My version of GTD 2.0: Integration with Power Scheduling

[Longstreet]

I have embraced the changes described by Moises in the great piece on GTD 2.0. I do not use the priority field to sector out next actions for this week. Instead, I assign target due dates when I am doing my weekly review.

One thing in GTD that I have always had trouble with, as many others have too, is the physical context categories. I have tried many types, but none seem to fit me overall. Oh, of course the categories of @Errands, @ Agendas, and @Waiting For work well, but the other physical contexts -- @computer, @Office, @Work, etc. just never have worked well for me. The computer category is a good example – I have a computer in my office, two at home, one which is on cable internet, and I have a new laptop. I can easily transfer files between the home and work, so the strict physical context is lost. I can be in contact with my research staff by phone and email practically 24/7 no matter where I am, so the @Office only category does not work real well either for me. Oh sure, there are some obvious things that can only be done at the office, but in this unbelievably connected world we are in, these are becoming more of the exception than the rule.

I came across a book written by Dave DeSousa entitled “Power Scheduling”. I was intrigued by it and read it easily and carefully in one evening. I think a major light bulb went off for me! There are numerous similarities in what he says to GTD. The way he suggests in grouping tasks together is by the type of task – writing, reading, spreadsheets, etc. Then one can schedule different times during the day to concentrate on all of your tasks (next actions) in that particular category.

I am finding that this works well for me. I am the type of person that needs weekly planning and structure during the week. One of the issues that I have always had is reviewing long lists of next actions in all of the categories and trying to decide which one to do next. This process simplifies it well for me. For example, my most creative writing time is in the morning. So, I power schedule a block of time in the morning and work from my writing category of next actions. I stay focused on this category only. Of course, I am interrupted and he discusses that in his book. No, he is not old school and does not try to have you stop interruptions. He realizes that this too is part of our work-life situation and that we have to simply deal with the interruption and then move on. The power schedule is not hard-coded on my calendar as busy – I use Outlook and I simply identify block times during the week when I want to focus on different categories.

I suggest people that like more structure look at this book. I am using a nice blend of GTD and Power Scheduling that works for me.

Best wishes to all,
Longstreet

[Rainer Burmeister]

The way he suggests in grouping tasks together is by the type of task – writing, reading, spreadsheets, etc. Then one can schedule different times during the day to concentrate on all of your tasks (next actions) in that particular category.In my pre-GTD times I used to work this way. My problem was that I had piles of papers stuffed into hanging file folders labelled "writing", "reading", "phone calls", etc. Reading your post makes me reconsider my former practice (lack of discipline?). The piles vanished with the implementation of GTD.

Would you please give me more details on this?

Rainer

[Borisoff]

Sounds like Julie Morgenstern's Time Maps approach...

Regards,

Eugene.

[Longstreet]

Hi Folks,

Yes...there is some similarity to Julie Morgenstern's time mapping approach. But this IS different and really a form of GTD! I don't hard-schedule individual next actions; I simply create blocks of time for dedicated focus on a particular type of work. As I said, my most creative writing time is in the morning, so based on what I have in my @Writing context folder (in Outlook), I work on these things only. I love the focus and I am amazed at how much I get done this way. Yes, I do embrace all other aspects of GTD. I have an @Errands, @Home, @Waiting For, @Agendas folder. To be honest, I am now experimenting with a combination of physical contexts -- @Computer, @Office -- and then sort the next actions within these more standard GTD contexts by the type of work that I do -- writing, read/review, study design & analysis, etc.

In his book, Dave DeSousa gives the example of two electricians working in different buildings hanging light fixtures. The young man started off fast and started hanging lights because he wanted to show the older, experienced man what he could accomplish. He hung a light, then started on the next, and kept going. At the end of the day, he had hung 15 lights. He was proud and ready to boast to the older guy -- and then he found out he had hung 27!! How in the world did he accomplish so much more? The older man told him. You need to preplan and set things up first. Decide on how many lights you can hang and lay them all out on the ground. Now go through and do as many common things to all of them. Keep chipping away at this -- more of an assembly line approach -- and soon you will be ready for the last step -- hanging all of your lights.

