Need your help on priorities webinar

[kelstarrising]

The September webinar will be with Meg and David on priorities. But I could use your input about what you are eager to learn about priorities. It's one of the top subjects requested, but I want to narrow it down to the specifics that members want. Like:

--Developing Horizons of Focus?
--How higher Horizons map to runway?
--How to choose priorities day-to-day?
--What to do when priorities compete?
--How to measure value in getting done vs. risk if you don't?
--something else?
--any and all of the above?

Thanks!

 

[ProfessorSue]

overcommitment?

It is so hard to say no, or to acknowledge that I can't do what I would like to do -- and still have enough personal time for rejuvenation and fun. I think that if I honestly set priorities, I wouldn't find myself in this pickle. So maybe it's a matter of higher order horizons, plus honest evaluation of what is really possible (as opposed to wishful thinking).

 

[enyonam]

I would pick 'what to do when priorities compete'.

I think you generally know you need to climb the horizons of focus but even then there are times when it just seems like many things feel equally important and finding ways to tease out which one is just that much more the important thing, how to feel okay about picking it over something else, and how to get others okay about you picking it.

 

[DenaDahilig]

What a great webinar topic!

The September webinar will be with Meg and David on priorities... I want to narrow it down to the specifics that members want.

I'm pretty visual - and I use a paper system - so I could use some tips on how to visually represent priorities when they are in constant flux. Right now, in fact, my lists don't have any priority indications at all. I just pull the day's goals onto a separate sheet and work from that. But I'd be interested on what you would recommend for a paper system.

Thanks!

Dena

 

[TesTeq]

Non hierarchical nature of the Horizons of Focus

--Developing Horizons of Focus?
--How higher Horizons map to runway?

I would like to hear the definitive statement about a non hierarchical nature of the Horizons of Focus.

I like strictly hierarchical structures so at the beginning of my GTD journey I thought that it was a tree-like concept:

• My Life (50,000+ level) is a root with links to several Three- to Five-Year Visions.
• Each Three- to Five-Year Vision (40,000 level) is a parent of several One- to Two-Year Goals.
• Each One- to Two-Year Goal (30,000 level) is a parent of several Areas of Responsibility and Focus.
• Each Area of Responsibility and Focus (20,000 level) is a parent of several Projects and/or Someday/Maybe ideas.
• Each Project (10,000 level) is a parent of one or more Next Actions.
• Each Next Action (Runway) is a basic work atom that must be done.

While it is easy to design hierarchical Area of Responsibility and Focus --> Project --> Next Action mapping, this model often fails at higher levels. For example one Area of Responsibility and Focus may support more than one Goal.

 

[S-Tolland]

I'd agree with Enyo about competing priorities being something I would like to see discussed. Looking forward to the webinar!

 

[TesTeq]

Flip a coin or throw a dice.

I'd agree with Enyo about competing priorities being something I would like to see discussed. Looking forward to the webinar!

Competing priorities? When - after careful examination - I really cannot decide which Project or Action is more important at the moment I just flip a coin or throw a dice. Really. Why does it work for me? Because I know that all other logical methods have failed.

 

[Oogiem]

My top 2

--How higher Horizons map to runway?
--What to do when priorities compete?

Those would be my top 2. I'm particularly lost in the goals vs AOF distinctions. Not only to goals map to several AOFs but projects can meet several goals and cross AOFs so the whole middle area is hazy to me. OTOH perhaps a whole separate webinar on goals is more appropriate.

Another critical area is what to do with competing priorities that are mutually exclusive. Tips, tricks and ideas for selecting how to more effective choose the items that will give the most bang for the buck. Sort of back to Covey's Important vs just Urgent. How to integrate that sense of priorities into a GTD structure.

 

[Mark Jantzen]

Combine Do Phase with Horizons of Focus?

I really like David Allen's model in the Do Phase and many discussions on setting priorities seem to blend these components.

1. Context
2. Time Available
3. Energy Level
4. Personal Payoff

It seems like the successful outcome of Doing is making a good choice within this model and at the right horizon. You also have to be comfortable with your choice, meaning choosing from a complete inventory of options - i.e. current GTD list management system.

