Time is strange and elusive. The older I get the faster it seems go. The times I have a better grasp of the time I have left (days, weeks, months and years) are when I can see my current place in relation to everything else.
From this vantage point I am able to break down the projects I have into a clear time frame in which to get them done. It lays out the year in a way I can wrap my head around.
The best tool for this is a calendar. While I am dependent on my digital calendar I benefit a great deal from a physical calendar. Digital calendars leaving me wanting a spatial understanding of the weeks, months and year ahead.
It’s too easy to scroll through the year without knowing what a week or three months mean in relation to each other. There’s no context ratio (1:7. 1:4, 1:12) to gives me a sense of how they work together, of what I have to work with.
I find these kinds of constraints helpful. Without them I tend to drift and lose sight of any direction I had. The constraints give me something to leverage my time and effort against. Maximizing creativity and innovation.