The Calendar Trap: Why Your Task Management System Needs a Complete Overhaul

but also when we are defining tasks, containing the time we spend on them, and structuring them so we can work with them more easily.

Part of what makes modern work so challenging is that nothing ever seems to finish. It’s exhausting,

I recommend capturing as many categories of regular tasks as possible into an increasingly elaborate autopilot schedule: when you review client requests; when you check in on the contractors updating your website; when you prep for meetings; when you read emails or update project management websites. Containing tasks is not about escaping the small

those little tasks that do fit never end! Changing this pattern helps us get to the heart of things and do what’s important.

I recommend capturing as many categories of regular tasks as possible into an increasingly elaborate autopilot schedule: when you review client requests; when you check in on the contractors updating your website; when you prep for meetings; when you read emails or update project management websites. Containing tasks is not about escaping the small

The “Plan vacation” Task, for example, has many moving parts. Left as a singular action item, it will feel overwhelming, which puts it at risk of becoming an object of procrastination and a source of anxiety.