Episode 36 -  In the second of our series on managing your focus, we give you the structure to help you set your day up to be efficient, manage your focus and attention, and win at life.

Some of the USEFUL stuff in there is:

Don't wish your life away just trying to get to the end of your dayDemand a high quality of life DURING the day5 Tools and Techniques to bullet-proof your day and make progress towards what's importantSome of it comes from - David Allen's GTDAnd some from - Peter Bregman's 18 MinutesAnd the rest is from mwWe look at the 5 tools in a simple 'manual' way first

A NotebookAn Action ListBucketsA CalendarA Routine

1) A Notebook - Or something to dump your 'head stuff' into...

Stop waking up at 2am because you've just remembered thingsThe journey my Fisher Space Pen took

INTERACTIVE LISTENERS - DECIDE ON HOW YOU ARE GOING TO ENSURE YOU CAN WRITE DOWN ANYTHING THAT COMES TO MIND AND GET IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD

2) Action List - Stop being woolly...

What's wrong with a to-do list? I let you in on the secretThe actual to-do list I was referring to (actually it's a good article)'Write Blog Post' is the wrong thing to have on your listA better version could be:

Decide on Blog Post SubjectWrite first paragraphWrite second paragraphWrite third paragraphReview and edit postChoose an imageUpload to WordpressPost on Twitter

Start with an "Action" and keep it simple

INTERACTIVE LISTENERS - IF YOU HAVE YOUR LIST FROM LAST WEEK, RE-WRITE THE ITEMS ON THERE INTO ACTIONS. A VERB OR ACTION WORD FIRST - AND KEEP IT SIMPLE.

IF YOU DIDN'T DO LAST WEEK INTERACTIVELY, PRACTICE WRITING OUT SOME TASKS AS AN 'ACTION'

3) Buckets - Where you put the stuff ready to do it...

Choosing categories to batch your work. GTD calls them 'Contexts'.Deciding on your buckets. Consider:

Where do you do your stuff?Who do you do it with?What items or devices do you need?What are your different frames of mind?What do you tend to do when you've got high/low energy?

A good resource for inspiration is at - Simplicity BlissMy buckets:

Errands/Shopping - Things to buy, dry cleaners, groceries (we use Wunderlist for this)Home - Clearing garage, painting, houseworkAgendas - Things I do with other people, work, family, everyoneQuick Jobs - Firing off e-mails, reading memo's, updating calendarCalls - Self explanatoryDowntime - Where I put articles, website links or pamphlets for later readingBrain Dead - Cleaning things, tidying, clearing outFull focus - Stuff I have to pay attention to, writing reports, reviewing complex data, meetings. Often these will be things I will use the Pomodoro technique forRoutines - Regular repetitive tasks. Things I do every day/week. All my repeat things are in here from daily meditation to clearing e-mails to zero. My 18 minutes actions are in hereReview - The weekly review, along with any regular reports and info I get which doesn't need full focus, but is also not a 'quick job'Someday Maybe - Things that I don't need to do soon, but which I want to keep on the radar because thay may become live tasks at some point. Be careful as this can easily become a 'dumping ground' so must be cleared out weekly

You need a physical representation of each bucket with the relevant jobs or actions physically inside them. You can use Expander Files, Filing Cabinets, In-Trays, A book divided into sections, Even actual buckets!Note - if you are doing this with pen and paper, it's important to keep a copy of the full action list somewhere ready for your weekly review. You are ensuring that each action is ALSO in one bucket.

INTERACTIVE LISTENERS - DECIDE ON WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE AS YOUR BUCKETS, AND HOW YOU ARE GOING TO PHYSICALLY SET THEM UP

4) Calendar - Where the good stuff happens...