Discussion Forum > goalscape
Marco:
http://www.goalscape.com/
I've had a look at the video, and it seems to be founded on a couple of good principles:
1) you need to keep your lower goals lined up with your higher goals
2) the whole can't exceed the total time available.
What I'm not sure about from the video is whether you can specify how much time you have available for the whole, so that when you enter your goals it automatically tells you how much time you have available for them.
That would be an invaluable tool if it did that.
Unfortunately I'm not sure it does. The video talks about the "importance" of a goal rather than the amount of time it needs. Increasing the size of a goal increases a percentage slider, but I would prefer for it to increase a "time needed" slider. I'm not clear what the percentage is supposed to represent. Percentage of "Importance" seems pretty meaningless. Something can be very important, but only take a tiny amount of time - and vice versa.
Maybe this is made clearer in the application itself, which I'm tempted to download - but at the moment all my time is allocated.
http://www.goalscape.com/
I've had a look at the video, and it seems to be founded on a couple of good principles:
1) you need to keep your lower goals lined up with your higher goals
2) the whole can't exceed the total time available.
What I'm not sure about from the video is whether you can specify how much time you have available for the whole, so that when you enter your goals it automatically tells you how much time you have available for them.
That would be an invaluable tool if it did that.
Unfortunately I'm not sure it does. The video talks about the "importance" of a goal rather than the amount of time it needs. Increasing the size of a goal increases a percentage slider, but I would prefer for it to increase a "time needed" slider. I'm not clear what the percentage is supposed to represent. Percentage of "Importance" seems pretty meaningless. Something can be very important, but only take a tiny amount of time - and vice versa.
Maybe this is made clearer in the application itself, which I'm tempted to download - but at the moment all my time is allocated.
September 27, 2014 at 9:06 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Hi Mark
I, too, have problems forecasting how long a goal will take especially if it's like embarking on an "unknown frontier" such as creativity, problem solving or a learning curve. I might estimate a goal to take 100 hours and I might get lucky and get it done in 25 ....or...the learning process or the experimentation takes much longer than I anticipated. I simply use your WILL DO list concept and assign a time block or minimum unit of time. I give it my best effort and count it as done for the day regardless of the outcome unless it has a real deadline attached. Then, if I'm having a tough time, I'll simply put in extra time and effort to try to match the timeline.
I don't know how anybody can possibly estimate how long a project will take to successfully complete unless they've done something similar previously. (i.e. little or no learning curve, problem-solving or creative endeavor...or your progress hinges on others' contributions/input done in a timely, conscientious manner.)
I, too, have problems forecasting how long a goal will take especially if it's like embarking on an "unknown frontier" such as creativity, problem solving or a learning curve. I might estimate a goal to take 100 hours and I might get lucky and get it done in 25 ....or...the learning process or the experimentation takes much longer than I anticipated. I simply use your WILL DO list concept and assign a time block or minimum unit of time. I give it my best effort and count it as done for the day regardless of the outcome unless it has a real deadline attached. Then, if I'm having a tough time, I'll simply put in extra time and effort to try to match the timeline.
I don't know how anybody can possibly estimate how long a project will take to successfully complete unless they've done something similar previously. (i.e. little or no learning curve, problem-solving or creative endeavor...or your progress hinges on others' contributions/input done in a timely, conscientious manner.)
September 27, 2014 at 13:53 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
learning:
It's not so much how long a project will take that concerns me as how much time is available for it. What I would like is a clear visual image of how I expect to split up the time between my various projects. This would hopefully make the likelihood of myself over-committing myself less likely and would help to ensure that what is really important gets sufficient time allocated to it.
The good thing about Goalscape is that it allows you to split up a project into smaller parts and then smaller parts again - so that gives a more realistic idea of what is involved in a project.
And if it turns out that your forecast is completely wrong, then it's easy to readjust and reallocate available time.
It's not so much how long a project will take that concerns me as how much time is available for it. What I would like is a clear visual image of how I expect to split up the time between my various projects. This would hopefully make the likelihood of myself over-committing myself less likely and would help to ensure that what is really important gets sufficient time allocated to it.
The good thing about Goalscape is that it allows you to split up a project into smaller parts and then smaller parts again - so that gives a more realistic idea of what is involved in a project.
And if it turns out that your forecast is completely wrong, then it's easy to readjust and reallocate available time.
September 27, 2014 at 21:09 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Goalscape looks pretty but I am suspicious of its ability to actually drive toward completing a goal. I've been finding a lot more value in FOCUS rather than figuring out how to spread my time around between lots of different goals.
I found I used to waste a lot of time trying to optimize time allocation between projects, and lost a lot of mental focus switching between them. Then I learned the kanban principle of limiting WIP to increase focus, and started to see this principle repeated in many places: Agile/Scrum with it's limited WIP for any given sprint, and it's idea of "backlog grooming"; Dave Ramsey financial strategies with his "baby steps"; research on the drastic results of trying to switch between three or more major tasks/responsibilities; even DIT's "current initiative".
So now I try to keep just 1-2 focus projects at work, and 1-2 at home. Ideally just 1, not 1-2 ( but having the second can be useful if the 1st is blocked for some reason ). Then just stay focused on getting that focus project DONE or to the point where it no longer needs sustained attention and needs only minor upkeep to keep it moving (occasional meetings, discussions, and smallish tasks).
The focus helps drive the project to completion and maintain motivation, while avoiding task-switching.
I then usually have 3-4 projects in the "next" category, which I move into the "focus" slot when ready.
If I start getting 5, 6, 7, 8+ projects piling up in the "next" category, then I know I have too much and need to renegotiate deadlines / workload / priorities / work assignments / etc. Sometimes I can just move something to the "later" pile, where it often dies a quiet death, which is fine, because something important actually got completed instead.
I found I used to waste a lot of time trying to optimize time allocation between projects, and lost a lot of mental focus switching between them. Then I learned the kanban principle of limiting WIP to increase focus, and started to see this principle repeated in many places: Agile/Scrum with it's limited WIP for any given sprint, and it's idea of "backlog grooming"; Dave Ramsey financial strategies with his "baby steps"; research on the drastic results of trying to switch between three or more major tasks/responsibilities; even DIT's "current initiative".
So now I try to keep just 1-2 focus projects at work, and 1-2 at home. Ideally just 1, not 1-2 ( but having the second can be useful if the 1st is blocked for some reason ). Then just stay focused on getting that focus project DONE or to the point where it no longer needs sustained attention and needs only minor upkeep to keep it moving (occasional meetings, discussions, and smallish tasks).
The focus helps drive the project to completion and maintain motivation, while avoiding task-switching.
I then usually have 3-4 projects in the "next" category, which I move into the "focus" slot when ready.
If I start getting 5, 6, 7, 8+ projects piling up in the "next" category, then I know I have too much and need to renegotiate deadlines / workload / priorities / work assignments / etc. Sometimes I can just move something to the "later" pile, where it often dies a quiet death, which is fine, because something important actually got completed instead.
October 1, 2014 at 6:48 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seems like the basic 'system' could be done on paper.