Your Time, Your Way Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived
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WHAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU
ARE SAYING ABOUT
YOUR TIME, YOUR WAY
“Life can often become overwhelming with the multitude of issues demanding immediate
attention. This can lead to missed deadlines and, most importantly, compromised family
time as I scramble to catch up with work. TSS has been a game-changer for me, helping
me remain focused on what truly matters in both my home and work life. TSS has truly
made a positive impact on my productivity and overall well-being. I wholeheartedly
recommend it to anyone seeking a comprehensive approach to managing their time and
achieving a healthy work-life balance.” — Jeff Jackson
“It’s been challenging to focus on what’s important when much of my time is committed to
40+ hours/week at work and the routines of maintaining a house, domestic chores, and time
with my spouse. When I blocked out time on my dream calendar for my areas of focus and
desired core work and compared it to my actual calendar including my regular job and
routines, it was an eye opener.
I am successfully using the Time Sector System at work. I complete my daily planning
every day and weekly plan at the end of the work week. I appreciate the simplicity of the
Time Sector System. Planning for the upcoming week IS all that you need to focus on.” —
Jana Palermo
"I am not a high-powered executive climbing the corporate ladder. I am a fulltime working
mom and I manage the care for my mother, who is in an assisted living facility. For the last
couple of years, things have gotten more complicated. The stress kept building and I
became overwhelmed. When I started missing appointments and deadlines, I realized that I
had to act.
I tried the GTD system, but it wasn’t sustainable for me. I was spending a lot of time
organizing. After all that organization, I often couldn’t find the information I needed.
Your idea of organizing by time was brilliantly simple. That’s what I need, a simple system
that works. I’ve only been using the time sector system for a few weeks, but I am already
noticing the benefits. It is funny how a system can change the way you think. By putting
tasks into buckets based on when I need to get them done, I am significantly better at
prioritizing.” — Ann Ramey, Hawaii
"Your vision of the Time Sector System has been helping me for 3 years. My aim is not
necessarily to be more productive, but above all to be better organized so as to do things
better. The results are there. I'm more efficient and less stressed!” — Guigueek
"I have multiple projects, clients, and tasks ... at any one time. Working fully from home,
motivation is a big issue, and I found it easy to get distracted and drift off course. I'd spent
18 months(!) trying different productivity tools to no avail — time blocking, to-do lists, daily
planning, Trello, etc. — and without a coherent system or process, they didn't work for me.
The Time Sector System. changed my relationship with time. I’d previously put tasks into
‘buckets’ by project or by client, rather than when they needed to be done, which made
managing my diary across all my workstreams confusing and rather disorganized. Moving
to a system with ‘this week,’ ‘coming up,’ and ‘future’ — planning for when things need to be
done, regardless of what they are — has helped me to be more focused, to plan my diary
better, and feel more in control. I can’t imagine working without the system and will be using
it for a long time to come!” — Tracey Warren BSc (Hons) FMAAT
"‘It doesn’t matter how long your to-do list is, if you don’t have enough time to do the tasks.’
This quote truly resonated with me. I often found myself feeling totally overwhelmed and
defeated by my endless to-do lists. The Time Sector System taught me a very effective
method to simplify what is important now and how to stay focused on those critical tasks
without feeling overwhelmed or depressed with other tasks that must wait. The method
reduces distraction and overwhelm. It’s a unique approach that is simply brilliant.
The Time Sector System is a life raft that taught me to efficiently navigate through my
tasks. I’ve been using the system for 6 months, and it truly is a lifesaver. The simplicity of
this system can work for anyone!” — Michelle Philips
"The Time Sector System has been the pivotal ingredient for my success in all areas of my
life. TSS can’t be mentioned without a few of your other teachings: COD, 2+8 prioritization (I
do 3+7 but the principal is the same), as well as daily and weekly reviews. TSS is the
culmination of all these systems that have allowed me to pay off debt, get married, go on
multiple vacations, adopt my wife’s daughter, do countless home renovations, and build an
office addition, all while running a transportation business with 30 employees. TSS helped
me when COVID shut down my business for 9 months, it has helped my business become
debt-free, and it has helped me grow revenues by 40% in 5 years.
A lot of work was required on my part, but TSS helped me stay focused and on task.
Before TSS I never knew what success for that day looked like. I was always feeling that I
was missing something, even if I knew I had added it to my task manager. TSS has allowed
me to say "these tasks are important This Week” without actually making up an artificial
date. TSS has allowed me to sleep easier at night knowing that what is important for This
Week is readily available and only a click away: grab a few tasks after looking at my
calendar and know what success for that day looks like.” — Brian Walsh
DEDICATION
For my wife and little Louis, without either of them, this book would not
exist.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are so many people who have, over the years, helped me to bring this
book to you. There are too many to mention individually, but you know
who you are, so thank you.
