Best Time/Life Organization Method to Use With MLO

[c.k. lester]

I'm wondering if there is an article somewhere out there (beyond my Googlefu), that explains the best time-management/life-organization method that can be used with MLO.

I really love MLO's list of features, but my todo list has gotten so large and (seemingly) unwieldy (though that's probably my inexperience with the interface), due, primarily, to my multiple life activities (several businesses, other organizations, etc.).

It would be great if there was a list somewhere of great time/life management techniques and their applicability to MLO's unique and very functional interface. I would even consider paying a tutor for a few lessons.

I'd be very grateful for a few pointers.

Thank you!

[Susannah]

I'd be interested in that too.  I have been using MLO for years and it has been working great but lately I have so many incoming tasks and so many areas I am working that things are starting to get unmanageable and slipping through the cracks.  I mainly base mine on David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD).  It would work great if I didn't overbook my days.  For example, my weekly review is on there as a set of tasks yet I never seem to do it b/c I am running like crazy just to keep up with the incoming.  By not doing the weekly review my system gets outdated.  I set up blocks to work on specific areas a few weeks ago and then have prioritized lists to go to when it is time to do those blocks.  I thought that would work great but I have yet to make time for one of the blocks let alone one each day.

I will say MLO has increased the number of tasks that I get through everyday by at least 10x just by making everything in the format of one clear next action step that feed to me in order.  I am still missing the key on doing the right tasks and finding the magic frequency on some of my routines.  

Susannah

[jimja...@gmail.com]

MLO is great for the Getting Things Done system, with the "Active Actions", "Projects", and "Next Actions" views. I also recommend you give Productivity Ninja a read, great book!

Some things I've gotten from Productivity Ninja: get tasks out your head asap (sounds like you're doing that!), and don't worry about putting down "bad ideas"; sort your tasks into Contexts (where or how they can be done); make sure and set dependencies if applicable (so that only doable actions are shown in "Next Actions" and "Active Actions" views; use Flags to sort tasks by how much attention they require (Inactive, Active, Proactive) which will help you find a task you can do now; sort anything bigger than 3 tasks into a Project; set Goals; if a task takes less than 5 mins to do, just do it now; do the biggest/hardest task first, and don't avoid it with smaller tasks.

Give the book a read, it's great. Hit me up if you want to chat further about this. Thanks,

[Daniel Webster]

The book Getting Things Done by David Allen is one of several good options that might meet your needs.

[zel...@gmail.com]

I think it was originaly designed with Getting Things Done in mind. I have used GTD for a long time but it is not for everybody. My copy of the book is heavily marked up. You can find some built in templates by starting a new file and choosing a GTD template.

There is no one size fits all, since we all think differently. I have tried various methods and finally realized I was wasting my time. Pick one (Covey, GTD, etc) and start using it religiously and filing off and bolting on refinements as you go along. You have to crawl before you can walk.

On Monday, October 15, 2018 at 5:40:52 AM UTC-5, c.k. lester wrote:

[Wallace Gilbraith]

I remember a paragraph in Getting Things Done about there being three types of work

Unplanned work - answering the phone, speaking to colleagues, urgent incoming tasks

Planned work - dealing with the stuff on your to do list

Planning work - managing your list, not just what goes on it, but where and when it goes

It's worth allowing for all three

Re 'I have so many incoming tasks'

Are there any you can say No to?

Or any you can delegate or seek help with? 

Wol

- sent from my phone, please excuse brevity -

- please mail me at ho...@gilbraith.co.uk -

Sent from BlueMail

---

From: Susannah
Sent: Mon Oct 15 12:26:30 GMT+01:00 2018
To: MyLifeOrganized
Subject: [MLO] Re: Best Time/Life Organization Method to Use With MLO

[MG]

Hi Lester,

I would say you need, first, to follow à methodology for time/life management.

I suggest you to read the book Get Things Done from David Allen.

There are other authors like Stephen Covey.

I think it will help on managing tasks with MLO.

Hope it helps.

BR

M

[MOK | MATSURU]

Use:

FOLDER for Areas of Focus = Work / Personal / Business...etc

CONTEXT for context grouping = Venue / Time / People / Meeting / Tools...etc

STAR for task u need to do TODAY / Eat the Frog task

FLAGS can be used for highlight of certain stuff. (you can only add 1 flag to 1 task)

TEXTTAG for any random stuff. 1 way to use this is to tag PEOPLE / MEETING with a Agenda Context.

