Discussion Forum > One week as a unit
Hi Mark,
I use this approach all the time. I used to do it years ago formally as part of a system, where I would write down three things I know I want to get done by the end of the week, and then work on them on and off throughout the week to get them done. It worked quite well but the use of three things imposed an artificial structure which detracted from the approach.
What we're ultimately talking about here is using the week as a convenient block of time which sits well with the natural break in the workplace and at home, identifying the things which will give you your biggest bang for your buck by the end of the week (this could be things playing on your mind or things that are urgent or have become important or any combination), working out what you need to do to do something about them, and making an effort not to be too distracted by other stuff.
After you've done it for a short while you just sort of know what you need to get done each week and the trick is to keep coming back to what you want to get done, which at first is a conscious effort but soon becomes second nature.
I use this approach all the time. I used to do it years ago formally as part of a system, where I would write down three things I know I want to get done by the end of the week, and then work on them on and off throughout the week to get them done. It worked quite well but the use of three things imposed an artificial structure which detracted from the approach.
What we're ultimately talking about here is using the week as a convenient block of time which sits well with the natural break in the workplace and at home, identifying the things which will give you your biggest bang for your buck by the end of the week (this could be things playing on your mind or things that are urgent or have become important or any combination), working out what you need to do to do something about them, and making an effort not to be too distracted by other stuff.
After you've done it for a short while you just sort of know what you need to get done each week and the trick is to keep coming back to what you want to get done, which at first is a conscious effort but soon becomes second nature.
May 7, 2014 at 10:06 |
Chris
Chris
I often use a week as my basic planning unit.
If I only look at a day, I don't see the big picture. I can always exercise or go shopping tomorrow. If I see the week, I realize the next days are already full, and can make the tough decisions, such as to get it done now, or admit something has to drop off the week.
Weekly is often enough to look at monthly goals. Month end is close enough you feel the pressure and don't put things off as long.
It's large enough that you have room to shuffle things around, but not so large that unwise shuffling can cause large problems
Energy often follows a weekly pattern, with weekends and weekly events.
Many tasks recur weekly. Write them all down when you plan your week, rather than deal with them one day at a time.
I find a mid-week review to freshen the plan helps. Usually other things have come up, or I didn't do exactly what I planned. The key projects are already there, so it's shuffling and re-prioritizing a short list, rather than reviewing the big list.
If I only look at a day, I don't see the big picture. I can always exercise or go shopping tomorrow. If I see the week, I realize the next days are already full, and can make the tough decisions, such as to get it done now, or admit something has to drop off the week.
Weekly is often enough to look at monthly goals. Month end is close enough you feel the pressure and don't put things off as long.
It's large enough that you have room to shuffle things around, but not so large that unwise shuffling can cause large problems
Energy often follows a weekly pattern, with weekends and weekly events.
Many tasks recur weekly. Write them all down when you plan your week, rather than deal with them one day at a time.
I find a mid-week review to freshen the plan helps. Usually other things have come up, or I didn't do exactly what I planned. The key projects are already there, so it's shuffling and re-prioritizing a short list, rather than reviewing the big list.
May 7, 2014 at 15:47 |
Cricket
Cricket
When I became observant (Jewish) in my mid-20s, I discovered that traditional Jews plan their week around Shabbat. So as soon as Shabbat ends (Saturday night), they are already planning their next Shabbat. Some use Friday as a time for reflection/introspection on how their week turned out (turning this into discussion w/ family members during the Shabbat meal on Friday night).
Then I discovered Covey, and he reinforced these ideas with Roles, Goals and Weekly Planning.
Since then, I've been through a lot of different productivity systems, but always incorporate some form of Weekly Review/Planning.
Good discussion.
Then I discovered Covey, and he reinforced these ideas with Roles, Goals and Weekly Planning.
Since then, I've been through a lot of different productivity systems, but always incorporate some form of Weekly Review/Planning.
Good discussion.
May 7, 2014 at 16:22 |
avrum
avrum
When I read Covey years ago, I indeed found the weekly focus quite sensible.
Here is an example from personal experience. At my previous job, we went through a Lean wave a few years ago. One of the good things to come out of this was a daily standup meeting (only 15 minutes every morning) around our team's whiteboard.
On Monday, every team member wrote down the main things (s)he planned to achieve during the week, with an indication of the target day. This was quite useful as it forces you to decide for yourself what are the most important things to do, it gives the other team members a clear view on what's going on and it invites interaction and exchange of ideas.
On the other days, we then updated the team on our progress, and could ask for help when needed or highlight problems and roadblocks and try to address them. By Friday, we would assess together how well we managed to achieve our goals.
