Task Prioritisation System 1.0

Hi guys!

A quick post this evening to share something I came up with in my Filofax over the weekend. I've not 100% finished setting it up, but I wanted to show you it in its infancy!

Task Prioritisation System 1.0 
(It's only a coincidence that it matches my internet handle's initials 'TPS'!!)

Basically it's a system to prioritise tasks and keep them in perspective, for time management and organisation.
It's comprised of 8 sections (although you may need fewer), characterised by a) degree of importance and b) when it needs to be done, in which you 'file' your tasks:

• Now, Important/Urgent
• Now, Unimportant
• Ongoing, Important
• Ongoing, Unimportant
• Not now/Later, Important
• Not now/Later, Unimportant
• Other, Important
• Other, Unimportant

*The above order arranges the sections more by Time; you can also arrange the sections by Importance= 1) Important, Now; Important, Ongoing; Important, Later; Important, Other; Unimportant, Now; Unimportant, Ongoing; Unimportant, Later; Unimportant, Other.

Step 1-

Basically, you file all of your tasks under one of these sections, by deciding how important it is and when it needs to be started/be done!

    So for me, I take my several, scattered to-do lists, and re-organise my tasks in this way. I have a paper divider (no tab) for each section, then at the start of that section I have a to-do sheet with my lists of tasks under that section, and I cross off those taks when completed; some tasks have accompanying pages with notes/lists to break down/give more info, behind the to-do list inside that section.

    Here are some examples:

Find a job- Now, Important!!

Organise my bedroom- Ongoing (because it won't be done in one day), Important (because it needs doing!)

Decorate my Filofax- Later and Unimportant (although I WANT to do it, I don't NEED to, and I should do it when I have the time, not now. However, I can schedule it in my diary for when I have time soon, e.g. this evening/this weekend)

Things on my Someday/Maybe list- go into the Not now/Later, Unimportant section

Step 2-

Schedule these tasks into your diary/calendar/planner.

    For me, this means I can flick through the to-do lists in the sections described above, and schedule them into my weekly diary, according to how they are prioritised -->

    Because the point of these sections is prioritisation, this system helps you schedule your tasks more sensibly (I would schedule all of the 'fun' tasks first if I could!). By breaking tasks down by both importance and when they need to be done, you can see easily which tasks to schedule above others. Prioritise the Important ones and the Now ones, and try to do something towards the Ongoing tasks every week.

    So first I look at the Now, Important list, and try to schedule as many of those into my weekly pages as possible. However, some I know I don't have to do immediately, so I can look at those again when I know how much free time I have later in the week. Then I look at the Now, Unimportant list- even though the things on here aren't important, many them have deadlines, and I should try to do them this week anyway. Then I look at the Ongoing, Important tasks, and try to make progress with these ongoing projects, which may have many steps, and possibly a deadline which is further away. Then I look at the Not now/Later, Important list- although it isn't the time to do these tasks yet, it is important to keep them in perspective and in my mind. Then, if I have some spare time, I can try to schedule the Unimportant tasks.

    You can also break these lists down into your filo in other ways, e.g. this month's to-dos, this week's to-dos; even tasks to finish by the end of this year (e.g. for scheduling the not now/later tasks).

Pheww!! I hope you guys followed that!

I think this is a good system, and I'm proud of it, but personally I think it's a bit dry and boring. It's not fun like how I want my Filofax to be! So I'm going to try to make it a bit more fun! I think I might develop a colour-coding system with highlighters, and instead of having tasks on separate to-do lists, in separate sections, I will have them on one to-do list, prioritised using the highlighters, so all of my tasks are viewable in one glance, and are prettier because of the colours! 

Anyway, let me know what you think of the system :)

Planning my 2013: Part 2- Filofax

Hello!

This is Part 2 of my 'Planning my 2013' posts, about how I am using the planners/organisation tools to plan my life for this new year! If you haven't read Part 1, please do so now! :)


Part 1 is where I discussed how I am using my Plannerisms planner to plan my recurring tasks (monthly), and, most importantly, forward planning my weeks. The next stage of my planning is where my Filofax comes in!