I must thank my former General Manager at Carnell Motor Group, Andrew
Donovan, who inspired me to pursue my passion for time management,
productivity, and personal organization. Then there are the students I have
taught here in Korea who showed me a different way to approach work —
some good, some bad.
In addition, I would like to thank Ernie Hayden, who introduced me to Phil
Rothstein, my publisher, who got the ball rolling to bring this book to print,
and to all my coaching clients who, over the years, have challenged me in
so many wonderful ways to find solutions to seemingly impossible
challenges. We did it! We found those solutions.
And finally, but by no means least, thank you to my wife for allowing me to
pursue this journey and listening to my time management ramblings on so
many car journeys across Korea. And little Louis, our beloved Yorkie,
whose demands for long walks by the beach enabled me to have the time to
step back and think things through and produce the content I produce each
week.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title page
Copyright
WHAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE SAYING ABOUT YOUR TIME, YOUR
WAY
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY ED WHITMORE
Introduction
1 Task Centered Time Management Does Not Work
2 Laying The Foundations
Your Foundations are the Things in Your Life That are Important to
You
3 The Eight Areas of Life We All Have In Common
Family and Relationships
Career/Business
Finances
Health and Fitness
Spirituality
Lifestyle and Life Experiences
Personal Development
Purpose in Life
Turning Areas Into Tasks
Projects and Goals Will Always Start At An Area of Focus Level
4 The Tools You Will Need
Paper or Digital?
A Calendar
A Notes Application
A Task Manager
Cloud Storage
What To Think About When Selecting Your Tools
5 The Basics Of A Productivity System: Collect, Organize and Do (COD)
Collect
Primary Collection Tool
Organize
Do
6 Setting Up The Time Sectors
The Setup
This Month and Next Month
Long-Term and On Hold
What Are Routines?
Recurring Areas of Focus
Setting Up Your Notes
The Notes Folders Explained
Goals
Areas of Focus
Projects
Reference
Archive
When do you transfer tasks to your task manager?
The Entrepreneurial Mind
The Anchor Note
Setting Up Your Calendar
What is Time Blocking?
Renegotiating Your Commitments
Your Task Manager
Your Notes App
Your Calendar
7 What Are You Employed To Do?
Your Core Work
Make Use of Your Calendar
Leaders and Core Work
Business Owners And Core Work
8 Why Set Goals?
The Problem With SMART Goals
If SMART Goals Don't Work For An Individual, What Does Work?
Envy is a Really Good Motivator
Building Discipline (And You’re Going To Need It)
How Does This Work in the Time Sector System?
9 Using The Time Sectors
How to Write Your Tasks
Think About and Decide on Tasks (Covert Procrastination Warning!)
Look For Natural Triggers First
Recurring Areas Of Focus
Your Time Sector Folders
Random Tasks
Long-Term and On Hold
Processes vs. Projects
Give Your Processes Time To Work
Checklists
You Don’t Have To Do Everything Today
10 Planning Your Day
The 2+8 Prioritization Method
The Ivy Lee Method
It’s Not About Doing More
Prioritizing Your Day
Prioritization Starts at the Bottom
Why Understanding Your Core Work is Important
What Do You Do About a Long, Overwhelming List?
11 The Weekly Planning Session
Key Questions to Ask Yourself
What About Tasks You Did Not Complete?
Your Optimal Weekly Task Number
Your Weekly Planning Session Environment
The Weekly Planning Matrix
Extraordinary Planning Sessions
An Important Warning
12 Using Time Sectors Every Day
Let’s Look at How a "Typical” Day Might Go
Processing Your Day
What About Email?
Random Tasks
The Daily and Weekly Planning Connection
13 Common Pitfalls
Not Collecting Everything
Not Trusting Your System
Confusing Apps for Systems
Tips For Choosing Apps
Don’t Skip the Planning Sessions
Putting Too Much Into Your Task Manager
Continually Fiddling and Tweaking
Mishandling “Waiting For” / “Follow-up” Tasks
Putting Everything Into Your This Week Folder
Not Finishing Personal Projects
Where’s the Antagonist?
The Pernicious Procrastination Cycle
14 How to Get Focused Each Day
How To Start Your Day Motivated and Energized
Lessons From Two Prolific Figures
15 Managing Email and Messages
Setting Expectations
Clear Your Email First Thing
16 The Four Levels Of Your Personal Productivity
Level Zero
The Beginner
The Intermediate
The Enlightened Ones
17 The Real “Secret” To Getting Things Done
Now, How To Do Less
CREDITS
ABOUT ROTHSTEIN PUBLISHING
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FOREWORD BY
ED WHITMORE
I am a busy screenwriter forever trying to keep the encroaching fire of
multiple deadlines at bay. About three years ago that fire wasn't so much
encroaching as burning down the house and I knew something had to give. I
was lurching from one missed deadline to another and locked in a cycle of
working seven-day weeks, grudgingly foregoing family time and generally
feeling one step behind, sometimes ten steps.