So...when I plan my week, I look at the amount of work I have in each of my types -- say I have three reports, a grant to write, letters, etc. I also have to grade some exams, read/review a lot of articles...I then decide on when I would like to focus on these different activities. As I said, writing goes in the morning, so I block a number of hours off each morning just for writing.

So far, so good. But as with everyone else, I am still tweaking things...

Longstreet

[Borisoff]

I don't thought it was a bad approach But I still thought it was Julia's approach :) She recommeded to block out the time for different activities like you did. I.e. you blocked out time for reading and then took what to read from your NA's list or day-specific NA's. This approach allows to balance activities becase as I think GTD doesn't allow for this as it's dependent on the Context and Time available. And Julia's approach guarantees context and time available for some of NAs at the convinient time for you and in balance with your other activities.

I use this appoach as well. Here's my daily schedule:

9-10 Reading

11-17 Meetings and Tasks (oK,Ok - NAs :)

18-22 Family Time

22-23 Inboxes Check Time

Regards,

Eugene.

[Tom Shannon]

I have embraced the changes described by Moises in the great piece on GTD 2.0. I do not use the priority field to sector out next actions for this week. Instead, I assign target due dates when I am doing my weekly review.

One thing in GTD that I have always had trouble with, as many others have too, is the physical context categories. I have tried many types, but none seem to fit me overall.

I'm sure that you are aware that this isn't techinically a part of GTD. Its the way DA handles these categories but its stated pretty explicitly multiple times that people need to do it however they feel comfortable. I, for instance, find a much more "free form" style fits me best and rarely categorize things by actual physical context. As you suggest, physical location means less and less now a days. I think it all comes down to how you segment your life. Though I don't break it down the same way that you do, I'd say the best way to describe it might be "mental" context.

As far as scheduling blocks of time, I see your point and I see how this could be done flexibly. But I, personally, think I still might end up spending too much time pushing those blocks around. I think I still prefer the "hard edges" approach recommended in the book.

Nice post.

Tom S.

[Brent]

Compare:

"It's 9:00. Here's a list of everything that I have to do; let me pick the one that's best for me at this very moment."

"It's 9:00. Time to read."

Which is more flexible?



This is one of my favorite aspects of GTD. Life has a way of disrupting schedules. If, in your system, you rely on scheduling, then as soon as your schedule is interrupted, you're at a loss. With GTD, I'm never at a loss (assuming that I maintain my system).

[kewms]

Compare:

"It's 9:00. Here's a list of everything that I have to do; let me pick the one that's best for me at this very moment."

"It's 9:00. Time to read."

Which is more flexible?

It's 9:00. Let's check and see if there's anything else I have to do before I settle down to read.

In my experience, without some sort of schedule the things requiring large blocks of focused attention simply don't get done. The number of smaller tasks, from client followup calls to web page updates, is essentially infinite. Until, of course, the clients stop taking your calls because you aren't actually delivering the work.

Katherine

[Borisoff]

Brent,

I think I agree with Katherine that there's always more important NAs then reading that always push reading to some other time. Let's take another example. You are a sales and a father at the same time. And you want to have a balance that allows you to earn money (and you like it as a process) and spend time with your child. In this case it's difficult to say what's more important at 9-00: to call a customer or play with the child (let be true with ourselves and accept our workaholism :grin: ) That's where shedule can help to make a balance. You just can set it to 40:50 or 50:50 or whatever balance you like. Anyway as Katherine mentioned you can always "unschedule" the time if there's something more important in your lists or on the hard landscape.

Do you think GTD has a balance tool that allows for comfort time balancing?

Regards,

Eugene.

[Longstreet@Home]

Hi Brent,

I understand where you are coming from here. "It is 9:00....with my next actions lists that come into play where I am, what is the best thing for me to do now?" I still do that most of the time. I don't block off every minute of the day. I just designate loosely time blocks where I wish to only focus on certain types of work, and regardless what other things I COULD do, I will focus only on that specific type of work...like writing, or reading/review, or study design. I have found otherwise, like Katherine and Boris said, one can find themselves doing too many small things -- getting a lot done off of our next action lists....but not working on the larger, more important items.

