(last edited on September 23, 2018 at 4:41 pm)
The Printable CEO has been very popular over the weekend…thanks for checking it out! If you are finding it useful, drop me an email via my contact form…I’m curious if people are actually finding it productive in the field.
I’ve already received a few suggestions from people, and have made a few additions to the family of forms.
MiniBook Format
Commenter Nick told me about pocketmod, a DIY organizer system that looks really cool. Paper rocks! I thought about adapting the Concrete Goals Tracker worksheet into it, but I wanted to try two-page spreads in my formatting. Plus, I didn’t like the idea of signing away copyright when submitting a template, so I just made my own. Fold it the way you’d cut and fold a pocketmod. There are some mini-comic techniques that might work well with a double-sided format, but that’s a project for another day.
There have been some changes. The main one is that the table has been reformatted to fit the width of the minibook pages. I also used the extra space to insert more bubbles; I had been running out of some of the 1s and 2s. Also, the continuity notes are designed to span the fold in the page so printer page registration isn’t so critical.
Each minibook can handle 2 weeks, which are on Pages 1-2 and 5-6 respectively. Pages 3-4 have the general notes area.
As an added bonus, I put my current productivity mantra into the header and footer of the notes page. I haven’t yet made a giant poster version yet, but this will do in the meantime:
- Focus
- Start Anywhere
- Small Steps
- Maintain Momentum
- Just Ask
- Commit
Make sure your printer on its high quality setting, with an output resolution of at least 360DPI. The fonts are pretty readable on my ancient Epson Stylus 900 if I set 360DPI InkJet, Best Quality. Otherwise, the text will be blurry.
» Download Foldable MiniBook
» PCEO-CGT01-MiniBook.pdf
If you want to combine just the bubble chart with PocketMod, use one of the following, and read the instructions.
» Download Foldable MiniBook Pages 1-2 or 5-6
» PCEO-CGT01-MiniBook12.pdf
» Download Foldable MiniBook Pages 3-4
» PCEO-CGT01-MiniBook34.pdf
Editable Versions
Commenter Peter suggested that I release the source files so people could edit and create their own versions of the CGT. The sources are probably not accessible to most people (they are Illustrator CS2 files), so I made a Microsoft Excel version for everyone to play with.
The picture on the right (go ahead, click it) shows what it looks like; it retains the clarity of the original, and for an Excel spreadsheet it’s actually pretty darn swanky. The one thing I’m not happy about is the two-column When is Something Worth Doing List…this was a compromise made so I could include an ample Notes area and still keep everything on one sheet. I like the list better as a single column because that reflects its “ranked scale” nature better from a visual perspective.
» Download Excel Spreadsheet
» PrintableCEO-CGT01-Excel.zip
Additional information on editing:
- If you don’t like the way the Excel version looks, there’s also a nifty reader-contributed Editable PowerPoint Version available.
- You might find this followup article on how I made the Printable CEO useful when coming up with your task items. It’s long, but informative.
- If you are having trouble getting the Excel sheet to look right, you can use this sample PDF to see how it’s supposed to appear. This was output from Microsoft Office 2003 on my Windows XP system with Acrobat 7 Pro.
More Forms to Explore
Check out The Printable CEO™ Series Page. Enjoy!
16 Comments
Wonderful work Dave. :) I just might tack this on the door of the CEO of the company I work for and ask for compliance.
I really do see the benefit of using something like this and seriously appreciate your efforts! You really should consider doing a series of these productivity forms because not only do they look fantastic, but they also serve a real purpose.
Thanks kartooner! As a child, I had a fascination with carbon paper and form making…I started a club in the 4th grade just so I could make forms in triplicate. I haven’t thought about that in years. Maybe it is DESTINY :-)
Heeey this looks like my slacker tracker printout thing… ;) Just kidding, my thing is a parody of your site.
=)
http://www.wakingideas.com/archives/000325.html
That’s pretty damn funny! Could be prettier though :-)
Interesting. I’m going to try mostly because you said it worked for you. I struggle to with the lack of recognition, no wife, no community, it’s just us worker ants out here, neat idea, thats for all the work in putting it online
Good luck, Chris! I personally believe that one gets back what one puts out there; I try to concentrate on putting out authentic, positive vibes. If I don’t feel the authenticity, then I don’t put them out there. It’s not always easy, but it’s certainly easier to to LIVE with (from my perspective, anyway). If you put out enough of them, then a few of them start to pay you back.
I think the biggest boost that the PCEO has given me is a sense that I am making progress, and that positive feeling leads to more positive feeling. And positive feeling translates to tangible results. So long as those results stick around, then I feel like I’ve accomplished something. And tangible results are a lot easier to recognize: “hey, look at this drawing Fred made” versus “I hear that Fred draws a lot”.
Just a note, none of your download links work at all.
Oops, my Mint (stats tracking) upgrade broke several plugins, including the one that managed downloads. Everything should be working again.
Thanks for the note!
This is great stuff, thanks!
I’ve tinkered w/ Pocketmod in the past, I’ll take another look at it now.
Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
Thanks Chris! Let us know how it goes! :-)
it’s funny. I found out about pocketMods today via your site, and I became an immediate fan. I just got my moleskin today.. the same one you apparently have, squared notebook. How serendipitous! Thanks for the pocketmod v.!
Hey, sharp eye! I was wondering if anyone would notice. I haven’t actually written in it yet…I have a problem about making marks in new notebooks. I might try one of those 3×5 card briefcases a go instead… the moleskine is just a little too thick for my pockets.
I too bought a Moleskine near the begining of the new year. I traded in my Palm for it and haven’t looked back. Sometimes I hesitate to put things like grocery lists in it because it seems too mundane for such a nice pocket book, but in the end its better to use it than to admire it. Now I keep a PocketMod in the foldable pocket of the Moleskine. Best of both worlds.
FWIW, those of you who need a PocketMod style PCEO and don’t feel like flipping papers in and out the printer, here is a ready-made solution. Just print and fold as per PocketMod instructions. [Thanks to Robert K. Brown for the PPT on which this based. Thank also to PocketMod.com for the PocketMod creator.]
http://rapidshare.de/files/16758052/PCEO-CGT01-SMDS-PocketMod.pdf.html
I don’t know how long this link will work. So get it while you can.
Ciao!
Dave, it looks good but I am intimidated by it, I use Ical btw, and I don’t even know where to start using it. I’ll keep reading and trying to figure out I can use it.
Dwaynw
FYI, broken link on “mini-comic…”
Thanks so much for all you’re doing and sharing! Just discovered your page, thanks to an Amazon.com reviewer who was recommending alternate productivity resources for adults with ADD.