Emergent Task Planner 2007 Updates

POSTED 01/02/2007 UNDER ThinkingTools

A few people are using the experimental Emergent Task Planner sheets, so I've updated them for 2007 and added a B&W version.

So what is Emergent Task Planning? It's a more directed version of Emergent Task Tracking, which is the form that helps you figure out where your time is disappearing to. Emergent Task Planning, on the other hand, attempts to guide your effort for the day by using time boxing:

list the things you need to do for the day
estimate how long they'll take (up to 4 hours...if it's longer, break it up)
figure out where in the day you'll do them
block out the time, and stick to the schedule

Think of it as a quickie day planning sheet.

You can read more about the design, or just download the forms below if you already know what you want to do with them.

UPDATE: I keep forgetting that the ETP grew out of another form, the Menu of the Day. If you're curious about the schedule grid and the ABCDE markers, read about it here. Hint: A = 4 hours.

» 2007 Emergent Task Planner in color
» PCEO-ETP01-Standard.pdf

» 2007 Emergent Task Planner for laser printers
» PCEO-ETP02-StandardBW.pdf

THIS IS AN ARCHIVE PAGE: Please visit the Emergent Task Planner Page for the latest versions.

Comments

1. zzap said on 01/03/2007 12:26AM...

This is really awesome… thanks so much—I’m sure this’ll come in handy. Love the lifehacks.

2. Eric G. said on 01/17/2007 09:25PM...

I found this link through Lifehacker. This looks like just what I was looking for in software form. I really like the visual breakdown of time blocks as I am very visually oriented. Thanks!

3. James said on 01/21/2007 10:57PM...

I would prefer not to have the lunch and dinner boxes as I eat on different time slots.

4. Litlun said on 02/07/2007 12:00AM...

Excellent template! I use it to track time spent on various topics. (With color pencils on the BW form ;-)

Something that would make this form more useful / readable to me:
1. Replace the ‘dots’ with lines in the ‘journal’ column (and reserve some space for the ‘task number’)
2. Possibility to fill in the ‘hours’ before printing. (Or a fixed form from 7-20h)

5. Jenni said on 02/13/2007 09:41PM...

Hi. I love the emergent task planner form. I want to use it in a circa notebook with 5.5 by 8.5 pages. I have been messing around with the pdf today trying to scale it and print it. Finally I converted it to a tiff and a jpeg and put those in my cad program where I could scale it. But it lost the nice clean edges on the lines. Do you have any tips on printing a smaller version? I WANT this form (in a size that fits my emerging organization system ;) Thanks very much. Jenni

6. Melvin said on 03/15/2007 09:18PM...

Dave,

You’re a GENIUS! I’ve been a 7-Habits and GTD fanatic + practitioner all my life; and I LOVE what you’ve done!

I’ve just printed out 3 months supply of Emergent Task Planner sheets and added your blog to my list of favourites.

Next action:
1. This weekend, I’m gonna read your blog like a book
2. I’ve gotta find a way to add you on MSN and to keep in touch.

7. raj said on 05/21/2007 01:28AM...

I have been using ETP for last 6 months- i think the new one is even more clear

8. John Cupak said on 10/17/2007 02:44AM...

I work a 9/80 week - that is, Monday-Thursday at 9 hours a day, then Friday for 8 hours, then 4 9-hour days the next week and I get the Friday off. So, my typical day runs from 7 to 5 instead of 8-5. On the ETP-01 form I’d like to see an extra time block at the top and one less at the bottom to accommodate those of us who have to work a little extra hours. An awesome form / concept nevertheless!

9. Sue Hindman said on 11/26/2007 12:02PM...

Have you thought about putting out an editable ETP form like you do the Concrete Goals Tracker? I would like a smaller version to save paper. Maybe 1/2 page per day. Similar request to the poster above.

Great ideas on this site. Thanks!

10. Dave Seah said on 11/27/2007 06:21AM...

Thanks for the comments everyone! I need to figure out some way of handling customizations. Maybe some kind of print-on-demand system…hm! That would be cool :-)

11. David said on 12/19/2007 02:12PM...

Hi. I have to agree about the lunch thing, it needs to be taken out. Who know when I’ll do lunch? I usually like to do a longer morning and then lunch so my afternoon seems really quick!

12. Denzil said on 10/13/2008 03:25AM...

Your are a genuis and have saved me hours ,thank u thank u, thank u.
I have had many templates created before none as effective as this one