Timeful: Time Management for the Stressed

Like many people I struggle with too much to do and too little time. Each day is an epic battle between my dreams and what others require or ask me to do. I am swamped and at times feel like drowning in the depths of all the chaos that dwells behind every corner and lurks behind every email or phone call. 

"Can you do this? Can you take care of that? You need to do this. This is required ASAP!"

Haven't we heard all of this from either family, friends or employers? Each day is a fight. A stress fueled day of endless chaos and struggling to get a head. 

Like many others, I tried to find salvation in my gadgets and gizmos. Omnifocus, Zippy, Reminders, Remember the Milk, GTD, Evernote, Pen and Paper list, I can continue forever with the tweaks and hacks I've tried. Yet. Nothing has worked so far. 

No system, no gimmick, no hack, no rules, nothing. The wireless network went out, which sends me rushing to patch the issue while it destroys my Pomodoro. My son has a cold and I need to monitor his temperature, which knocks out my plan.  I got sick with the same cold, now my daily habits are all gone. I know sleep 8 1/2 hours day which kills my early morning routine.

Just like everyone else, we set out with good dreams and intentions. Yet, life always has something different.

So I decided to try a new app. Timeful. It combines iOS 7 reminders and calendar together. It offers an unique feature which the app will recommend task to do that you haven't scheduled. Its focus isn't on time management but brain management to quote David Kadavy.

I just got accepted into their Beta and I am trying to see how it fits in my life.

From the start, this isn't a project management tool, but could be used with Evernote to coordinate projects. It isn't a cheap gimmick to do list, because it allow scheduling and keeping on top of your events, meetings, and to dos. 

I am looking forward to using this tool more extensively in the next few weeks and will report back the observations.

Week Plan Review

Weekplan is awesome. As many of you know, there are hundreds of different time-management programs and apps out there. With so many choices its easy to get lost or waste time on apps that are sub-par. While each person will eventually find a program that is right for them, I can safely say I found mine.

What makes WeekPlan different? It is the philosophy behind the app. It combines the thoroughness of David Allen's GTD system with Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. WeekPlan focuses on making you a better person while making sure you keep up with your work flow. 

The layout is clean and minimal

Each day is a to-do list. Moving and editing is a breeze. On the right hand side is the roles you play in life (which comes from Steven Covey's book). Each one of these roles can have goals created under them.

With the paid features you can export your list, sync with Google tasks, and set reoccurring events. 

The cost is 19$ per month or 72$ for six months or 84$ for the year. But please note, that many of the features are free and require no payment. I paid for the year version because I believe this system helps me balance my work, business, spiritual, and family roles so well. The least I can do is pay them for such a awesome app!