Hi. I’m Michael Jardine, the co-founder of Left Coast Logic and the creator of SmartCal for iPhone and SmartPad for iPad. At any point in time, I have about 200 active “to-do’s” in my list. “Six Smart Steps” is my system for organizing those tasks, and ensuring that I get them done in a timely manner. Each step leads to the next and, like an M.C. Escher drawing, the last one cycles back to the first one: Integrate, Create, Organize, Pick, Check, and Schedule. I designed
SmartCal (for iPhone) and
SmartPad (for iPad) specifically to automate the Six Smart Steps system. You can of course use a pad of paper or your other calendar and productivity apps to apply these steps – but that would be like purchasing a parachute without an airplane!
These are the Six Smart Steps:
- Integrate appointments with to-do’s.
- Create to-do’s efficiently.
- Organize to-do’s by project.
- Pick your to-do’s for the next day.
- Check your Projects, Deadlines, and Starts.
- Schedule your to-do’s.
Integrate your Appointments with your To-Do’s
The natural world tends to be made up of opposing forces: day and night, protons and neutrons, yin and yang, even democrats & republicans. Your day is no different. There are two types of activities that fight for your attention: those that are scheduled, and those that are not. For most of us, the way our day unfolds is we go from scheduled activity to scheduled activity, and we fill the time in-between with unscheduled things. For example, you have a meeting from 9 to 10 then a lunch meeting at noon. That gives you two hours to run through a host of things from your check-list, before you rush off to your lunch meeting. But “things” are only a part of your day; why keep that list separate? Even if you already know your priorities, wouldn’t it help to have them visible inside your calendar, not just segregated in a static list alongside it? Or, worse, hidden away in a separate app? With an integrated calendar, you can see exactly what you will be doing today – both meetings, and tasks. And if you have to schedule another meeting from 3-5pm, an integrated calendar presents your options, visually and precisely, at your fingertips: accept or reject that 3:00 meeting, re-schedule those afternoon tasks, or lengthen your working day. Occaisionally, you may even decide to shorten it!
Create Your To-Do’s
Creating your ToDo list is more than just scribbling things down on a piece of paper or on a static, online task list. It’s important both to capture your to-do’s any time they come to your mind, and also to place them into “holders” that keep them logically organized for you. Here is what I do:
- DeadlinesWhenever possible, assign a deadline to your Task. This will help you keep track of it later.
- AlertsLikewise, set one or more alerts to remind you about your deadline. One alert on the deadline, and another a few days in advance, can serve as ticklers or reminders.
- Create By ProjectI tend to come up with to-do’s in groups that relate either to specific Projects, or to task types or contexts (like “calls,” “emails,” or “little stuff”). Set up Project categories for each of these, based on what works for you. For example, create a project folder named “Calls.” Then when you are listing out all the calls you have to make, you can drop them all into that folder. Later, if you wish, you can drag those into separate Project folders such as “Work,” “Family”, “Book Project,” whatever – or keep general calls in your “Calls” folder. This segues into the next action…
Organize by Project
It always helps to organize tasks by project or category. It also helps to be aware of the four basic Project types:
- Structured (“Critical Path”) – Simple and Complex
- Unstructured
- Temporary
- List
Simple structured projects are ones that follow a sequential order. First you accomplish Task A, then Task B, then Task C, and so on. An example of this is “Design and Build and iPhone App.”
A
complex structured project can have tasks grouped into milestones, and can have dependencies outside of the critical path. For example, a Book Project might have the Chapters as sequential tasks in a critical path, then alongside those you might have a separate task called “do research for Chapter 6” which, of course, can be done at any time but which must be completed prior to the start of Chapter 6. Complex structured tasks are a bit out of the range of general task management. However our next version of
SmartPlans– version 3.0 – will support both of these features.
A temporary project is just a folder to hold items. For example, I have a project category called “Calls” because I tend to come up with all the Calls I need to make, at the same time. So I open the “Calls” project folder, then start adding items. Later, I may drag a “Work” call from this folder and into my “Work” project folder. I may also leave “general” calls in this folder – for example, “call my sister.”
A list-type project is just that – a list of things, not really to-do’s. To-do’s take time to-do. They have durations and, as such, can fit into a calendar. But often I keep lists of things I simply want to remember. For example, a shopping list or a list of items I’d like to discuss with my Boss next time I see him. In the next version of SmartPad, 3.0, you’ll be able to create a to-do called “Discuss with Boss” then link that to a list of things to discuss. And in 3.1, you’ll be able to link both to your Boss’s contact info, so that if he happens to call you and you’re running around trying to answer his questions, you can also quickly see that you too had some things to discuss, and you can pull up the list. Sweet.