I got a lovely Plum Osterley personal Filofax for Christmas! Yes, I know I said in a previous blog post that I would try to stick to my Orange Osterley... but I have a good excuse! My mum was desperately trying to find a big present for me for Christmas, and I couldn't think of anything, except for the Plum Osterley that I had been in love with for about a year and a half! I had found a good deal on amazon, and a few times I had come close to buying it myself! So I asked for the lovely Osterley, and received it for Christmas!! I had been worried about the rings being terrible, and although they aren't perfect, they're not too bad, and they function ok, so it's all good :) I'm sure I will do a review on my Osterley soon :)

I have put together my diary system for my 2013 Filofax set-up very carefully. I have been going through Planner Fail for a long time, so I need a system that will work perfectly! It took me a lot of thinking and much back-and-forth decision making, but I have finally decided on, bought, and started using, my diary :)

Firstly, I have the 2013 Filofax vertical-format year planner. I don't know what I will use this for, but I hope that I will find a use for it soon!
Then I have my diary proper, which is composed of several parts.


I am using 2012's Day Timer Flavia month dividers. I am reusing the ones I got last year with my Day Timer diaries, and I don't mind that they're out of date, because I never used the month grid that was printed on them anyway. They are so pretty, and very useful! I have the dividers from January-July in my filo, and I will put the rest in later in the year.

Then I have my 2013 Franklin Covey Monticello MO2P. Unfortunately, the DPP didn't work out for me, but the MO2P are great. The paper quality (well, actually it's more like cardstock!) is excellent, and the boxes are much larger than Filofax's grids, and are lined, which helps keep it all neater. The month pages that came with the FC diary go right up to June 2014, and I have them all in here. January-July 2013 go immediately after the month dividers.

Then I have my DPP sheets. I decided on Filofax DPP, rather than the Franklin Covey DPP, for several reasons, which I will do another post on, but the main reason is because I like how plain the Filofax pages are, and how I can customise them to my own needs. I only have the current week of DPP in my Filofax at any one time.



Immediately behind the current week of my DPP, I have this week's DodoPad 2013 personal-sized insert. The DPP inserts sit spliced between this week's DodoPad pages- the notes page on the left, and the diary page on the right. I also have the rest of the current month's DodoPad inserts, but no more than that, to save on space.

So this is how I am using my Filofax for 2013 :)


I use it in conjunction with my Plannerisms Planner, which you can read about it Part 1!

After I have finished forward-planning for the coming week on Sunday nights, I should have a lovely weekly page in my Plpl!

Updated (read: finished!) since my last post!

I copy the important things from my Plpl current week over to my DodoPad Filo insert. I don't take my Plannerisms Planner out with me, so this is here in case I want to check something about my week when I am out and about. I try to make it fun, with lots of colours and doodles!

Then, the most important part- My Day Per Page inserts!

Every night, I sit down and plan for the next day. I use the daily column in the WO2P of my Plannerisms Planner to give me a picture of my day.
Firstly, I write down my daily focuses, which helps give me an idea of what I should concentrate on during the day.
Then I use the basic scheduler from my Plpl to give me a picture of when I should do things during the day. I write them into the appointment slots of my DPP insert. Of course, I write in time-dependent things first, like work shifts, and then I fit in other things from my scheduler, like tasks that will take a long time, or to-dos that have to be done by a certain time during the day. I use arrows to show the length of time things should take.
On the right column of the page, I write my to-dos, notes, info, anything I will need for that day. At the bottom of the column, I draw 8 boxes where I put crosses to record how much water I have drunk that day (I think my record is 6 glasses, I never drink enough!!)
I make sure I write in everything from my Plpl daily column into my DPP. I actually really like that my 2 planning tools are in separate books, because I love that I can have the two sitting side-by-side, rather than having it all in my Dilodax and having to flip back and forth in copying from WO2P to DPP!

I colour-code everything, because it makes it easier for me, but also because it looks pretty!



So that's my Planning for 2013 :)

Planning my 2013: Part 1- Plannerisms Planner

Hello!

I didn't realise how long it was since I last blogged!! Sorry guys, I will try to blog twice a week from now on ;-)

Today is New Year's Day, 01/01/13!! Happy New Year!
So it is the perfect time to tell you all about my planning and organisation for 2013! I am going to show you my planning tools and how I am going to use them :)
This is Part 1, because it is going to be really long if I write it all into 1 post! Part 2 will be about how I am going to use my Filofax for my 2013 planning!

