Four essential categories to use when planning your week

😎 Happy Tuesday!
Issue #180: a worrying stat about scientific papers, 28 foods you should be eating, and reducing your personal signal-to-noise ratio
By Scott Lamb

Time management, like balancing your checking account and writing a good thank you note, is one of those central life skills that should, by all rights, be taught in schools alongside reading and math. Instead, we’re all left to experiment ourselves and learn from the experience of others.

Last year, productivity coach Carl Pullein shared his weekly planning matrix, a simple way to think about what you need (and want!) to get accomplished each week, and which includes space for both work and life.

To set it up, think through these four areas:

• Core work: The essentials you need to tackle each week
• Projects: Key long-term projects that need progress
• Personal: Personal priorities that need your attention
• Your radar: Future tasks and ideas you need to keep an eye on

The trick is being very realistic with yourself about what’s core work (your literal job) and what projects absolutely need your attention that week. Here’s an example by Pullein himself:

Finding a structure that allows you to reshape your week is work worth doing. The weekly matrix has been hugely helpful to me, but I’m curious, what’s worked for you?

What else we’re reading

• A new study suggests that as many as one in seven scientific papers is fake.
• Blueberries, cherries, kimchi, and 25 other things nutritionists list as the best things to eat as part of your core diet.
• Good designers have a secret superpower: Creating alignment between teams at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels.

Your daily dose of practical wisdom

Want to be more effective? Make sure you have a theory behind everything you’re trying to do, otherwise it’s just noise.

Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter. Sign up here.

Edited and produced by Carly Rose Gillis

Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com

Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and join a community that believes in human storytelling with membership.