The Dexter Method

The Dexter Day Planner is carefully crafted to help you get more done while avoiding the trap of busyness. We call this the Dexter Method.

Summary

If you don't want to read on as I wax poetic about productivity tools I don't blame you, here are the key points:

1. Get clear about what is important to you: dreams, goals, aspirations, etc
2. Don't be afraid to throw tasks away, busy != productive
3. Be honest with yourself about your intentions and capacity for the day
4. Reduce anxiety when you take notes and log tasks as soon as possible
5. Use short focus blocks to beat procrastination and tackle tasks iteratively

Clear priorities (Eisenhower Matrix)

There are more things to do than there are hours in the day, so being clear about our priorities is critical to making sure we spend our precious time wisely.

One of the most popular tools for prioritization is the Eisenhower Matrix. It's a powerful tool that allows you to take a large backlog of tasks and get clear about how you should tackle them, if at all.

The two questions that comprise the Eisenhower Matrix are deceptively simple, but often make me pause and think:

1. Is it important?
2. Is it urgent?

Many of us fall into the trap of believing that everything on our todo list is important, or, in this on-demand world, that everything is urgent.

Read on for tips for thinking through these two questions.

Important (the Cher Rule)

Cher famously said "If it doesn't matter in 5 years, it doesn't matter."

I use this as a way to separate out the tasks that matter (are important) from the ones that feel important but don't actually matter in the grand scheme of things.

Take a minute to think on your hopes, dreams, and aspirations. The things that get you excited or fill you with hope and wonder. Those are the things that are actually important.

Not every task will be important in its own right, but if the task is an important building block in a relationship, project, or dream, it's probably important.

Some things that I would classify as important if they aligned with my goals:

• Researching down payment assistance (if I wanted to buy my first home)
• Preparing for an interview (if I really want the job)
• Booking tickets to see family (if the memories matter to me)
• Calling a friend on the phone (if I know they are having a hard week)
• Signing up for a class (if it's a hobby I want to pursue)
• Lining up a date (if I want to pursue a relationship)

These things all move you closer to a goal, a dream, or a relationship that matter - they're important.

Urgent

In a world where everything feels urgent, even our text messages at times, how do we know if a task is really urgent? I like to ask myself these questions:

• Is there a soft deadline for this task?
• What happens if I complete this task late?
• Is there a hard deadline or point at which this task is no longer valid?
• What happens if I don't complete this task?

If a task is truly urgent then the task has some sort of deadline and you don't want to endure the consequence of missing that deadline.

If the task has a deadline and you don't mind missing it for whatever reason, you may, at some point, chose to simply not do the task in favor of something more important.

Often if I get to the end of the day and one of these tasks is lying around, I will choose to mark it as "won't do" rather than stay up late and miss out on things that are more important to me.

Letting go of tasks is key to breaking out of the urgency / busyness trap and having time to do the things you find most important in your life - even if those things are just spending time with family or getting a full nights rest.

The matrix

Now that we've defined "Important" and "Urgent" we can create a matrix with 4 options:

1. Important & Urgent: These tasks should be completed as soon as possible
2. Important: Make time for these, don't let them rot in the backlog
3. Urgent: Do these soon, let them go, or delegate them if possible
4. Neither: Let them go, outsource them, delegate them, or save them for a rainy day

The Dexter Day Planner uses these four options to automatically prioritize your tasks and bubble up the ones you can't afford to lose.

Be intentional when planning the day

Sometimes we get stuck on autopilot, or we get so busy that we let the day happen to us, rather than spending a moment thinking about what kind of day we would truly like to have.

This small act of thoughtfully crafting our day, and potentially saying "no" to some things early up front, allows us to be more productive and be less busy.

Here's a step-by-step guide to thoughtfully crafting a high-impact day with the Dexter Method:

1. Set an intention for the day

What is the thing you want to get from today? Where are your head and your heart?

Here are some common intentions I find myself leaning into:

• Get stuff done (when I have a task-heavy day and a clear goal)
• Get nothing done (when I'm on vacation)
• Be curious (when I have a meeting-heavy day)
• Rest and recover (when I'm sick)
• Create something (when I start to feel burnout creeping in)
• Be kind to yourself (when I'm learning a new skill)
• Have fun (when it could otherwise be a boring slog of a day)

The possibilities are endless, but if you used the same measuring stick on days where you're ready to crush a backlog of tasks and on days where you're sick, burned out, or on vacation you're not doing yourself any favors.

Intentions let us get honest with ourselves before we pile on the tasks or fill up our calendars.

2. Review tasks that were left behind, overdue, or due soon

When planning today, many times we don't get to start with a blank slate - we have items from yesterday that we didn't quite finish or items that we procrastinated that are getting more urgent by the day.

