This week I tested whether David Seah’s Ten for Ten could help me get more done. I tried to complete ten tasks a day, earning as many points as possible. See the bottom of last week’s post for more details.
How Ten for Ten Saved My Sanity This Week
Gave me credit for doing tasks later in the day. Getting more points the more tasks I did was like getting an Atta Girl — something I really respond well to.
Liked not having to commit to ten tasks up front. So many productivity approaches want you to plan your tasks in advance and then life happens! It was so nice not to feel penalized for going with the flow.
Enjoyed working from a short paper list. As much as I appreciate the access and email connectivity that digital task managers provide, there’s still something about paper that helps me relax.
How Ten for Ten Made Me Crazy This Week
Confusion about what tasks to add. This week was unusual in that we couldn’t follow the usual order every day with some of my kids being out of town. It gave me the opportunity to use Ten for Ten only with tasks apart from my routine and with everything. There were problems with both approaches. When I only added tasks that weren’t part of my routine, I felt ripped off. Doing chores in the evenings is hard for me. When I did it and didn’t get credit for it, I was annoyed. But when I added everything I did, I reached 10 tasks in no time and it didn’t feel legitimate.
Confusion about task size. It would be easy to break a job down into small subtasks and be done with Ten for Ten in no time. I wasn’t clear if the tasks should take about an hour? In that case, I would have to add my routine tasks like homeschooling.
No competition. If I had been in a public competition with this in which I had an opportunity to shine, it would have been much more effective. As it was, I didn’t feel anyone cared how many points I earned. They just wanted to know what was for dinner!
Did Ten for Ten Help Me Get Things Done?
For a day. I was excited about it the very first day, but the confusion quickly got in the way of its effectiveness. Not sure if more rules would help or I would just rebel against them.
**UPDATE**
Like so many people, I am attracted to pretty forms like these. But their arbitrary nature doesn’t work for me. I am not interested in completing a certain number of tasks, but the most important ones, however long they take. I also don’t want to work ten hours a day!
The Productivity Approach I’ll Be Using for Week 33
This week I’ll be testing David Seah’s Emergent Task Planner. Looking at David’s recent post, I realized I had missed hearing about another approach to productivity he has been talking about since 2006. Using his paper planner, you choose 3 tasks to work on and block out time for them. After those are complete, you can add 3 more and so on.
The concept. After determining that I can manage about six tasks a day, I was really excited that this planner not only meshes with that, but allows me to add three of the tasks as they emerge. Just because I can handle six tasks a day doesn’t mean that they are all pre-planned. In addition, the planner allows us to keep track of time, take notes, and record interruptions.
I had preschoolers in the house for ten years of homeschooling. I had to keep them busy before blogs and Pinterest were a help. Now I enjoy looking for activities that I know would have worked for me. If you’re beyond the preschool (or kindergarten years), share this post with someone who could use it. Really make their day and offer to watch the kids for an afternoon!
I remember too well how hard the early years were–mostly because I took everything too seriously. I wish I had written this fabulous and funny article from The House of Hendrix.
The two’s have to be one of the toughest ages to keep occupied when you’re homeschooling. It can also be hard to figure out what activities to enjoy together. Kids Activities Blog to the rescue!
Teaching young children fire safety isn’t just educational, but can be life-saving. This fantastic list of activities and free printables will engage your preschoolers almost as much as a firehouse field trip.
I loved studying a letter a week with my preschoolers and these crafts are the perfect complement. No special craft materials required. Thank you, Mommas Fun World!
I write a monthly round-up post where I share what’s going on in our homeschool, recipe reviews, crafts I’ve made and more. Here’s the link to last month’s post.
This week I tested whether The 12 Week Year {affiliate link} could help me get more done. This week was the 12th week I have been using the approach. Scroll to the bottom of last week’s post for more details.
