TimeCrafting is a systematic approach for attention management [developed](https://click.convertkit-mail.com/4zu233pgqru7ulkwgrix/6qhehoup8owqvqho/aHR0cHM6Ly9taWtldmFyZHktZG93bmxvYWRzLnMzLmNhLWNlbnRyYWwtMS5hbWF6b25hd3MuY29tL0ZyZWUrT3B0LUlucy9UaGUrVGltZUNyYWZ0aW5nK1N0YXJ0ZXIrS2l0LnBkZg==) by Mike Vardy. Its purpose is to align one's personal expectations with one's capability, while acknowledging the realities of living in a chaotic and information-rich world. TimeCrafting provides a way of giving oneself permission to be distracted by creating a trustworthy system for redirecting attention back toward one's priorities. In so doing, one increases the [joy of work](https://poets.org/poem/work-4). This is achieved in part by simplifying the planning process by grouping tasks according to a common variable. Macroscopically, it distills the day into 2 questions: **What day is it?** and **What is today's focus area?** The responses to these questions direct the set-up of the work environment and thus create a harmonic flow between tasks. On a more detailed level, it is a method of creating [[situational awareness]] about one’s state of mind and availability of resources given the work setting. While it is popularly understood as a productivity method within corporate culture, I personally adapt timecrafting to the principles of *chronos* and *kairos* in broader consideration of my time as a whole. It is a means of determining how I [[Presence as a Skill|spend]] the long now, building in flexibility to accommodate disturbance. In addition to a strategy for organizing the hard skills of [[#managing time]], it is a means of reframing how I think about time and my [[Agency]] within it. ### Reframing Time [[Capitalism]] encourages us to think about time as a resource rather than a perpetual experience. It determines wages, work and leisure, when we should eat or sleep. Thus we are never truly living or working in the present, but rather living and working *toward* a future desire or obligation. This limits both quality of life and work. The concept of [[Craft|crafting]] one's time lends itself to the idea that it is not a personal commodity that is traded in exchange for money, but rather an object that can be manipulated to suit one's needs or circumstances. Reframing our relationship with time is a simple matter of redefining the clock. The clock is a tool not a [tyrant](https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time). It provides as much meaning as a tape measure. It tells us *how* to move between our obligations, not *when* to arrive. A late appointment can be resolved with a quick text or phone call. A meal can be prepared at the first hunger pang. [[The sun]] can signal a wakeup. #### Leitmotif *[Leitmotif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif)* is a musical term used to describe a recurrent idea throughout a musical or literary composition. Instruments and arrangements are used to identify specific characters or concepts within the work. The best illustration of this is Tchaikovsky's *[Peter and the Wolf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_the_Wolf)*, though perhaps a more familiar example are the [various musical phrases](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-field-guide-to-the-musical-leitmotifs-of-star-wars) in *Star Wars*. [[Music]] is a cognitive cue to indicate the mood of a particular scene, a means of orienting an audience around a theme. Similarly, I use [[Themes - Questions|themes]] to organize my intellectual life, thus the leitmotif helps provide a rhythm to the workday. #### Personal - Body - Exercise - Meal Planning - Mind - Learning/Development - Reading - Spirit - Ecology - Breath - Esoterica #### Professional - Planning - Design - Studio - Installing - Planting - Reflecting - Repairing - Revising - Learning/Development ### Managing Time #### Areas Areas are generalized categories of responsibility, effort, or interest, that have specific tasks attached to them week to week. These include daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance tasks such as washing the dishes (household) and balancing checking accounts (finance). Depending on the number of obligations or amount of interest, areas for one person may contain nested responsibilities that another person consider an entire area. For instance, because I have both an accountant and a wealth manager who help me manage personal finances, I nest "finance" under my "household" area. However, because I manage my own business finances, I have "finance" as a specific area of responsibility that I review on a weekly basis. #### Professional ##### Studio - Design - Admin - Legal ##### Finance - Accounting - Payroll - Revenue ##### People - Clients - Colleagues - Contractors ##### Marketing Marketing has two elements, research and expression. Content is an expression of research. This includes web development, data science, writing, journaling, and note-making. - Research - Website - Social ##### Dolores - Learning/Development - Ideas - Mind/Spirit - Planning/Infrastructure #### Personal Beyond Body/Mind/Spirit, most tasks occur on the weekend, which follows the Home leitmotif. ##### People - Family - Friends - Neighbors - Sassafras ##### Household - Finances - Projects - Admin ##### Travel - Truck #### Modes **Modes** of work are an intersection between the location, resources, time available, and state of mind at any particular instance. The first three variables are fairly straightforward, and each variable affects the one following it with the last, state of mind, encompassing a suite of non-work related conditions. Location will determine which resources and time blocks are available, and will affect state of mind as the office tends to provide less distractions than home. Resources are the tools, equipment, colleagues, hardware and software that are to hand in a given time block. Time availability is simply the window between events on a schedule. This window can intentional or interstitial, ie it has been set aside for a specific task or it is a period of waiting. State of mind is a composite of the interactions between the first three variables and additional factors that fall along a [hierarchy of needs](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MaslowHierarchy.png). ##### Location - Studio - Remote - On site - In transit The interstitial location-time relationship tends to be most overlooked, as these are opportunities to accomplish 5-15 minute tasks that may become longer tasks if not attended to. While we tend to associate time availability with location, there are windows hidden throughout the day to perform quick, anytime tasks that may be overlooked. Using time and resource tags in a task management system is a useful way to find these opportunities. #### Task Planning ##### Tags I assign tags to projects and tasks within it to filter based on time to complete, tools or applications used to complete, and trades or themes associated with the task. For instance, if I am using Vectorworks (my CAD software), I can filter other tasks that may be outstanding while the software is open and knock a few out while I haver the application open, even though they may not be part of the day's priorities. #### Calendar Planning The calendar is a tool for guiding me through the day, week, or month. It is not a set of obligations. Since [[the week]] is the ubiquitous form of social and economic time management, I use it to create settings in which I can fulfill my social and economic commitments. However, I remain wary of the clock as a [[The Tyranny Of Time|political tool]] that may interfere with quality of life and work. The calendar utilizes the concept of vertical (weekly) and horizontal (daily) planning to accommodate modes of energy, time, and resources to where tasks will be best allocated. ![[Sketch_timeCrafting.png|800|center]] ##### Maker's Schedule v Manager's Schedule [Different roles require different modes](https://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html) of framing time. A management role generally revolves around checking in with those performing work and organizing for future tasks, while a creative role is immersed in the details of an active project. For this reason, managers typically work in hour-to-hour blocks, while laborers and makers use half-day blocks. Designated office hours are designed for those whose work spans both modes. ##### Horizontal Planning A mode of work that happens every day. Not the same task, but simply a block of time that prioritizes a personal or professional area. How to make this flexible to accommodate day-to-day flow of work? Most important time block is morning creative work, *Deep Work.* These periods are best organized by [[vardy - TimeCrafting#^8dd2b6|resource modes]] or [[vardy - TimeCrafting#^671686|activity modes]] as they determine how to set up the work environment. These periods take precedent over [[TimeCrafting#Vertical Planning|vertical planning]]. - 3 hour deep work session in the morning. - Ideally 8-11 AM. Average time - 1 hour body session in the morning - 20 minute mind/spirit session morning evening - 20-60 minute mind session in the afternoon. See daily [[2022 Mid-Year Goals#Mind|habits]] in Mid-Year Goals. ##### Vertical Planning An area of work that has a designated block of time every week. This gives the daily [[to-do list]] a primary focus. Regularly scheduled tasks that do not require deep concentration fall into this planning type. ##### Sprint Planning Occasionally a project has to occur inside a designated window of time, rather than structure into a stable work week. Following the musical theme outlined above, we could think of this as a [bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_(music)) or interlude. This type of planning is for projects or project phases that require a short period of consistent effort and attention. Plant installations would be a good example. These periods bypass horizontal and vertical planning and have the greatest priority. Typically these should be paired with [[TimeCrafting#Seasonal Themes|seasonal themes]] as project execution tends to revolve around opportunities and constraints found in each season. #### Seasonal Motifs These are used to help organize longer term projects around 30-90 day completion times. If a project cannot be completed within 90 days it should be reviewed. - Landscape Design & Theory - Learning & Development - Planting & Construction - Ecology & Relationships