One thing I find difficult to do is to plan my tasks for the week. Usually, they are broad bullets without tangible outcomes. This makes it difficult to measure it. Measuring it is important because it is a reward mechanism for the brain. Helps motivation. Recently though I have used the power of the third to help me manage my tasks. It is simple. Divide your time say 9 hours into three slots – need not be equal – but make sure you do all three.
D – Deep Work
S – Strategy
O – Outreach
Packing these three in the day will keep a sense of balance. Deep work helps us make progress in difficult tasks, Strategy helps with planning the next steps, and Outreach is the external facing execution activity that you need to be successful.
This can be combined with the Pomodoro technique and reward mechanism to keep yourself motivated.
- If you are working on Strategy, a Pomodoro of 1 hour, followed by a break of 30 minutes or so works well.
- For Deep work, the usual Pomodoro of 1 hour followed by 10 minutes of break works perfectly.
- For outreach, since it is not always an intellectually demanding activity, you can do 3 hours with mini-breaks.
Finally the reward. Have an adequate reward at the end of the session. It could be a TV/social media break or gaming time. The reward part keeps the motivation engine going.
