I wanted to add a lesson that I learned from the tech world on how to properly estimate how much you can do in a day. Most people think, "I should estimate tasks by Time". This is well-meaning but less effective than estimating by Complexity points. In this way, you can better figure out how much you can handle in a day and also in a week. The scale is 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 (basically Fibonacci sequence). The point is each level up in complexity is much more complex and thus easier to separate out and plan for. 0 is sending a text to someone, 1 is updating some text or writing a quick email, 5 is like updating a bunch of rules or rearranging a notion dashboard, 8 is creating a new dashboard, 13 is a project and should really be broken down into further tasks. With that, you can then actively figure out how much you can handle after keeping track for a week or so. Maybe you can only handle 20 "points" a day. Maybe more or less. And once you have a baseline you can also use that as a metric to figure out if you are improving your productivity over time or if you had a bad week. Taking this to the logical conclusion, you can then take the sum of your complexity points for all the tasks to a project and the average amount of points you can handle per day to estimate how many days it would take to complete a project. WAY more reliable than estimating each task by how many minutes or hours it would take. Last note: Complexity does not always correlate to time. Something like manual data entry might be time-consuming, but not that complex while linking databases might be complex but won't take that much time. TL:DR. Time estimations are terrible and usually wrong. Use points to more accurately predict what you can do.
@@ericchen74 Because its a non linear approach, and that sequence corresponds to Fibonacci (each number is the sum of the last 2). If we go with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 the difference between each number would be: 100%, 50%, 33%, 25% and 20%. If we use the Fibonacci scale we get after the 0 increments of: 100%, 50%, 66%, 60%, 62.5%. This greater division between percentages then obeys the Weber's Law, which states that the difference we can identify between objects is given by a percentage (telling the difference between 1 pound vs 2 pounds AND telling the difference between 20 pounds vs 21 pounds, same 1 pound difference but a lot harder with a small percentage increment).
Did you just summarize agile sprints there :) Assigning complexity rather than time is interesting, but frankly I didn't get it: How does complexity help in cases where the task is simple but time consuming (e.g. data entry). Assuming it's a real long list of data, if I assign a low complexity to it how am I better estimating what I can handle that day? Chances are that I will assign it a 3 but it will take the whole day and the 8 I assign the next day (e.g. linking databases) will actually take way less time. So I can link 2 databases a day where I can only do 1 of the data entry test. Didn't I just estimate wrong assigning the data entry task less then? What am I not seeing?
Hello August, one more fella that you touched his life here. Amazing content, love how you structure things up. I've tried many, MANY productivity hacks but none gave me the feeling of "This clicks perfectly with me!" like your PPV system. Just loving it! Had my Notion setup and been doing it for 3 days now and cannot thank you enough already. Will do my best to keep it going! And as many said, looking forward to Google Calendar video! Wish you luck with moving the studio as well. Cheers, Erdi
I was just looking for a new note app, wanted to move from one note... Found this channel, two weeks later I've watched every last video and build a whole new system in notion (watching in 2x speed :D)... Man, this is a really great value you are providing us. Thank you and keep moving forward...
This helps a lot, I found my mistake, I have implemented the PPV system the mistake or the point of improvement for me is to make the to do list realistically achievable, having classes till afternoon and a bunch of tasks every day makes it really just shuffling tasks forward each night, and that becomes demotivating pretty fast, as there is no fulfillment of completing the list also there is a feeling of dread and anxiousness lingering that there is a lot to be done. I am looking forward to implementing this, just making bite-sized lists also the time blocking tips would be helpful, I have been using timeline view recently to time block not really pleased by it, waiting for next week's video too. Also did I mention you improved my life a tonnn! thank you so much August, keep up the great work!
As always thank you for all of the valuable insight. I’ve been thinking about how I can improve my daily planning after a recent newsletter you sent out. I also appreciate your pragmatic approach towards what you do in life. Giving yourself the flexibility to schedule your days depending on the circumstances allows you to be adaptable and choose an approach what works for what you’re doing.
I'm going to have to disagree with August on something here... and I hope it doesn't upset too many people: I use '🏃♂️' on my "Errand" tasks and not '🚘'.
