Francis' Recordings

Or should you stop using them altogether?

Most GTD'ers struggle with the contexts suggested in the book. They just don't seem to apply to the challenges we face some 20 years later after David Allen published Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

Some have moved on, creating their own contexts (i.e. tags) or abandoning their use altogether. In this recording of my article published at ScheduleU.org, you'll learn how to use the best tags possible for your needs, starting with a deeper understanding of why they are so valuable.

Here's the link to the original article: https://scheduleu.org/do-you-need-new-gtd-contexts/. It's also available on YouTube - https://youtu.be/nKTht3huDzE

Have you ever sat in a bad meeting wondering how why and how you got yourself stuck in that position? Sometimes, it has to do with people's habits, but it also has something to do with calendar software design.

In this conversation, Garrick and I look at how both aspects could be improved dramatically. We argue that a better design would produce higher quality meetings.

As a result of this episode, I developed a branched learning simulation linked here which focuses on the interplay between calendar design and meetings - http://2time-sys.com/downloads/meetings/CEOMeetings.html

It will also be featured at the first Time Blocking Summit I'll be hosting on March 5-7, 2020 - https://timeblockingsummit.info

If you like our work at 2Time Labs, please support it at Patreon - Make a contribution here: https://www.patreon.com/francis_at_2timelabs

Have you ever wondered if you are using the optimal blend of storage tools: cloud, external hard drive, SD, device storage, etc.? How can you know? Are there gaps? Given the fact that each person is different, they may benefit from using the same principles? But how can they find them and use them? Tune into Live Lab #4 to find out how to design a tool on these specs.
This is the third of a three part series of conversations with Ray Sidney-Smith.
Try the Storage Decision Tool here. http://www.2time-sys.com/the-design-of-a-storage-decision-tool/
Make a contribution at my Patreon link here: https://www.patreon.com/francis_at_2timelabs

Have you ever wondered if you are using the optimal blend of storage tools: cloud, external hard drive, SD, device storage, etc.? How can you know? Are there gaps? Given the fact that each person is different, they may benefit from using the same principles? But how can they find them and use them? Tune into Live Lab #4 to find out how to design a tool on these specs.
This is the second of a three part series of conversations with Ray Sidney-Smith.
Try the Storage Decision Tool here. http://www.2time-sys.com/the-design-of-a-storage-decision-tool/
Make a contribution at my Patreon link here: https://www.patreon.com/francis_at_2timelabs

Have you ever wondered if you are using the optimal blend of storage tools: cloud, external hard drive, SD, device storage, etc.? How can you know? Are there gaps? Given the fact that each person is different, they may benefit from using the same principles? But how can they find them and use them? Tune into Live Lab #4 to find out how to design a tool on these specs. This is the first of a three part series of conversations with Ray Sidney-Smith.
Try the Storage Decision Tool here. http://www.2time-sys.com/the-design-of-a-storage-decision-tool/
Make a contribution at my Patreon link here: https://www.patreon.com/francis_at_2timelabs

Ever longed for a tool that could give you feedback on the health of your email inbox? Listen in as I take on the challenge of creating one from scratch. Here in the third and final episode in this series, I continue working with Dr. Michael Einstein to create an email health calculator.
We take the lessons learned from the prior discussion and start by listing a hierarchy of concerns. They are listed here from 1-5 in rank order.

1. How many days of stored email are accumulated? (read vs unread, subscribed vs non-subscribeds)

2. How old are these message? (read vs. unread)

3. How unique are these messages? (subscribed vs non-subscribeds)

4. How fast are they entering? (incoming email)

5. How complicated are they by being threaded?

During the hiatus since the last episode, I drafted a weight for each measure and after playing with the tool we would be using, producing the following formula which we discussed in this episode.

0.25 x Left Behind Index (i.e. (Total messages in your inbox - unread messages-tagged, read messages)/incoming email each day)

0.20 x Number of Days Surprise Index (i.e. unread messages – unread subscriptions email)/incoming email each day)

0.20 x Total messages older than a day)/incoming mail each day

0.20 x (Average age of non-Subscription messages/days)

0.20 x ( .50 x Average age of Subscription messages/days)

0.10 x Incoming Email each day / messages removed per day

0.20 x Threaded messages

The final input into the calculoid app used the following weights which were simply scaled so that they would sum to 1.0:

Field 1 - 18% Left Behind Index [i.e. (Total messages in your inbox - unread messages-tagged, read messages)/incoming email each day)]

Field 2 - 14% Number of Days Surprise Index [i.e. unread messages – unread subscriptions email)/incoming email each day]

Field 3 - 14% Total messages older than a day)/incoming mail each day

Field 4 - 14% Average age of non-Subscription messages/days

Field 5 - 7% Average age of Subscription messages/days

Field 6 - 11% Max(1, incoming email/150)

Field 7 - 7% Incoming Email each day / messages removed per day

Field 8 - 14% Threaded messages x #average active participants in each thread
Want to support the work at 2Time Labs? Here's my Patreon Link. Patrons receive a number of benefits including early access and followup conversations related to work like this.

