Discussion Forum > Cricket's Fall 2013 System - groups of projects on a weekly schedule.
Well, during the weekend away, all those projects that should be hibernating got jealous. Fortunately, I didn't have any of the tools or books needed to work on them.
More agonizing over which order to do things in. There's a tricky balance between adjusting the schedule so it works better, allowing flexibility when needed, and locking down the schedule so it has a chance to actually work!
This morning was a bust. Reading one article over breakfast led to... I reaffirmed that, although meditating and staying out of the way while everyone else runs around getting ready sounds good, the kids like having me there to complain to. (First day of rotation for my youngest, who thinks she should be nervous about it.) Right after meditation the President of a guild called, and I had to open email,... And ended up doing a lot that I was planning to do tomorrow. Today was supposed to be reviewing inboxes and making a plan. I kept my inboxes sorted for most of the summer, but the last two weeks? Yuck.
I'm going to squeeze two bits in with lunch, skip studying today, do a batch of urgent quickies, then dig into the inboxes.
More agonizing over which order to do things in. There's a tricky balance between adjusting the schedule so it works better, allowing flexibility when needed, and locking down the schedule so it has a chance to actually work!
This morning was a bust. Reading one article over breakfast led to... I reaffirmed that, although meditating and staying out of the way while everyone else runs around getting ready sounds good, the kids like having me there to complain to. (First day of rotation for my youngest, who thinks she should be nervous about it.) Right after meditation the President of a guild called, and I had to open email,... And ended up doing a lot that I was planning to do tomorrow. Today was supposed to be reviewing inboxes and making a plan. I kept my inboxes sorted for most of the summer, but the last two weeks? Yuck.
I'm going to squeeze two bits in with lunch, skip studying today, do a batch of urgent quickies, then dig into the inboxes.
September 3, 2013 at 17:17 |
Cricket
Cricket
I've got multiple projects going on all the time. They can generally be finished in a few hours of work, or less. They go on my ad-hoc task list. I look upon them mostly as necessary evils - since they are a distraction from my main focus work - and I try to get them done when I can.
I've been trying not to really fuss too much with the overall process for handling these. They are on a list with maybe 20-30 other things -- one-off tasks, reminders, other similar projects. I have about 90 minutes blocked out on my calendar each day, in 1-2 blocks of time, and I use that time to first clear my email, then to work on these odd-and-end projects.
I consider these things much less important than the deep-focus work. But like Mark has often said, unimportant things tend to assert their importance if you neglect them. So they do need attention. SMEMA works great. Banging through them top-to-bottom works great. AF1 works great. But trying to find the super-optimal way of getting myself to do these tasks, or finding the best algorithm for processing them, just seems like overkill. It doesn't really matter. As long as I have SOME way of getting them done, or at least getting most of them done, it's OK, but the most important thing is to make sure the main strategic focus work gets done.
This has been my trouble with the list-based systems all along - the main strategic focus gets buried in there with everything else. Basically it just gets lost altogether. As a result, I feel like something is "missing", something is "broken". So I try a new system - might feel great for a while - then I start running into problems, or feeling like something is missing, and then try something else. I never really got into tinkering much with rules and apps and stuff, but I'd still spend a lot of time trying to figure out why I wasn't happy with the way I was managing my work.
I'm stretching to find an analogy. Maybe it's like trying to win baseball games by making sure everyone has a glove and a bat, and optimizing the system to ensure everyone always brings them to the game. Yes, that's definitely needed. But if you keep losing games, the answer isn't to improve the system to make sure you have enough gloves and bats. That system is probably good enough the way it is. The answer is to back up, look at the situation more strategically, and figure out where you need to focus to make a real difference.
I've been trying not to really fuss too much with the overall process for handling these. They are on a list with maybe 20-30 other things -- one-off tasks, reminders, other similar projects. I have about 90 minutes blocked out on my calendar each day, in 1-2 blocks of time, and I use that time to first clear my email, then to work on these odd-and-end projects.
I consider these things much less important than the deep-focus work. But like Mark has often said, unimportant things tend to assert their importance if you neglect them. So they do need attention. SMEMA works great. Banging through them top-to-bottom works great. AF1 works great. But trying to find the super-optimal way of getting myself to do these tasks, or finding the best algorithm for processing them, just seems like overkill. It doesn't really matter. As long as I have SOME way of getting them done, or at least getting most of them done, it's OK, but the most important thing is to make sure the main strategic focus work gets done.
This has been my trouble with the list-based systems all along - the main strategic focus gets buried in there with everything else. Basically it just gets lost altogether. As a result, I feel like something is "missing", something is "broken". So I try a new system - might feel great for a while - then I start running into problems, or feeling like something is missing, and then try something else. I never really got into tinkering much with rules and apps and stuff, but I'd still spend a lot of time trying to figure out why I wasn't happy with the way I was managing my work.
