Webinar on Bending the Rules

[John Forrister]

I must reshuffle my playlist to listen to this webinar ASAP. After such comments I expect "The Big Bang Theory" sitcom-class entertainment!

Your TV reference says that you have already tuned into the content, TesTeq. At one point, Kelly was talking about what she watched on TV the previous night. She joked that it might have been the State of the Union Address, but in the chat box I told everyone it was Parks & Recreation.

 

[Longstreet]

I am intrugued....am I the only one here that promotes limited scheduling of major next actions on the calendar?

 

[Longstreet]

I meant intrigued...😄

 

[Barb]

Humor was definitely a keynote of the webinar. As Meg said, we all just need to get off our own backs about our implementation. So . . . riddle me this: In what ways have you all adapted your system that you consider heretical? We're not here to judge, just to discuss.

John, this is a great question and a good conversation to start!

My heresy: My system is Omnifocus on the iPad. Yes, I sit at a computer much of the time, but Outlook tasks don't sync with my iPad and phone the way I want them to. I'm not nearly as email-driven as most others are, so I could go to any system, really. Paper is something I periodically do, if I'm in a slump. But I like the OF system for iPad so much that I haven't needed to go to paper since I started using it.

 

[Hrlakat]

I am intrugued....am I the only one here that promotes limited scheduling of major next actions on the calendar?

Hey Longstreet - I occasionally schedule major (work) next actions on the calendar - schedule them to work at home for the day, that is. The two types of things I schedule are planning and performance reviews. For both, I need uninterrupted time with the ability to play ridiculously loud music and walk around while thinking - neither of which I can do in the office!

I also had my first weekend sabbatical last year to work on my upper horizons of focus - which was a win for me, as I finished my latest treasure map ...

Heather

 

[Longstreet]

Thanks, Heather. I am glad to see someone else do this. David Allen says at least twice in his book "Making it all Work..." That it can be a good practice to do this.

 

[Longstreet]

Just to clarify, as I had stated in a time-blocking post earlier, most of the time -- if I am putting something on my calendar -- it is a time block for a particular project or Area of Focus. It is a way of planning my week loosely and probably most importantly -- protecting my time against the incessant meetings that get scheduled on my calendar. If I have a really major next action that I really need to get done, then I will block off time for that. Another category of a time block that I put on my calendar is entitled "Desk Time". I can then decide according to the different GTD criteria of what do in this protected time on my calendar.

 

[Jodie E. Francis]

Longstreet, I do the same, though I suspect you are more disciplined with it. If I know I need a block of focused time to advance a project I will put it on my calendar. At the office it has the benefit of protecting that time from meetings, and at home it helps me commit to the time. At home I will also block out 90 min of 'Desk work' weekly to handle the administrivia of running a family/household.

My challenge is that I often take it to the extreme - over-scheduling my day with too many 'wanna do' NAs on my calendar, vs limiting it to hard commitments. Thankfully a digital calendar makes the process of re-negotiating commitments with myself quite easy

 

[Jodie E. Francis]

One idea particularly resonated with me, and I've implemented it already: two project lists.

My first project lists is the old familiar regular one, and a second one: ProjectsWithPromises. The first project list is not tied to a calendar -- the second one is outcomes and deliverables that I have promised to others and generally have timelines associated with them. The second one takes priority

Thanks Kelly and Meg.

Rob

I love this idea! Must find time to watch that webinar, it sounds like it was a goodie...