Using your calendar for planning

[ero213]

I'm not sure why David Allen is so averse to using the calendar as a planning tool. Keeping all of your work that needs doing on dedicated lists makes sense. But keeping all your important dates about projects in separate folders instead of on one calendar seems a bit loony. Why wouldn't you want to see all of your due dates at once? Why shouldn't you plan the day and times that you want to work on something, even if it doesn't HAVE TO be done that day? While I like the whole process of capturing and clarifying I still need a plan for doing and I'm usually juggling multiple projects. I fundamentally don't see why your calendar shouldn't be part of your daily and weekly planning.

EO

[Spalding]

... I fundamentally don't see why your calendar shouldn't be part of your daily and weekly planning.

EO
I don't think he ever said that - I believe he just said to keep only absolute hard deadlines on there, not next actions. I know I used to be guilty of that one - I would schedule tasks hoping to get to them, but I wound up just perpetually postponing them, which was quite counterproductive. Also, I like to keep my calendar fairly clear - it drives me crazy if it gets cluttered with things that are not absolute essentials.

That said, I am a huge fan of a few well-placed Outlook alerts for time-critical tasks, where there is only a small window available when they can be completed, like talking to a busy heavily-scheduled person, etc.

But my calendar definitely is part of the weekly review - especially looking ahead to the next week's schedule.

[kelstarrising]

I'm not sure why David Allen is so averse to using the calendar as a planning tool.

I don't think you have this correct as a GTD best practice.

Your Calendar is very much a critical component of your GTD system. It's part of your daily reviews of your "hard landscape" and your Weekly Reviews as well. I would encourage you to check the GTD book for lots of great references on your Calendar and how it can be used in your planning.

[ero213]

I don't think you have this correct as a GTD best practice.

Your Calendar is very much a critical component of your GTD system. It's part of your daily reviews of your "hard landscape" and your Weekly Reviews as well. I would encourage you to check the GTD book for lots of great references on your Calendar and how it can be used in your planning.

That's exactly what I'm getting at. Why not put your "soft landscape" in your calendar? IMO, your soft landscape IS your daily or weekly plan. I understand David Allen's goal to be scalable (ie GTD could work as well for a computer programmer as for an ER physician). However, there is sort of an implicit assumption that we're all completely out of control and constantly working our way out the "weeds" (leaning more to the ER side of things). However, if you're using David's excellent process of capturing and organizing you begin to get control and can begin to start using your calendar to schedule things with greater certainty. Without that kind of scheduling I fear the tendency would be to work on urgent tasks without making time to do those more difficult, long-term tasks with greater pay off. Granted, there are going to be days when things fall apart but not everyone, has that kind of day, everyday. Then what?

EO

[ero213]

I don't think he ever said that - I believe he just said to keep only absolute hard deadlines on there, not next actions. I know I used to be guilty of that one - I would schedule tasks hoping to get to them, but I wound up just perpetually postponing them, which was quite counterproductive. Also, I like to keep my calendar fairly clear - it drives me crazy if it gets cluttered with things that are not absolute essentials.

I think that's fine, but its a preference and may vary by people's situation. Also, here is an insight: the farther in the future something is, the less certainty we have about it. So assigning a specific time to a specific action on a day way in the future is kind of ridiculous. But assigning a time to specific action in the morning that you plan to do later that day makes more sense. Also, assigning a particular day to do something within the week also isn't implausible. I'm not saying this should replace a repository for all you need to do, but I'm speaking specifically about making a plan about when you intend to do something.



But my calendar definitely is part of the weekly review - especially looking ahead to the next week's schedule.

Is this schedule only composed of "hard landscape" must-dos in there per David Allen? Or also soft lanscape?

EO

[TesTeq]

Why not put your "soft landscape" in your calendar?

Because many calendars are full of hard landscape items.

[ero213]

Because many calendars are full of hard landscape items.

But many aren't eg freelancers, entrepreneurs, programmers, designers, etc. Basically the whole creative class. They lack an externally-imposed structure, so may need their own self-imposed one.