To cut a long story short, I was in planner fail for MANY months!! I feel like I am almost out of it, but as always with coming out from the dark side of planner fail, it is taking a while to build up my organisation system again, because when I stop using my planners, as I inevitably do when I hit the murky world of PF, I don't write down any of my to-dos or anything, so the next few weeks are always difficult, especially now; not only do I have to start planning again, catch up with my life, and plan for the future, but as it's the start of the new year, I have to plan all my goals and resolutions for 2013 too!! So I am getting there, but it is all still a work-in-progress!


My Plannerisms planner:

I LOVE this planner! It is made by the lovely Laurie from Plannerisms and Philofaxy, who is amazing, as you will know from reading her blog!
Laurie has written loads of blog posts and made videos about the planner, so I won't repeat here what she said there, but I will show you how I am using it!
I chose the pink one, because although I love the purple one and have been going through a purple phase for a while, pink is my favourite colour, and if I get bored of purple, pink will still always be perfect for me :)
I use it in conjunction with my Filofax. They each have distinct purposes, but are partners-in-planning :)

I am using my Plannerisms planner (a.k.a. Plpl) for forward planning. I used to be terrible at this. At university, I only ever planned 1 day in advance. OK, it was very detailed planning, on Filofax DPP pages, and it got me through university, but it's a bit crazy that I didn't have a mental picture of anything more than 24 hours in advance! So now I have decided that I need to plan at least 1 week in advance! In fact, I would like to have some sort of picture of at least a couple of months in advance, even if it's just for goals. After all, a chess grand master sees at least 10 moves ahead, doesn't he? This is where my lovely Plpl comes in!

Forward planning on a bigger perspective: Goals!-
Laurie has focused a lot on goal planning in her planner, and on her blog- check out her latest posts about how to use the Plpl for goal planning! So she has included yearly goal planning pages, quarterly goal pages, then after each monthly grid, monthly goal planning pages. Goal planning is new for me, but it is something that I am trying to work out at the start of this year, to go with my resolutions. So I am going to figure out some yearly goals for 2013, then break them down quarterly and then monthly, which will give me a picture of what I should be trying to do in each month. So now I can see a month or 2 ahead a bit more clearly!

This month so far I have decided to focus on 2 things: sorting out my (extremely messy and cluttered) bedroom, and planning/organisation. These are goals, but they break down like projects. I will tick the check boxes once I have done them. I will probably copy out these lists into my Filofax too!
So writing my goals (and the steps to achieve them) gives me a picture of what to do in January to make progress. I think I will kind of use this as a 'theme' for January, with many of the activities planned on my weekly pages working towards my goals! I haven't decided whether to use the monthly grid to plan these goal activities, but I might do that :)


Recurring tasks scheduler-
I am using the lovely and big monthly grids of my Plpl to schedule my recurring tasks. I tend to forget when I last did certain household chores that don't need doing everyday, like changing my bed, so I'm not very good at planning when they need to be done next. So I am using this monthly grid to plan when these recurring tasks need to be done.

In the left-hand column, I have listed the recurring items that I need to schedule. These are things like Filofax previews/reviews; tidying/cleaning my room, cleaning my bathroom, and changing my bed; blog posts; and also when my cat's claws need clipping next. In my Filofax I have a similar list, with a note of how frequently these tasks need to be done, e.g. every 6 weeks, once per month, every 2 weeks etc. Some things happen on the same day every week, like weekly Filofax previews and reviews, which is every Sunday night.
So at the end of every month I am going to plan my recurring tasks for the next month. I will look at the list in my Filofax, look at the previous month to see when those items were last done, and work out a general time when they need to be done this month (e.g. around the start of the 3rd week). Then I try to work out precisely when they should be done:
I circle the day's number in either purple or brown to signify if it's a day off or if I'm working, and then if I am working that day, I write my working hours next to it. This means that I know how much free time I have in that day, so I know how much or little to schedule. Then I schedule the recurring tasks onto specific days! I haven't finished this month because I have been so busy planning everything else, but I will get it done soon.


