Projects vs Areas of Responsibility
Building the Second Brain book author, Tiago Forte clarifies his definitions of projects and areas of responsibility in his blogpost.
Examples:
- Running a marathon is a project, whereas Health is an area
- Publishing a book is a project, whereas Writing is an area
- Saving 3 months’ worth of expenses is a project, whereas Finances is an area
- A vacation to Thailand is a project, whereas Travel is an area
- Planning an anniversary dinner is a project, whereas Spouse is an area
Projects are usually short "outbursts" of energy that are having a well defined scope, goal and time frame, while areas of responsibilities are the "meta topics" that each of these project somehow fit into.
Projects are like fast burning rockets that get you off the ground, but are unsustainable if stretched too long, while areas require a list of slow burning daily habits and focus to maintain their "standards" of being taken care of.
Projects are the fuel for Areas: do one in a topic, it can raise the standards of an area e.g. research and introduce new monthly habits about doing finances, and how to do it.
Understanding the different nature of these two can be a huge productivity booster. People tend to have strengths only in one.
Useful methods for "Project People"
- morning/evening routines
- regular working ours
- regular breaks and walks in nature, sports
- journaling, self reflection, meditation, mindfulness, daily journals
- more strict schedule planning for intense work sessions, and operations
Useful methods for "Areas People"
- deadlines, with consequences
- time-boxing and specifying desired outputs for them
- external pressure by peers or robots, planned presentations
- regular scope evaluation of a project, breaking into small deliverables
- work environment design to focus, no distractions
Sometimes "short" (spanning few hours to few weeks) projects can yield immense sense of achievement and give one motivation to move on. These achievements are the "presents" we give ourselves for the hard work we put into something. It can only work if it has a DONE DONE state.
