Thanks for posting this, super helpful!
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I put reoccurring task on my calendar.
I use both a calendar and this system. I use my Calendar for time blocking (so I have time to complete the task on my to-do list), and to remind me of meetings and reoccurring task.
Hopefully that may help you.
Are we going to get a V2 @LightHouse ?
Hey Scott, One board is the key here. I have other boards, but like mentioned above, my GSD board will reference those boards or tasks so i have one large visual of everything. This creates duplication but useful duplication for efficiency sake.
Has anyone used Notion for this? A good buddy suggested it over Trello. Looked into it and it does look very nice. Thoughts?
Bump. For you summit folks... And everyone else too.
Thanks for this. I've used KanBan in the past, along with a range of other tools. I'd actually gone back to pen and notebook, but its hard to keep a longer term viewpoint.
Moving to this system (on Kanban though rather than Trello as you can "minimize" columns to help with the view. Will still us a notepad too - not all good idea come when you're in front of an electronic device
This is great, I am starting to use this right now!
Thanks @LightHouse
It made a huge difference for me after 3 months of implementing your system. The stuff gets done magically. Well, it should to... otherwise you'll stuck. From all other stuff to hold myself accountable, this by far is the most successful. Thanks again for sharing. It helps a lot.
Thank you for sharing
I've implemented your system after heavy resistance of giving up on notebooks and google calendar. Like many others, I've found I've ended up with multiple boards(4). Following your advice, I have one board dedicated to just getting shit done.
I'm curious to know whats your system with your multiple board management, and siphoning it towards one board?
I wonder - is there anyone here making $100k/year with his business and using systems like this?
I have spent a lot of time trying to implement a productivity system like this(GTD, Kanban, etc.). I've noticed that sooner or later, they all require some heavy amounts of energy and brain power to MAINTAIN the system itself. Only one or two days you skip in maintenance, and it already too messy and confusing.
Then I found a video of Alex Becker showing his office, and he only had a simple to do list on his screen, no special web app, no system at all. A simple to do list that he tries to complete as fast as possible.
I decided to drop all efforts of productivity and doing the same - writing down only essential and important things I have to accomplish TOMORROW and planning my day in advance.
I have a list of long term goals and a to do list, that's it.
I'm really skeptical about productivity systems, I don't know a single successful person who uses stuff like this...(I might be wrong, just sharing my opinion and I'd even appreciate if you prove me wrong)
I wonder - is there anyone here making $100k/year with his business and using systems like this?
I have spent a lot of time trying to implement a productivity system like this(GTD, Kanban, etc.). I've noticed that sooner or later, they all require some heavy amounts of energy and brain power to MAINTAIN the system itself. Only one or two days you skip in maintenance, and it already too messy and confusing.
Then I found a video of Alex Becker showing his office, and he only had a simple to do list on his screen, no special web app, no system at all. A simple to do list that he tries to complete as fast as possible.
I decided to drop all efforts of productivity and doing the same - writing down only essential and important things I have to accomplish TOMORROW and planning my day in advance.
I have a list of long term goals and a to do list, that's it.
I'm really skeptical about productivity systems, I don't know a single successful person who uses stuff like this...(I might be wrong, just sharing my opinion and I'd even appreciate if you prove me wrong)
I wonder - is there anyone here making $100k/year with his business and using systems like this?
I'm sure there are. At a certain point I can see the system breaking down. I think that is more dependent on how many projects and the workload you're trying to manage with these systems. This is where I'm struggling right now.
I feel like people in very high level positions and large organizations, like Alex Becker, aren't too concerned with productivity systems like this once they reach that position. They have teams of managers who have teams below them to worry about capturing and delivering on all the small details to accomplish a goal or move in a certain direction.
At my previous company, the President would have a vision and think of goals, worked on securing high level deals and partnerships, and occasionally got involved in putting out some of the more important fires. All he had was a graph paper pad on his desk. He would communicate his vision to the high level managers and officers below him. It was then up to the company officers, administrative staff, sales teams, engineering and design teams, manufacturing supervisors, manufacturing employees, and shipping staff to deliver on the vision or product, keep the gears turning, and keep the money flowing.
Right now I'm struggling with getting my productivity system in check. As my responsibilities grow, so does the amount of tasks, and my system begins to quickly break down. I work for a small mom & pop company (aviation) with limited resources.
The bulk of my work is managing the engineering and design side of things, but I do get involved in a lot of other aspects of the company. I have one other engineer below me who helps out with a lot of the design and drafting work.
My project list might look something like this:
Customer 1 Aircraft
Customer 2 Aircraft
- Project 1
- Design, validation, source materials, manufacturing
- Project 2
- Project 3
New Aircraft Program
- Project 1
- Project 2
- Project 3
Factory/Manufacturing
- Design/develop new system 1
- Design/develop new system 2
- Design/develop new system 3
We always manage to deliver, but there is so much room for improvement and operating more efficiently. I'm just not sure how to unlock that because of inexperience.
