Leave with defensible priorities, protected time, and a simple way to review progress.
Module 02 · Workbook
Workbook: weekly priority system
Observe one week, choose three priorities, protect focus blocks, and define evidence of progress.
Make the work that deserves attention visible.
A full calendar does not prove progress. Without explicit criteria, urgent work displaces important work.
Diagnose, decide, block, execute, and review. Each step leaves an observable artifact.
Deliver a short activity log, three justified priorities, a protected calendar, and a review with decisions for the next week.
00 · How to use this workbook
How to use this workbook
Start in class, deepen through practice, and consolidate only with reviewable evidence.
- 01
Frame the caseState the case, desired result and evidence you want to observe.
- 02
Prepare the inputsGather what is needed, acknowledge boundaries and use the three preparation prompts.
- 03
Work in classComplete the essential practice and retain initial evidence.
- 04
Go deeperOpen each detail to review actions, criteria, examples and connections.
- 05
Consolidate and transferMeet the criterion, review the evidence and test the practice in another context.
Orientation
Your week as evidence
Use your own records to choose three results, protect blocks and adjust one rule without demanding perfection.
- Use case
- One real week of work or study.
- You are ready when
- You have a calendar, tasks and personal authority to test a change.
Inputs
- One-week calendar
- Commitment list
- One meaningful result
Define your case
Define your case
Write only what is needed to frame the practice. These fields are neither saved nor sent.
Preparation prompts
Preparation prompts
Go deeper3 · Preparation prompts
Observable period
Bound the period and its records.
- Receives
- weekly activity log
- Produces
- Period and sources
Which seven days can you reconstruct from records? State what depends on you and your boundary.
Guiding result
State the result that will guide classification.
- Receives
- Activity value map
- Produces
- Result and evidence
Which concrete result should be closer to done? State what depends on you and your boundary.
Boundaries and permissions
Expose constraints before designing.
- Receives
- Three justified priorities
- Produces
- Declared constraints
Which data, commitment or boundary can you not change? State what depends on you and your boundary.
Resources in this module
From busy to productive
Turn a real week into a visible priority system: three justified outcomes, protected blocks, and a final review.
00 · Before you begin
Before you begin
Prerequisites
- You have a calendar, tasks and personal authority to test a change.
Inputs
- One-week calendar
- Commitment list
- One meaningful result
Limits
- Work with a bounded, authorized case.
- Do not include personal, confidential or restricted data.
- Stop when evidence, permission or an accountable reviewer is missing.
01–03 · Workbook
Observe one week, choose three priorities, protect focus blocks, and define evidence of progress.
01 · In class
Prepare your week
Build a baseline before intervening.
Week inventory
Build a baseline before changing the system. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Collect calendar and task records.
- Record blocks, context switches and outputs.
- Define which record you can maintain without external help.
Quality criteria
- Covers at least five days or the available period.
- Separates activity, duration and output.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- One real-week log for your review
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Monday 9:00–10:00 meeting; output: decision still pending.
- Avoid
- Do not reconstruct the week from memory when records exist. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- Which part of the week is still invisible? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Classify the work by value type.
Value map
Separate useful work, support, coordination and reaction. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Label each block with one category.
- Mark uncertainty where context is missing.
- Mark one category you would change with new evidence.
Quality criteria
- Every category has a reason.
- Ambiguous cases remain marked.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Activity value map with your stated criterion
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Prepare delivery = value; coordinate access = necessary support.
- Avoid
- Do not call all non-delivery work noise. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- Which category takes more space than expected? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Use the map to locate attention leaks.
Main frictions
Select the two frictions that most alter results. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Group similar interruptions.
- Describe trigger, response and consequence.
- Choose one friction under your direct control.
Quality criteria
- Each friction cites a fact.
- Avoid assigning motives to other people.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Two evidence-backed frictions under your control
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Unruled messages: four context switches and one moved delivery.
- Avoid
- Temporal association does not prove causation. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- Which friction can you change without external authority? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Turn the diagnosis into three results.