What's been working well for me is to do a daily review, figure out what's most important to accomplish for the day and then schedule those tasks I know are going to require a chunk or multiple chunks of time. In between, I process and work on the less time-consuming tasks.

It might add I am a staff video/producer editor and largely work by myself, so aside from actual production days I have a lot of discretion over how I use my time.

EO

[Oogiem]

That's exactly what I'm getting at. Why not put your "soft landscape" in your calendar?

For me my calendar has 3 types of data in it.

1. Hard landscape scheduled things either for a specific day or specific day and time that I cannot easily change or modify. Examples include: The dentist apt, the scheduled meeting with the county commissioners regarding gas drilling, the day the rams have to come out from the breeding pens and the day the backup rams have to go in.

2. Hard landscape things that I might want to attend or do but that I am unclear on. However, I know that if I don't reserve the time I'll never get the opportunity to decide later. Examples: The scrapbook workshop just before Christmas, the open house at the yoga studio, a know your farmer farm tour at a local orchard.

3. The diary of how my time was actually spent. The past history if you will. Examples, for yesterday I have the time I did chores blocked out and how many bales of hay each group of animals was fed. The time I spent working on my poultry scrapbook. the time I spent doing e-mail and forums. The time I spent paying bills and so on.

If I start putting soft things in my calendar then it get's very difficult to impossible to keep it current. Example: I have a soft item of going to the bank to order a check in UK pounds to pay for registrations for the rams. I think we might get to town today but maybe not until later int eh week. Should I put that item on a calendar and then have to juggle it forward each day? It only makes sense to just leave it on the list and when I go in to town check the list before I leave to make sure I've done all my errands.

[perry29m]

Why not put your "soft landscape" in your calendar?

Try it and see. You may be one of the rare people who don't end up moving the soft landscape so often that it's more effort than working off context lists. For many of us, it's more efficient to decide how to use the next 2 hours when they show up. Depends on your areas of focus. You'll find from your experience whether adding soft landscape works for you, based on how often you do or don't actually get to those soft landscape items.

[ero213]

Try it and see. You may be one of the rare people who don't end up moving the soft landscape so often that it's more effort than working off context lists. For many of us, it's more efficient to decide how to use the next 2 hours when they show up. Depends on your areas of focus. You'll find from your experience whether adding soft landscape works for you, based on how often you do or don't actually get to those soft landscape items.

I see your point. Of course, I'm not talking only "soft landscape" in the sense of actions. You can theoretically schedule time to work on actions, projects, AOF, and goals. In fact, I'd say scheduling may work better at the upper HOF than at the lower because you are less specifically dictating what you plan to do in that timeframe.

For example, I block out the hours of my work day. Sometimes it shifts a bit but if I don't keep track of how many hours I'm spending at work then things can quickly get out of balance. I know I did this for about 2 years in my current job.

Without some boundaries, the pitfalls of GTD are that it can either lead to extreme procrastination for Type Bs and workaholism for Type As.

EO

[Barb]

It seems a bit as if you're trying to argue that David Allen got it wrong and the calendar is the best way to structure your day. If that's true for you--great! But I'm a self-employed Consultant and I use the calendar for hard-landscape stuff only and have no problem working from my lists. My lists and my projects drive me much more than my calendar does.

But you should do what works well for you. And those of us working successfully with GTD as it was intended can do what works well for us.

[Suelin23]

This is similar to discussions on deadlines versus guideline or 'wish' dates. For some tasks it does make sense to add soft items to your calendar so that they get done in a timely manner. I tend to do this but not with everything, you have to be careful not to put too much into your calendar otherwise you just work off that only and forget the context lists. You also need to be able to distinguish on your calendar what is a true deadline and can't be changed without renegotiation, and which are dates you've set yourself, which can be changed easily. There is a middle ground, I don't believe it's one way or the other.

