This is Week 39 of a Year of Living Productively
This week I tested whether a project management approach, specifically the Christmas Countdown Planner, could help me get more done. For details, scroll to the bottom of last week’s post.
How a Project Management Approach Saved My Sanity This Week
- Helped me feel in control. Just getting started on my Christmas planning relieved stress. I even enjoying talking with the kids about what they’d like to eat over the holidays. In the past, it was a rushed process with little input from them.
- Will save time. I haven’t had a chance to put it into practice yet, but I do a lot of online shopping on Black Friday (beginning Thanksgiving night). I realized I can use one of the forms in the planner to plan my online shopping. I will make note of the must-visit websites, the items I want (with prices in case I find a better deal) and discount codes. I’m surprised I’ve never done this before, but again, I didn’t approach Christmas as a project before now.
- Excellent memory aid. One of the reasons I haven’t used a project approach for Christmas is because I think I can remember everything. Well, I can’t! I’m really looking forward to next Christmas with these forms because I’ll remember what gifts I gave, how many strands of lights I need, and what activities we want to be sure and include.
How a Project Management Approach Made Me Crazy This Week
- Focusing on the forms. When I focused on the details of the planner that I would change, it kept me from enjoying its benefits. No planner is perfect for you, but most can be modified to serve you. The great thing about a digital planner is you can leave off pages you don’t need and print extras of those you need more of. If you realize you need a form that isn’t there, make one!
Did a Project Management Approach Help Me Get More Done?
Yes, though the real benefits of it have yet to be realized. Planning ahead and keeping necessary information and materials together has been helping me get more done with blogging, too.
**UPDATE**
I do use project management for curriculum writing and blogging and I like it. However, I do most of my work using one system –ToDoist and Skedpal.
The Productivity Approach I’ll Be Using for Week 40
This week I’ll be testing little and often, as espoused by Mark Forster. I’ll be combining little and often with another of Mark Forster’s approaches I’ve tested previously: Do it Tomorrow. Every incoming task (that doesn’t already have an assigned day for completion) will be given a due date of “tomorrow.” When I do anything to move a task along, but it isn’t completed, it will be redated for the following day. Furthermore, I’ll be applying little and often to my routine tasks, too.
The concept. I was first exposed to little and often when Mark created the rules for Autofocus (AF). The idea was to write down everything you wanted to do, including recreational tasks. Scanning the list, you worked on the first task that stood out to you for as long as you wanted and kept working on a page until nothing stood out. Tasks that were worked on, even a little, were crossed off and re-entered at the end of the list. Pages had to be worked on in order. When you came to a page where nothing stood out, the whole thing was “dismissed.” The problem I had with the system (though I really enjoyed it) is my list became enormous. It was taking me many days to get through the whole list to the recent tasks that really needed to be addressed. (Note that several iterations of Autofocus were created to deal with this issue).
Little and often, regardless of implementation, has the potential to overcome the fear and perfectionism that create procrastination. Example: For some reason, I hate snail mailing things. If all I have to do is get an envelope, look up an address, find a stamp, or put something in my car to go to the post office, I can get myself to do it. Often, I will do more, but even if I don’t, the next time I come to this task, it’s easier to do because I’ve already started.
Little and often is also designed to help you get projects done early. That being the case, even projects which aren’t due for a few months should be added to the list to start on tomorrow. If you have a task or project that doesn’t make sense to begin immediately or that you aren’t sure you want or need to do, this can be added to a Someday/Maybe list that can be reviewed weekly. Alternately, a tickler or future review due date could be added to these items. I am currently using SmartPad for this purpose.
Explanation of the DIT/AF Approach (Scroll down if you just want to get to this week’s assignment)
My approach, which is very much a hybrid of DIT and AF, has the advantage of not letting the list become too big. Current items (typically being those that were entered yesterday) can be worked on at any time during the day. The pressure to get things worked on before they are more than 3 days overdue gives enough grace time to allow for “busy days,” with a consequence for not working on them that is entirely appropriate: tasks that you haven’t touched at all in that period of time get deleted from the list. I don’t allow myself to add these tasks back to the list, so that I have to rely on memory only. If I have a planned absence, it’s my responsibility to make sure I will have no tasks more than 3 days overdue on that day. If I were ill or unexpectedly detained for a day or two, I would put off deleting tasks for that period of time.
I have already been using this approach for a number of weeks and want to apply little and often to one of the problems with it that has cropped up. My DIT / AF approach focuses my attention on the tasks appearing on my ToDoist list, leaving routine tasks that I keep in my HomeRoutines app (mostly cleaning tasks) neglected. I have determined some reasons for this. First, there is no “do or delete” deadline for routine tasks and there should be. Going three days without completing my routine means that I need to delete something from it, because I obviously can’t keep up with it. Second, I need to apply the same little and often principle to routine tasks. Rather than having to clean my whole bathroom on Monday to mark it complete, I just need to do something.