I was experimenting time blocking in notion, trying to integrate it with google calendar but the widget looks awful. Thankfully I solved the issue using the timeline as a time blocking tool. The tasks don't stack as blocks but you can easily adjust the time of the tasks this way and have a visual representation of your day
Thanks August, another helpful video confirming that I am doing the right thing with my PPV system. I assume that the tasks for the week are set out during the weekly review. The issue I have is deciding where to put everything that is not actually scheduled. I note that you have the majority of your tasks set for the first couple of days of the week and apparently slide the unfinished ones along as you plan each day. Is that a function of not really knowing how long a task may take and therefore giving yourself plenty of room to finish within the week or an attempt to get as much done at the beginning of the week? For me if I do this I tend end up with what turn out to be unrealistic lists on Mondays. I suspect that I tomorrow’s video about time blocking may solve my issue.
Hello, August - I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. May I ask if you maintain daily notes in the form of a journal, where you log meetings, for example, or are these living under project pages, please? Similarly, if thoughts and ideas, or free writing notes come up throughout your day, where do you log them, please? In Notes & Ideas exclusively? Thanks much!
Sorry, that was a mistake. I meant "next video" not "tomorrow's video". But it is already recorded, will probably drop it early next week. Still need to edit it, and moving the studio this weekend.
This was very helpful! What about that outside of work? How do you integrate home or personal projects and give them a priority tag, but not have them muddled between the "work hour" tasks in the same priority. I ask because this distracts me from what I'm doing during "work hours" when I see tasks I want do do later on. Should I just schedule them (but then they wont be able to use the other priority tasks)?
Good question: Add a property to your Action Items (task) database with a selector to choose between "work" and "personal". Then in the Acton Zone dashboard have two toggles instead of one "Today" toggle - "Today - Work" and "Today - Personal". Filter each based on the selector property. Then you can open the Today toggles together or independently as desired.
Those are defined as "Habits & Routines", with designated times of day/week (see the habits & Routines video a few videos back). Often I will cluster these into bundles or groupings -- so Morning Startup will include several of my habits and routines always done together.
@@augustbradley Thanks, morning and bed routine always have the same time but my work hours change day to day so I'm looking for a smart way to schedule other habits in like exercise, stretching etc. Guess I'll plan them the night before like I would any other task.
Hi August, thank you for another awesome life enhancing video. I've been a subscriber of yours here in RUclips and on your newsletter. It's been great. I just want to quickly ask do you sell your life OS notion templates? If yes, how much is it?
Hi Kent, thanks! Really appreciate the feedback. Part of the system, such as the Action Zone (the pace to start when building) are available for free when you subscribe to the newsletter in the link above. The full pre-made Master PPV Template for the entire system is part fo the Notion PPV course I teach, link also above the show notes. If you want to get early access to that before the formal relaunch in March, email us at this address: www.yearzero.io/contact
@@augustbradley Thank you so much for the swift reply. Alright, i just want to buy your entire ppv system as i find it very useful with the sense of urgency😅 like i can't wait for March anymore. Is there any way i or any of your viewers get the full template?
@@_what_the Yes, to get details on the early access option (immediate access), email us at the address listed at this page: www.yearzero.io/contact Thanks Kent!
Hey August ! Thanks for this one, it's really helpfull. Can you tell us about the moment of the day you do this? I tried after dinner but i can feel the mind energy it takes me for the next day. Maybe just after finishing the task of the day. Before dinner so?
I do it when I am winding down the workday at my desk. So end of my last desk working session of the day. Or as you suggested, after your last task of the day is perfect. Hope that helps!
quick question - if you are still answering questions on youtube - how do you get two columns under one toggle? I've been wrestling with my notion for almost an hour trying to make it work! any help would be AMAZING! I want it under one toggle to close it and simplify, but I'm finding that you can't have two columns within one. Did Notion change this?
The "Workspaces: In-Action Studio" was a term used early in the series, it was renamed to "Knowledge Lab" and then ultimately to "Knowledge Vault" later in the series. Look for the "Knowledge Management" and the "Knowledge Vault" videos in this series to understand that part of the system. Good question Nacho!
@@augustbradley awesome! Currently reorganizing my life following the PPV system. It’s an amazing feeling when you see how different things are interconnected and how you start to gain momentum when these things feed each other.
Great video! I am curious how you plan out sub tasks that fall within a larger priority item? Within the PPV system you can create a Project, but I frequently run in to tasks that are not large enough to justify being their own project but still need to be broken into a a manageable list of sub tasks.
In that case make them Dependent Tasks (see link that follows here), or if they're simple enough to keep track of in your head just line them up with sequential Do Dates if you feel you can quickly get them done that way. Otherwise: Dependent Tasks as shown here: ruclips.net/video/wfeGmBKh9xk/видео.html
Thanks. Question: When a project task is assigned a priority and shows up in the daily task for that day, Do you resassign it a new priority in accordance to the other things you have planned that day ? In other words do you use the same priority column for project tasks and daily tasks?