Weekly forward planner-
One of the best things about the Plannerisms planner is the weekly layout.

I love the weekly structure because you can divide up the columns however you like. They aren't divided up for you, the planner doesn't tell you what you should write in certain sections, it is completely up to you.
This is how I have arranged this week's pages:

I haven't finished planning this week yet, it's still in progress. I have to hurry up and do it, because it's not forward planning if I don't get it done ahead of time!

In the space at the bottom of the page, I write down what I want to focus on that week, taken from my goals for that month.

This is how I divide up the daily columns:
I use the left-hand column to write labels for the sections/blocks I have divided the columns into.
The main part of the columns is basic scheduler, which is 3 blocks of 3 lines each, 1 block each for morning (waking up time to 12pm), afternoon (12pm to 6pm) and evening (6pm to bed time). This is where I do basic time-block planning for the day. First I write my work shifts, and then I write other things for the rest of the day. I don't do precise scheduling unless things have a proper time to be done, like a meeting- otherwise, I just schedule things for a general period of the day, like morning or afternoon. Basically, that task should be finished by the time the next period begins. Any more precise time planning will go into the DPP inserts in my Filofax, which have half-hourly appointment slots.
Under that I have listed TV programmes to watch on that day, and a little bit of note space.
Then I have the most important section: my 'Focuses'. This is where I write the 3 things that I should focus on most in the day, taken from my focuses for the week. I added this section late, so it's at the bottom of the columns, but really it should be more prominent, so for next week I put it at the top of the columns. I decide my focuses for the day based on either my weekly focuses section, or the recurring tasks from the day's square in my monthly grid. Then I use the focuses section of those weekly columns to plan more specifically what I'm going to do on each day of that week, which goes into the basic scheduler.
At the bottom I have some space for notes, and then a space where I record how many drinks of water I have in a day. I am really bad at drinking, I get really dehydrated, but I find that if I record it that I drink more. However, this isn't really a place to record things (my Plpl is a forward planner, not a recorder), so I don't think I will put this in here for the future weeks.


So that's how I use my Plannerisms Planner!


Part 2 will be up soon, about how I am using my Filofax!

Planner fail with my Filofax inserts...

Hello!

For the past few days I have been feeling Planner Fail. I know a lot of other people have been feeling the same- a general dissatisfaction with their planner, and uncertainty how to solve it.

Since mid-August I have been using a hacked Organised Mum diary, which is Week on 1 Page with Notes. It has been working well for me, because until mid-September I had very little to plan day-to-day, and now since then, I have been using it for forward planning and a weekly over-view, putting my weekly to-do list on the notes page on the left.

I don't have a lot to write on the diary page on the right, and during the current week, I won't write anything extra on that week's diary page, because I use other, additional pages for the current week. I then use the spaces for each day as a space for a little log book and journal, which is working really well for me!

I can't possibly use the WO1P as my main planning space, so I utilise other diary pages along with them. I either insert these pages in between the notes page on the left, and the WO1P on the right, or I put the WO1P/notes back-to-back in between the extra pages.

I have been trying to plan my time better, so for a while (7th Oct to 21st Oct) I used DPP as my extra diary pages with the WO1P plus notes. In the left column, I put appointments (although I don't have many of those at the moment), or try to block off my time so that I can organise my day better, assigning myself time to do the things I need to. On the right, I list my to-dos, maybe some quick notes, and my priorities for the day. I colour-code to make things easier to organise in my head.

A typical couple of days.

The weekends are more difficult- the 2 days are divided over 1 page, and the appointment times aren't there so I have to write them in myself. After that, there's not much time to write to-dos!

This is my most successful and productive day- this is what I'd love every day to look like!!

But that's the problem- most days don't look like this; I'm not using the DPP inserts to their full capacity.
Some days I don't plan in advance, or I don't need that amount of space. The majority of days I used the DPP inserts, I either didn't stick to the time slots I had made for myself, or the entire day was blank because I hadn't forward-planned, so instead of having a big blank space, I just went to fill in what I had already done, so it's nothing more than a detailed log-book. And on days where I have been lazy, on my computer all day, there isn't anything to write, reaffirming my laziness and making me feel guilty!! I'm not using the DPP inserts properly, although all-in-all, they are probably my favourite format and I think they have great promise if you use them well!