At any rate, this seems to work for me -- a person that thrives better with some self-imposed structure.

Best to all,
Longstreet

[Brent]

Brent, I think I agree with Katherine that there's always more important NAs then reading that always push reading to some other time.

I don't agree, actually. If I put Reading down as a NA, I will be able to judge that along with everything else, and the reading will get done.

I fully appreciate that this other people aren't like me in this regard, though.

[Borisoff]

I don't agree, actually. If I put Reading down as a NA, I will be able to judge that along with everything else, and the reading will get done.

I fully appreciate that this other people aren't like me in this regard, though.

Brent,

When would you come to a reading NA in the case your reading is put in NA list?

What do you recommend if someone needs to make a permanent progress daily (i.e. in a language learning)?

Regards,

Eugene Borisoff.

[Brent]

I have a category, "Home/Desk". If I put "Read more of History book" on there, then when I'm home I'd skim through my "Home/Desk" list and judge which ones are most important. If I have a number of significant things on there, but I haven't read in a while and I really want to, I'll choose to read.

About daily items...I actually have a little card next to my computer, with daily tasks written on that. (Blog, process receipts, check forums, etc.)

[Borisoff]

About daily items...I actually have a little card next to my computer, with daily tasks written on that. (Blog, process receipts, check forums, etc.)

Brent, do you have a specific time shceduled to process this daily items?

What would happen if you don't have time to do them?

E.

[Brent]

I don't have a specific time, but I generally aim to do them just after dinner.

If they don't get done, then they don't get done. A big hammer doesn't fall out of the sky to hit me. I can always do them some other time. How could it be otherwise?

[Borisoff]

I don't have a specific time, but I generally aim to do them just after dinner.

"...Just after dinner" sounds like scheduling daily check times isn't it? :)

Regards,

Eugene.

[Longstreet]

Hi Folks,

Here is the latest compromise I have come up with for the context categories issue. I am using the "mental contexts" of writing, study design & analysis, read/review, along with more standard contexts such as agendas, errands, waiting for, someday. For next actions in the mental contexts, I add at the end of the subject line where it can be done -- @Office, @Anywhere, @Computer. This way, I can still power schedule blocks of time to focus on certain types of work, but also see the appropriate physical context. If it is in the writing context, but only can be done in my office due to the reference material there, then that is so entered. That saves me from thinking I can continue to write this on my computer or laptop at home. If it can be easily transferred, then I add @Computer at the end of the subject line. Thus, I can quickly scan and see what writing I can continue elsewhere.

I think this might just be a good combination of the absolute physial contexts, but allow me to group my work according to the type of work I need to do.

Best to all,
Longstreet

[Brent]

"...Just after dinner" sounds like scheduling daily check times isn't it? :)

It would, except that I wrote that I "generally aim to do them just after dinner." That's a time that I commonly have open, but I often process this list at other times during the day or evening.

[Borisoff]

Ok, ok. But actually blogs checking is not really a daily HAVE TO DO. And really nothing would happen if you don't have a free chunk of time to do that daily.

Let's take something that's really have to do without any "maybes", i.e. someone needs to take pills daily not to become pregnant (sorry, didn't found any other more important theme that is not connected to anything bad :) And the problem of this someone is that taking those pills is a process that takes 1 to 2 hours. So we have a case where she have to do some tasks daily and that process takes quite a long time. What would be your solution for that? ;-)

Regards,

Eugene.

[jkgrossi]

Ok, ok. But actually blogs checking is not really a daily HAVE TO DO. And really nothing would happen if you don't have a free chunk of time to do that daily.

Let's take something that's really have to do without any "maybes", i.e. someone needs to take pills daily not to become pregnant (sorry, didn't found any other more important theme that is not connected to anything bad :) And the problem of this someone is that taking those pills is a process that takes 1 to 2 hours. So we have a case where she have to do some tasks daily and that process takes quite a long time. What would be your solution for that? ;-)

Regards,

Eugene.

