SUMMARY: Getting started on Wednesday, I'm just not feeling the focus. When I get stuck I usually just write something to get my brain working; writing helps me linearize my thoughts, which helps me visualize what's wrong and what can be done. This time, I become aware that there are six different challenges that I've hazily grouped under the focus label.
A reader pointed out Mark Forster's Autofocus System to me recently, and I think it's worth passing along. Autofocus is a methodology for handling the stuff you want to do by using a simple ruled notebook to maintain the list, and then trusting a set of rules for processing them into doneness. I know we've all heard that before, but there's a deeper insight and elegance in his approach that I really like. In particular, I like this insight of Mark's (from the what can I expect from the system section):
Focus on what is important. It’s very difficult to focus on what is important with one’s rational mind alone, because what your conscious mind thinks is important may not be what your subconscious mind thinks is important. What I’ve found is that looking back on what I’ve done I can see that the focus produced by the system feels “right” - right for me in my current circumstances.
In other words, it's the balance between your rational and subconscious that's addressed in the processing. You use your rational mind to add things to the end of your list in your notebook. You process a single page at a time, scanning line-by-line thoughtfully and picking what jumps out at you. You work on for as long as you like. If you don't finish it, you add it back to the end of the list. Stuff that ends up hanging around and doesn't jump out at you (what I might call the "meh" response) after the line-by-line gets purged and not re-entered...which I love. You could go re-enter it, but Mark suggests that you give it some time.
Anyway, the system tickles me enough that I'm going to try it this week. I've been feeling the need to build myself a brain box to get my head focused for January 2010, but perhaps it's my mental operating system that needs an upgrade instead. I'll probably end up doing both :-)
So check it out... there are multiple translations, downloadable booklets, and forums as well!
I'd forgotten about this old Task Order Up! (TOU) variation, the Intermittent Task Tracker (ITT). A reader just asked me about making an update, so I went back to my 2006 Form Variations Folder and found it again. I updated the typography a bit and have just posted it.
The basic idea behind this design is to keep all the details relevant to a project on a single 4x6 index card over the course of several days. The intended purpose was to handle projects that one intermittently worked on; these are things like auxiliary support projects that can't be completed in a single day. An ongoing maintenance task is a good example of this. The TOU cards, by comparison, are really designed to handle a single task that can be completed in a block of continuous time.
The ITT card is also interesting in that it uses the Concrete Goals Tracker (CGT) point system. You could create an ITT card as an alternate way of logging what you're getting accomplished that is in alignment with your overall goals. The focus of the ITT card, though, is on a kind of project; if this reduction of scope is useful for you, then maybe it will work out well.
This is the larger "recipe size" card, which happens to feed more reliably through my printer than smaller 3x5 cards.
Enjoy! For more information, visit the ITT Page.
In May 2009 I started to explore what work-life balance meant to me in terms of day-to-day activity, and I created a mash-up of some existing forms that I called the Day Grid Balancer, which I then released with a Creative Commons license. You can read more here on the official Day Grid Balancer page about design rationale. If you're using the DGB forms as-is, you can download the following PDFs. If you are interested in remixing these forms, you'll need Adobe Illustrator CS4 to modify these fully-editable files.
Enjoy!
Earlier this year I posted a summary of a 5-day liveblogging of my day. I made a grid in Excel that helped me visualize not only where the time had gone, but what kind of time it happened to be. This was an interesting exercise, and I made a 5-day planning format form loosely based on the Emergent Task Planner. For more information, read the Five day Planner (P5P) Page.
It's pretty straightforward, which is why it's called the "Plain Old 5-Day Planner". Basic grid paper, downloadable as a PDF. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to print it out. Updates for 2010 are minor; I just added separate "starting hour" times for each of the five days by request.
» Download the Plain 5-Day Planner US Letter size
» Download the Plain 5-Day Planner A4 size
Enjoy!
After a year break, I'm re-introducing the Resource Time Tracking (RTT) forms I first tried out in 2006. At the time, I was trying to figure out a better way of visualizing future time to a number of different simultaneous projects.
This is a two-part form, consisting of a task scheduler and a task quantizer. The Task Scheduler is basically a calendar that shows what deliverables are due on what days of the week in addition to when production time is allocated. The Task Quantizer is a kind of worksheet to allow you to determine what those deliverables are in the first place, and how long it will take to to them. The Quantizer forces you to measure in standardized blocks of time, which comes in handy when it comes to fitting them into the Scheduler's time grid.
The 2010 update is unchanged from the original 2006-2007 form, other than some standardization of typography
For more information about the use of the Resource Time Tracking forms, check out the original post. Enjoy!
The Emergent Task Planner (or ETP) is a Daily Planning Sheet that provides a way for you to lightly structure your day. By helping you visualize the time you have, you can get a sense of just how much work you can get done done. The ETP borrows some of the task planning methodology from the Task Progress Tracker to reinforce one idea: it's hard to get anything done on purpose when there are so many distractions. The ETP provides space for noting down the unexpected while keeping your big-picture tasks in view.
The 2010 edition is based on last year's pre-printed pad design, which is now available on Amazon.com for ordering. The free downloadable versions are available in black and white, blue, and green, in both US Letter (8.5x11) and International A4 sizes.
If you have any other form variation requests or miss an older version, let me know and I'll dig it up for you.
