Ever since switching tasks and to-dos off of my calendar and into a GTD tool of choice, I’ve noticed my productivity is actually going DOWN. Why? Because I’ve learned that without at least SOME scheduling, I don’t match the right contexts to the tasks still at hand.
Scheduling Context Zones
Now, maybe GTD the book has this in there, and I’ve forgotten it over time. Remember, I’m more a disciple of Covey who tends to use GTD where I can. But I want to stress this feature/idea.
By slotting times on my calendar for @phonecalls or @email-followup, or (most important to me) @getoffyourass, I’ve learned that I actually slot my tasks to be done into those time frames. Because I use Google Calendar as my schedule tool of record, I’ve made it easier to switch my context zones around. So, if I had intended to do phone calls for 1/2 hour at 10AM, but a meeting gets in the way, I just move it to 11, or whatever. Make sense?
Make the Context Zones Match Your Roles and Goals
If you’re going to bother slotting time to get things done, take a serious look at what you’re slotting for contexts. Meaning, if you’ve got an @email-followup context every day, but you don’t have a @thinkupgreatideas context scheduled every day, think about that for a minute. Are you making time for the things that are important to you and your goals?
That’s it. Dumbest Hack Ever
But for whatever reason, it works well for me. Since getting this into the rotation, I’ve found that I’m getting MORE done, and getting more THAT MATTERS done. What’s not to love?
Chris Brogan is heading to Video on the Net next week, and needs to get more done between now and then. He keeps a blog at [chrisbrogan.com].