This focus on a week as a unit (with daily updates) worked quite well. I miss this at my current job.
Here is an example from personal experience. At my previous job, we went through a Lean wave a few years ago. One of the good things to come out of this was a daily standup meeting (only 15 minutes every morning) around our team's whiteboard.
On Monday, every team member wrote down the main things (s)he planned to achieve during the week, with an indication of the target day. This was quite useful as it forces you to decide for yourself what are the most important things to do, it gives the other team members a clear view on what's going on and it invites interaction and exchange of ideas.
On the other days, we then updated the team on our progress, and could ask for help when needed or highlight problems and roadblocks and try to address them. By Friday, we would assess together how well we managed to achieve our goals.
This focus on a week as a unit (with daily updates) worked quite well. I miss this at my current job.
May 8, 2014 at 11:37 |
Marc (from Brussels)
Marc (from Brussels)
You may want to look at AndreasE's Dead Simple Autofocus (DSAF), which is based on weekly dismissals. One of my favorite systems here: http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2037791
May 8, 2014 at 18:18 |
nuntym
nuntym
May 8, 2014 at 19:50 |
rodmitch
rodmitch
nuntym:
<< You may want to look at AndreasE's Dead Simple Autofocus (DSAF), which is based on weekly dismissals. >>
If I recall correctly, the dismissals take place weekly but the tasks dismissed may be anything from 1 week to 2 weeks old depending on what stage of the week they were entered.
<< You may want to look at AndreasE's Dead Simple Autofocus (DSAF), which is based on weekly dismissals. >>
If I recall correctly, the dismissals take place weekly but the tasks dismissed may be anything from 1 week to 2 weeks old depending on what stage of the week they were entered.
May 8, 2014 at 21:22 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
@Mark Forster: I think it was items 2 weeks old that are dismissed.
May 8, 2014 at 22:19 |
nuntym
nuntym
nuntym:
<< I think it was items 2 weeks old that are dismissed. >>
That's what I thought when I first read the instructions - then when I actually started to try it out I found that that wasn't the case. The relevant bit of the instructions is:
"1. Every sunday evening, I draw a thick line below the last item on the list.
"2. Then I dismiss (by crossing the pages out) all tasks BEFORE the line I drew LAST sunday."
If you dismiss all the tasks before the line you drew last Sunday evening, some will have been entered during last Sunday itself, i.e. only one week old.
That's basically why I fell out with the system. Why should I have 14 days to do a task if I put it on the list on a Monday, but only 7 if I put it on the list on a Sunday? It just didn't work for me.
P.S. I think Andreas later changed the dismissal point to Friday evening rather than Sunday evening, but the same thing applies.
<< I think it was items 2 weeks old that are dismissed. >>
That's what I thought when I first read the instructions - then when I actually started to try it out I found that that wasn't the case. The relevant bit of the instructions is:
"1. Every sunday evening, I draw a thick line below the last item on the list.
"2. Then I dismiss (by crossing the pages out) all tasks BEFORE the line I drew LAST sunday."
If you dismiss all the tasks before the line you drew last Sunday evening, some will have been entered during last Sunday itself, i.e. only one week old.
That's basically why I fell out with the system. Why should I have 14 days to do a task if I put it on the list on a Monday, but only 7 if I put it on the list on a Sunday? It just didn't work for me.
P.S. I think Andreas later changed the dismissal point to Friday evening rather than Sunday evening, but the same thing applies.
May 8, 2014 at 23:30 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Ah, I see, yeah when you put it that way the weekly dismissal is too blunt of an instrument.
May 9, 2014 at 4:51 |
nuntym
nuntym
I would like to throw out an idea and see what the feedback and/or growth is to it...
A while back, I had much success thinking of weeks as units. In other words, at some point next week I need to work on X. However, it doesn't much matter which day I work on X, all I want to do is have X done by the end of next week. This allowed me to have the freedom of deciding when I would work on X, as long as I got it done during the week. This counter acted my problem of ignoring self-imposed scheduled items. ie: I would previously think that I could get X done on Tuesday, and therefore schedule it for that day. Well, as we all know, often Tuesday just didn't work out. Then I would feel like a failure. The net result was that I didn't really follow my self-imposed schedule. The week-unit idea seemed to allow me some kind of freedom, but still accountability. Maybe it's all psycological, but I think some of us really do function as though a week is one unit made up of 7 days. Must be a way to use that tendency to help in productivity...
I realize this has more to do with scheduling than most the methods here, but I would love to hear any thoughts on how this could be made into a more robust method.
Thanks all!
Mark Thomas