|||

PTPL 111 · You Only Need 2 Calendar Categories For Effective Time Management

Differentiating between Sacred and Frontier territory will keep you focused without sacrificing play time

This week I talk about how applying Geet Duggal’s Frontier time blocking method to my text-calendar is helping me focus, and share a video that perfectly expresses how I’m feeling as I dive into Vim.


You only need 2 calendars to effectively plan your time

I collect time management systems the way some people collect books. Rather than following someone else’s system, I take bits from here and bits from there, putting them together to meet my current needs. Next month’s approach might look entirely different, and I’m more than okay with that.

Geet Duggals Frontier Time Blocking Method (Medium article) is a recent addition to the shelf. In the third of a 3-part series he suggests dividing planned tasks into either Sacred or Frontier territory.

David Allen considers the calendar as sacred territory” — if it’s in the calendar, it gets done.

Appointments are one thing, but what about things you want to block time for, that ought to be flexible? I can set down when I’d like to do certain things, but I can’t control the future events that might derail those plans.

The latter category becomes the Frontier —

…a space where you can imagine possible futures. Events here are events that you will likely complete at some point, but you haven’t necessarily committed to them. As time progresses you have the freedom to play and make these decisions. — Geet Duggal

Workflowy screenshot showing a text based calendar

Regular time blocking always felt too rigid for my liking. I’d end up straying so far from those pretty coloured blocks that I’d lose heart, and quickly abandon the practice.

Defining things as Sacred or Frontier makes sense. Appointments and most important tasks are Sacred, while everything else becomes Frontier, flowing around the Sacred.

Geet’s article goes into detail on this, as well as interesting concepts like the positive side of anxiety and the value of the retrospective view. I recommend reading it if you have a Medium account (I’m still holding out hope that Geet will publish elsewhere as well, sans paywall! His stuff is really good).

During the past few days I’ve applied these concepts to my text-calendar , differentiating the Sacred from the Frontier by making the former bold. So simple! Thus far it’s proving effective in highlighting what’s vital, and what I can shape and shift and mould as circumstances change.

Learning the Command Line — week 5

Johnny Decimal is teaching me the command line. He welcomes input on the way he’s demystifying this baffling super power, so feel free to join in the conversation on the Fediverse.

I mentioned last week that my aim was to learn how to edit a text document, and here I am, doing just that! Johnny rightly pointed out that there’s no need to access my text files via the command line (and he’s right) but I see what I’m doing here as attaching a practical outcome to the learning of a skill.

I’d already learned how to quickly zip around lines in a document in read-only mode with the j and k keys, so the pico editor, requiring a modifier key and new shortcuts, was frustrating.

I took the initiative to replace pico with vim, because it seems more efficient to learn 1-letter commands rather than commands that need a modifier. I feel like 7-year-old Sophie in the video above having fun driving a big truck I don’t yet have a license for! I don’t need this skill for my day-to-day activities. It’s more a way to get familiar with what’s under the hood of the self-driving car I’d come to take for granted.


A beige page with stylised white lines sits at an angle on the left on a white background, with black text overlaying it that reads Plain text. Paper, less PRODUCTIVITY DIGEST

Sign up to receive the latest content in your inbox

Up next PTPL 110 · How to Easily Type  macOS ⌘ Modifier Keys PTPL 112 · Organise Your Stuff— Alternatives to Bartender and Hazel
Latest posts Inktober 2024 PTPL 128 · Keep Your Content Separate From the Container in Which It Lives PTPL 127 · On Backing Up Paper, and Static Websites for Tiny Archives Efficient App Agnostic Tasks in a Single Plain Text File (Obsidian Optional) PTPL 126 · What the Dash-Plus System Looks Like in My OBTF and Analog Notes Word Puzzles (that aren’t Wordle) PTPL 125 · Choosing Between Digital and Analog, and a Plain Text Accounting Update How to Keep Your Wheels Turning Smoothly Despite the Automation Paradox PTPL 124 · Saving Safari tabs as Markdown links, and Mono Fonts in Obsidian Looking Through Windows (From the Outside In) PTPL 123 · ‘Analog Office’ Blog and Tomoe River Planner Recommendations Mastodon and the Fediverse — Social Media’s Brighter Future Celebrating Independent Indie Blogs PTPL 122 · Aligning Your Task List with Your (Changing) Values PTPL 121 · Getting Focused With a 4-Quadrant Weekly Planning Matrix PTPL 120 · Quick Add vs Text Expansion in Obsidian Touch Typing For Classic Book Fans Your Name in Landsat Psst — They Don't Know What You're Talking About PTPL 119 · Yes, You Can Be Plain-Text Enlightened and Still Use Apple’s Reminders! PTPL 118 · My Simple, Sensible Plain Text to Proprietary App Workflow PTPL 117 · Oh, You Like Making Notes! Why Not Use… ? PTPL 116 · Plain Text Accounting Level 1, Complete! PTPL 115 · There’s Something New at the Top of My One Big Text File PTPL 114 · Obsidian, Silver Bullet, and Org-Mode—3 Different Approaches to Working With Notes PTPL 113 · Some Free Tools Cost Too Much PTPL 112 · Organise Your Stuff— Alternatives to Bartender and Hazel PTPL 111 · You Only Need 2 Calendar Categories For Effective Time Management PTPL 110 · How to Easily Type  macOS ⌘ Modifier Keys PTPL 109 · Households With Written SOPs Are More Resilient Than Those Without PTPL 108 · Workflowy’s Plain Text Calendar Beats Obsidian’s
... ... ... ...