Tip: Both SmartCal and SmartPad allow you to manage simple critical path projects, unstructured projects, temporary projects, and lists. SmartPlans allows you to manage groups of projects in relation to each other, so that you can manage your work balance between them. The next version, 3.0, will allow you to have complex projects with milestones and external dependencies.
Pick your To-Do’s for the next day
This is the most important part of organizing. At the end of each day, I pick the tasks that I want to do for the next few days. This is as easy as tapping on the “star” button next to any task in the list. I can then see only those tasks by selecting the “star” filter. The best way to Pick is to go through the various filter types shown in the “Check” section below, then pick (“star”) the items that are important. Each different filter brings to-do’s to the forefront in a different way. Here is how I do it:
- Pick
- Unpick
- Prioritize
I first pick the to-do’s for the next day that seem important to me. Then, I move to the “Star” filter so that I can see all of the items that I have picked. I go through this list and unpick any items that no longer seem important, in the context of the other ones that I have selected. I am also aware of the different projects that they belong to, based on color. Am I favoring one project over the other? Do I have too many reds, and not enough blue’s? Finally, I take the list and prioritize by dragging tasks up and down in the list. I take care to “mix in” tasks that I know will be fun, with other tasks that are important but may not be as much fun. Variety is the spice of life – and life is so much more than just “getting things done.” 🙂
Check your Projects, Deadlines, Starts and GTDo’s
Periodically, it makes sense to check each of these filters to make sure you are not missing anything. It’s not necessary to check every day, but certainly several days a week. And certainly at the end of one week as you prepare for the next.
- Check your Projects
I go through my active Projects and select tasks out of each Project. Usually I will only work on one or two major projects each day, knocking off one or two tasks from each.Tip: Paying attention to the “% complete” bar in the Project view of SmartCal and SmartPad gives me a heads up as to which Project(s) I should be paying attention to for any give week or even any given day.
- Check your Deadlines
Every other day or so, it is helpful to tap on the “Due” tab to sort all tasks by deadline. This helps to update selected tasks and choose any that are coming due (or that are overdue), but which may have slipped through the cracks.
- Check your Starts
When you create a new Task, the default “Start” is the date and time that you created that Task. Sometimes you do not want to start the task until later, so you can assign a later “Start.” Note this does not hide the Task from your list, but it will give the task a lower sort order when you sort by Start. Sorting by “Start” also gives you an overview of all those “old” tasks that you created a long time ago and haven’t done anything about. Time to pick some of those for tomorrow!
- Check your GTDo’s
The “Getting Things Done” philosophy of task management talks a lot about contexts. It also talks about focusing on only the very next sequential task in each project. This is a very helpful way to focus.
Tip: One of the unique features of both SmartCal and SmartPad is the GTDo filter. When this filter is selected, only the task at the top of the list, from each Project, is shown. So if you sort the tasks in each of your individual Projects by importance, then you can really focus on only the top one from each of your Projects. This provides a “lateral view” across your entire range of Projects, rather than the “silo” view of individually selected or sorted to-do’s. Another nifty feature of the GTDo view is when you mark one task as complete, then the next one from that Project automatically flows in to the view. Typically at the end of the week, I will focus only on the GTDo view so that I can “knock off” tasks from a variety of my projects. This also sets me up for “being aware” of what’s going on, at a project level, for next week.
Schedule your To-Do’s
This is something that you can only do with an integrated calendar such as SmartCal or SmartPad: the logic places your tasks directly into the free time in-between your appointments, in the order that they appear in the Task view. But you can actually schedule exactly when to do those tasks. For example, you may apply one of the filters mentioned above, which will change what is shown in the task list and, therefore, it will change what is integrated into the calendar. To schedule a task at a specific date or time, go to the calendar and drag that task to a time on the time line. It will automatically be converted into a schedules event. (Make sure that “Convert Event” is selected in your Settings for moving tasks in the Calendar. If you have “Change Order” selected, then moving a task in the calendar will simply change the sort order, as if you had moved it in the Task view.)
Scheduling to-do’s is an option that I use when I absolutely have to get something done. I see it as an “appointment with myself” to get a task done at a specific time. And that leads us back to the beginning, because none of this would be possible if you couldn’t integrate appointments with your to-do’s. As you go through your day, always keep in mind the acronym of this method: “icopcs.” Integrate, Create, Organize, Pick, Check and Schedule.
I hope these Six Smart Steps work for you too. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me via email, or to chat with me live. Just go to our web site
http://leftcoastlogic.com and look for the “Live Chat” icon. I’m usually there during the day, U.S. Pacific Time.