Instead of rolling those items into our day wholesale - which can often take up enough time that there isn't room for much else - we should assess each item one-by-one and see if it is still as important to us as it was when we logged it.

• Left Behind: Tasks from previous days that did not get completed or deleted
• Overdue: Tasks whose due date has come and gone
• Due Soon: Tasks that need to be completed in the near future

The questions I ask myself before rolling over the task are:

1. Is this task still important?
2. Is this task still urgent?
3. Is this task still the best use of my time, today?

If the answer to any of these is "no", I move the task back to the backlog by unscheduling it or consider marking the task "won't do". Sometimes its best to cut our losses and move on from a task today, even if it seemed like a good use of time yesterday.

If the answer to all three questions is "yes", I move it to today and hope I do better this time.

Due date vs do date

Dexter has two different types of dates: a due date, and the date a task is scheduled to be worked on (do date). Here's how they differ and why they are distinct.

• Due Date: US Taxes are Due April 15th
• Do Date: I might start my taxes in February once I have all my forms

In this scenario we can have one task due April 15th and start working on it sooner.

In the Dexter Day Planner, once you add a Due Date it will start ticking down the number of days you have left to complete the task. This can be very helpful when planning work thats further out and might sneak up on you.

3. Review your calendar

Some days I have almost no meetings and other days I'm lucky if theres enough time to take a sip of water between them. Knowing how much time you have for deep, focused work should naturally impact what kind of tasks and how many you schedule for the day.

• On meeting-heavy day: Plan to only tackle a few, quick tasks
• On lighter days: Add focus blocks to protect your deep work time
• On scattered days: Plan tasks that don't require a lot of deep thinking

Learn more about deep work and how to incorporate it into your day.

4. Adding tasks

Once you understand how much time you have and what kind of work you can complete you're ready to start adding tasks to your day.

Only add as many tasks as you think you can reasonably complete - you can always go back for more if you really want to!

If you already have a full day between your calendar and the left behind, overdue, and due soon tasks, skip this step.

1. Add tasks that are Important & Urgent
2. Add tasks that are Urgent if you really have to
3. Add tasks that are Important
4. Add tasks that are Neither important nor urgent

Getting things done (Pomodoro Technique)

Now that you have your day planned, its time to get to it.

If you struggle with procrastination or any condition like ADHD that may manifest and "getting started anxiety" then this might be the hard part.

To counter this fear of getting started, I like to use short intervals of work with breaks.

The most popular interval based working method is the Pomodoro Technique, but I simplify these to focus blocks.

1. Pick a task from your list
2. Break down the task into subtasks that can be completed in under an hour
3. Set a timer for 25-50m and work on a part
4. Hide/block distractions (notifications, phones, social media, etc)
5. Work on the subtask until you finish it or the timer goes off
6. Take a (quick) break usually 5m or less
7. Repeat until the task is complete

Note: I've found that 25 minute intervals work great for administrative tasks, but I often need 50 minute intervals to get deep work done on complex problems like writing code or architecting systems.

Reduce your anxiety with brain dumping

Ever feel like you're forgetting something and it keeps nagging you when you're trying to relax?

A tried and true method for reducing that feeling, and anxiety in general, is brain dumping.

• As soon as a task comes up that you need to complete? Log it.
• As soon as something is said that needs to be remembered? Take note of it.

The Dexter Day Planner allows you to quickly log tasks and take notes knowing that you can come back later and prioritize and organize them, but the same can be done with a bullet journal, Notion database, or a dry erase board in your office.

Speed is key. You want to get it out of your brain and into a tool as soon as possible so you can stay in the flow or enjoy your down time, not worry "is there something I was supposed to be doing?".

Learn more about the power of brain dumping for reducing anxiety.

Your whole day in one place

In order to plan and tackle your day, you need to see all the pieces you're working with and responsible for.

• Appointments on your calendar(s)
• Tasks that are due soon
• Tasks that are important to you
• Habits you want to track
• Notes with important bits of information
• Journal prompts and intentions for setting the tone of your day
• Work, personal, and passion projects

Often times these are scattered across multiple apps and tools, giving you an incomplete picture of your day.

The Dexter Day Planner brings all of these together in one place, so we can get clear about what matters most, what tradeoffs we need to make, and which things should be front and center as we start our day.

Recap

If you stuck it out this far, thank you!

The Dexter Method:

1. Set an intention for your day
2. Review tasks that are overdue, due soon, or left behind
3. Review your calendar and capacity
4. Add tasks based on priority
   1. Important & Urgent: Do it now
   2. Important: Figure out how to make room for it
   3. Urgent: Do it soon or let it go
   4. Neither: Let it go, delegate it, or save it for a rainy day
5. Use focus blocks to make progress on tasks
6. Brain dump tasks and notes as soon as possible