- Improving factory processes
- Sourcing new manufacturing equipment for current and future projects
Does anyone else here have a large amount of tasks and projects they deal with? Do you have a solid system and process in place or do you face similar struggles that I do?
I currently use Todoist and have a system of projects, labels, and filters that allow me to somewhat manage my enormous list of tasks. The mobile app is fantastic. The custom filters are awesome for seeing what's coming up ahead for multiple projects in one place. It's a little difficult keeping track of goals in Todoist the way you would in Trello. The only thing I am not a fan of is some of the features they have removed over time. A big one was clicking the main project and seeing every sub-project and all the items within on one page.
View attachment 34071
I tried Trello because I really like the card system. The dashboard style view is a nice way to visualize everything and it allows you to move cards around quickly and easily. I also like being able to put my goals on cards in a separate list. However, one board can't handle all of my projects, lists, and tasks. It's annoying having to navigate through 10 different boards to figure out what I have to plan for this week. I can have it all in one place with a Todoist filters.
I tried Asana, but I wasn't a huge fan of the board view. It was too big and bulky when I began to add items to the lists.
I signed up for Favro last night and I'm a big fan of it so far. It's almost a combination of Todoist and Trello. I can have one main project for a customer and then all the different boards for the individual sub-projects under that. Definitely a big improvement over Trello. I'm getting acquainted with using the calendar view to be able to see an overview of the different projects I'm working on and seeing what is going on for the week.
View attachment 34074
I think the reason my tools and systems fail or begin to breakdown is because I don't have a solid process that is dialed in and that I religiously stick to. I might follow it for a few days or during a weekly planning and review session, but then I'll stray away the next week. I'm always hunting for new tools and new ways to do things every few weeks instead of further dialing in my process. That's where my big struggle is. I remember I started making productivity rules and trying to develop a more concrete system, but I strayed away from many of the rules and from the excel sheet tracking my goals.
View attachment 34073
I think my biggest struggle is accountability. I don't really have anyone to be accountable to besides myself. I can procrastinate on a project or push tasks and goals back, as long as at the end of the day it's delivered on the agreed upon date. I need to develop a system where I'm accountable to myself, accountable to the employees under me, and accountable to the big boss above me. I don't really have anything like that in place right now.
@LightHouse, after reading through this thread and some of your others, I'm really considering signing up for your coaching. I think I need to learn how to set goals more effectively in my personal and work life. I need to be able to breakdown goals and projects into tasks and be able to efficiently execute them. I need to develop a really solid system that I stick with and I need to hold myself accountable.
I will have to respond to your actual post when I have more time, but if you'd like to chat about coaching, follow the link in that thread and schedule a time to talk to me. There are a lot of things at play when you are talking about why you can't get something done or can't stay on task. It is simple yet complex if you haven't heard it put the right way yet. Either way, we can figure that out when we talk.
Thank you for contributing your method to this thread as well. Even though this is old, is still highly relevant.
I took it a step further and added 'My Top 25 Goals'.
Its using Warren Buffett's goal setting/delivering technique: make a list of 25 and prioritize 5 to complete in 2020.
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I use Asana on a daily basis and it's changed my life. I also love the Asana mission and why it was founded (Google Justin Rosenstein).
this ^ made me think of lean thinking (note, I know a lot of people call it lean mfging, but if applied in the right way, it becomes lean thinking to all aspects of life.Finally, whenever I meet someone who is struggling to get shit done or is lacking focus in their actions... being busy without showing results... I tell them about GSD and Kanban so they can re-focus their activity and reach their goals. It's worth a shot.
And chances are...
Spending 15 minutes in the morning on this will make the difference between feeling like you were busy doing nothing all day, and feeling like you truly got shit done.
A company I know loses thousands of pounds of product per day because they are focused on saving time. Every iota is raced against quota with speed SPEED SPEED! because of this speed they lose lives to forklifts and untold numbers of product.Too long and didn't watch it? they took a 45 second process, and mowed it down to 13 seconds.
good points to be made! Employee safety should be #1 goal, and after that, good use of their timeA company I know loses thousands of pounds of product per day because they are focused on saving time. Every iota is raced against quota with speed SPEED SPEED! because of this speed they lose lives to forklifts and untold numbers of product.
Likewise 2P-10 is *DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE LIQUID. Keep away from heat,sparks, and open flame, and it's being applied with a heat gun.
it's quality that matters. Fretting about seconds wastes time. it's weird that even sales managers and warehouse owners keep falling for this trap of speed, when most of them are just running on a treadmill.
Edit, didn't mean to hijack thread. this is the
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