Thank you.

I like the way you summarized it. I think that captures the mindset and makes it fun.

You’re right. That’s the key. Estimation is tough. Even if it’s work you’ve done before.

Drucker teaches us that people aren’t very good at knowing where their time goes. His key point is that most people think there time goes where it should go. It’s just like when people actually log what they actually eat for a week. There’s usually a big gap between what they think they eat and what they actually eat.

The beauty of this approach is it’s boundary based versus dictatorial in how to run your day. It’s just enough routine and flexibility that it’s adaptable for just about any scenario.

@ Diane

Sounds good. I’ll have plenty more coming your way. Helping people get results is my specialty.

Look forward to more on this in future posts!

For me deadlines dates are always a motivator and usually met!

I think the reason it’s effective is that the brain is actually pretty terrible at judging how much we can get done in a set amount of time. The end result is that tasks will almost always take as long to finish as the time you’ve set for them. Consequently, tasks with no defined end point are very very easy to drag out.

Also the amount of quality attention you can devote to something and give it your best is limited. So I think your time boxes idea works very well to get around this other limit of the big wet gray sponge on our shoulders.

Patrick
veryevolved.com

Thank you. I find books to be one of the best sources of profound knowledge.

I’ve heard of Brain Rules, but I haven’t read it yet. I’m glad that to hear it’s amazing. I’ll add it to my hit list.

@ Dror

Sure. The simplest way to think of it is daily, weekly, and monthly results. Each day, think of 3 things you’ll accomplish. I just ask myself, what are 3 things I have to get done before I go home. Each week, identify 3 things that if you got done by Friday, you would feel like you had a great week. Each month, have a rough idea of 3 major accomplishments.

Within each of these timeboxes, you’re biting off something you can chew. You’re basically using time to help figure out scope. This reduces a lot of risk. The opposite is to make up a laundry list of things you’ll accomplish and imagine that someday in the future you will be done. This is scope based. It’s very natural to default to scope based, dream up great things, and then get lost or frustrated along the way, simply because it’s incredibly difficult to estimate time.

What I do is combine both. I dream big, so I have a vision of something to drive towards, but then I use time to chunk things down. If I ever get lost, each day is a fresh start … what are 3 things I must accomplish today? Each week, if I fell off the wagon, I can ask again … what are 3 key things for the week? Each month is a great way to see the forest from the trees … am I moving towards or away from the bigger picture.

Because it’s an approach, and not a tool, it’s easy for me to quickly adjust based on how much or how little structure I want, as well as how much energy or motivation I have. The beauty is, being able to accomplish 3 outcomes each day, 3 outcomes each week, and 3 outcomes for the month, it actually builds momentum. It’s constellation of successes that support each other.

@ Juliet

Thank you. I hope to make this a continuously valuable resource for you.

@ Bunny

Thank you.

Thanks for sharing this.

Sounds interesting. Looking forward to hearing more.

You share so much of your experience – thank you

Juliet