Effort Maestro

A maestro balances the intensity and mix of the music. We are doing the same with our efforts. There are three useful intensities for your efforts.

• ⚗️ Active: For the most active efforts & projects
• 〰️ Simmering: For back of mind efforts
• 💤 Sleeping: For everything else (random, done, cold storage, etc)

Effort Maestro Workflow

Right click on Efforts and select Open to the right

See to Remember: See at a glance a truer estimation of your efforts.

• What’s active?
• What’s missing?
  • Take a peek into Simmering

Adjust & Rank: Quickly prioritize your efforts and budget your bandwidth

• What efforts need their intensity adjusted?
  • Are there active efforts in “on” that need to be moved to Simmering because you don’t have the bandwidth for them right now?
  • Are there active efforts in “on” that need to be moved to Sleeping because you have completed them?
• What efforts need their rank adjusted?
  • Within each level of intensity
• Did any efforts change in scope or scale?
  • Many times ongoing efforts spin out a new sub effort.
  • Many times efforts turned “on” grow into “ongoing” efforts.

Best Practices for Effort Management

• Active should be less than 10
• Simmering should be less than 25
• Their total should be less than 35

There, feel better?

So what’s the secret?

We are taking the condition of “Intensity” and making it both visible and tangible.

When you view your efforts by level of intensity, it allows you to:

• See a truer estimation of your current efforts.
• Effectively prioritize your efforts at a glance.
• Quickly adjust your bandwidth as needed.

For as much complexity as there can be in PKM, managing efforts by intensity can give you immediate clarity, calm, and control over your efforts in life.