However, you are confused by the advice you have heard from experts. Some say start slowly, others start small, a few counsel you to “eat the frog” and do the most difficult task first.

Perhaps you have tried them all! But you want to be efficient, which means using an approach that works best for you.

How do you figure out the best approach to take?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Steven Puri, we tackle and even try to solve this wicked problem together.

00:00 – Opening & The Cold Start Problem

05:07 – Why Mornings Go Wrong

15:26 – Insight #1: A Great Morning Starts with a Great Evening

16:49 – Insight #2: You Lose the Morning Because You Lost the Evening

54:00 – Insight #3: Happiness Is a Function of What You Do in the Morning

But nothing seems to be happening.

You keep looking for AI companies to offer insights but they have not made any progress beyond vague recommendations - really bland stuff. There must be a way…but the waiting game is killing you.

Maybe they are missing an understanding of the fundamentals of task management. If so, what can be gained from having special insights?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Dr. Brad Aeon, as we tackle and even try to solve this wicked problem together.

Brad Aeon is a time management expert and researcher. He did his Ph.D. on time, wellbeing, and productivity at Concordia University, and now works with organizations around the world to help them implement the latest research on time management.

His insights and ideas have been featured in top-tier media outlets, including the Harvard Business Review, BBC News, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and many more.

His TEDx Talk, "The Philosophy of Time Management," explores some of the most important ideas in time management and has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on YouTube.

However, there are personalities you find to be difficult - they take way too much time. In conversation with them, you find yourself glancing at your watch, trying to be productive by ending the conversation…but you can’t 

And you don’t want to be rude, but what can you do to address the stereotypical time hoarder? 

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Jennifer Morin, as we tackle this wicked problem together.

I’m Francis Wade and welcome to the Task Management & Time Blocking Podcast

But how do you deal with tasks whose complexity is hidden? In other words, it contains far more sub-tasks than you imagined. When you come upon them, a 4-hour task can take 20 hours!

Is there anything you can do?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Trevor Lohrbeer, we tackle this wicked productivity problem together.

But how can you make sure this problem goes away? If you’re in an organization, ”Saying No” may give you some relief, but it does not solve the underlying issue. In fact, you are not sure anything will!

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Ben Kirk, we solve this wicked problem together.

But lately, you have noticed that the number of things you need to write own, or capture, has exploded. It seems like just the other day when a Post-it note was enough. Now, you are writing everything down in something like a notebook and you feel as if you still can’t catch up.

What’s wrong? What else should you be doing?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Brad Aeon, as we solve this wicked task management problem together.

But you are a bit wary because prior strategic plans barely made it off the PowerPoint pages. They weren’t implemented due to a common complaint - no-one had the time.

You have every reason to be worried, but what should you do about the problem?

Tune into this episode to join me in tackling this wicked problem from two perspectives at once…task management and strategic planning.

Show Notes

Perfect Time-Based Productivity https://perfect.mytimedesign.com

How CEOs Manage Time (hbr.org) (Nohria/Porter)

Meetingless Meetings Link

How to Deal with Other People’s Weak Time Management Skills – Perfect Time-Based Productivity (mytimedesign.com)

Is there something going on that you cannot see? Are some changes more fruitful than others?

After all, you know a thing or two about systemic change: that seemingly small improvements can yield disproportionate, breakthrough results. It applies to other areas of life…but how about your task management?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Danielle Baily, as we tackle this challenging problem together.

However, it’s been some time since you felt that *before* and *after* feeling… where you had a productivity problem, found a solution, implemented it and saw positive outcomes. 

Getting that feeling of making progress is much more difficult. You just can’t find the improvements you want by following anyone’s one-size-fits-all approach.

Somehow, you must find your own way.  If this is your first time listening to this podcast, you may not know that there are many others just like you. 

But they don’t just listen to this podcast to hear from experts. They attend my conference on Task Management & Time Blocking, read my book, join the Mighty taskers community and enjoy the training I offer.

And they find other thought leaders in the vast world beyond one-size-fits-all solutions which help them continue their improvement journey.

Not that this is the easy path to follow. It definitely is not. But it’s the one that bears the greatest fruit in the long run. It requires fresh skills in self-diagnosis in your task management and time blocking.

If this engages you in any way, welcome to Season 2 of the Task Management & Time Blocking Podcast.

But what is it like to host such a series? Have I learned anything from being the host and what can I share after 32 episodes?

In this solo episode, I’ll be sharing my experience and what you can take away from the lineup of guests I have had on the show.

But you quickly realize that this is a problem. Your favorite task management software will now be a side-show as you are forced to change your practices.

Gone are some things you like to do using your software’s new features. Also, there will be some shared tasks that everyone can see.

You’re not sure if this is a good thing or bad, or what you should do about it.

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Renee Clair, as we solve this wicked problem together.

But does such software even exist? The good news is that it does and in this conversation with Dr Melanie Wilson, we update our prior 2018 recording comparing 6 auto-schedulers.

Should you be using one of these AI-infused apps? Tune in to find out what we discovered and you could save some time, stress and even money.