[ero213]

I'm saying the "hard landscape" only dictum will create problems for many people. Especially for those in careers that require periods of sustained focus. If I'm a business person it probably works quite well, I'll simply check off my list of emails, meetings, travel plans, etc. Contexts make more sense here because I can get more emails sent out if I batch them together.

But if I'm a self-employed writer (or a variety of other creative careers) I need blocks of sustained time to write. If I don't put that into my calendar I'm more likely to spend time on trivial things and not get down to the mentally-taxing work of writing.

Also, blocking your calendar makes sense for establishing work-life balance and for blocking out time to spend with people (AOF/Roles). If you have goals separate from your work you might need to block out time to work on those.

If you take all of this together, it begins to take the shape of a "weekly plan". Based on things that David Allen and staff have written I have a hunch that they use their calendars in this way to some degree.

EO



It seems a bit as if you're trying to argue that David Allen got it wrong and the calendar is the best way to structure your day. If that's true for you--great! But I'm a self-employed Consultant and I use the calendar for hard-landscape stuff only and have no problem working from my lists. My lists and my projects drive me much more than my calendar does.

But you should do what works well for you. And those of us working successfully with GTD as it was intended can do what works well for us.

[Myriam]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding has always been that GTD does allow to block time to work on certain things, it then becomes like a meeting with yourself and goes to your calendar like any other hard landscape item...

This works well for bigger blocks of time (like ero213 points out) to create some "do" time or to work on a specific project... and to prevent that others book meetings during that block of time.

Myriam

[ScottL]

sometimes in little ways, sometimes in bigger ways. Don't let the GTD guidelines which are there for a reason, prevent you from ignoring them when doing things that way works best for you.

[ero213]

sometimes in little ways, sometimes in bigger ways. Don't let the GTD guidelines which are there for a reason, prevent you from ignoring them when doing things that way works best for you.

Don't get me wrong, in many ways David Allen's GTD works for me. Crikey, I've never been so organized. But I think the weakness is in the "doing" part. At some point in time you have to put your stake in the ground and say I'm doing this now (or NOT doing this now) instead of jumping around from action to action. How you do that, perhaps depends on your unique situation. However, I haven't read anything in the GTD/MIAW books that talk about time-blocking in this way.

EO

[Oogiem]

But if I'm a self-employed writer (or a variety of other creative careers) I need blocks of sustained time to write. If I don't put that into my calendar I'm more likely to spend time on trivial things and not get down to the mentally-taxing work of writing.

Why don't you consider that hard landscape?

I block out time for specific actions that require focus that I know I'll need time to do. I have one on my calendar for today as a matter of fact. I have 2 hours blocked out to work on some knitting that requires I learn a whole new technique. I had checked the weather a couple of days ago and it was supposed to be snowing today so I blocked some time just so I wouldn't pick other things to work on from my lists and I know I will need uninterrupted time to try to train myself on how to do this. I'm trying to get this project done by Christmas so there is a deadline of sorts although no one will be hurt if I don't get it done in time.

[ero213]

Why don't you consider that hard landscape?

I block out time for specific actions that require focus that I know I'll need time to do. I have one on my calendar for today as a matter of fact. I have 2 hours blocked out to work on some knitting that requires I learn a whole new technique. I had checked the weather a couple of days ago and it was supposed to be snowing today so I blocked some time just so I wouldn't pick other things to work on from my lists and I know I will need uninterrupted time to try to train myself on how to do this. I'm trying to get this project done by Christmas so there is a deadline of sorts although no one will be hurt if I don't get it done in time.

I believe hard landscape is defined as something you "must" do on a specific/date time. Of course, I guess you could argue that there's really nothing you "must" do. In that case the term "hard landscape" is meaningless.

EO

[ero213]

A good post on this:

http://www.wisebread.com/scheduling-time-versus-scheduling-tasks

What are the projects/tasks that don't lend themselves well to working off a list of next actions (especially a context list)? From my reading I get the impression they are organic, often creative and have a fuzzy outcome. For example, when I'm editing videos if I had to list out every next action it would be insane. Instead I just block out 2 hours on my calendar for "edit video X."

