We must realize saying yes to one thing means saying no to something else. Time is a zero-sum game. And, our productivity is not about doing more things; it’s about doing the right things.
- No location available
-

Once you categorize your tasks into these zones, you’ll be able to set up your desired budgeted time for each zone. For example, if you feel you’re overspending time on chores and admin work during the week and would like to allocate more time to your deep work, you can set up your goal in SkedPal and your schedule will be produced based on your desired allocation.
- No location available
-

The best way to measure your productivity is to see what you’re spending your time on. The traditional definition of productivity in the industrial age – which was getting more done – is no longer valid in the knowledge worker age. What matters most now is whether you’re doing the right things. Do you spend most hours of your day firefighting, jumping from one distraction to another, or do you have quality, focused time on deep work? Do you feel accomplished at the end of the day having completed tasks that move the needle for you? Or, after a long, busy, and exhausting day, you ask yourself: where did my day go?
- No location available
-

The following zones are recommended but you can design your own zones. Make sure you keep your zones between 3 to 5; otherwise, it’ll be overwhelming to maintain them.Focus Zone – These are high-value tasks that move the needle for you. They are, nevertheless, difficult and demand a lot of cognitive energy. Usually, you want to make sure you have the minimum hours of focus zone tasks each week.High Leverage Zone (Blast Through) – These are high-impact tasks that add good value to the end result, and they are not as difficult as the focus zone.Chore Zone (Necessary Evil) – These are administrative/drudgery tasks that must be done. They do not, however, add a direct impact on your work result.Low Energy Zone – These are easy tasks that you want to get done at some point but they’re not a priority. Nevertheless, they still demand your time.
- No location available
-

A zone budget is basically the maximum amount of time that can be scheduled per day and/or per week. For example, if you do not want to spend more than 5 hours weekly on tasks in the chore zone, you want to set a budget of 5 hours weekly for this zone.
- No location available
-

It’s worth noting that in addition to the zone budgets, you can enforce a budget at the line level; i.e. you can set a budget for a specific project or task as well.
- No location available
-