Having multiple projects both at work and at home is like mold growing on your cubicle walls. A mold that exudes anxiety and dismay as you plummet, losing track of what you're doing and what remains to be done. Fortunately, there is a relatively simple system on offer to remove that mold, reliably get those projects back on track, and keep it that way.
This system is called “Full Horizon Planning” (FHP), a term coined and illustrated by Math Professor and productivity savant Cal Newport. FHP is a workflow system that leads to your largely inept to-do list. 4 Popular Productivity Tips to Ignore 4 Popular Productivity Tips to Ignore often wrong. We're going to debunk some of these productivity myths by showing that the opposite can be true. Read More It's also incredibly unbreakable when it comes to guaranteed daily distractions.
When Newport talks about workflow systems, he defines them as “a set of habits and tools used to organize the work you do and when you do it. And when [he] says 'cash,' [he's] referring to the amount of value it produces.”
From this definition, it is clear that FHP is not being promoted as The system to rule all systems. It may not be suitable for your own work, but it's definitely worth considering. In short, it is an alternative, with similarities to other systems such as David Allen's. Organize 2015:Learn the Martial Art of Taking Things Down [Things to Watch] Organize 2015:Learn the Martial Art of Getting Things Done [Things to Watch] Ever wondered why achievers and achievers always seem to keep the Calm down. head? Read more , monotasking Get Things Done:10 Inspirational Videos To Increase Your Productivity Get Things Done:10 Inspirational Videos To Increase Your Productivity Instead of going through every video channel on YouTube, we thought we'd ease the load and recommend a few select clips that will make you It will tell you how to increase your productivity. Read More Try time lock. This time management tactic can help you stay on track while keeping distractions, procrastination, and unproductive multitasking at bay. Read more . Full Horizon Planning is both an agglomeration and removal of parts of these ideas. Let me paraphrase Newport's explanation.
When it comes to active planning projects, you should not be dealing in abstractions, but "directly with the brutal physicality of time." This means:
This approach makes it much less likely that you will overcommit, allowing you to plan more effectively and get more of your time.
Too many people plan exactly what tasks they are going to complete, on what specific days, perhaps even months in advance. This leaves no room for real life. With just a couple of sick days or extra chores, the entire system can be thrown into disrepair.
I think an example is in order. I will be using screenshots of Trello (read our written article Trello - A Unique, Simple and Powerful Project Management System from a Good Home Trello - A Unique, Simple and Powerful Project Management System from a Good Home Does the name Joel Spolsky does it mean anything?If so, you'll want to read this post as it showcases Spolsky's latest and greatest project.And if not, you should know this is... Read More) to show you how you can organize this workflow system within such a platform.
This is by no means the only way to set up Trello for this system, but it is one that has worked for me. Configure four “liza”.
Once you've added all of your projects to the “Project” list, check the ones that are active with a “label” color. I also capitalize these projects to ensure they stand out.
Next, click on the first of your active projects and write a comment detailing what you need to do, in broad, practical terms, and roughly when. In this example, I assume that each project lasts several months. This allows you to really understand what is required of you and you can begin to understand how you can better structure tasks. Do this for each of your active projects.
Note:This is the first level of granularity. You don't need to allocate specific weeks, days, or hours to these tasks, yet.
You should aim to do this at the beginning of each month. Based on the comments you just entered for each of your active projects, you should be able to see what you need to complete at the end of this month.
Place each of these milestones as a separate “tile” in this list and label them with the corresponding color (the same color as the active task it relates to), so you can easily see which project that task is dealing with. Decide now which weeks of this month you will work on these individual milestones.
Feel free to duplicate the task, or break it down into sub-tasks, if you'll be working on it for several weeks this month.
Now, at the beginning of each month, you know approximately what tasks you will need to complete at the end of each month. week . If you miss any of these milestones, just move things around a bit so you can meet the overall project before the final deadline.
First thing on a Monday morning, check the corresponding week on the “This Month” list to see what you need to tackle over the next few days.