8.5 x 11 inch Letter
A4 International
For information about the Emergent Task Planner, the original post describes each design feature in greater detail.
You can now buy high quality offset-printed pads of 75 sheets, using the new blue and orange color scheme, on Amazon.com. And yes, you can take advantage of that Amazon Super Saver Shipping when you buy more than $25 of stuff from them. Check it out! Your purchase helps me spend more time blogging and designing about productivity, and I appreciate it!
The Emergent Task Timer (or ETT) is a Daily Task Focusing Sheet that works in conjunction with a simple 15-minute timer. Every time the timer goes off, you take a note of what you happen to be doing, and fill in a bubble marking the time. This simple action allows you to build a picture of how you spend your time during the day. The results are often shocking. Like all the Printable CEO™ forms, it's designed to provide maximum gain for minimum input.
Over the years, this form seems to be popular with people working in reactionary jobs (tech support, for example) and students who are trying to stay focused. The use of the 15-minute timer is useful for "pacing" the day; when it goes off, you'll know if you've been on task or off task. Even if you don't note a bubble for every single 15-minute interval, you can often infer how your day has been going from the overall pattern that has built. Some people use it as a simple daily time tracker for billable work. Others have used it to show their bosses that their time gets frittered away by useless meetings.
The 2010 edition is pretty much the same as last year's, with a bit of cleanup in the typography. If you're using the form to track time, be sure to use the Power User's version; there's a space at the right side of the form to enter in the total amount of time you've spent.
If you are looking for a 15-minute timer, you might try using the ancient online prototype of the Emergent Task Timer. It is not completely functional, but you can certainly use it to try the concept out. Sean Johnson has also created a web app based on the ETT design which is pretty slick. Check it out!
For more information about Emergent Task Timing, the original post describes each design feature in greater detail. Enjoy!
The Task Progress Tracker (or TPT) is a Project Task Manager, where "project" is loosely defined as a "set of related tasks". The idea behind the TPT is to provide a methodology to break down a project into shorter-duration subtasks that take under 4 hours. The design of the form encourages estimate then track use of the same piece of paper; first you write down all the tasks, then you make your estimates, then you follow through. It's like a To-Do list, except the forms also track effort made against each item, 15 minutes at a time.
The 2010 edition has had several cosmetic improvements to increase contrast when printing. The Power User Edition has been almost completely redesigned, using refined elements from some of the newer forms I've done.
For more information about the Task Progress Tracker, the original post has plenty to read. Enjoy!
The Concrete Goals Tracker (CGT) is the original Printable CEO™ form, created one evening in 2005 to alleviate my desire to have a "trusted personal CEO" that would tell me what to do. I figured since I couldn't hire anyone to do the job, I might be able to go the cheap route and print one up on paper :-)
The idea is pretty simple: every time you complete something on the "worth doing" task list, you award yourself points. ONLY things you've done that produce tangible benefits are worth points, and the point scale is weighted so the most goal-directed criteria earn the most. Goal-supporting achievements, which tend to happen more frequently, are weighted less. It's up to you whether a task "counts" or not toward your goal. You can even award multiple points for a single task if it makes sense to you...try your best to optimize!
The list shown here is designed to create a successful freelance practice, based on the idea that "showing and talking about your work leads to more work". It lists categories of tasks that can be framed as being productive relative to your overall goal. For a freelancer, that's making stuff and showing it to people, and also talking to people constantly so you are on their mind. It all pays off when you get that check. There's a small business version too in the downloads section.
As you accomplish various goal-related items throughout the day, fill in the appropriate bubble to log the points. At the end of the day, you will see how well you did (or didn't). Each CGT form tracks an entire week, so you will see how you did every day, and week-by-week...and most importantly, what you did to move yourself along your path. Since the items on the task list award points only for tangible results, you will have made actual progress.
The theory behind the form itself is described more in the original 2005 post on the Printable CEO and the followup Making of the Printable CEO; there is a good bit of video game design psychology embedded in this paper form.
The CGT has evolved into a bunch of other forms that help visualize different aspects of my workday, and I no longer use it daily because it actually did its job: it got me focused on some processes that actually deliver meaningful result; all I had to do was focus not on what they were, but how I could tell if I was on the right path or not, and whether my daily output was really helping me forward. The idea is pretty simple: by focusing on making things that people can see and counting what you've done in a simple daily manner, you plant the seeds for daily progress. This is a high level guidance tool, much like the way a good manager will tell you what she needs and you pick your own way of making that happen without a lot of micromanagement. With luck, this is a form you use to get started in a new direction, and then you will pretty much know what you need to be doing. I haven't heard much feedback about it lately, but the general impression I have is that people use it for 2 weeks to six months, then move on.
The concept is translatable to different fields too. For example, there was also some interest from a magazine, so I created a small business edition based on that.
There are "write-your-own" PDFs with suggested methodology for how I put together a good "worth doing" list, which is an art in itself. I've written instructions on how to create new year's resolutions using these forms. By using the make-your-own printable versions of the CGT, you can put together a pretty decent goal tracking kit using either 8.5x11 paper, index cards for you Hipster users, or mini-book formats (pocketmod compatible, even). There is also an editable Excel version.
Note: You'll need to use Acrobat Reader to modify the text fields in the editable PDF versions.
For an overview of all the forms available, visit The Printable CEO™ Series Page. Enjoy!
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