to living your life how you want to. I used to think that I had decades to do it all.....A huge truck changed my plans! LOL!
The only reason I didn't go digital is because my hands sometimes work less well than my brain (scary visual) but I think digital is great because it would be easier to plan, change plans, archive, delete et al.....I hope your find your successes and satisfactions.
March 18, 2013 at 16:58 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
FLEXABILE ? ? ? :-0 :-0 :-0
Sorry for the bad post, Chris. I'm going to stay away from the keyboard for awhile Maybe if you chug a six pack, it might make some sense.....or seem to!
learning as I go
Sorry for the bad post, Chris. I'm going to stay away from the keyboard for awhile Maybe if you chug a six pack, it might make some sense.....or seem to!
learning as I go
March 18, 2013 at 21:16 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
Christopher:
<< I just want to work on some of these projects every days. Yes every day, since they have deadlines, but not every day for every project, work needs maturation too. How can I do this using the DIT Task Diary using strict DIT rules? >>
According to the strict DIT rules, you enter the task/project in your diary on the next day you want to work on it.There's no requirement to re-enter a task the next day if you have a reason for not wanting to do it then.
However only do this when you genuinely want to take advantage of the maturation effect. If you start to move stuff forward in order to take the pressure off tomorrow's work load, you are going to find that you will be just as busy in a few days time because of new work coming in.
<< I just want to work on some of these projects every days. Yes every day, since they have deadlines, but not every day for every project, work needs maturation too. How can I do this using the DIT Task Diary using strict DIT rules? >>
According to the strict DIT rules, you enter the task/project in your diary on the next day you want to work on it.There's no requirement to re-enter a task the next day if you have a reason for not wanting to do it then.
However only do this when you genuinely want to take advantage of the maturation effect. If you start to move stuff forward in order to take the pressure off tomorrow's work load, you are going to find that you will be just as busy in a few days time because of new work coming in.
March 19, 2013 at 0:24 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
psychowith6:
<< The Current Initiative. The problem I had with it is you can only have one, though the reason for that is very understandable. >>
The whole point of the current initiative is to focus on one project for long enough to get it up-and-running or finished. There are certain types of project which it is most suitable for and they should be tackled in the following order: 1) Backlogs 2) Systems 3) New projects that need to be got up-and-running.
<< But if the CI takes a long time and you have multiple other must-do projects, it's confusing to me as to how to proceed. >>
You seem to be confused about what is and isn't a CI project. The fact that something is a "must-do project" doesn't mean that it has to be dealt with as a CI. The only distinctive features of a CI is that it's done first and it's done every day. You can work on other projects whenever you like.
<< Routines. I don't recall there being scheduled days for activities in DIT which are very sensible in my opinion. In other words,rather than writing down a blog task to complete the next day, it works better for me to have days devoted to blogging tasks. >>
There's nothing to stop you scheduling certain tasks for specific days.
<< Blindly recording tasks. When I did DIT, I wrote down every conceivable task and idea and foolishly thought I could manage them all the next day. I could have an entire staff and they couldn't handle all the stuff I throw at a to-do list. :-) In future testing of DIT, I will begin the week with a focus in mind. Only the must-do tasks and should-do tasks that I've pre-selected will be worked in DIT fashion. >>
No, you've got this the wrong way round. You need to carry out a DIT Audit of your work whenever you get behind. This is absolutely essential. Seraphim has testified that DIT only worked for him when he took these audits seriously. The aim is to make your work fit the time available for it. Keeping certain tasks out of DIT but still intending to do them out of the system will destroy the whole point of DIT.
All this is in the book. If you haven't read it for a while, I recommend you read it again as learning as I go suggests.
<< The Current Initiative. The problem I had with it is you can only have one, though the reason for that is very understandable. >>
The whole point of the current initiative is to focus on one project for long enough to get it up-and-running or finished. There are certain types of project which it is most suitable for and they should be tackled in the following order: 1) Backlogs 2) Systems 3) New projects that need to be got up-and-running.
<< But if the CI takes a long time and you have multiple other must-do projects, it's confusing to me as to how to proceed. >>
You seem to be confused about what is and isn't a CI project. The fact that something is a "must-do project" doesn't mean that it has to be dealt with as a CI. The only distinctive features of a CI is that it's done first and it's done every day. You can work on other projects whenever you like.
