It seems I am on a daily planning tangent.
And that is true. I am testing how the 135 Method of daily planning works for me.
Actually, I am testing it alongside the other three methods I have outlined, too: the Rule of Three, Ivy Lee, and the 333 Method.
In a way, I seem to be living in all four methods.
However, yesterday, I used the 135 Method for planning the day, and it went well.
I had a day of both serendipity (i.e., good things just happened that moved ideas and plans forward) and intentional focus and movement forward.
That’s about the best one can ask for, isn’t it?
Today I want to come back to the middle three in both the 135 and 333 Methods.
I will also clarify what I mean when I say I am living in all four planning methods.
Middle 3 in the 333
The middle three items in Oliver Burkeman’s 333 Method are meant to focus on urgency and emotional resistance.
I think the distinction is that these are not just urgent tasks, but also important tasks.
For example, at the beginning of the month, I must go online and pay my rent for the apartment I am testing.
If I don’t do it by the 4th of the month, I will likely incur a late fee.
If it is the 3rd day of the month, this feels—and is—very urgent and important in my scheme of things.
The emotional resistance idea is pretty fascinating.
This basically means you are resisting taking the necessary action to resolve something or move it forward.
It could be a call you said you would make, a nagging personal errand or task, or an awkward or avoided communication.
Middle 3 in the 135
In this method, the middle three are sort of like “mini” One Things. They are medium-sized tasks that will take 30–60 minutes to complete.
They support other objectives or commitments you have made.
They don’t take the same amount of intense mental focus as the One Thing, but are still important for moving your life forward as you intend.
There’s a podcast I like to listen to called The Goal Achievement Podcast.
The host, Matt East, often gives his daily top three tasks toward the end of the call.
He is doing it to inspire and teach others how to use his method.
I would say he is committed to the Rule of Three method for himself, and it is his recommendation for others, too.
He often likes to say that he does a lot of other things during the day, too, but he always makes sure to do the top three.
His top three often remind me of these types of the 135 medium-sized tasks that take 60 minutes or so to complete.
For example, as I recall, one day he met with a contractor who is helping him get a rental house ready to rent.
He had lunch with his mom.
He went to the gym to “crush it,” as he likes to say.
These are all tied back to larger weekly, monthly, quarterly, or longer-term goals he has.
But still, they sound more like the 135 middle-three types of focus areas, too.
Where Do My Goals Fit?
It’s interesting, because if I were using the 333 Method, then my guitar practice would fit into its middle three.
The reason I would put it there is because I resist it.
I find it painful to face my ineptness at reading notes and playing new scales and such.
Therefore, I often let it slide.
Mailing the birthday card, which I discussed in an earlier article, would also have fit here.
It is something I want to do, but ugh, I don’t do it all the time, so I find it “difficult,” or at least I resist it.
I had to come up with something to say in the card, address the envelope, and walk to the post office because it was already in danger of being late.
It is like a little mini-project in and of itself.
It’s interesting because if I were to reframe this into a bigger and more purposeful goal, I might find more satisfaction in taking the time regularly to send everyone I know a birthday card.
I would be thinking more of the person than the demands on my time and energy.
But, jeez, what a selfish bastard. What can I say?
If I were using the 135 Method as intended, then I would probably put daily rehearsal of 6–12 songs in one of the three slots.
This daily task is aligned with the goal I have of being able to play these songs live at the “drop of a hat.”
It’s also related to eventually re-recording them for release as more polished, produced recordings.
As an aside, I gave Gemini Google my current One Hit Wonders.
It suggested that the daily blog post is my One Thing.
I agree.
Since it takes me three 45-minute walks to ensure I reach 15,000 steps per day, it recommended that those three walks take the place of the three middle slots in the 135 Method.
I also agree.
However, I am beginning to see that the Ivy Lee Method could work for me, too.
it would work if I ignore the “you must do the #1 priority first before moving to #2” rule on the list.
It would essentially be this list, but I would flow from item to item based on my energy and time available. The goal,
however, would be to “get ’em done” every day.
Blog article posted
15,000 steps
Daily guitar practice
Daily song rehearsals
Daily decluttering/cleaning
One urgent and emotionally resisted “to do”
This is what I mean when I say I am kind of living in all four methods.
Still, I think the 135 Method is my favorite.
But let’s see how this goes over the next week.
Perhaps A new Method will emerge?