02 · Deepening
Practise decisions
Turn criteria into priorities and blocks.
Weekly results
Write three bounded, verifiable results. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- State the definition of done.
- Declare what is out of scope.
- State the trade-off you are willing to sustain.
Quality criteria
- Every result is observable.
- Every boundary prevents scope drift.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Three candidate results for your week
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Deliver a reviewable draft with five cited sources.
- Avoid
- Do not use “work on” or “make progress” as the finish condition. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- Which result serves the immediate purpose most? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Compare the results with shared criteria.
Priority test
Rank results with explicit criteria. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Compare impact, real urgency and effort.
- Add dependency, risk and missing data.
- Choose which uncertainty you will accept before acting.
Quality criteria
- The same criteria apply to all results.
- Ties expose the trade-off.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Priority matrix with your boundaries
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Result A: high impact, dependency cleared, medium risk.
- Avoid
- Do not treat a score as an automatic truth. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- What fact could change the order? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Reserve time for the selected priorities.
Protected calendar
Turn priorities into executable blocks. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Reserve blocks with purpose and output.
- Add preparation and definition of done.
- Reserve a block compatible with your real commitments.
Quality criteria
- Every priority has assigned time.
- The calendar keeps realistic margin.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Protected weekly calendar compatible with your commitments
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Tuesday 9:00–10:30: draft; output: reviewable version.
- Avoid
- Do not fill every free slot or ignore fixed commitments. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- Which block needs prior preparation? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Define the interruption response.
03 · Consolidation
Transfer one rule
Compare facts and design the next cycle.
Execution record
Compare the plan with what happened. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Mark blocks completed, moved or cancelled.
- Record the evidence produced.
- Personally mark each output as achieved or pending.
Quality criteria
- Every status has evidence.
- A deviation retains its context.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Plan-versus-execution record for personal use
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Block completed; partial output; one source still needs review.
- Avoid
- Do not confuse attendance in a block with a completed result. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- What decision became possible because of the record? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Explain one deviation without automatic justification.
Deviation analysis
Explain one difference between plan and facts. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Describe fact, condition and response.
- Separate personal control from external dependency.
- Separate the response you could personally change.
Quality criteria
- The explanation uses facts.
- The action addresses the observed condition.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Deviation note with one chosen response
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: The block started late because input was not ready; prepare it the day before.
- Avoid
- Do not turn one case into a universal rule. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- What alternative was under your control? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Choose one rule to keep and one to adjust.
Rule for next week
Turn review into a testable adjustment. Use your own week and a boundary you can sustain.
Go deeperQuality criteria
How to apply it
- Keep one useful practice.
- Change one friction and schedule review.
- Choose the personal rule you will test for one more week.
Quality criteria
- The rule is concrete and bounded.
- A review date and evidence are defined.
- The personal boundary is explicit.
- Produces
- Reviewable weekly rule for the next cycle
- Example
- Synthetic personal example: Prepare inputs the day before; review on Friday.
- Avoid
- Do not change many rules at once if that hides what helped. Do not label care or personal duties as “noise”.
- Reflect
- What evidence will keep or remove the rule? What will you choose to do differently?
- Connection
- Add the rule to the visible system.
Transfer
Repeat the system weekly and change one rule when evidence reveals recurring friction.
Turn a real week into a visible priority system: three justified outcomes, protected blocks, and a final review.
Test one rule for another week
Repeat the cycle without changing many conditions at once.
- Choose one rule under your control.
- Record evidence at close.
- Choose keep, adjust or remove.
- Evidence
- Two comparable weeks and one documented decision.
- Review
- At the end of the next week.
Closing rubric
Closing rubric
Initial
A partial record exists, but criteria or evidence are missing.
Applicable
Priorities, blocks and review connect to evidence.
Transferable
The rule repeats, is reviewed and keeps clear boundaries.
Playbook
Continue with the next resource in the journey.
Workbook → Playbook