Best,

EO


I'm not sure why David Allen is so averse to using the calendar as a planning tool. Keeping all of your work that needs doing on dedicated lists makes sense. But keeping all your important dates about projects in separate folders instead of on one calendar seems a bit loony. Why wouldn't you want to see all of your due dates at once? Why shouldn't you plan the day and times that you want to work on something, even if it doesn't HAVE TO be done that day? While I like the whole process of capturing and clarifying I still need a plan for doing and I'm usually juggling multiple projects. I fundamentally don't see why your calendar shouldn't be part of your daily and weekly planning.

EO

[TesTeq]

I believe hard landscape is defined as something you "must" do on a specific/date time. Of course, I guess you could argue that there's really nothing you "must" do. In that case the term "hard landscape" is meaningless.

YOU can (and should) determine if something "must" be done on a specific date/time.

So you can move anything from soft to hard landscape according to your best judgement.

But do not overuse it - trust you intuition built during Weekly Reviews.

[kkuja]

If I recall corerctly DA has spoken two things which have something to do with this.

1) that some executives block time from their calendar to do weekly review

2) if you plan more than 60% of your time, you plan will fail because of external changes.

I personally don't see a reason to blend hard landscape and soft landscape, because hard landscape itself defines where soft landscape can exist. And by blending them you pick one item from soft landscape over anything else. You basically do and lock your context/time/energy/priority choice in advance. And your just better hope you succeed to foresee you context, time available, energy and priority in advance. (Ok, I just blocked 3 hours to bug fixing time, but I ugly migraine destroys my day... result is worthless feeling because I failed to do what I had decided to do)

This is just my 0,02 €. I'm still a total GTD newbie, so if there is obvious misunderstandings or you just otherwise disagree, please tell me.

Thank you.

[ero213]

If I recall corerctly DA has spoken two things which have something to do with this.

1) that some executives block time from their calendar to do weekly review

2) if you plan more than 60% of your time, you plan will fail because of external changes.

I personally don't see a reason to blend hard landscape and soft landscape, because hard landscape itself defines where soft landscape can exist. And by blending them you pick one item from soft landscape over anything else. You basically do and lock your context/time/energy/priority choice in advance. And your just better hope you succeed to foresee you context, time available, energy and priority in advance. (Ok, I just blocked 3 hours to bug fixing time, but I ugly migraine destroys my day... result is worthless feeling because I failed to do what I had decided to do)

This is just my 0,02 €. I'm still a total GTD newbie, so if there is obvious misunderstandings or you just otherwise disagree, please tell me.

Thank you.

If you have some predictability in your life than you CAN foresee context/time/energy/priority. The farther you look forward in time the less accurate you willl be. This is why the daily weather forecast is fairly reliable but the 10-day is less so.

David Allen has just taken this to its logical end, essentially saying I don't know ANYTHING about the future and therefore I'm only going to pre-plan the bare minimum of my activities and base my action on what feels right at the moment.

This approach works in some instances for some people, but it doesn't really help those with the tendency to procrastinate, or those whose work requires blocks of focused time, rather than checking off a list of tasks. In addition, it doesn't really help with keeping balance between various projects or aspects of your life. If you do an internet search you'll see these issues written about here and on blogs over and over again. If I dig into my bookmarks I could probably come up with 100 examples.

I really like David Allen's method but, for me at least, there are some missing components to "make it all work" :)

EO

[Oogiem]

This approach works in some instances for some people, but it doesn't really help those with the tendency to procrastinate, or those whose work requires blocks of focused time, rather than checking off a list of tasks. In addition, it doesn't really help with keeping balance between various projects or aspects of your life.

I'd disagree with that blanket statement. I am a master at procrastination, I can avoid things for months and years. But I found that once I really got how to define the next tiny small thing to move projects forward I got a lot more done.