If this resonates with you at all, join me and Jason VanDevere as we tackle this challenging issue.

But lately…you feel as if you have stalled. You’re no longer growing in leaps and bounds the way you used to, and you miss that growth you once experienced.

Now, changes come slowly, if at all. What can you do about it? You’re tempted to give up and move onto something different because…well, there are other places in life where you can put in some effort and see some results.

But is that the tactic you really want? To give up? Do you have a choice? Are there alternatives?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Dr Bret Atkins, as we solve this challenging problem together.

Is there something going on that you cannot see? Are some changes more fruitful than others?

After all, you know a thing or two about systemic change: that seemingly small improvements can yield disproportionate, breakthrough results. It applies to other areas of life…but how about your task management?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Danielle Baily, as we solve this challenging problem together.

You also have realized at some point - maybe a long time ago, or just as you are listening to this episode, that one size does not fit all. In other words, even though gurus and developer claim that they have figured everything out, you know that’s not true. You have been around long enough to distrust anyone who tells you that they have the perfect solution.

But is that enough?

Perhaps this realization is just the beginning of a new journey. 

In this solo episode I will look at the issues we all have with one-size-fits-all thinking and what you can do about it in the short-term and long-term.

Have you created a problem for yourself by writing down all your unfinished tasks? Does it make sense to save unread emails? Why can’t you just get rid of them all and pretend they never happened?

Maybe if you were a superstar in this area, you would never fall behind the job of emptying inboxes and todo lists. Is that even possible now…or in the future

In this solo episode, I’ll be sharing my most recent thoughts about the skill of Emptying and exploring new thinking that can help you make some headway.

BUT… you have a Tik Tok account and the people you’re following are a growing distraction…and you can’t help yourself…you just want to take a peek…and another…

And when someone forcibly takes away your smartphone, you are able to focus, but then you overfocus and work for 15 hours straight, and then collapse. At that point you hate to return to your computer. 

Getting and staying in the Flow state is not so easy after all.

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Manlio lo Giudice, as we solve this challenging problem together.

But is that a good thing? Or just another loose end you need to account for in your weekly review?

If it’s the latter, then why? In this episode we tackle the problem of Capture Points - physical and digital places where potential tasks are sitting…waiting. We’ll talk about your need to handle each and every one of them…or else. That is, if you hope to develop a flawless reputation for being on top of all the stuff people send your way, wanting a response.

Join me on this solo episode as we explore this challenge that affects every single knowledge worker in the entire world. It’s a continuation of Episode 21 on Capturing.

In fact, most students seem to put these things on hold…on ice…while they focus everything on their studies. You cannot do that, to say the least.

Is there a way to have it all? You do know that people have done this before…you’re not the first. So there must be a way that can increase your odds of success. 

But what are they?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Emily Cordwell, as we solve this challenging problem together.

Over time, this reduces your effectiveness and your reputation for getting things done. People start to avoid you, seeking out others who are more reliable.

You want to intervene before this gets worse, but just trying harder to remember may not be enough. You want a real solution such that you manually capture new tasks flawlessly, regardless of the circumstances. You want to be someone who never forgets to complete a commitment.

Where can you start to create that kind of track record when it comes to your task management?

Join me on this solo episode as we explore this challenge that affects all knowledge workers.

How do you adjust your approach when you realize that you need to change your methods as task volume increases…and you can only see a future or more tasks? Knowing that this is a problem isn’t enough - you want more.

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Dr. Frank Buck, as we solve this challenging problem together.

Some people suggest that you simply ignore most of your email. Others say that you need to empty your inbox and even keep it that way all the time. In practice, most people spend more mornings, nights and weekends catching up on email than they care to admit. During the day, they prefer to do what they call “real” work. Not the fake work of reading and replying to email.

In this solo episode, I’ll be sharing my thoughts about this problem and explore new thinking that can help us make some headway.

In a way, we don’t have as many new things to look forward to. Not surprisingly, this has an impact on our daily happiness. Having something – anything – to look forward to has an impact on our happiness.

Is there a sustainable solution to this dilemma?

I’m Francis Wade and join me and our special guest, Laura Vanderkam as we tackle this challenge.

And did this experience imply that you needed to stop using them altogether? This may not make sense, because when you applied contexts to a raw list of todos, it made things better. So is the idea a bad one?

In this solo episode we take a deep dive into the research behind contexts done by 2Time Labs. I’ll share my latest thinking which shows why contexts are unavoidable, and why you need to move way past the ones suggested by Getting Things Done published in 2001.

In this episode with Dr. Melanie Wilson we share the results of our actual firsthand tests for you. We both have spent years using auto-schedulers so we have a few insights you won’t hear elsewhere. Tune in to find out what we discovered and you could save some time, stress and even money.

Clarification - In this episode we stated the Motion does not have time maps, a SkedPal invention. It doesn't, but their version is similar in functionality - just not as robust.

You already understand that you use a system to manage your tasks from the moments of creation to the point where they are completed. Some people say that making changes is easy, but you’re not so sure. The system you use is full of idiosyncrasies - those places where you do things your way…different from anyone else.

