A design hit me today as I was thinking about helping people stop running around in circles and start moving towards some semblance of productivity. I’ve hit a roadblock and need some feedback on the design – I’d appreciate any you’re willing to give.
Imagine yourself having one of those days where you’re running around like crazy but not really getting anything done. The intent of this aid is to help you focus and actually get a few things done.
An alternate design using much of the same material only takes up half the page. Please, take a look and let me know what you think.
This is not the final version.
[download#24]
Charlie,
Looks good! I like it quite a bit. It’s well organized and well laid out.
I suggest going with the half-page version. It’ll feel less intimidating, and people will be less likely to avoid looking at it.
I could (of course) be making the usual error here, but for me, the project/goal words don’t help me figure out what I need to do. What would help remind me of what I need to do is a list of questions. Maybe something like:
– Is anyone waiting on me for something?
– Do I have any deadlines coming up?
– What’s stressing me out?
– What one thing would make me feel great if I accomplished it today?
I’m sure the list would be different for different people. For me, the best reminder list would be a list of categories of things I’m working on, like the book, my blog, Communication for the Holidays, workshops, networking, the website, and whatnot. But that would require a customized sheet, which is beyond the scope of this task. So I’ll stop typing now. (;
But not until I say one more time that I really like this and I’m happy you’re sharing it. I think it will help people, regardless of whether you pay attention to any of my suggestions. (:
Paces last blog post..Come home, Black Sheep.
I like it!
I’d like to see the half-page design to compare.
What about doing something like breaking the page up into 4 blocks (leaving the instructions and keywords at the top), making “project” one line and then putting the lines for “actions” underneath it?
For example, I’ve usually got at least 3-4 projects going every week. When I think about what I have to do this week, I tend to think in terms of the big picture. I could put the name of the project in the block then underneath it, write down which specific tasks I’m going to do to work towards completing that project.
Then I could choose to take my breaks in between each project block, or I could do the projects in the top 2 boxes, take a break in between, do the bottom 2 boxes, then call it a day.
Anything that didn’t get done or anything that comes to mind while I’m working can get added to the “notes” section and transferred to a sheet for a different day.
I also like how this PDF you’ve just shared could easily be made into a “Hipster PDA” version. I’m in the process of making my own hPDA. Since I spend so much time on the go and I try to limit my trips into town for errands, I want something that I can take with me to make my trips more productive as well as give me stuff to do in case I have any down time like waiting for appointments.
I sure hope that made sense, Charlie! I like this latest idea, especially the action words and the self-rewards.
Aprils last blog post..Giving the Gift of Time
Charlie,
I like where you’re going with this. But I’m stuck on a couple of details. I usually consider that Projects/Goals, or what you might call deliverables in PM terms have a one to many relationship to tasks (actions) in my world. That ties back to the David Allen definition of a project as anything that can’t be completed in one step or task. I suppose you could just “ditto” the project from one line to the next. Maybe I’m making it too hard.
Also I’d like to see an emphasis on driving a project to completion over just completing a bunch of tasks. What if you added or modified the instructions to say something like “Wherever possible, plan to do all tasks necessary to complete a Project/Goal.”
Over all, looks great. Sometime I’ll have to show you my new setup that I worked up with Ecco Pro after I got some instruction from a master of the tool. It’s just as slick as can be, and will only get better when I roll my own version of Ecco Pro that’s web friendly.
Mike Stankavichs last blog post..A fine mushroom hunting adventure
“An alternate design using much of the same material only takes up half the page.”
I always prefer simpler, less cluttered so would probably choose the cleaner/ shorter version.
I’d agree with Pace that prompt words might not be the best way to get your head around what projects require attention. I like the question “What one thing would make me feel great if I accomplished it today?”. Or perhaps “What is the most impactful/important project?”.
When I am running around in circles it is usually because I can’t choose between a number of seemingly important projects and so flit between them all achieving little. It may be beyond the scope of this but perhaps a prompt to do a quick three minute mind dump of all the projects and then rank them 1 – [however many you have] for impact/value/importance and then take no. 1 and slot it in your sheet.
Love, love, love the built in reward and the Stop Now! command 🙂
Charlie,
Another way to differentiate tasks from projects that might be a bit more succint than the keyword suggestions would be to use the project management definition for deliverables and tasks. Deliverables are generally nouns or noun phrases, whereas tasks are verbs or verb/noun phrases. For example, Acme widget would be a deliverable, and assemble widget components would be a task. But you probably knew that already 🙂
Feedback from Twitter (sorry, everyone – I’m using this space to compile suggestions:
o More space per line for action/goals/tasks – less for notes (dancing_geek)
o I like the refocus on just what to get done today. Reminds me not to get bogged down in looking at all the stuff for tomorrow. (@dancing_geek)
o The instructions make it a little visually “cluttered” (and too top heavy?) for me. Nice overall though! (@alihale)
o use the extra space for a “Play Time” coupon that people can give themselves or others. As in, here’s your permision to play. (@tzaddi)
@Pace: I really like the idea of having prompting questions. I was thinking that being able to coalesce “agh…what do I need to do?” into concrete actions would help, but maybe the prompting questions would be even better. I’m thinking of ditching the projects/goals space for this one. Thanks for the insight!
@April: I’ll lay out the half-page design. I should’ve done that in the first place.
I think the next planner I’ll make actually address your concern. I’ll leave it as a surprise for now – but hopefully you’ll be so kind as to give me some feedback on that one, too.
I’ve been thinking lately about what I could do about getting some of these ideas on a printed notecard. I actually have two planner ideas that would work well for notecards. I’ll have to look into it some more.
@Mike: Definitely show me your new program – sooner rather than later, as I *may* be able to help with some of the tough design choices you’ll have to make when you start coding.
While I appreciate what you’re saying here, I think the purpose of this one is different in that it’s not a project tracking tool. There are better tools for this one – but I hope this would be one of those that would get people moving forward rather than running in circles.
I also like the verbiage technique you give later on. I’ll incorporate it somewhere – not sure yet.
@Vered: In the works! Thanks for weighing in.
@Rebecca: I’m playing with seeing how I can get this to fit. Glad you like the build in rewards and Stop Now! prompts. I worried that it was too cheesy, but it’s exactly what I would tell someone in that position.
@Everyone: Thank you so much for taking the time to help make this aid better! I have some tweaking to do.