Last year, I discussed a time tracking form that I had hacked, based on David Seah’s Emergent Task Timer/Task Planner. It’s obviously a funny time of year, because not only is David working on creating a product out of his form, but I’ve had a request to provide the files for my form as well. Serendipity, anyone?

So, here are the newly updated 2007 versions of my Emergent Task Timer template, inspired by David Seah. I’m providing both the pdf for those of you who just want to use them, and the Visio .vsd files, for those of you who want to make them your very own.

2007 Laser Forms

• With Hours: PDF - VSD
• Without Hours: PDF - VSD

2007 Inkjet Forms (with colour)

• With Hours: PDF - VSD
• Without Hours: PDF - VSD

Last month, I posted my new time tracking form, based on David Seah’s Emergent Task Timer/Task Planner. There have been many comments about it, including requests to make it more laser friendly. David even shared his tips for making it more laser-appropriate. So, I followed the requests/instructions, and am now ready to unveil the new Laser Edition. Here’s what it will look like:

Here are the pdf versions:

• 2006-10-12 #6 (with hours) (pdf)
• 2006-10-12 #6 (no hours) (pdf)

In case you don’t like the laser version, and miss the pretty colours, here are the links to the older version.

• 2006-09-27 #5 (with hours) (pdf)
• 2006-09-27 #5 (no hours) (pdf)

26 Jul 07 12:37 Update: You can get to the 2007 version of the forms here.

I recently posted about my version of David Seah’s Emergent Task Timer/Task Planner. I’ve had a request to post the pdf of my form, and Dave’s given his go-head. In fact, he’s linking to my “mod”:

I’ve been thinking of adding a timeblock line to the Emergent Task Time itself, but I like this solution better. Sweet!

With that kind of praise, how can I resist? So, here goes.

First, a nice image of what the blank form would look like:

I’ve got two pdf versions, one with the times filled in (0800 - 2100 hrs), and one with just blank times. Astute readers will notice that there’s actually two rows of dots before the 0800 start time - that’s because I like to give myself the possibility of starting work as early as 7:30, like that’s going to happen often ;)

GTD Wannabe’s Time Tracker

• 2006-09-27 #5 (with hours) (pdf)
• 2006-09-27 #5 (no hours) (pdf)

Enjoy :)

I’m a big big fan of David Seah, who has created a series of productivity templates, also known as really cool forms for tracking what you’re supposed to be doing, what you’re actually doing, and maybe even how much fun you can have doing it.

His latest oeuvre is called the The Printable CEOâ„¢ VI.1: Emergent Task Planning form, which builds on two of his previous forms, one for a daily menu of stuff to do today, and one for tracking exactly what you have been doing today. The latter one, called the Emergent Task Timer, is one that I’ve been using a lot for the past couple of months. Absolutely love it.

But then he goes and comes out with the Emergent Task Planning form, with a place for tracking how much time you spend on the things you want to do, plus a nice notes area. It looked pretty cool, and I tried it out. Unfortunately, I kept getting lost - I kept losing track of exactly when I was, and when I was working, or not working, or what. The time bubbles on the left side are sized so that you can plan on how big a chunk of time you want to have for a particular task, e.g., 15 minutes blocks in one column, 30 minutes, in another, etc. Also having two places to fill in dots didn’t help me too much; in fact, it was more of a hindrance. Finally, the lunch/dinner thing - there’s a few comments on his post about the fact that not everybody eats at the same intervals ;)

Anyway, I liked the new form, but I really liked the old form, but I didn’t want to go back to the old form, because I had fallen in love with the notes section (and space for scheduling) and even the portrait view of the new form. What’s a girl to do?

Well, since I had a serious deadline, I decided that this was the prime time to design my own form. Enter Visio. Yeah, it sucks sometimes, and crashes more often than not for me, but it’s “reasonably” stable ;) I was able to create a marriage of the ETT and ETP forms, and now I’m in productivity tracking heaven.

I commented about it on Dave’s post about the new form, and he suggested I put up a picture for interested readers. So, here it is. You can compare the picture below (reddish notes added afterwards for your edification) with Dave’s explanation on how he uses his form.

And if this kind of form isn’t up your alley, don’t despair. Dave’s got a form for, I think, almost every kind of productivity strategy! Check out his Printable CEO(tm) Series.

Update [27 Sep 06]: I’ve posted the pdf form(s) for my version of the ETT/ETP in part deux.

I just love the idea of the Hipster PDA. I’m never going to use one (I don’t think) but I love stationary supplies, and the concept of creating a serious productivity tool out of a few index cards (white, coloured, lined, blank, etc.), a bulldog clip, and a beloved instrument of writing just appeals to me. It’s amazing how many people are into this low-tech device. Here’s a few of the more interesting links that I’ve come across in my travels:

• 43 Folders Introducing the Hipster PDA
• Hipster PDA list of template sources
• Supplies: Index Card Wallet

And don’t forget the good folks over at D*I*Y Planner:

• Four Planner Hacks for Paper-Based Productivity

Finally, what about HPDA crossed with notebooks (say, a Moleskine):

• Torg’s Knowledge Base - Hipster PDA