I'm stretching to find an analogy. Maybe it's like trying to win baseball games by making sure everyone has a glove and a bat, and optimizing the system to ensure everyone always brings them to the game. Yes, that's definitely needed. But if you keep losing games, the answer isn't to improve the system to make sure you have enough gloves and bats. That system is probably good enough the way it is. The answer is to back up, look at the situation more strategically, and figure out where you need to focus to make a real difference.
September 3, 2013 at 17:34 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I find a list-based system is easiest to reboot, but you're right -- it's not good for the less-urgent but still important projects that need a few hours of work. That's why I want to try time blocking. Each block will have its own page. If that block needs rebooting, I list and reboot for that block, without affecting the blocks that have progressed past needing a list.
However, right now I'm "one huge pile with lists scattered throughout it and 200 emails and bills probably due tomorrow and three people are replying to letters I sent out last month and I really need to fix my part of the thing I complained about at last week's meeting and..."
No worries. I've been there often enough that I know how to handle it. First, replenish energy with lunch.
However, right now I'm "one huge pile with lists scattered throughout it and 200 emails and bills probably due tomorrow and three people are replying to letters I sent out last month and I really need to fix my part of the thing I complained about at last week's meeting and..."
No worries. I've been there often enough that I know how to handle it. First, replenish energy with lunch.
September 3, 2013 at 18:34 |
Cricket
Cricket
After two weeks, it's been a total failure. I just don't have the discipline to get going right after breakfast.
Another, lesser, problem was the order. I didn't practice singing for two weeks -- until I decided to do it before exercising. That was a productive day. I still haven't caught up with my weekly goals, though, or done any work that wasn't for others. Next week is light, and the week after is busy, so I'll try to remember that just enough to keep the pressure on.
Another, lesser, problem was the order. I didn't practice singing for two weeks -- until I decided to do it before exercising. That was a productive day. I still haven't caught up with my weekly goals, though, or done any work that wasn't for others. Next week is light, and the week after is busy, so I'll try to remember that just enough to keep the pressure on.
September 15, 2013 at 22:50 |
Cricket
Cricket
Hi Cricket
I feel really bad that you considered your experimental efforts to be a failure. It's merely data that you can use to experiment again. Also, your chart seems like a massive effort even if you were single! Maybe if you only chose one or two to track so carefully and just judge your week by being overall current on what really matters, then that might turn down the heat. Maybe we're different, but sometimes I find that I'm more productive when I "expect" less of myself to call the day a success. I limit my MITs to about 2-4 hours. One day, I might jam for hours and hours on a project and another I might just kick back and relax. In my eyes, both days are successful because I completed my MITs. That's just me dealing with the mundane stuff. I have no trouble doing the interesting and challenging stuff.....but I'm single. You have a family. That's sure to add more responsibility and possible distractions that could derail your efforts. I may be wrong, but I think your judgement of your week's experiment was harsh. Sometimes my greatest successes have had a long trail of failed attempts behind it. LOL!
I feel really bad that you considered your experimental efforts to be a failure. It's merely data that you can use to experiment again. Also, your chart seems like a massive effort even if you were single! Maybe if you only chose one or two to track so carefully and just judge your week by being overall current on what really matters, then that might turn down the heat. Maybe we're different, but sometimes I find that I'm more productive when I "expect" less of myself to call the day a success. I limit my MITs to about 2-4 hours. One day, I might jam for hours and hours on a project and another I might just kick back and relax. In my eyes, both days are successful because I completed my MITs. That's just me dealing with the mundane stuff. I have no trouble doing the interesting and challenging stuff.....but I'm single. You have a family. That's sure to add more responsibility and possible distractions that could derail your efforts. I may be wrong, but I think your judgement of your week's experiment was harsh. Sometimes my greatest successes have had a long trail of failed attempts behind it. LOL!
September 16, 2013 at 1:57 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
p.s.
It might be wasted discipline if you're trying to force yourself to do something that isn't in alignment with your natural tendencies. The world is loaded with night owls and other people with non-traditional habit patterns. Experiment. See what feels best for you and that will increase your likelihood for success.
It might be wasted discipline if you're trying to force yourself to do something that isn't in alignment with your natural tendencies. The world is loaded with night owls and other people with non-traditional habit patterns. Experiment. See what feels best for you and that will increase your likelihood for success.
September 16, 2013 at 2:00 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
Well, no experiment is a failure if you learned something from it.
You're right, maybe what I learned was that the sequence that looked so nice on paper wasn't in alignment with my natural tendencies. I tried to follow what I knew of them, but must have missed something. Or maybe it was just a horrid couple of weeks.
