Get Everything Done

Mark's posts on the dangers of a catch-all list are really resonating with me. I have been a big fan of FV since it was originally released. It helped me complete my last semester of grad school almost entirely stress free. But, I'm learning that the reason it worked so well was because I began with a finite number of assignments. Every day that long list was being condensed and I was all the more motivated to work "little and often" on papers months before they were due. It remains a brilliant system for tackling large finite lists of any kind.

But, for most of us, we need to be able to revise our list and add to it on a daily basis. For awhile I went back to GTD, but was reminded how overwhelming the whole system becomes after a few months. I was inspired by Cal Newport to try time-blocking and then I read more about it in ch.34 of Mark's Secrets of Productive People. Newport's method affords very little flexibility, so I wanted to give 5T a try. I took some time to condense my list of work tasks from 50+ to less than 20 (focusing on what is "essential" ch.15 of Secrets). Now, with a manageable list I am finding it much easier to build routines into my workweek. For instance, some of the tasks always happen on certain days of the week while I take time to focus on larger projects each work day. Things have been going really well, but...

I found that I was trying to plow through 5T without taking any breaks. Sometimes I would include "light" material and treat it like a break, but I tried to eliminate all of my time wasting practices. The problem with that--Duh--is trying to stay motivated for 8-10 hours each day. In practice, I would have some really great days of productivity followed by a total crash of a day wasted on social media.

So I recently added time-blocking (using the Pomodoro Technique) to work on my 5T list. It has been magical. I enjoy my breaks doing whatever I want (as long as it isn't on the list) and the timer limits my breaks from taking over my workday. I am able to work on the large projects 3-4 times (1.5 to 2 hours) each day and get all of my essential work done throughout the week.

I realize none of this is unique, but I just wanted to share how I'm applying some of the things Mark has been sharing about. I too am looking forward to the release of his new no-list system, but I'm not sure I'll be ready to make any drastic changes to my current process.