Or, just do A/B/C codes ...
(kidding)

Similar to the Weekly Review I'd like to hear coaching on how to turn this conceptual model into a real, practical, mechanical implementation.

 

[ryanirelan]

--What to do when priorities compete?

I would choose this as a focus for the webinar. I have priorities that compete internally (in my own work, life, and system) and externally (with others at work, life).

This could be a rich, deep topic!

 

[mcogilvie]

I think the biggest priority-related problem I have is juggling between projects that require insight, creativity and focus, and often require overcoming significant technical challenges. It's easy to spend too much time thinking about one such project and neglecting others. Or to hop so fast between them that no progress is made on any. Also, the line between thinking about something and avoiding it is often hard to discern.

 

[ryanirelan]

Well put! That's a constant struggle for me.

 

[othomas]

Suggestions for "priorities" webinar

Great suggestions so far, thanks! All of them resonate with me as well. I'd also love to hear your take on:

1. Tips and suggested structures for prioritizing as a group: getting a group of people in an organization (maybe not all GTD-ers) to arrive at a shared list of prioritized projects. Where ideas come from, the desire to maintain local control, and organizational boundaries often seem to get in the way.
2. Good techniques for getting oneself to focus on and think about work at the right level regularly. It's so easy to get caught up in the weeds of doing, I'm often surprised how far I'll take something that turns out to be low priority before realizing it...

 

[human]

Allowing Others to do the Prioritizing for Me

I'm curious about how to see the difference between the priorities of others (when a thing feels urgent because other people keep talking about it) and what is a true priority (when a thing is important because it is an active decision)?

Once I see that difference, how do I get others on board (when leading a team)?
If I'm not the one officially in charge, how can I help convince myself I'm doing the right thing?

Plus, what othomas said.

 

[vbampton]

I would pick 'what to do when priorities compete'.

That'll get my vote too. Particularly when one priority is louder than the others and tugging at your trouser legs.

 

[gatorm]

Two other ideas

I would love to hear conversation on making decisions in the day about priorities. My weekly review often gives me a great outline of what to accomplish during the week, but translating that to combat against the hours at work is sometimes tough.

I think there is also a conversation around the mental part of prioritizing, i.e. having the courage to prioritize high-impact / more thoughtful work. Latest and loudest is seductive and getting easy things done can sometimes give me the delusion of getting things done.

As a side note, this technique has been incredibly useful for me in translating key projects down to next actions for the week: http://peterbregman.com/18-minutes/

 

[kelstarrising]

Thank you all!

Thank you all for this input. We're working on developing this now. A resounding theme seems to be around Competing Priorities. That will likely be the core topic, with the many other great ideas included in the discussion with Meg & David.

Registration is now live on the home page. It will be on Friday, Sept 27 @ 10am.

 

[EngineeringProf]

Value vs Risk. Long termp projects and decisions.

Value vs Risk. Understanding how to evaluate this within the big picture of workload and in terms of opportunity cost.

I ask your questions of value/risk for EVERY opportunity and decision since I am offered hundreds of opportunities to participate in new projects. It used to work, but not so much lately. Here's why: Often these projects are VERY important to the people asking, and they hope/think/insist that these things should be really important to me too. Most of these do not align with my areas of focus although some align with my life goals. I am inclined to think the value of those that align with my life goals are HIGH, but this might not be the best time to be moving on that life goal since I have other thing going on in my current areas of responsibility that shouldn't be dismissed to make room for this goal activity. The risk of not doing these things is usually ZERO. So, they are totally optional and might have value to me if aligned with my goals. BUT, since these could clearly take up 200% of my time, I have to ask something different -- it is not about risk of not doing it (that's zero) and its not about value in doing it (that is likely high for them, moderate for me). The value is RELATIVE to the rest of my workload and the things I'll have to say 'no' to in the future because I say 'yes' to this one. BUT, I don't know what the future things I'm going to have to say 'no' to ARE! So, I'm left deciding "how much available time do I want to have in the future for arriving interesting projects and will saying yes to this one decrease that time below my target" That is really hard to do across long time frames (I am often asked to give a talk 'next year' for example).

Any insight on this type of long term prioritizing would be great.