<< Routines. I don't recall there being scheduled days for activities in DIT which are very sensible in my opinion. In other words,rather than writing down a blog task to complete the next day, it works better for me to have days devoted to blogging tasks. >>
There's nothing to stop you scheduling certain tasks for specific days.
<< Blindly recording tasks. When I did DIT, I wrote down every conceivable task and idea and foolishly thought I could manage them all the next day. I could have an entire staff and they couldn't handle all the stuff I throw at a to-do list. :-) In future testing of DIT, I will begin the week with a focus in mind. Only the must-do tasks and should-do tasks that I've pre-selected will be worked in DIT fashion. >>
No, you've got this the wrong way round. You need to carry out a DIT Audit of your work whenever you get behind. This is absolutely essential. Seraphim has testified that DIT only worked for him when he took these audits seriously. The aim is to make your work fit the time available for it. Keeping certain tasks out of DIT but still intending to do them out of the system will destroy the whole point of DIT.
All this is in the book. If you haven't read it for a while, I recommend you read it again as learning as I go suggests.
March 19, 2013 at 0:47 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Christopher:
<< Of course therein lies a general problem with DIT: you still can overcommit on the projects level by taking on too many crazy big things.>>
Not if you are doing the audit procedure properly.
<< Of course therein lies a general problem with DIT: you still can overcommit on the projects level by taking on too many crazy big things.>>
Not if you are doing the audit procedure properly.
March 19, 2013 at 0:54 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I appreciate the feedback, Mark. My second copy of DIT is on its way and I'll review it with more experienced eyes, hopefully.
I understand what you're saying about the audit and I agree that it's crucial to succeeding. I wanted to clarify what I meant about using the task list and you can tell me if I'm still not thinking in line with DIT. When I last used DIT, I would come up with an idea that David Allen would call a Someday/Maybe and I would add it to the list for tomorrow. I wasn't using strict routines with DIT either, so if I saw something that needed cleaning, I would add that to tomorrow's list, too. Basically, I was doing DIT like an AF list, though expecting to have to complete everything on the day's list (not just do *something* on it). With DIT, is it possible to use future start dates so that I don't feel required to work on every project tomorrow? The book may answer this question for me, so don't feel obligated to respond. I would like to give DIT another true test--using it correctly. Mostly, I just love the feeling of telling my husband he has to wait til tomorrow for whatever he feels is urgent (and never is) ;-)
I understand what you're saying about the audit and I agree that it's crucial to succeeding. I wanted to clarify what I meant about using the task list and you can tell me if I'm still not thinking in line with DIT. When I last used DIT, I would come up with an idea that David Allen would call a Someday/Maybe and I would add it to the list for tomorrow. I wasn't using strict routines with DIT either, so if I saw something that needed cleaning, I would add that to tomorrow's list, too. Basically, I was doing DIT like an AF list, though expecting to have to complete everything on the day's list (not just do *something* on it). With DIT, is it possible to use future start dates so that I don't feel required to work on every project tomorrow? The book may answer this question for me, so don't feel obligated to respond. I would like to give DIT another true test--using it correctly. Mostly, I just love the feeling of telling my husband he has to wait til tomorrow for whatever he feels is urgent (and never is) ;-)
March 19, 2013 at 19:39 |
Melanie Wilson
Melanie Wilson
@Mark Forster:
Thank you for your clarifications! It gives reassurance and is kinda awesome to hear from the author himself.
Let me clarify, what I meant with <<overcommitting on the project level>>. Let's say I work on a project with a deadline and finish the Task Diary every day but still miss the deadline. The feedback that it was too much would then not come from the Task Diary (since you crossed the task off every time) but from the project plan or the "business surroundings".
Now that I think about this it makes me wonder how you managed to get the job in the first place if that would happen to you...
Please don't think I want to criticize DIT in the negative sense. I am a fan! And I love the fact that you made the classic today-list work. Very awesome!
BTW, I returned to DIT from FV, not because I wasn't successful with FV, in fact I was. It taught me something, I don't even know what, but the "want" in the question somehow made me more willing to do the work. However, after years of GTD, AF and DWM I just was tired of wading trough endless lists.
Thank you for your clarifications! It gives reassurance and is kinda awesome to hear from the author himself.
Let me clarify, what I meant with <<overcommitting on the project level>>. Let's say I work on a project with a deadline and finish the Task Diary every day but still miss the deadline. The feedback that it was too much would then not come from the Task Diary (since you crossed the task off every time) but from the project plan or the "business surroundings".