How can you know the night before "you" is wiser than this morning "you"? If I do something else than what I planned last night, I wouldn’t call it deviating from plan, I would call correction.
If something comes up you can always adjust - but then you have something specific to weigh it against and see if it's more or less important. Spontaneous in-the-moment-you is far more susceptible to non-productive impulses and distractions than objective-planning-you the night before. And spontaneous impulses are more likely to put you in reactive mode when there is no clear, thoughtful path already designed for the day. Much more detail on this here: ruclips.net/video/kFBEOZLV1Y0/видео.html True correction is ok if deliberate and considered against the prioritized alternative. But that is not what most people do when they bounce around reactively all day.
I wanted to add a lesson that I learned from the tech world on how to properly estimate how much you can do in a day. Most people think, "I should estimate tasks by Time". This is well-meaning but less effective than estimating by Complexity points. In this way, you can better figure out how much you can handle in a day and also in a week. The scale is 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 (basically Fibonacci sequence). The point is each level up in complexity is much more complex and thus easier to separate out and plan for. 0 is sending a text to someone, 1 is updating some text or writing a quick email, 5 is like updating a bunch of rules or rearranging a notion dashboard, 8 is creating a new dashboard, 13 is a project and should really be broken down into further tasks.
With that, you can then actively figure out how much you can handle after keeping track for a week or so. Maybe you can only handle 20 "points" a day. Maybe more or less. And once you have a baseline you can also use that as a metric to figure out if you are improving your productivity over time or if you had a bad week.
Taking this to the logical conclusion, you can then take the sum of your complexity points for all the tasks to a project and the average amount of points you can handle per day to estimate how many days it would take to complete a project. WAY more reliable than estimating each task by how many minutes or hours it would take.
Last note: Complexity does not always correlate to time. Something like manual data entry might be time-consuming, but not that complex while linking databases might be complex but won't take that much time.
TL:DR. Time estimations are terrible and usually wrong. Use points to more accurately predict what you can do.
Dude... This is gold. Reaaaaaaally a big thanks!
This is very helpful! But why the scale is 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13?
@@ericchen74 Because its a non linear approach, and that sequence corresponds to Fibonacci (each number is the sum of the last 2). If we go with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 the difference between each number would be: 100%, 50%, 33%, 25% and 20%. If we use the Fibonacci scale we get after the 0 increments of: 100%, 50%, 66%, 60%, 62.5%. This greater division between percentages then obeys the Weber's Law, which states that the difference we can identify between objects is given by a percentage (telling the difference between 1 pound vs 2 pounds AND telling the difference between 20 pounds vs 21 pounds, same 1 pound difference but a lot harder with a small percentage increment).
Did you just summarize agile sprints there :)
Assigning complexity rather than time is interesting, but frankly I didn't get it: How does complexity help in cases where the task is simple but time consuming (e.g. data entry). Assuming it's a real long list of data, if I assign a low complexity to it how am I better estimating what I can handle that day? Chances are that I will assign it a 3 but it will take the whole day and the 8 I assign the next day (e.g. linking databases) will actually take way less time. So I can link 2 databases a day where I can only do 1 of the data entry test. Didn't I just estimate wrong assigning the data entry task less then? What am I not seeing?
Thanks a lot for the explanation. Makes sense. I'll try this out.
Liked without watching, just because I got a notification!
i love this notification!
Nice Fernando, first comment prize! 🏆
Time blocking is such a gift. As someone who can get anxious and frazzled easily, time blocking and the stuff you discuss here helps with everything.
Thanks, August! Can’t wait for the time blocking video!
Hello August, one more fella that you touched his life here. Amazing content, love how you structure things up. I've tried many, MANY productivity hacks but none gave me the feeling of "This clicks perfectly with me!" like your PPV system. Just loving it! Had my Notion setup and been doing it for 3 days now and cannot thank you enough already. Will do my best to keep it going! And as many said, looking forward to Google Calendar video!
Wish you luck with moving the studio as well.
Cheers,
Erdi
Awesome Hakkı! Congrats on the progress, keep up the good work.
I was just looking for a new note app, wanted to move from one note... Found this channel, two weeks later I've watched every last video and build a whole new system in notion (watching in 2x speed :D)... Man, this is a really great value you are providing us. Thank you and keep moving forward...
Amazing, welcome to a life you have control over!