Ever longed for a tool that could give you feedback on the health of your email inbox? Listen in as I take on the challenge of creating one from scratch.

Here in the second part of LiveLab 02, I continue working with Dr. Michael Einstein by delving into the formulae that would be at the heart of a sound email health calculator.
It's no easy conversation to follow - you will probably need a paper and pencil.

Months before I called Michael, I devised the following formula in my very first attempt.

Score = the sum of:

1. 5.0 max(0, [2 x (total messages-unread messages-tagged messages) [

2. 0.5 x (total messages - unread messages - incomplete tasks recalled)

3. 5.0 x (unread messages - incoming email per day)]/10)

4. # minutes spent

This is where our discussion started. It moved quickly and resulted in this formula which we produced in the first part of this episode.
Score = the sum of:

1. (total messages-unread messages-tagged messages) [more importance] "BlindSpot measure"

2. # read messages * (age in days -1) [more importance] "Morgue Measure"

3. # unread messages/ # incoming email per day [more importance] "Backlog Measure"

4. # threaded messages / # total messages [moderate importance]

5. # raw threaded messages [high importance]

6. # subscription email older than a day / # total messages older than a day [low importance]

We took a break for about a month, then reconvened to record the second part of this episode.

During the discussion, we agreed on the following elements.
Score = the sum of:

1. (total messages-unread messages-tagged messages) [more important]

2a. # read non-subscribed messages * (age in days per message -1) [more important]

2b. # read subscription messages * (age in days per message -1) [more important]

3. # incoming email per day / ((#unread subs--sqrd> + #unread nonsubsc) [more important]

4.

5. # raw threaded messages - for non-subscribes using geometric growth [high importance]

6. # subscription email older than a day / # total messages older than a day [lower importance]

Our next and final conversation didn't take place until 10 months later. It's captured n part 3, episode 59.

Want to support the work at 2Time Labs? Here's my Patreon Link

Ever longed for a tool that could give you feedback on the health of your email inbox? Listen in as I take on the challenge of creating one from scratch.
Here in LiveLab 2 I invite Dr. Michael Einstein to help me build a brand new kind of tool - one that would provide users with an automatic diagnosis of their inbox health.
In this episode (the first of three), we work on the underlying assumptions that such a tool must include...and discover along the way there are *many*.
Plus we start to look at the elements we think should be measured in preparation for the next episode in this series which focuses on the actual formulae which the tool would use.
It's a far-reaching, one of a kind conversation which starts off in wobbly fashion as we're not sure whether we will be successful.
Here's the link to the original calculator I created which we used as our starting point.
Can't wait until the final episode to see the end result? Here you go - a link to an interactive calculator of your email inbox health.

Want to support the work at 2Time Labs? Here's my Patreon Link

Part Two - No-one has ever made a full side-by-side comparison of existing auto-schedulers. In this episode we attempt to create the very first one, plus a decision tool for choosing between the 6 most popular apps in this genre as of December 2018. AI powered and cloud-based, these programs are gaining in popularity, especiallyamong productivity geeks and the busiest one-percent.
Show Notes
Can't wait until the end of Part Two? Here are the two outputs produced from the series of 2 episodes.
1. A Decision Tool
2. Comparison Table
Plus check out Melanie's new book - A Year of Living Productively can be found here.
Want to support the work at 2Time Labs? Here's my Patreon Link
ScheduleU.Org
Shownote links - https://goo.gl/m7gZxu, https://goo.gl/qpM8me, http://psychowith6.com/ayolpbook, https://goo.gl/HVLEY5

Part One - No-one has ever made a full side-by-side comparison of existing auto-schedulers. In this episode we attempt to create the very first one, plus a decision tool for choosing between the 6 most popular apps in this genre as of December 2018. AI powered and cloud-based, these programs are gaining in popularity, especiallyamong productivity geeks and the busiest one-percent.
Show Notes
Can't wait until the end of Part Two? Here are the two outputs produced from the series of 2 episodes.
A Decision Tool
Comparison Table
Melanie's new book - A Year of Living Productively can be found here.
Want to support the work at 2Time Labs? Here's my Patreon Link
ScheduleU.Org
Shownote links - https://goo.gl/m7gZxu, https://goo.gl/qpM8me, http://psychowith6.com/ayolpbook, https://goo.gl/HVLEY5

On this unique episode I introduce a brand new format here at the 2Time Labs Podcast. It's called a LiveLab and it's a recorded discussion between me and an invited expert as we attempt to create a new interactive product, service or aid which will make your life better. Listen in as I describe the reasons for making this very big switch.
The ProductivityCast Show - The weekly show about all things productivity

It's tempting to spend all your time focused on your highest priorities, but in this episode Augusto Pinaud argues the opposite. For those very busy people with hundreds of tasks, managing low priority items takes a special approach. It's a technique perfectly suited for the top one percent of busy people.

