Viewing Category: Productivity
A few years ago I was in a McDonald's during the lunch rush, and after placing my order I observed the cashier arranging my order slip on a rail with the rest of them. Food preparers were already assembling orders, but fries were held up and a few special orders took longer to assemble. The check rail was the continual point of reference, allowing everyone not only to see what was in each order, but also providing a visual sense of just how backed up they were. There was an electronic version, glowing greenly in the corner, but it was positioned just a bit too far away from the actual bagging area to be convenient. The paper order slips were more permanent, and upon fulfillment they were taped to the side of the bag to tag its contents. I thought this was very cool, so I designed the Task Order Up to play with the concept at home. It was designed to collate the two important questions about one's work:
- What I am supposed to do?
- When is it due?
As originally envisioned, the Task Order Up implements a priority queue in a production environment. As tasks come in, Task Order Up slips are filled out and handed off to a worker who will handle it. The worker can then array the tasks over his workstation, knowing exactly what needs to be done. Each slip is like a mini job contract, a prop for discussion. The worker can arrange them by the order he is going to do them, and what's cool is that everyone else can see what's on his plate just by glancing at his desk: work queue becomes more transparent. I think this helps avoid those micromanagement situations, but I must admit the main reason for making these slips is because I just like check rails. However, I've heard of people using this in production environments...check out their photos on Flickr.
2008 Updates
I made small but significant layout changes to the Task Order Up this year. Partly to reduce the number of forms I need to update, and partly because I was never quite satisfied with the way it looked. Gone are the PCEO bubbles (see the original Printable CEO article) which added that splash of color; I haven't heard of anyone actually using them, so I have removed them. Also I've also put in a regular bubble line for tracking time, so this makes this card a bit more useful for timesheet use. You can inspect the changes in the image to the right.
Download The 2008 Printable Task Order Up Forms
Standard Format
3x5 Index Card Format
4x6 Recipe Card Format
For more background information about the Task Order Up, see the original article or the 2007 Updates. Enjoy!
Pursue Tangible Results to Achieve Greater Goals
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 :-)
Designed for Minimal Tracking Effort
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.
Overall Application
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.
Make New Year's Resolutions Printable Lists with the Editable Versions
New for 2008 are write in your own goals 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.
Download 2008 Concrete Goals Tracker Printable Forms
3x5" Index Card Printable Formats
PocketMod / MiniBook Format
Editable Excel Goals Tracker
- Download Editable Excel version. It isn't pretty, but it gets the job done. Use to create your own variations in points. Note that this is not an interactive calculator or tracker spreadsheet as is.
For an overview of all the forms available, visit The Printable CEO™ Series Page. Enjoy!
See where your time is going so you stay focused
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 2008 edition is pretty much the same as last year's. 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.
Download 2008 Emergent Task Timing Printable Forms
If you are looking for a 15-minute timer, you might try using the online prototype of the Emergent Task Timer. It is not completely functional, but you can certainly use it to try the concept out.
For more information about Emergent Task Timing, the original post describes each design feature in greater detail. Enjoy!
Plan your day as it happens
The Emergent Task Planner (or ETP) is a Daily Planning Sheet that provides several means for visualizing the time you have available so you can get some work done. Unlike other planning sheets which merely block out time and leaves you to hope for the best, 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.
The 2008 edition has changed in layout compared to last year. The Time Scheduling is now on the right side to mirror the layout of the new pre-printed ETP pads that pre-orderers have started to receive in 2007. I have also retained the "day of the week" feature of this form, which is a feature that is not on the pre-printed ETP pads.
While the free 2008 forms are not quite as pretty as the commercially printed ones, but they're functionally equivalent (and still pretty nice looking :-)
Download 2008 Emergent Task Planner Printable Forms
For information about the Emergent Task Planner, the original post describes each design feature in greater detail.
Limited Availability!
If you'd like to order from the limited run of pre-printed pads on high-quality paper, you may do so for a limited time. Pre-Printed ETP Pads.
Project-level to-do list tracking
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 2008 edition is just a yearly update, with a modification of the footer to remove my "custom design" service offering. It ended up being very difficult to offer this at the price point most people were willing to pay, so I think a software solution will have to be found. I have some ideas; hopefully I will be able to implement them in late 2008.
Download 2008 Task Progress Tracker Printable Forms
For more information about the Task Progress Tracker, the original post has plenty to read. Enjoy!