Why anyone still uses onenote is way beyond me
This helps a lot, I found my mistake, I have implemented the PPV system the mistake or the point of improvement for me is to make the to do list realistically achievable, having classes till afternoon and a bunch of tasks every day makes it really just shuffling tasks forward each night, and that becomes demotivating pretty fast, as there is no fulfillment of completing the list also there is a feeling of dread and anxiousness lingering that there is a lot to be done.
I am looking forward to implementing this, just making bite-sized lists also the time blocking tips would be helpful, I have been using timeline view recently to time block not really pleased by it, waiting for next week's video too.
Also did I mention you improved my life a tonnn! thank you so much August, keep up the great work!
As always thank you for all of the valuable insight. I’ve been thinking about how I can improve my daily planning after a recent newsletter you sent out.
I also appreciate your pragmatic approach towards what you do in life. Giving yourself the flexibility to schedule your days depending on the circumstances allows you to be adaptable and choose an approach what works for what you’re doing.
Perfection is an illusion, and in life we need to be adaptable as circumstances change. Great thoughts Keenan!
Yesssss ❤️ August dropping more knowledge!
Also liked at the beginning of the video haha! @sojo b. I’ve been waiting ever since he went through the set up of the system
Please do 2 videos a week, I can’t wait for one each week!😂
Once I have a video editor in place, that's what I'm hoping to do!
Seriously I felt a dopamine rush as soon as I got the notification.
I'm going to have to disagree with August on something here... and I hope it doesn't upset too many people:
I use '🏃♂️' on my "Errand" tasks and not '🚘'.
How dare you.
@@corysnider6851 lol
Blasphemy! =)
I was experimenting time blocking in notion, trying to integrate it with google calendar but the widget looks awful. Thankfully I solved the issue using the timeline as a time blocking tool. The tasks don't stack as blocks but you can easily adjust the time of the tasks this way and have a visual representation of your day
Yea having that shown visually is huge
Thanks August!
Great video August.
Keep looking for GC video.
😇😇😇
What's GC?
@@augustbradley Google Calendar or any other Calendar Platform.
@@fuadsinanovic9395 Ah, perfect then!
Thanks August, another helpful video confirming that I am doing the right thing with my PPV system. I assume that the tasks for the week are set out during the weekly review. The issue I have is deciding where to put everything that is not actually scheduled. I note that you have the majority of your tasks set for the first couple of days of the week and apparently slide the unfinished ones along as you plan each day. Is that a function of not really knowing how long a task may take and therefore giving yourself plenty of room to finish within the week or an attempt to get as much done at the beginning of the week? For me if I do this I tend end up with what turn out to be unrealistic lists on Mondays. I suspect that I tomorrow’s video about time blocking may solve my issue.
Hi August, another blockbuster of a video thanks. Do you cover the details of your startup routine somewhere?
A new video! 🥰
Thanks 👍☺️
Hello, August - I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. May I ask if you maintain daily notes in the form of a journal, where you log meetings, for example, or are these living under project pages, please? Similarly, if thoughts and ideas, or free writing notes come up throughout your day, where do you log them, please? In Notes & Ideas exclusively? Thanks much!
Could you make a video on how to create a system for re-occurring daily tasks? Thanks
August thank you so much
"In tomorrow's video..." What?! Two videos in two days?! Is it Christmas already?
Sorry, that was a mistake. I meant "next video" not "tomorrow's video". But it is already recorded, will probably drop it early next week. Still need to edit it, and moving the studio this weekend.
This was very helpful!
What about that outside of work? How do you integrate home or personal projects and give them a priority tag, but not have them muddled between the "work hour" tasks in the same priority. I ask because this distracts me from what I'm doing during "work hours" when I see tasks I want do do later on. Should I just schedule them (but then they wont be able to use the other priority tasks)?
Good question: Add a property to your Action Items (task) database with a selector to choose between "work" and "personal". Then in the Acton Zone dashboard have two toggles instead of one "Today" toggle - "Today - Work" and "Today - Personal". Filter each based on the selector property. Then you can open the Today toggles together or independently as desired.
@@augustbradley brilliant thank you
Do you schedule daily tasks like exercise and meditation in as well? Or you find a time during the day itself?
Those are defined as "Habits & Routines", with designated times of day/week (see the habits & Routines video a few videos back). Often I will cluster these into bundles or groupings -- so Morning Startup will include several of my habits and routines always done together.