How The 12 Week Year Saved My Sanity The Past 12 Weeks
Helped me determine which goals were most important to me. I have a hundred different projects I’d like to work on in any given week. When the time frame expands to a year, I’m convinced that I can finish everything I can dream up. The 12 Week Year helped me get serious about what three goals I could realistically accomplish in a summer. The wonderful thing was I felt validated in choosing goals that weren’t necessarily have-to’s, but were want to’s.
Helped me break the projects down into weekly tasks. When I begin a big project, I often dive in without thinking through everything that must be done and how long each step will take. The book encouraged me to do it and the online program I paid for made it really easy. I never saw my goals as overwhelming, because I just looked at what I had to do this week to make them happen. I was also prevented from procrastinating because I knew full well that I couldn’t get it all done last minute.
Introduced me to time blocking for goals. I wrote about how much I enjoyed time blocking and I’m sure the reason I loved it is because it gave me permission to pursue my want-to’s in a time-protected way. Putting the time block for this work early in the week is both symbolic (this is important!) and practical (you’re more likely to do it).
How The 12 Week Year Made Me Crazy the Past 12 Weeks
Didn’t take advantage of accountability. When I did Body for Life and wrote So You’re Not Wonder Woman (which is free on 9/20/13 on Kindle), I had accountability to keep me honest. I had told many people I was doing BFL and I was speaking at a women’s retreat where I would have the best opportunity to share my book with potential buyers. I just didn’t have that kind of accountability this time, nor do I think I could have created it because the goals weren’t the public “I’m going to do it!” type.
I failed to review my reasons. One of the aspects of BFL that worked for me was reading over my “why’s” for getting fit every day. I didn’t do that with the 12 Week Year and I think that’s one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy as much success.
Too many goals. When I read that I could have up to three goals, I remember thinking, “Hm.” My experience is that I don’t do well having more than one big project at a time to focus on. I hoped this time would be different and it wasn’t. While I loved being able to switch from project to project during my 3-hour time block, that was the end of what I loved. Because I had three goals, I wasn’t able to make progress and accommodate the unexpected. We had a house guest this summer and then I was given an opportunity to host a podcast. I also have a new book project that replaced one of the goals I had started with. Finally, when planning three goals, the potential for underestimating how much time tasks will take is multiplied by three.
Did The 12 Week Year Help Me Get Things Done?
Yes, though I didn’t complete my three goals. I completed 90% of one goal, 50% of the second, and 10% of the third. The good thing is I’m pretty satisfied with my progress given the circumstances. I completed 100% of the new podcast goal and I’ve made good progress on the new book goal, too. I plan on creating a new plan for completing the book as my next 12 Week goal and reading my reasons for writing daily.
**UPDATE**
I had three goals for the past 12 weeks and accomplished them all! One thing that I don’t do is plan everything out in elaborate detail. It’s too frustrating when you have to reschedule. But intermediate deadlines can be very effective if needed and I love setting goals for the quarter as opposed to the year.
The Productivity Approach I’ll Be Using for Week 33
This week I’ll finish testing Ten for Ten from Dave Seah. A big thank you to Brain Cutlery for the suggestion! The idea is to try to accomplish ten tasks in ten hours and earn points as you go. More points are awarded for tasks finished later in the day. Tasks can be added as you’re ready to work on them, rather than at the beginning of the day.
The concept. The first three tasks are starred because accomplishing them in a day is a great feat in itself. Points are designed to reward you for working beyond that. The method should help in breaking tasks down into reasonable sizes, too. This is a variation on the gamification theme from last week, but it really appeals to me. I just love the look of this form!
If you’d like to join me this week, here’s what you do. Read Dave’s post and download the free forms he shares. We can compare points at the end of the week! (Just a reminder that I am not vouching for sites I link to. They may contain language or opinions you find objectionable. But then that applies to this website, too, doesn’t it? Thanks for understanding.)
If you’d like to see if Ten for Ten worked for me, click here.