Well, if this HAS to get done on a certain date, it goes on the calendar.

Simple. ;-)

If one needs to block out 2 hours every day for a "mission critical" project that has a hard daily deadline, what's the problem with doing that?

Jim

[Jason Echols]

Well, if this HAS to get done on a certain date, it goes on the calendar.

Simple. ;-)

If one needs to block out 2 hours every day for a "mission critical" project that has a hard daily deadline, what's the problem with doing that?

Jim

I agree. There are times whne the only way for me to get some things done, is to make appointments with myself. At those appointed times, I will turn my messenger to "busy" and I might not answer the phone or look at email. That way I can focus of that task alone.

[Borisoff]

If one needs to block out 2 hours every day for a "mission critical" project that has a hard daily deadline, what's the problem with doing that?
Jim

Jim, it's not really a problem with that but David doesn't give any instructions on such time-consuming day-specific but not time-specific activities. I know that they should be on the calendar but in which form? David gives us two forms:

1. Day specific plus time specific - this is actually appointments;

2. Day specific not time specific small - these are short NAs (I'd say not bigger then 30 mins) that could be done in a free timeslot.

but where to put Day Specific not Time Specific Large NAs? Block off the time and then move it when something more important arrives there? If so then it why David didn't put that in the book? Or I missed something there?

Regards,

Eugene.

[Brent]

Eugene, it seems to me that you're describing something that needs to be a daily habit. All the standard advice for establishing a habit applies (connect it with a regular part of your life, reward yourself for keeping up, track your progress, etc.).

Does that help?

[jkgrossi]

Jim, it's not really a problem with that but David doesn't give any instructions on such time-consuming day-specific but not time-specific activities. I know that they should be on the calendar but in which form? David gives us two forms:

1. Day specific plus time specific - this is actually appointments;

2. Day specific not time specific small - these are short NAs (I'd say not bigger then 30 mins) that could be done in a free timeslot.

but where to put Day Specific not Time Specific Large NAs? Block off the time and then move it when something more important arrives there? If so then it why David didn't put that in the book? Or I missed something there?

Regards,

Eugene.

Eugene,

I think that he does. This looks to me like it falls under the blanket of a hard-landscape calendar item. The amount of time that it takes is really irrelevant.

Why would you make the assumption that #2 relates only to NA's that take less than 30 minutes?

Fact is, you've got a reminder saying "Hey, come hell or high water this MUST get done today!". What's the difference if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours?

Jim

[neils]

hi longstreet - can you describe how you've configured Outlook for gtd ?

When you say @Writing folder, do you mean Category or have you created new Outlook folder ?

Neil

[Borisoff]

I think that he does. This looks to me like it falls under the blanket of a hard-landscape calendar item. The amount of time that it takes is really irrelevant. Why would you make the assumption that #2 relates only to NA's that take less than 30 minutes? Fact is, you've got a reminder saying "Hey, come hell or high water this MUST get done today!". What's the difference if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours? Jim

Jim, I thought that this is for small NAs because if you put a 5 hours reminder and don't schedule (or maybe it's better to say "budget") the time for it it could happen that when you come to that day tasks in the future there will be not enough room for this NA in-between already assigned Appointments. What do you think?

Eugene.

[Borisoff]

Eugene, it seems to me that you're describing something that needs to be a daily habit. All the standard advice for establishing a habit applies (connect it with a regular part of your life, reward yourself for keeping up, track your progress, etc.).Does that help?

Brent,

probably that's the solution for the pills :) I have something of that kind that is close to the described task. For example, I need to make a progress in Spanish daily. On one hand, nothing will happen if I skip that once but not twice (I could forget everything that I've learned before :) On the other hand I want it to be daily to make a consistent progress. Do you think that Spanish lessons should be blocked on the calendar (scheduled, timemapped, whatever - there's a problem that I don't need it to be tied to any specific time but I need at least 1 hour daily), or put on the calendar as day event (there's good but could happen I don't have 1 hour at that day or 2 days or more), or put to NAs list (there could be a problem with consistent progress because it becomes asap not daily). Or maybe there're any other ways out?

