Best Laid Plans Time Block Planning and Much More with Cal Newport EP: 18
12 snips
Nov 23, 2020 
Cal Newport, computer science professor and author of the Time Block Planner, joins to discuss productivity and planning. He outlines his capture, configure, control framework. Hear about multi-scale time blocking, using paper and digital tools together, planning weekends differently, and how his planner emphasizes daily attention and repairable time-block grids.
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Why Capturing Reduces Cognitive Load
- Capture everything outside your head to reduce stress and cognitive load.
- Cal Newport credits David Allen: open loops in your head drag down cognitive performance and must be moved into a trusted system.
Actively Configure Your Task Universe
- Configure captured items by clarifying, discarding, and planning them across horizons like weekly and quarterly reviews.
- Spend more time dealing with what you have to do so you plan work instead of only executing reactive tasks.
Block Time Instead Of Following A Task List
- Use time blocking to assign concrete jobs to specific time segments rather than relying on a next-action list.
- Treat the whole day as a gestalt to move pieces for best overall progress, not just the next task.