It finally feels like fall around here. That’s probably why I’m in the mood to share some fall activities. I’m even willing to think about art projects, which I’m not a huge fan of. Hope you find something to get pumpkinned up about. (Sorry.)
Hands On As We Grow offers us this impressive list of things to do with the pumpkins that ARE ALREADY FOR SALE. I’m not ready for that, but I AM ready to try something new with the kids.
That’s a fancy way of saying leaf print. This pin shares a paint-free way of getting your art in. I love it. Just be careful with the hammer. I always associate them with ER visits.
This pin leads to a free printable of faces for kids to complete. Judging by my children’s penchant for creating similar funny faces in the kids’ church bulletins when they’re supposed to be listening, I think most kids will enjoy these.
If you have kids who are a little beyond the making-funny-faces stage (but who ever outgrows that?), you might be interested in these excellent materials from Kathy’s Cluttered Mind for teaching art history and appreciation. There is a wide variety here including lessons, biographies, and lapbooking materials.
If you want to be ready for the homeschool doldrums (you know they’re coming), download this free detectives lapbook from Homeschool Share. Who says learning can’t be fun? I might have my kids look for a missing $20 bill. I haven’t lost one that I know of, but wouldn’t it be fun if they found one?
I’m still depressed about having to do a report on North Dakota when I was in the fifth grade. Not only did I live in South Dakota, but North Dakota just didn’t have much of a claim to fame. I think that’s changed now, but if I had had these great printables to help me make my report, I probably would have had a ball–even writing about North Dakota. (Note: if you are from North Dakota, understand that I really don’t have anything against your state besides the bitter cold winds and the lack of anything exciting to do. Also note: I am kidding. Love you guys!) 123 Homeschool 4 Me has some incredible resources for doing a state study.
This week I tested gamification using ToDoist’s Karma feature. I also quantified my past task performance using IQTell. Scroll to the bottom of last week’s post for
How Gamification Saved My Sanity This Week
Helped me see how many tasks I can really accomplish. Of course, number of tasks entered and completed is not an accurate measure of productivity. I could work on one big task like a dog for three days straight and would get a bad productivity score. While I got no hard science data, I was very surprised by how consistent the numbers were from week to week. Because I have to calculate the stats manually, I only looked at the last month which I believe is pretty typical for me. Two statistics were extremely helpful. First, I learned that on average, I enter one task a day that I don’t complete. That doesn’t sound bad at all, does it? But it means that I will be 365 tasks in the hole in a year’s time. I would like to avoid that, of course, so I looked at how many tasks I can reasonably accomplish a week and came up with 35. I have a very thorough routine that involves cleaning, homeschooling, organizing, social media, and more, so that doesn’t mean I’m only getting 35 things done. Of course, those 35 tasks also don’t include things that take so little time that I didn’t bother to enter them into IQTell. But using that number and considering that I do very little on Sundays, I realize that I need to try to limit my number of tasks per day to six. I’m absolutely giddy about this. Yes, I will have days when I go over, but it’s as Game of Work {affiliate link} says: We need to know the rules for winning to be motivated. Now I do.
Graphs that motivated. I was a little worried that the Karma feature wouldn’t matter much to me. I was pleasantly surprised by the daily emails showing my productivity and Karma charts. The productivity chart fired me up more because it’s based on how much you get done. When I slacked (as you can see I did), the email was like a kindly push that I appreciated. The Karma line kept going up because I was using the app a lot. I expect that line to be more realistic in the future.
Introduced me to an app I love. I haven’t changed productivity apps in a long time. It might even be a record! I have been using IQTell and was very happy. ToDoist is the first program I’ve used that has me seriously considering a switch. The UI is absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of Things that I used years ago, only it is all about color. I organize the areas of my life by color, so it’s a natural fit. The color graphs not only show me what life areas I have that need the most attention (not pictured), but tell me if I’m achieving the balance I want. This is something I loved about Life Balance, but ToDoist doesn’t have the time-intensive data entry and “suggestions” of what I should be doing with my time.