Regards,

Eugene.

[Brent]

Eugene, I suggest you forget about GTD here for a moment and concentrate on establishing the habit of practicing Spanish daily. There's lots of advice out there about establishing habits, and I suggest you look into those.

In my opinion, GTD really isn't about establishing habits like that.

[kewms]

I've taken recurring tasks out of my NA list altogether. They are handled by Sciral Consistency (for tracking) and my time map (for scheduling).

If I find that I'm not being consistent enough with these tasks, I might explicitly schedule appointments for them, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

Recurring tasks for me are those that I need/want to do at some regular interval indefinitely. Practice Japanese. Exercise. Backup my computer. Do my Weekly Review. Etc. It seems to me that those tasks are different from project-oriented NAs that have a clearly defined end-date, and so I treat them differently.

Katherine

[Longstreet]

Hi Neils,

Yes, I have the following context categories in Outlook -- .Writing, @Study Design & Analysis, @Read/review, and @Odds & Ends. The latter is for the small things that one has to do to keep the balls in the air that really don't fit into a standard work focus category for me. I have the classic context categories of @Home, @Errands, @Waiting For, and @Agendas.

I am finding this integration of power scheduling with GTD works really well for me. As I have said, I am one of those people that likes structure, and a self-imposed structure of only focusing on a particular type of work for loose blocks of time -- say writing in the morning for 1-2 hours -- well, let's just say that I like not having to constantly scan all of my categories after I just finished a next action and "agonize" on what I should do next. This just simplifies it some for me. But...this is just me....

Best to all,
Longstreet

[jkgrossi]

Jim, I thought that this is for small NAs because if you put a 5 hours reminder and don't schedule (or maybe it's better to say "budget") the time for it it could happen that when you come to that day tasks in the future there will be not enough room for this NA in-between already assigned Appointments. What do you think?

Eugene.

Eugene,

IMHO, this is where your intuition comes into play. If you *know* that this task is going to take some time, and it MUST get done today, don't schedule other appointments or make other commitments for that day.

This is really the power of the hard landscape - if the only things on your calendar are the things that MUST get done on a given day, your decks are cleared to work on only those things. Everything else gets pushed aside.

For example, I'm an accountant. At the end of every month there are certain tasks that I must complete to close the books for the month. Sometimes they take me an hour, sometimes it's 5. I intuitively know this, and don't schedule anything else on those days. I make it clear to those around me that my time on these days is very sacred, and I don't stand for interruptions.

Point is, I *know* that if my tasks don't get completed I'm going to fail at "job one". So that's my priority for the day, no matter how long it takes.

Now, if you have too many commitments on a given day, that's another topic all together... and one that David has delegated to us to cope with.

Jim

[Borisoff]

Eugene,

IMHO, this is where your intuition comes into play. If you *know* that this task is going to take some time, and it MUST get done today, don't schedule other appointments or make other commitments for that day.

This is really the power of the hard landscape - if the only things on your calendar are the things that MUST get done on a given day, your decks are cleared to work on only those things. Everything else gets pushed aside.
Jim

Jim,

I understand what you say and that's right. I'm trying to understand what to do with recurring tasks like Spanish learning. It takes at least 1 hour daily, could be skiped once or twice a week but not more. The problem is it's neither a meeting really nor must to do task so it's not really correct to put them on the Calendar. On the other hand putting it to NAs list could lead to skipping more then twice a week :) Katherine suggests to move them out of the system and track externally. Brent suggests to have some kind of daily check card for that kind of tasks. What do you suggest?

Regards,

Eugene.

[jkgrossi]

Eugene,

I'd suggest blocking out an hour on your calendar every day if you're having trouble getting to it. I do this for a number of items, including my weekly review. If you're that committed to learning Spanish, and you're having trouble either remembering to do it or finding the time to do it (and it's time sensitive), I think that it's important enough to be a hard landscape item.

