A schedule defends from chaos and whim.
That’s a fortune cookie fortune I keep on the cover of my thoroughly branded TUL planner.
Principles by Ray Dalio inspired me to develop my own principles and make some other lessons actionable. One of the best lessons I got from Principles: Life and Work was the idea that I can do or have anything, just not everything. So it’s important to choose what you actually do want and build up from there. That is the system behind my TUL planning suite. If you want to skip to the downloads click here.
Three worksheets drive my implementation. They are Month to Week, Week to Day, and Day to Task. The Horizons of Focus (AoF) from Getting Things Done (GTD) drive the worksheets. For the sake of length I won’t get too into my individualized tweaks on GTD. I have about 20 things I am generally expected to do well and I like to keep those top of mind. By being aware of them I can ensure that what I do day-to-day goes hand in hand with what I want to do with my life. With that in place I am completely aligned from everyday actions to 5 year vision. It’s intimidating but also liberating. So lets do it.
A brief note about Areas of Focus
Areas of Focus are the fulcrum of my GTD implementation. They are like a prism where everything on my lists go through. On one hand every long-term goal is a representation of where I want to be in these 20 or so areas. Every project and action I have can be tied to one of these areas.
Areas of Focus are the roles in our lives plus our work goals or job responsibilities. Your job description is a great place to look (if it’s current) because what you’re expected to do is spelled out. As David Allen said “Come performance review time what will you be expected to have done well?” On the personal side, again, it’s roles we play and the general 10 or so focus areas in our lives. Usually the roles are a subset of the generic focus areas we all have. Tony Robbins has a fine list. Here is another list of 12. We are all generally concerned about these things:
- Mental Health
- Physical Health
- Finances
- Family
- Career
- Community
- Spirituality
Whatever modality you want to put them in is fine. The difference between these generic “Focus Areas” and “Areas of Focus” is that Areas of Focus are specific to you. There isn’t “family” line but for me there is:
- Husband
- Dad
- Son, brother, nephew…
There isn’t career but there is:
- W2 Job
- W2 Responsibility 1
- W2 Responsibility 2
- W2 Responsibility 3
- HundredMileCommute.com
- SchuylkillExcel.com
- Maybe web design for local businesses
- Excel Consulting
And with these lists I know I’m going to have specific projects about these things and probably a vision of where I would like them to go. That was a bit longer than brief but the takeaway is know what is important to you and important to people that are important to you. Let that drive your action.
Planning your month down to the week
Recognize that we’re starting around the middle of this process. Ideally you know where you want to be in three years, you’ve built up a 1 year plan to bridge the gap and you’re ready to make some actionable plans. That’s where we start with this monthly file. four sections make up the worksheet:
- AoF/Goal: This is where you enter your Area of Focus that you have this project against. If there is no appropriate AoF then you should think twice about your list of AoFs or why you’re doing this at all.
- Outcome: All of my projects are stated as the outcome I want to reach. It gives a little extra juice and forces you into the unknown. For instance, I would say “All budgets are identified as fixed or variable and if variable they are tied to a driver” instead of something like “Fixed/Variable Budget”
- Weeks 1-5: Simply what I need to do each week to move the project from wherever it is to the outcome
- Review: Always important; at the end of the month come back and reflect on your month. Identify what isn’t or could be serving you and make those changes.
Planning your week down to the day
This is more or less the monthly planner redone as a weekly planner. The core purpose remains the same: breaking down the larger steps identified above into manageable daily tasks. This sheet includes a section for miscellaneous tasks, which is designated for items specific to the current week or tasks that need to be completed on a weekly basis. The goal here is flow and sense. We’re trying to make sure what what we want to accomplish is possible at all and possible taking into account everything else that we will also need to do, planned and unplanned.
Planning your day down to the task
We made it! This is where the rubber meets the road. If you look back up at the “Big Project” visualization you’ll notice letters to the left of each of the tasks. Those letters are a shorthand I use to estimate the amount of time I need to complete the task. It’s very simple:
- L – Large – 2 Hours
- M – Medium – 1 Hour
- S – Small – 30 Minutes
- T – Task – < 30 Minutes
I have one of the above sheets for each day of the week and obviously this is where I look at the commitments I’ve made for the week ahead and subsequently what I’d like to accomplish. I put them together into a full map of my week.
What if your schedule is too chaotic to plan? A) Find out why because that’s dysfunctional B) Plan for that! Give yourself extra time in the day, plan to accomplish fewer tasks and do what you can. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t stick to it. Make a plan; your available time will surprise you when you make yourself responsible for how you spend it. Consequently, having a plan is a great way to start saying “no” to random requests. If you know what you want to do you’re less likely to wind up as a bit player in someone else’s plan.
Bringing it all together
Effective planning and scheduling are essential for achieving both personal and professional goals. By identifying your Areas of Focus and breaking down your goals into actionable steps, you can create a structured approach to managing your time and achieving success. Embracing a planning system inspired by GTD and the Horizons of Focus can help you align your daily actions with your long-term vision, ultimately enabling you to accomplish more and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the chaos of life. Remember, the key is to understand your priorities, make informed choices, and consistently take steps towards achieving your goals, while remaining flexible and adaptable in the face of life’s uncertainties.