Take this time to drag each of these tasks to the “This Week” list, and decide on which days you will be spending time on these articles.
Again, if you need to break tasks down into sub-tasks, or duplicate them, go ahead. If, at the end of last week, you found out that you had a training course to attend on Wednesday, for example, now you can easily structure your schedule.
At the beginning of each day, spend 10-15 minutes planning, depending on the tasks in This week how you are going to spend your time to make sure you hit those milestones. So, once again, drag the relevant elements from the This week list, to Today list.
At this stage of granularity, things can change quickly, so keep this in mind and be prepared to alter your plan based on those distractions. But by intentionally setting aside specific blocks of time and having the self-discipline to stick to the schedule as much as possible, you're much more likely to complete what you're supposed to complete.
In the example above, you can see that the entire work day has been scheduled, including meetings, calls, and responding to emails. The key task has been split into two separate time blocks.
At the end of each day, delete the Today ready. At the end of each week, delete the This week ready. And at the end of each month, delete the This month List, and start over reviewing your projects..
As you can see, this is a system created for those who follow a variety of relatively complex projects. It's for people who have to meet a number of deadlines without getting locked into a pre-set routine and schedule that dictates weeks, or even months, in advance.
Once you've been familiar with this routine for a couple of weeks, you'll quickly learn if it's for you. If you like this system, that period of time should be enough for you to edit the system as stated above, to make it work efficiently for your specific needs. Only then will it sink in like a habit.
If you don't like using Trello, or prefer to use Trello in another setup, there are a few options. Newport himself uses a selection of notebooks . The use of pencil and physical paper can contribute more. 6 Simple Reasons Why Paper Can Still Be Your Killer Productivity App 6 Simple Reasons Why Paper Can Still Be Your Killer Productivity App Paper can be a more powerful tool for productivity than a computer or touch device . and should not be immediately fired. Not convinced? Here are six reasons why the role is still relevant. Read more than you think to your productivity. Each notebook represents a different level of granularity:month, week, day, so you can quickly doodle on your schedules when needed.
Another alternative are tools like Evernote or A note . You can set this up in exactly the same way that Newport uses physical notebooks. Set up a new notebook OneNote is now truly free with more features than before OneNote is now truly free with more features than before Evernote no longer rules over the plethora of note-taking apps. Microsoft recently announced that OneNote would be freer than ever. Let us show you what this means in terms of features and functionality. Read More Then follow the steps, similar to the ones above, to keep them up to date. My only problem with this approach is that there are a lot of clicks between different notebooks, which is why I prefer to use Trello, where most of the information can be seen at a glance and can be moved around very easily.
If you're an Excel type of person, one potential solution is to recreate the layout we set up in Trello. This works, but moving tasks around and changing their order is more complicated when you have cells to scroll through. Saving Time With Text Operations In Excel Saving Time With Text Operations In Excel Excel can do magic with numbers, and it can handle characters just as well. This manual shows how to parse, convert, replace, and edit text in spreadsheets. These fundamentals will allow you to perform complex transformations. Read More If you prefer to have less information on a page, you can always set up new tabs for Projects, This Month, This Week, and Today.
Full Horizon Planning is a workflow system that means you can manage multiple projects without having to commit to schedules that you really can't predict or control.
There is no doubt that this "system requires a greater investment of mental energy up front than from one deadline to another, and it certainly wouldn't work for all types of jobs." But he's been a major contributor to Newport's remarkable productivity in academia, blogging, and authoring, while also ensuring that he rarely works past 5 p.m. M. Without burning. Those lines of code can be physically and emotionally draining. All you need to back it up is the awareness that motivation can be regained. Read more.
Do you think this is a workflow system you could use? How would you have to adopt it for your own career? Or is there a system that works more effectively? The 3-Strike System:How to Prioritize Your To-Do List The 3-Strike System:How to Prioritize Your To-Do List Not getting your to-do list right? The problem may not be your productivity, it may be your priorities. Let's learn how to prioritize to-do list and how to get things done. Read more for you?