Now that I think about this it makes me wonder how you managed to get the job in the first place if that would happen to you...
Please don't think I want to criticize DIT in the negative sense. I am a fan! And I love the fact that you made the classic today-list work. Very awesome!
BTW, I returned to DIT from FV, not because I wasn't successful with FV, in fact I was. It taught me something, I don't even know what, but the "want" in the question somehow made me more willing to do the work. However, after years of GTD, AF and DWM I just was tired of wading trough endless lists.
March 20, 2013 at 9:48 |
Christopher
Christopher
Melanie:
<< With DIT, is it possible to use future start dates so that I don't feel required to work on every project tomorrow? >>
The answer is a qualified yes. The qualification is that you mustn't use it as a way to avoid the system's showing that you are overloading yourself. If you act like a politician and push your borrowings further and further into the future so as to avoid having to balance the budget then it's not going to work.
Always remember that, if today is Wednesday and you want to put Project X off till Monday because you'll have less work then, you are probably deluding yourself because by the time you get to Monday you will have just as much work as you have today. And then you'll have to carry forward even more work to later days.
On the other hand if you have five big tasks to do this week and you know you are unlikely to get anything more of similar size, then it could make sense to schedule them one per day.
It's all about keeping the integrity of the formula: "The average amount of outgoing work per day must equal the average amount of incoming work each day".
<< With DIT, is it possible to use future start dates so that I don't feel required to work on every project tomorrow? >>
The answer is a qualified yes. The qualification is that you mustn't use it as a way to avoid the system's showing that you are overloading yourself. If you act like a politician and push your borrowings further and further into the future so as to avoid having to balance the budget then it's not going to work.
Always remember that, if today is Wednesday and you want to put Project X off till Monday because you'll have less work then, you are probably deluding yourself because by the time you get to Monday you will have just as much work as you have today. And then you'll have to carry forward even more work to later days.
On the other hand if you have five big tasks to do this week and you know you are unlikely to get anything more of similar size, then it could make sense to schedule them one per day.
It's all about keeping the integrity of the formula: "The average amount of outgoing work per day must equal the average amount of incoming work each day".
March 20, 2013 at 14:05 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Christopher:
<< Let's say I work on a project with a deadline and finish the Task Diary every day but still miss the deadline. The feedback that it was too much would then not come from the Task Diary (since you crossed the task off every time) but from the project plan or the "business surroundings". >>
You can look at it that way, or alternatively you could say that crossing tasks off the Will Do List isn't what is meant by "finishing" the list. You're supposed to do sufficient work on them, not just cross them off!
<< Let's say I work on a project with a deadline and finish the Task Diary every day but still miss the deadline. The feedback that it was too much would then not come from the Task Diary (since you crossed the task off every time) but from the project plan or the "business surroundings". >>
You can look at it that way, or alternatively you could say that crossing tasks off the Will Do List isn't what is meant by "finishing" the list. You're supposed to do sufficient work on them, not just cross them off!
March 20, 2013 at 14:11 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark, helpful explanation. Thank you. The book should be here today. DIT is extremely well written. I remember loving the quizzes at the end of the chapters--a technique I'd like to use in future writing.
March 21, 2013 at 22:26 |
psychowith6
psychowith6
Well, I really didn't remember DIT very well at all! I'm sure there's a psychoanalytic explanation for why I recalled it incorrectly. ;-) I'm really excited to give it a try again and beyond that I'm committed to it. I have made a number of really positive permanent changes in the way I work over the years, so I know it's possible. I really want to be Mick Cool!
I discovered the reason that I crashed and burned with DIT last time. I was adding large numbers of tasks and projects to the next day's task diary that were really part of the backlog--and all because I happened to think of them. Here's the post where I describe this week's testing. http://wp.me/p2M4mD-CP I'll post the follow-up post next week.
I discovered the reason that I crashed and burned with DIT last time. I was adding large numbers of tasks and projects to the next day's task diary that were really part of the backlog--and all because I happened to think of them. Here's the post where I describe this week's testing. http://wp.me/p2M4mD-CP I'll post the follow-up post next week.
March 23, 2013 at 0:33 |
Melanie Wilson
Melanie Wilson
I just want to work on some of these projects every days. Yes every day, since they have deadlines, but not every day for every project, work needs maturation too. How can I do this using the DIT Task Diary using strict DIT rules?