The ProductivityCast Show - The weekly show about all things productivity
Support this podcast on Patreon, or by liking/rating/commenting on iTunes, Google Podcast or your podcast player of choice.

Join me in this one-of-a-kind conversation with Dr. Melanie Wilson as we explore how the two of us are using SkedPal Beta - the new schedule and calendar optimizer.She's a productivity blogger who tests out scores of app, approaches and tools and then writes about each of them. As a homeschooling Mom of 6, she has a very busy life - the pefect place to test new ideas.In this conversation we look at how we have adopted SkedPal to our very different lives.During the conersation we touch on a number of information sources:Melanie's post on SkedPal - http://www.psychowith6.com/automatic-scheduling-busy-people/My recent post on optimizers like SkelPal - Learning to Optimize Each Day’s Plan from the Controversy Between Listers and Schedulers [Research]
My guest-post on Melanie's blog on "Why college students and CEO's manage their time the same way"
If you'd like to join my private Beta, check here to see if it's still open: http://perfect.mytimedesign.com/are-you-an-advanced-scheduler-join-our-community-today/

Michael Einstein, an expert in email overload, joins me for this conversation. We tackle the thorny question of what someone needs to do to manage all the channels of information we currently use, their proliferation and the demands they place on our time.
We also look to the future and ask what mindset and techniques we must use to tackle new, unforeseen channels.
To learn more about his work, visit his website: http://www.emailoverloadsolutions.com/
http://www.emailoverloadsolutions.com/

During the course of writing my new book, Perfect Time-Based Productivity, I was inspired by recent research to create an Advanced Model of time demands - a different perspective than the one shared in my last related podcast on this topic - Episode 35 .

For more of our research, download my free special report from http://2time-sys.com - "8 Edgy Ideas from Time Management 2.0." To receive a free chapter from my last book and to hear about my new book, download access information at http://perfect.mytimedesign.com

Visit my complete resource page on time demands at http://wp.me/PeenO-Bc

Julie is an expert in adult learning and in this episode we looked at the challenge of time management training which so often consists of tell, tell and more telling. Should an instructor just hand out detailed practices and sit back and wait while the magic happens, or is there a better approach to instruct learners. She's a fascinating guest who has a wealth of knowledge.

In fact, she was teaching with such gusto that I had to build a short glossary of terms she used:

Hyperbolic discounting - This is a concept from behavioral economics that describes the tendency to discount a reward more the longer it will be delayed.

Cognitive load - This it the idea that people have a limited cognitive capacity for information or mental activity at any given time, based on the limits of working (or short-term) memory. If you exceed that capacity, the person can't process or retain additional information.

Cognitive bias - there are many different types of cognitive biases which lead to faulty decisions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases) but many of them are due to shortcuts in how we understand and process information.

Implementation intentions - Implementation intentions are a way to create behaviors for yourself by mental associating a trigger with a response (If x happens, I will do y), and are based on the work of research Peter Gollwitzer.

Pat Brans is a time management and productivity author who writes for Forbes magazine. He also the owner of the Master the Moment website.
But one of his greatest achievements is the research that he completed to finish his book, which shares the name of his site. He interviewed 50 CEO's from around the world and in this interview, he shares what he discovered. In particular, I ask him about their scheduling habits and what they do to deal with the high number of commitments that come at them each day. Tune in to hear the results of his first-hand data collection.

In December 2013, I was interviewed by Jacob Paulsen of 12booksgroup.com, a reading club that tackles one business book per month. They discuss the contents on Goodreads, and invite authors in to interact with their members.
While their interviews are accessed by members-only, he was kind enough to share the podcast with us here at 2Time Labs.
We looked at the ideas underlying Bill's Im-Perfect Time Management Adventure, and why I chose to write a business fable as opposed to a traditional book.

What are the different styles in which people think about their use of time? Tony Murphy of Time Diagnostics has invented an approach to giving each of us some insight into one of 5 time perspectives that adults tend to use each and every day. Tune in to hear how his tool can be used in a team environment to improve the productivity of the entire team. Once again, he reinforces the idea: one size doesn't fit all.