If you’d like to join me this week, here’s what you do. Read Mark Forster’s explanation of Little and Often. You could choose to complete his assignment which is to choose the project with the furthest deadline and begin working on it little and often every day. Or, you could try my approach of giving everything a deadline of tomorrow and working on each task or project to completion or using little and often as desired. If you try this approach and also deleting items more than 3 days overdue, I’d love to hear how you get on with it.
To see if little and often worked for me, click here.
Are you on Google+? Circle me here. I also participate in Mark Forster’s General Forum.
Here are the links to the productivity hacks I’ve tried so far:
Week 16: David Seah’s 7:15AM Ritual
Week 17: Another Simple and Effective Method
Week 18: Daily/Weekly/Monthly To-Do List
Week 19: Ultimate Time Management System
Week 25: Make it Happen in 10 Minutes
Week 33: David Seah’s Ten for Ten
Week 34: David Seah’s Emergent Task Planner
Week 35: Steve Kamb’s Do It Now
I look forward to hearing how this goes. I’ve been thinking about the 48 Hour Rule lately (http://clutterinterrupted.com/the-48-hour-rule/) and think that either AF3 or DIT are the best systems I’ve seen for implementing the 48 hour rule (or, alternatively, I just dismiss all items in my bullet journal that are more than 2 days old–unless it’s something I have no option of dismissing, like paying my taxes).
I failed miserably with little-and-often, because it became not-often-enough. It also encouraged me to have way too many active projects.
This method might help keep things often-enough. I don’t think I’ll game the system by too-little. (I remember being convinced I would, but tonight I don’t feel that it’s a risk.)
If I can’t do things often-enough, then the fear of deleting something that’s truly important would make me ask the tough questions.
The system doesn’t appeal to me at the moment, but it would definitely remove one of the failure points of little-and-often.
Cricket, you found that you needed to do things more often than every few days? If you’re not behind, you could be doing a little every day. But if not, it may take you four days to do something else on it. I do think it takes some experience to learn what to add to the list and when. I find that adding a top priority to tasks that must be done that day helps to keep things from slipping through the cracks. It also helps me to remember that if something gets deleted, I can add it to the list again when I take some action on it. What better evidence is there that you’re ready to work on it? Are you saying that project management might help or a problem-solving approach?
I do best with a project-management system for my commitments. Break the tasks down so I can see the work load for each week. If really busy that week, then for each day. A quick look tells me what I need to do that week to stay on track for everything.
That method doesn’t work for personal projects, though. I carefully spell out which chapters to study when, and then completely ignore that project’s column.
You’re right, it takes experience to learn how many personal projects to put on the little-and-often list. It was too easy to squeeze in one more little step.
Some weeks, I do great with little and often. All the projects ticking over nicely. 30 minutes housework a day makes great progress. Other weeks, I do better with one 2:30 housework session.
Cricket, a couple of thoughts. Feel free to move things off your list that you know you no longer want to work on in the next several days. Priorities change. You aren’t stuck with things getting deleted unless you really plan to move it forward soon and you don’t. The second thing is not to give yourself a time limit. You may not want to make housework a task. I have these things as part of my routine. You might want to break it up somehow. But even then, no time limits. Little and often won’t work if you have to do 30 minutes for it to count. If you have clean kitchen on the list and you load a few dishes into the dishwasher, you’re done if you want to be! Don’t tell me your house will fall apart then. It won’t. If you want to load all your dishes, a little and often rule won’t keep you from doing that. You are more likely to finish once you start than if you think of it as 30 minutes of cleaning.
All of that to say, this approach isn’t for everyone. If you’re the kind who needs a limited focus with devoted time, time blocking or a routine may be better. I love little and often because of the variety. It makes tasks I dread fun. How little can I do on each of these tasks/projects and still check them off? It takes a big, overwhelming list of tasks and turns it into a game I can finish in a hour or less.
Makes sense. If you plan to delete everything not touched in 3 days, be realistic and not put things on it that you don’t expect or want to touch. Need a mid-wait list, between “next three days” and “hibernating”.
Time limits and a routine usually work well for me. Start with the essentials, then keep puttering until the timer goes. Usually, 15 minutes gives enough time to do the entire kitchen in a few weeks. And, some days I do the minimum, which takes about 3.
I was going to say I don’t use the timer for little-and-often, but realized I often set a goal, either time or achievement. Do all my voice warmups. Learn 2 more pages for storytelling. Sometimes, a long uninterrupted session is more enticing than a short one. It varies with project and with day, which makes it hard to plan.
Back to this week’s plan. Dailys, then a bit each of physical housework, studying, and paperwork for others, then a few hours of my latest obsession as a reward.