Keep things simple. You DON'T have to use ALL the functions of MLO. Just use as little as you can get by and add on later when you think u need more power of MLO. If things get messy or too complicated, SIMPLIFY. Use less functions. Or maybe go MLO bankruptcy. Start a new MLO file and extract usable data from old file.

Keep things simple and knock down your task asap. 

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[Susannah]

I think the 2 minute rule is the greatest thing and my worst enemy.  I tend to be able to make anything take less than 2 minutes.  I spend my whole day doing less than 2 minute tasks as they pop up and never get to the planned work.  But it makes sense to not put something in my system for later if I can finish it in less time than it would take to add to my system.  I definitely need more emphasis on the planning work type.

Susannah

[Wallace Gilbraith]

Lol indeed.

MLO on Android has this great widget for voice input. As stuff arises you can just dictate your task (in 2 seconds!) and it goes to your inbox, where you can triage it later

Assuming you process your inbox now and again, you don't ever forget anything, and it can help you avoid getting swamped

Wol

- sent from my phone, please excuse brevity -

- please mail me at ho...@gilbraith.co.uk -

Sent from BlueMail

---

From: Susannah
Sent: Tue Oct 16 13:29:10 GMT+01:00 2018
To: MyLifeOrganized
Subject: Re: [MLO] Re: Best Time/Life Organization Method to Use With MLO

[MOK | MATSURU]

Just to add on,

There is an app for IOS/Android called "Braintoss" which you can either type notes, record voice or snap photo and have it instantly email back to your email inbox so you can process later.

I would recommend doing the capture to email inbox than MLO as this will keep MLO clean (everything in MLO is already processed & ready for action)

btw, If I am not wrong, David Allen is using this app nowadays for his capture.

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[Luc Poitras]

Besides others, I like the idea of dropping tasks within related time blocks, and also using the Pomodoro method.

For example, if I have a long list of tasks related to “home maintenance”, I know I will have each day a 30 minutes Pomodoro (25 minutes of completing tasks... + 5 minutes break) solely completing home maintenance tasks... and when the 30 minutes is over, all tasks not completed wil be pushed to the next day.

The time blocking method can for example be used for an important active project. You can decide you will complete a Pomododo every day related exclusively to THAT project... so you can be sure that at the end of the 5 day work week, you will have put 150 minutes of productive work exclusively on that project...

Hope this helps!

Luc

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[c.k. lester]

Whoa! Tons of great input here! I guess I have some reading to do... :D

Thank you, everyone, for the help! Very much appreciated!

[Susannah]

Getting Things Done has a good podcast.  There are David Allen interviews all over the place too.  I need to go find the one he did with Brian Johnson again b/c that one I remember took my thinking to the next level.

[Stéph]

Hello Wol,

There's also a way of doing this in MLO for iOS (if you purchase the MLO3 Pro Pack). You can link MLO to one of the categories in your iOS Reminders app. If you use Siri to add a reminder in the selected category, iOS will move the reminder into its in-box.

Stéph

[Stéph]

If there was a "like" button in Google Groups, I would tag this post of yours, Susannah. Being stuck in the 2 minute rule is sometimes the story of my life!

Stéph

[James D]

I am just starting to explore the "12 Week Year" approach with MLO.  It's looking very promising!!

I've previously tried mishmash of other approaches, GTD, Scrum, Agile Results, and even 4DX.

See https://12weekyear.com/

I have to say that the "12 Week Year" approach is looking promising in the early going.  The problem with so many other approaches, in MLO, has been MLO's flexibility and willingness to adapt to everything I throw at it, to the point that with the GTD approach I make an over-complicated incomprehensible mess of it that overwhelms me, rather than focuses me.  So the positive of the 12 Week Year approach, I will call it 12WY from here on, is that it constrains me in a way that makes sense to me, and doesn't feel arbitrary.  I also love 4DX, and I'm really viewing 12WY as a structured wrapper around 4DX.  See http://jessegee.com/wp-content/uploads/4dxguide-personal.pdf for a good summary of 4DX.

I'll do my best to come back and share my 12WY approach for MLO.

[MOK | MATSURU]

Dear James,

  Would really love to hear how you implement 12WY +GTD using MLO :-)

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[pottster]

I usually point people here. Old, but still very good.

[G German]

I have found the Master Your Workday Now very realistic and easy to implement in MLO

https://www.michaellinenberger.com/blog/quick-review-of-how-to-create-a-one-minute-to-do-list/

[westpo...@yahoo.com]

Someone in this group recommended Total Workday Control, which is not only an approach I like, but works with MLO nicely.

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[G German]

that what's me :-) I find GTD too complicated, but TWC is waaay simpler