My stressful predicament ultimately sent me on a deep dive into the
burgeoning world of productivity and time management media. Nothing
really stuck until I stumbled on one of Carl Pullein's winningly clear and
actionable videos on how to get the most out of ToDoist, which swiftly led
me to his range of online courses.
It is not an understatement to say that enrolling in Carl's brilliant Time
Sector System course proved to be a life-changing decision. But that change
did not happen overnight. Two of the attributes that mark Carl out from an
ocean of over-promising, underdelivering productivity gurus are his honesty
and realism — he doesn't pretend there are quick fixes or that the road from
disorganized to organized is short and hurdle-free.
Instead, Carl encourages you to build a productivity system that follows
certain core principles and structures but that — ultimately, crucially — can
be fine-tuned to meet your own specific needs.
Once I'd got to grips with the Time Sector System, I felt liberated and
focused like never before. Just by sticking to a few good habits -- capturing
every new task rather than deluding myself, and taking five minutes to plan
the following day, to name but two — I suddenly felt ahead of the game and
not behind! Instead of being burdened by a mile-long to-do list I had a
system that kept me focused on my major projects, while miraculously
allowing time for the myriad smaller tasks and unforeseen things that “just
come up.”
“If it ain’t broke, don't fix it,” as the saying goes, and three years on, while I
occasionally tweak a label here, a task heading there, my use of Carl's
system remains remarkably unchanged. And, tellingly, I have not been
tempted to suspend or even pause its daily implementation.
The reason for this goes to the heart of Carl's productivity ethos. Basically
it's incredibly user-friendly and easy to maintain, qualities that derive from
the underlying principle that the system should work for you, not the other
way around. So many productivity systems are unrealistically complicated,
time-consuming, and ultimately unsustainable. In contrast, Carl offers an
approach that is lean, flexible, intuitive, and fleet-footed, reflecting a
refreshingly simple premise: when all's said and done, only two questions
truly matter: what is the task, and when are you going to do it?
As a TV scriptwriter and executive producer I often used to find myself
caught on the horns of a dilemma — namely, my days were filled with
essential meetings and calls but if I didn't put in serious writing time I'd be
shortchanging the most important part of my job. The proverbial circle that
couldn't be squared. The only solution seemed to be burning the midnight
oil or, more often than not, the 4 a.m. oil...
No longer. In Your Time, Your Way Carl delivers both the tools and the
methodology to truly take charge of your diary, your time and, ultimately,
your life. Speaking personally, implementing these ideas and strategies has
been a game-changer for me. Liberated by a system that optimizes the
time/work balance so effectively, I now always know where I'm supposed to
be and what I'm supposed to be doing. And the concomitant savings in
terms of time and energy have been as astonishing as they are welcome.
Now, rather than merely hoping to spend more time with my family or
taking exercise, those aspirations have become firm and regular fixtures.
Your Time, Your Way is a brilliantly comprehensive, all-in-one-place
summation of Carl's productivity ethos that's practical, inspiring, and
definitive. But its scope extends far beyond the workplace to encompass our
life goals, spiritual needs, general happiness, and wellbeing. With his
infectious blend of enthusiasm and pragmatism, Carl outlines clear,
actionable steps that will turn seemingly unreachable ambitions into
concrete realities. He urges us to think deeply about what's truly important
to us and to focus and prioritize our precious time accordingly. As such,
Your Time, Your Way transcends being just another time management
book — it is nothing less than a guide to living your best life: happy,
balanced, ordered, and — of course — productive.
Ed Whitmore
May, 2024
Introduction
My time management and productivity obsession began nearly thirty years
ago. I vividly remember painstakingly drawing out exam revision
timetables with a pencil and ruler when my middle and high school exams
approached. I would use different colored pens for each subject and create
beautiful timetables with built-in break periods and days off.
I loved it! I was great at creating the timetable; just terrible at doing
revision and exams.
My love of productivity and time management comes from competitive
athletics. As a teenager, I was encouraged to run by an inspiring teacher,
Mr. Farrow. He encouraged me to take up cross-country running, and this
was the first time I found myself good at anything. I was not a model pupil
and languished in the bottom sets in all the key subjects: mathematics,
English, and science. But when I took up cross-country running, I found
myself at the head of the pack. It seemed I was a natural!
My coaches gave me training programs, and all I had to do was to follow
the schedule. Those schedules taught me how to manage my time. I went to
school, and then after school, I ran. Sometimes at the running club, other
times on my own. Then I came home and did my homework. I quickly
learned that the key to success at running (and academic studies) was
consistently following a plan and applying a little persistence.