Just because David doesn't "say so" in the book (although he has alluded to this in other places), I don't think that there is anything inherently wrong with it.

Also keep in mind that if you do schedule something, and your boss comes to you with something that needs attention right now, your system needs to be flexible enough to accommodate.

GTD, IMHO, is just a framework... it's up to you to fill in the details in a manner that works for you.

Bottom line is this:

1) is it captured, and
2) is the reminder in a place such that I'll see it when I need to see it.

Hope this helps,

Jim

[Brent]

I agree with others here. Put it on the calendar.

[Borisoff]

All, Thanks for your help!

[chinarut]

I came here thinking GTD 2.0 was Web 2.0 GTD and after reading this thread, pleased to see they are distinct and found a great conversation! :)


I came across a book written by Dave DeSousa entitled “Power Scheduling”. I was intrigued by it and read it easily and carefully in one evening. I think a major light bulb went off for me! There are numerous similarities in what he says to GTD. The way he suggests in grouping tasks together is by the type of task – writing, reading, spreadsheets, etc. Then one can schedule different times during the day to concentrate on all of your tasks (next actions) in that particular category.

I think this is awesome - it takes GTD's batching and clustering of actions to the next level - the activity level. Being from the Franklin-Covey (FC) camp, one could consider clustering at the role-level as well.

In this manner, you have a choice to focus at any level: role, activity, and next action. It may even help some bring more context to each activity (ie. an Author writing chapter 2 of his book needs buy a new pen - role, activity, outcome, next action)

I hear the rigidity some of you sharing - I'm not a big fan of how FC requests you block out time for your "big rocks" - key outcomes each week per role. I declare such outcomes each week and let these outcomes happen over the course of the week more in the spirit of GTD.

[virgogirl]

i feel like DA has addressed some of these issues with his recommendation of a daily checklist.

I really don't see the problem, also, with having your calendar for your hard outlines, and a seperate piece of paper for your "soft" outlines, i.e. self-imposed outlines for general contexts and project work, even if it's done on a daily basis rather than a forecasted basis (and i think this might even be better and more relevant).

also, i think it's important to generate contexts that truly fit your lifestyle. I know for me personally that i need contexts a little more specific than "at computer" and choose to create contexts, or more specifically "hats" or "roles". I haven't gotten to the point where i am sorting my lists according to the hats, but i do think it's extremely important to make sure i am blocking out time to wear those hats accordingly. Some of my hats right off the top of my head (har har) are cook, wardrobe manager, and operations manager for my small business, which of course can and i think should be broken down further into things like banking, supplies, and inventory, to name jsut a few.

i think it's really important to define these roles in your life, especially if you are like me with ADD tendencies. So a simple list of hats could be a really easy solution, and you can expand on that complexity by writing down how often you want to pay attention to those roles, etc. There were some intriguing forms at www.powersystems.com for this kind of thing.

i think GTD is more geared towards people that have office jobs where their contexts are a little more defined, rather than entrepreneurs and homemakers, where you have to create your own defnitions...so big deal, just play make-beleive like i do and create your own multiple personalities/hats and make sure you're spending enough time in them ;-)

[Jogesh]

Hi Longstreet,

You have put into words what I've been struggling with for a long time. I thought there was something wrong with me, unable to fit things into the traditional contexts. :razz: The real problem was I never expanded my mind to think about the conflicts, like you have. There is a blurring of contexts in a pack-it-and-go world and it's great how you've set up compromise contexts that describe your physical contexts as well as the blocks of time you set aside for types of work. I definitely think there is a need to nuance DA's contextual methodologies. Thanks for setting my mind free ...I will be adopting quite a bit of this in my own contextual re-arrangements