How do you use this knowledge to make the right improvements? Can you make things worse by tinkering in the wrong place? Is it anything like trying to fix a car or an appliance where the wrong intervention can make things go terribly wrong?

In this solo episode, I’ll be sharing my thoughts about this problem and where we need to take ourselves so that the confusion disappears.

In other words, you make a promise to yourself that non-one else knows about to do something at a particular time and place.

It’s an easy concept to explain, But…most people who seem to start the practice have a rough time taking it to the level they want. Once they get past the beginner stage, when they are experimenting with a few tasks they want more.

And for a while, they schedule more tasks…and more…and more. Until they have too many and their time blocking becomes a problem. It should be easy, they think, but it’s not.

What are some of the best solutions available?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Mike Vardy, as we solve this challenging problem together.

Henry Cloud - Necessary Endings

Stack Method - Prasanth Nair

Stop doing productive.Start BEING productive. (productivityist.com)

What do you really want? To orchestrate them somehow into a perfect symphony that interrupts you at just the right moment, with the right degree of force.

Is that too much to ask for? In this solo episode, we’ll go past the work we did on Episode 11 which focused on the principles of skillful interrupting and look at the practical actions we must take to retain our sanity. 

For example, some gurus at marriagebuilders.com recommend that you spend 15 hours per week in solo time with your spouse. You may block the time in your calendar with a recurring appointment, but realize after a year that you fell far short. Why does this happen? Is it even avoidable?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Trevor Lohrbeer, as we solve this challenging problem together.

But too much of a good thing is never good, and if you have ever missed a mid-day meal because you were engrossed in your work you may know that you sometimes need a reminder, or interruption, at just the right moment. They keep you on track, and prevent you from making mistakes.

But how do you program them into your life? In this solo episode, I’ll be sharing my thinking about this problem and what needs to be invented for us to get some permanent relief.

So you're someone who uses time blocking as a regular technique... You put tasks in your calendar so that you can make realistic commitments.

But do you still run into the problem of time optimism, where you're allocating time, and things take far longer than you thought? This creates a ripple effect that affects everything you try to do.

How do you even tackle a problem that afflicts almost everyone? Even those who don't use a calendar at all? 

But once you know the problem you want to fix, it's hard to find simple solutions. The proof? Just check out someone asking for help in an open forum like Reddit.

Someone posts a question, and wants a simple answer they can actually use. What do they get back? A ton of answers. There is no way to make sense of the flood of opinions...some of them openly contradict each other.

Heck, I came across a big one the other day reading Getting Things Done. On p40 and 142 of the 2001 book, David Allen strictly prohibits time blocking. But on page 87 he says Quote "I recommend that you create a block of time to initiate this process..."

It ought to be easier to find simple solutions than this!

Well...our job in this episode is to ask the question "Why aren't simple task management solutions easier to find?"

But how in the world do you make sense of the hundreds of suggestions made to you each day from people around the internet. A long time ago, you could chase down every lead. 

But now, there are endless rabbit holes to go down. How do you get to the point where you don’t try to pay attention to them all, or unhook yourself from chasing down bright, shiny improvement objects?

Tune into this episode to listen to me and my special guest, Carl Pullein, as we solve this challenging problem together.

But you want to make sure you choose wisely. There is more to do, videos to watch, people to meet - than you can do in three days, even if you don't get much sleep. How can you make the most of the event?

In this short episode, I'll let you know how you can maximise the opportunity. It's the Task Management & Time Blocking Podcast...and I'm talking about the Task Management & Time Blocking Summit coming up on March 3-5, 2022.

Tune into this episode of the Task Management & Time Blocking Podcast to listen to me and my special guest, Art Gelwicks, as we solve this challenging problem together.

However, as you moved to the next level, and the next, it seemed to become harder to keep up the same pace of improvements. In fact, you may have felt like you were stalling. Compared to the early gains you had made, now...it was as if nothing were happening.

Tune into this episode as we explore this frequent problem which afflicts those who are most interested in continuous growth.

Tune into this episode of the Task Management & Time Blocking Podcast to listen to me and my special guest, Augusto Pinaud, as we solve this challenging problem together.

When your task management system fails, you may feel a sense of letdown. You wanted it to work perfectly. But here you are looking at a reality you never intended.

Most of us would feel some negative emotions like guilt or shame. But there's another approach to take altogether, which is based on a new way to think about these failures. What if there were a way to be empowered, rather than defeated, that has nothing to do with positive thinking. Tune in to this episode as we solve this challenging problem together.

What do you do about those?

Here on this podcast, I'll tackle this problem with Ray Sidney Smith and we're hoping to gain some insights and possible solutions that will be brand new...all in real time.

A time demand is an internal, individual commitment to complete an action in the future.

But there's no single place you can trust that will help you come up with your next, best improvement. Here on the podcast, we'll help by first offering up a tricky ask management problem, then exploring a range of possible solutions...all in real time. 

The point is to do more than just offer cliches or repeat stuff said elsewhere. We want to come up with something new...every time!

To financially support this podcast, make a donation to my Patreon Account.