@@augustbradley Thanks, morning and bed routine always have the same time but my work hours change day to day so I'm looking for a smart way to schedule other habits in like exercise, stretching etc. Guess I'll plan them the night before like I would any other task.
@@armandomlb498 Yes, with a variable schedule that is a good idea!
Hi August, thank you for another awesome life enhancing video. I've been a subscriber of yours here in RUclips and on your newsletter. It's been great. I just want to quickly ask do you sell your life OS notion templates? If yes, how much is it?
Hi Kent, thanks! Really appreciate the feedback. Part of the system, such as the Action Zone (the pace to start when building) are available for free when you subscribe to the newsletter in the link above. The full pre-made Master PPV Template for the entire system is part fo the Notion PPV course I teach, link also above the show notes. If you want to get early access to that before the formal relaunch in March, email us at this address: www.yearzero.io/contact
@@augustbradley Thank you so much for the swift reply. Alright, i just want to buy your entire ppv system as i find it very useful with the sense of urgency😅 like i can't wait for March anymore. Is there any way i or any of your viewers get the full template?
@@_what_the Yes, to get details on the early access option (immediate access), email us at the address listed at this page: www.yearzero.io/contact Thanks Kent!
@@augustbradley alright. Thank you so much 🙏 really appreciate it.
@@augustbradley done, sent you an email. Thanks again
Hey August, how would you go about setting up deadlines such as tests or lab assignments or school projects in your system?
The Word is ”realistic expectations”... Why am I always so optimistic that just moving all items to another day takes 20 mins ...
Hey August ! Thanks for this one, it's really helpfull. Can you tell us about the moment of the day you do this? I tried after dinner but i can feel the mind energy it takes me for the next day. Maybe just after finishing the task of the day. Before dinner so?
I do it when I am winding down the workday at my desk. So end of my last desk working session of the day. Or as you suggested, after your last task of the day is perfect. Hope that helps!
quick question - if you are still answering questions on youtube - how do you get two columns under one toggle? I've been wrestling with my notion for almost an hour trying to make it work! any help would be AMAZING! I want it under one toggle to close it and simplify, but I'm finding that you can't have two columns within one. Did Notion change this?
Where do you get all of these extra emoji icons? They are amazing!
Amazing content, August. How do you use the Workspaces: In-Action Studio. Would be great to have a video on that. Best
The "Workspaces: In-Action Studio" was a term used early in the series, it was renamed to "Knowledge Lab" and then ultimately to "Knowledge Vault" later in the series. Look for the "Knowledge Management" and the "Knowledge Vault" videos in this series to understand that part of the system. Good question Nacho!
@@augustbradley awesome! Currently reorganizing my life following the PPV system. It’s an amazing feeling when you see how different things are interconnected and how you start to gain momentum when these things feed each other.
Great video! I am curious how you plan out sub tasks that fall within a larger priority item? Within the PPV system you can create a Project, but I frequently run in to tasks that are not large enough to justify being their own project but still need to be broken into a a manageable list of sub tasks.
In that case make them Dependent Tasks (see link that follows here), or if they're simple enough to keep track of in your head just line them up with sequential Do Dates if you feel you can quickly get them done that way. Otherwise: Dependent Tasks as shown here: ruclips.net/video/wfeGmBKh9xk/видео.html
How do I make the priority tag show up in the "Do Date" Calendar view; I can only make the name show up. Thanks.
Thanks. Question: When a project task is assigned a priority and shows up in the daily task for that day, Do you resassign it a new priority in accordance to the other things you have planned that day ? In other words do you use the same priority column for project tasks and daily tasks?
I believe August _always_ has tasks connected to projects..
How can you know the night before "you" is wiser than this morning "you"? If I do something else than what I planned last night, I wouldn’t call it deviating from plan, I would call correction.
If something comes up you can always adjust - but then you have something specific to weigh it against and see if it's more or less important. Spontaneous in-the-moment-you is far more susceptible to non-productive impulses and distractions than objective-planning-you the night before. And spontaneous impulses are more likely to put you in reactive mode when there is no clear, thoughtful path already designed for the day. Much more detail on this here: ruclips.net/video/kFBEOZLV1Y0/видео.html True correction is ok if deliberate and considered against the prioritized alternative. But that is not what most people do when they bounce around reactively all day.
how can we get the notion ppv templete ?
✅w
omg Ted still hasn't moved the ball?
I know, what a deadbeat!
It must be so embarrassing for AZ to have August announce it in the public that wishing him/her is not too important (just joking)
It was a good episode, but I felt this had too much just filler.