I also have projects where the next logical action is one that requires significant uninterrupted focused time. GTD has let me see those actions in the context of all the other stuff I have to do. Sometimes I make an appointment with myself to do that and sometimes I just let it happen but in both cases I find that knowing what else is on the plate allows me the freedom to really focus. As a result actions that originally would have taken me 5-6 hours in part because I'd keep getting distracted (remember I am great at procrastination) now can get done in 3 hours or so because my mind is quiet about all those other things. I know I won't lose track of them so I can focus on doing what I need to on the project that needs concentration.

Lastly GTD has made a huge difference in the balance in my life. By clearly defining areas of focus that include major things I consider important to me like hobbies, personal growth and all of my work roles it is really easy to see when a piece is getting too much or too little emphasis. Due to the nature of my job there is a seasonal ebb and flow of when certain areas take priority but the GTD system is the first method that allows me to be in control of managing my life so that nothing important to me falls totally off the board.

[ero213]

Reading back through "Making It All Work" I found this passage:

"Obviously based on other prioritizing factors, you may need to create specific structures and block out sufficient time slots for the important actions that require them."

This seems more lax that what had been written in GTD about the "hard landscape."

EO

[SiobhanBR]

This is a very interesting discussion.

Someone up there mentioned that one benefit of blocking out time on your calendar to work on a project is to prevent others from booking meetings during that time. In my work environment, this is absolutely necessary as others use my calendar to find free time and book me into meetings. I block out time for my weekly review and time for working on Next Actions. That is usually as specific as I get. When I get to that time, I am free to close my door, review my lists and work on what needs working on. During my weekly review I would have taken a look at upcoming due date and thus be able to trust my intuition as to what I should now do.

If, during my weekly review I find a project that I've been avoiding I may block a specific time for that specific task (and perhaps I'll do it as a meeting with someone else to amp up the pressure to get it done).

Most of us have forced work hours with varying degrees of flexibility. However, I don't see that creating a work framework for yourself opposes the GTD process. For those (like you) who have significant control over your work hours, I imagine it would be necessary. I imagine myself creating a weekly plan during the weekly review that would still allow the flexibility my situation demands (this is different for everyone) but that provides the work/home balance I need (again, different for everyone and varying during the year).

[ero213]

After trying a time map approach and doing some more reading I am inclined to reverse my thoughts on this. Here's a very good post that explains a lot of it:

http://tools-for-thought.com/2008/06/24/hard-landscape-vs-parkinsons-law/

With some exceptions I'm thinking it is best to only manage external commitments with your calendar. However, I also think it is a bit dysfunctional to work within a "context" without any regard to importance of the actions. In other words, how do you ensure that you are in the right context (with the time and energy) to work on your highest priority projects? Seems like the calendar is the place to make these plans. I'm curious how people work this.

[cwoodgold]

In "Getting Things Done", as I remember it, it says not to put an action on the calendar
unless it's something that, if you're going to do it, has to be done that day.
A concert you might or might not attend fits this.

As I remember it, he said a reason not to put a bunch of actions on the calendar is that
typically you don't get all of them done, and that it's time-consuming and demoralizing
to have to keep recopying them onto another day. I used to do that, and agree with
him on that; it may feel fine for the first while but started getting me down. If some
people have more predictability or are able to put a few actions on the calendar without
overdoing it, and only occasionally have to recopy a few and don't feel overwhelmed by
that, then fine -- they can put actions on their calendar, as far as that reason goes.

If I remember right, David Allen also said you can make an appointment with yourself
and mark it on your calendar. This seems to me to contradict the other things
he said about calendars, especially in light of another thing he said, that you can
renegotiate agreements with yourself at any time.

I don't think David Allen ever said to just do things in a context without considering
importance. Within the context, he does say to consider priority as one of the factors
in choosing things. As far as I remember, he didn't say anything about how to decide
when to move from one context to another; I assume this is one of many things he
expects his readers to be smart enough to figure out without his help, or that
different people will do differently so there's no point his telling people one method;
or that can be carried out using one or another GTD method such as Roles,
Weekly Review, or Projects, etc.