Building a 21st Century Time Management System. (FAQ)
By: Carl Pullein
Tags: Work, Work Life Balance, Productivity, Time Management, Time

Since launching the Time Sector Course, I have received a lot of positive feedback from people telling me how it has transformed the way they see their tasks. It seems I was not the only one who found having to manage projects, next actions, single actions and contexts in their task manager took up a lot of time, time that could better be spent doing the work we had to organise and manage.

As with anything new, there are inevitably some questions that have arisen, and I want to answer the more common ones here so if you have set up the Time Sector System (TSS) these answers can help you to develop your way of managing your work.

What’s the difference between a “core task” and an “area of focus”?

Nothing. In the course, I highlight the need to identify the tasks that drive your projects and goals towards successful completion — those 20% of tasks that drive 80% of your success.

Too often we get caught up in the trivialities of a project or a goal. We spend too much time trying to decide which gym to join instead of doing the exercise. We spend too much time researching blog posting platforms instead of writing the blog posts etc. When you take a little time to identify the tasks that move your projects and goals forward, you find you make far better progress.

What’s the difference between an area of focus and a routine?

An area of focus is a task that directly contributes towards a project or goal’s successful outcome, or it is a task that is an integral part of the work you do. For example, if you are in sales making appointments to talk with your potential clients/customers is an area of focus. Doing the admin — expenses, activity reports, etc. — would be routines.

The way I see it is; if it would not be a problem if you missed doing a task for a day or two, then it is likely a routine. If it would cause a problem either in your work or with a project or goal if you missed doing the task, then it is likely to be an area of focus.

Areas of focus contribute to the successful outcome of your projects and goals. Routines do not take your life further forward but need doing — things like taking the garbage out, washing your car, checking your bank accounts etc.

Does the Time Sector System work with teams?

Yes, it does. I am currently working on a programme that will introduce the TSS to teams and to recommend a few tools that will make using the TSS within a team as seamless as possible.

If you are considering introducing TSS with your team, make sure you are using tools you can share with your team. Todoist, for example, has a business version which will allow you to allocate this week’s tasks to your team members and you can share notebooks in Evernote and OneNote very easily with your team. Hence, they have access to the team’s projects.

You also have services such as Microsoft Teams, Slack and Twist that are designed for teams that you could create channels that manage your projects.

Do I have to use the Time Sectors of “This Week”, Next Week” “This Month” and “Next Month?

Not necessarily. If you are using the TSS in your company, you could create sectors for each quarter. I would still recommend you use “This Week” and “Next Week”, but you could replace “This Month” and “Next Month” with “This Quarter” and “Next Quarter”.

The purpose of creating time Sectors is to focus you on “when” you will do a task. The actual sectors per se need to work for the way you work, so if you feel managing your work by quarters would work better for you, then use quarters instead of months.

How do I use “ticklers” with the TSS?

You do not need a particular folder for your “tickler” tasks anymore (a tickler task is something you want to be reminded of on a specific day). For the most part, you can add ticklers to your calendar as an all-day event.

However, if you prefer them to be in your to-do list manager then add a date for when you want to be reminded of the task and put it in the sector you want to be reminded of it.

For example, if you have an event you may or may not want to attend later in the year, you can add the task to your “long-term” sector, with a date, and so when it comes to having to make a decision the task will come up in your daily list.

How do I manage my waiting for tasks?

This depends on the number of waiting for tasks you have. I probably have two or three each month, so I add them to the project note. As the project is active, I will be working from the project note so I will always be able to see what I am waiting for at a glance.

If your work involves managing a lot of waiting for tasks, then you could add a sub-folder to your “This Week” sector specifically for waiting for items. But be careful. This can quickly become a dumping zone of tasks you rarely look at. If you find that is the case, remove the sub-folder and manage your follow-ups within the project note instead.

Hopefully, these answer many of the questions you may have about the Time Sector System. If you want to further information on the system, below I have listed a few resources you may find helpful. And if you’re going to implement the system within your team or company, I will be very happy to help by creating a training programme tailored to your team or company’s needs. You can get in touch via email.

List of resources

Introduction to the TSS blog post

TSS Introductory video

The TSS course

Setting up Todoist

Setting up Trello

Setting up Apple’s Reminders

Setting up TeuxDeux

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