This is where my massive planner-fail started! I wanted to use something different than DPP. Something that wouldn't be left so empty on my less-productive days, but would still have enough space for my busy days. It's just like that conundrum between personal and A5 filofaxes- people want the space of the A5 binders, but the portability of the personal-sized binders- I want a lot of space that comes with the DPP, but a smaller, more practical insert like WO2P. But one is too big, and the other is too small!

After some testing of other formats (Day Timer Flavia WO2P, home-made WO2P columns with appointment slots), I decided on Cotton Cream WO2P. They have equal space for all the days of the week, so the weekend slots aren't teeny-tiny! I inserted the Organised Mum diary/notes page in between the 2 pages of the week, which works quite well.

I have tried to use WO2P before, but my brain NEEDS my daily things to be structured more linearly, which is why the time slots of the DPP work so well for me. But this page is much too-unstructured for me- everything I write down seems to float around the page. I have tried to make it a bit more structured by designating areas for specific things (top-right for priorities, bottom-right for TV progs. to watch), but it's still not perfect.

So now that I've gone from the overly-structured (DPP), to under-structured (WO2P), I know that I need something between the two. But this goes to more than just what planner format I use, but how I use it, and how I manage my time, which is something I am trying to improve.
I need appointment slots, preferably with half-hour slots, because a few of the shifts in my new job start on the half-hour. I would like them to go from 8am to 6pm minimum, although later into the evening would be ideal. And I need a bit of space for to-dos etc. BUT I don't want too much space. What would be a good idea is a system where I can have a weekly overview, then I can add extra space when needed. For example: WO1P or WO2P for the weekly overview, and for the less busy days, but a range of inserts I can add as necessary for more busy days, such as 2DPP, DPP or even DO2P. I am happy to make these myself. But I think that might get too messy for me- I think a regular weekly system would be better, where I have the same inserts every week, but it still has the flexibility I need.

I am thinking of a format where I can have a weekly overview with appointment slots on the left, then a page on the right for to-dos. A column on the right-hand page to write down a deadlines for these to-dos, and using post-it flags to show priorities. But I don't know if this will work at all!

Do you guys have any ideas for me?

Some planning realisations

This summer I have no essays, just 2 giant projects: my 20,000 word MA dissertation, and my PhD application. I have barely any appointments, and my shifts at work will be straight-forward. Therefore, I was planning on using a simpler planning method for this summer. If I had so few appointments, surely a week on 2 page planner in my personal filofax, or even in my pocket filo, or EVEN a week on 1 page planner, would suffice?

Well, I'm finding the answer is no. In my boring, long summers, the days go very quickly and I find that I have done barely anything all day. Worse, all the days merge into 1, and I can't even remember what day of the week it is! Suddenly, the summer is over and I feel like I have wasted all that time, during which I had intended to do so many things I had never finished or even started. So just now I realised that I don't need a simpler planner- I need a complicated one!!

Imagine 2 types of planners: a week on 2 pages filofax insert, and a day on 2 pages insert. The first one is almost empty because I feel like I have nothing to write in it. So I don't realise I actually have things to do that day, and what's worse, because I feel like I have nothing to do, even if there are things to do in it, I don't actually check it! Then, imagine the day on 2 pages insert. It is full of to-dos, notes, reminders, and even though there are no appointments, I have structured my day. It is all colour-coded and organised, unlike the week on 2 pages which is so unstructured it is a huge muddle. Because I know there are lots of things written on it, I remember to check it a few times a day. Even though I don't get everything done on that page, I get some of them done, and that's more than I would have got done if I were using the week on 2 pages insert.

So this is my plan: switch to my A5 filo, which I am going to use for dissertation/PhD stuff anyway. Print out a few day's worth of Steve and Ray's day on 2 pages A5 insert. Test it out! If it doesn't work, no big deal, that's the beauty of filofax- I haven't wasted money on a whole planner. But I think it will work better for me than what I'm using now...

I'll keep you informed!!

Funny graph! (I know, seems a bit idiomatic!)

I thought I'd share this with you!