The milestone chart isn't much work at all to keep up, especially compared to how much it helps. Part of the issue is that things that I want to be routine, aren't. Exercising, voice work, and an hour on housework theoretically take 2.5 hours, so I should be able to finish them, plus lunch, plus appropriate breaks, between 9am and 1pm. If I did that most days, I'd be thrilled!
Ah, well, just looked at the calendar. Days are light this week, but evenings are busy, and several deadlines the week after -- enough that I need to focus, which will help. Deadlines are my friend.
You're right, maybe what I learned was that the sequence that looked so nice on paper wasn't in alignment with my natural tendencies. I tried to follow what I knew of them, but must have missed something. Or maybe it was just a horrid couple of weeks.
The milestone chart isn't much work at all to keep up, especially compared to how much it helps. Part of the issue is that things that I want to be routine, aren't. Exercising, voice work, and an hour on housework theoretically take 2.5 hours, so I should be able to finish them, plus lunch, plus appropriate breaks, between 9am and 1pm. If I did that most days, I'd be thrilled!
Ah, well, just looked at the calendar. Days are light this week, but evenings are busy, and several deadlines the week after -- enough that I need to focus, which will help. Deadlines are my friend.
September 16, 2013 at 15:10 |
Cricket
Cricket
One other point about the milestone chart: It's how I choose my few big rocks for the week and day. It gives me advance warning if a week will have too many big rocks, while I have enough time to move them to other weeks. It reminds me why I should do this project _now_, even though it's not due for three weeks. Often, it's because this was the best thing to move forward so I can avoid a rock-jam on a future week.
September 16, 2013 at 15:23 |
Cricket
Cricket
Hi Cricket
It was interesting to read your system approach. I am using now something quite similar. I have my milestones in business, development and personal divided into areas of focus (for ex. business is: product, strategy, administration, business development etc.) and have time schedule devoted to them and I keep project list for each.
Also I have a must to do one MIT from each milestone (and this is ok if I work at least one hour on each per day).
It is working quite well, I totally don’t look for perfect system at all now, just focus on work and quite happy with that. This commitment to finish 3 MIT is something really changing my work like keystone habit.
Also I am not quite happy with what I do as business and plan to change this, but for now I need to stabilize this habit.
It was interesting to read your system approach. I am using now something quite similar. I have my milestones in business, development and personal divided into areas of focus (for ex. business is: product, strategy, administration, business development etc.) and have time schedule devoted to them and I keep project list for each.
Also I have a must to do one MIT from each milestone (and this is ok if I work at least one hour on each per day).
It is working quite well, I totally don’t look for perfect system at all now, just focus on work and quite happy with that. This commitment to finish 3 MIT is something really changing my work like keystone habit.
Also I am not quite happy with what I do as business and plan to change this, but for now I need to stabilize this habit.
September 17, 2013 at 13:09 |
Navigare
Navigare
Navigare, I'm glad you're finding it useful. There's no such thing as a perfect system, but the milestone chart has become a key part of mine. It helps me choose the MITs for each time frame so I make progress on all of my goals, and lets me know when I need to let some goals sit so I can meet deadlines and make progress in the others.
September 17, 2013 at 21:52 |
Cricket
Cricket
I don't believe this. I'm going to try a weekly schedule. That hasn't appealed to me since school.
Weekly schedules in the past haven't worked. If I paid bills on Monday afternoon, and had appointments two Mondays in a row, I needed decide what to adjust. Also, I assigned an hour to this and an hour to that, and ended up with too much "little-but-not-often".
However, looking at Seraphim's latest system and discussing Focus lists with Deven, I came up with something that just might work.
Instead of assigning a specific project to each time block, I'll create groups of projects and assign one group to each large block. If an appointment interferes, no problem - the same group appears tomorrow.
The projects in each group will have similar energy levels and location. Hopefully, it will become a habit to, for example, sit at my desk and focus after lunch each day, even though the exact project will change.
The projects in each group will be prioritized against each other. Work on the first as long as it makes sense, then work on the next until the time is up. Tomorrow, start again at the first project in the group. That first project will get lots of attention until it's done. Focus! The last project won't get any attention until the higher projects get cleared. (Eureka! A safe way to keep hibernating projects on the main list. They'll act as carrots.)
I'm keeping the milestone chart. Rather than list all the projects on it in the new system, one project will be "milestone chart". That will be a high priority project in the big afternoon block. My big focus project will be in the same group. Priorities within each group will change as milestones approach or for other reasons, and can do so without affecting other groups.
Hopefully, sitting at my desk at the same time each day to work on those deadline projects will make it easier to sit at my desk and focus on a big non-deadline project on days when there is no deadline project. It's the same with housework. If I do an hour a day, some days I'll do nothing but catch-up or clean unscheduled messes, but most days I'll have time for an extra corner or two.
Fingers crossed.