How Gamification Made Me Crazy This Week
No competition aspect. Gamification is about more than just tracking performance. Often, it’s about measuring your performance against others’. Competition is very motivating for me when I feel there’s a chance I can win. So is accountability. I didn’t feel I had that, but my Karma score is 2563 after a week for anyone who cares.
Not that fun. Another reason gamification increases productivity is because it makes work entertaining. Tracking my stats and using a new app were wonderful, but it wasn’t that fun. There are other apps and approaches that utilize a more game-like interface that might have been a better test. However, I have tried a few in the past and noticed that I get bored with them quickly.
Did Gamification Help Me Get Things Done?
Yes, although I would say the feedback aspect was what helped. I feel pretty dumb that I never thought to quantify how many tasks I accomplish on average. I always looked at my time usage instead. I did not get to test how well limiting myself to six tasks per day on average works, but that will be my goal from here on. I also plan to continue using ToDoist for the time being.
**UPDATE**
I’m less interested in how many tasks I can do these days than in accurately estimating how long tasks take. I have no interest in ToDoist karma, because I have remained at a top level no matter what I do. These kinds of features aren’t effective for me if there is no competitive aspect or if top achievements are unreachable. In other words, if I have to give up the rest of my life to be on a leader board, I’m not interested. What I find amusing is that blogging is perfectly gamified and motivating for me. I am constantly able to see my stats on the blog and on social media. I can compare my stats to others’, especially on Facebook. Improving is enough of a challenge to keep me trying, but not so much that I’m discouraged. In fact, the game nature of it is what makes it fairly addictive. I’m hoping that my curriculum business will have the same game-like quality that keeps me coming back for more.
The Productivity Approach I’ll Be Using for Week 32
This week I’ll finish testing The 12 Week Year. {affiliate link}I tested time blocking using The 12 Week Year before, but I’ve been using the whole approach for the past 11 weeks. The idea is you can super-power your productivity by setting one to three 12-week goals with week-by-week activities. I set one homeschooling and two writing project goals.
The concept. The 12 Week Year argues that we fail to achieve our New Year’s resolutions because the time frame for them is just too long. Instead, we need help to break the goals down into weekly objectives that can be easily quantified. I loved the idea because I succeeded in writing a book and getting fit in 12 weeks.
If you’d like to join me this week, here’s what you do. Read the book or simply choose one to three goals that you’d like to achieve in the next 12 weeks. Create a reason for each goal that you will regularly reflect upon. Then break each goal down into weekly sub-goals. Track your progress this week and continue on to your goal.
To see if the 12 Week Year worked for me, click here.
Now that the school year is in full gear for most of us, we may begin to wonder if we can hold it all together until summer. These excellent posts will help.
With so many demands on our time, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Heidi St. John offers up three ways to cut through the chaos and focus on what’s important.
The Aussie Pumpkin Patch’s school room is a wonder to behold. There are so many ideas for putting things in order here, you’ll turn to it again and again for inspiration.
More homeschoolers read Psychowith6 because of my review of Classical Conversations than any other post. And now wonder! It’s an amazing addition to any curriculum. Now Not Consumed shares these creative tips for keeping it all organized and part of the school day.
I don’t think there’s any activity I ran harder from when I was pregnant and homeschooling than science experiments. Raising Lifelong Learners gives us this great advice about making science a part of life rather than a time suck.
I’m going to be honest and say that keeping reading logs for the various freebies homeschoolers can get drives me crazy. The papers tend to get lost around here. Free Homeschool Deals to the rescue with bookmarks that serve as reading logs. Genius!
Are you homeschooling an only child? Know someone who is or is considering it? You won’t want to miss this encouraging article that not only says it can be done, but maybe it should be.
For more hot homeschooling helps, be sure to like Motivated Homeschooler on Facebook, the homeschooling-only page of Psychowith6.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