Jogesh

[chinarut]

i think it's important to generate contexts that truly fit your lifestyle. I know for me personally that i need contexts a little more specific than "at computer" and choose to create contexts, or more specifically "hats" or "roles". I haven't gotten to the point where i am sorting my lists according to the hats, but i do think it's extremely important to make sure i am blocking out time to wear those hats accordingly. Some of my hats right off the top of my head (har har) are cook, wardrobe manager, and operations manager for my small business, which of course can and i think should be broken down further into things like banking, supplies, and inventory, to name jsut a few.

huh - i think you're really onto something - i never considered splitting my contexts by role and thus merging FC's 7 roles each week philosophy into the game.

it does present it's own sets of challenges - ie. how do I see my call list aggregated acrosst all roles? what do i do with actions correlated to my saw (mental/emotional/spiritual/physical)? i prefer not to turn to technology but it could be one possible solution - love to hear others.

the only other idea I had played around with was sorting my hats depending on the day of the week - this got a wee bit too rigid and back in my weekly planning mode - this i'm happy with for the moment and glad i'm back to a single paper mindmap every monday!

keep running with this and let's see where it goes!

[1drummergirl]

I do this already with an outliner. I have my roles as the top level item. Underneath each role I have focus areas, projects and then next actions. S/M items are listed along side projects (sorted underneath them actually). This gives me a master overview of everything. ( I am using Bonsai for this www.natara.com and sync to my palm)

To filter on contexts such as calls and computer, I start each next action with a keyword followed by a colon. For example a call would look like this:

Call: Joe/web design estimate

Bonsai and datebk both allow me to filter on text and save the filter so I just a list of filters to quickly sort contexts. I can zoom in/out of the outline at any time and view my data in however much detail I need at the moment. It links to datebk6 on my palm so date specific tasks land on my calendar alongside my hard landscape.

I work from home so I structure my days based on roles. I block off various hours for work, household stuff, community projects, family time, etc. When looking at a list of calls (they are automatically color coded by category/role btw) I can see at a glance which ones are work-related based on their color. If I am "at work" I try to choose only work-related calls, but if I see that I could knock a couple of other short personal ones off the list while I am on the phone then I will. The scheduling helps a lot with separating work and household stuff since pretty much every context I have is "at home" but I am not overly strict in choosing from specific roles at specific times. I tend to work more by project rather than by context. When I sit down at my desk, I scan my lists more for a project to kick start and finish, not just to mark off a bunch of tasks as complete.

[Jogesh]

Drummergirl, I see how your role division helps you in your daily work. Interestingly, I too had my commitments organised in this fashion, and also use an outliner to set up my system. Somehow it didn't suit me, and in fact caused much anxiety and stress as I tried to put projects and next actions according to the role(s) I assumed at home and at work. I couldn't really put down in words why until I recently read Longstreet's original post and the many interesting discussions arising from it. I think your role division is a fine set up, this is not a criticism of it, because eventually I think we all seek a balance in what we do, and tend to look for ways to divide limited resources to what we perceive is important to us.
What Longstreet says about scheduling work according to the *type* of task comes across I think in your methodology as role division. To me, (after much angst and agony), it has come across essentially as *routines* performed daily. Let me try to explain - I try to remain focused (for eg at work) on my main goal, which is to maintain and keep a customer, and (hopefully) increase the number of customers over time. Everything else, then becomes a routine at some point, even if it starts off becoming a project. For example, landing a supply contract begins as a project, and after that it becomes a routine: (a) Making a sales call (b) processing an order (c) collecting payment etc, repeated at recurring intervals across my customer base. I therefore pretty much try to achieve the same result as Longstreet and Drummergirl - ensuring I am doing the various tasks required of me involving different types of tasks or roles, but in the verbal expression of routines. I therefore have in my outline a fair amount of routines set up, which either increase with time (as responsibilities increase) or become redundant. Visiting this forum, for example, is for me a productivity and growth routine, which in turn I hope help me handle my commitments better to achieve my goals. I then have those routines set up by physical context. Again, the discussions in this thread helped me a lot in that area; quite a number of those traditional contexts become blurred in a highly connected world, and so they have to be tweaked. I'm enjoying this discussion thread immensely...Cheers
JD