The Execution Loop is the main way you do your work in Cyborganize.
This page explains HOW to use the Execution Loop. If you want to know WHY you should use it, watch this video demo using a real case study.
The Execution Loop has three stages:
1. Emacs scratch file
2. Emacs actionables chronological tape
3. BrainStormWFO actionables file
If you have read the Snippet Loop page, you know that Cyborganize divides your text into three main categories: actionables, notes, and quotes. The second and third stages of the Execution Loop are concerned only with your actionables.
Actionables also includes key reference info, such as contact info and passwords, to which you need to refer frequently. This info needs to be sorted immediately for ready access, and the Execution Loop is the most frequently sorted section of Cyborganize.
You can use the Execution Loop exclusively for months or years. But you should still process your scratch files to the Longform Loop and chronological tapes, in case you later want to use the Snippet or Longform Loop.
Next I will describe each stage of the Execution Loop.
The scratch file stage
Scratch files are reusable files in Emacs Org-Mode. They provide a focused work area.
Any time you begin working on a new topic, you should open up a new scratch file. Then write a specific, focused prompt at the top.
Number your scratch files to keep track of the chronological order of their creation. For example: scratch.org, scratch1.org, scratch2.org, etc.
Scratch files are where most of your work occurs. They contain a mix of notes, quotes and actionable text. The actionable items are embedded within the context of the file.
I typically accumulate 5-40 open scratch files before I begin to lose track of information. Then I batch process them to my chronological tapes. This happens between 1-5 times per week.
The processing method is simple:
1. Begin with the first scratch file opened, and go in chronological order.
2. Delete everything that isn’t actionable from the scratch file
3. Copy the actionables to actionables.org
4. Clear, save and close the scratch file, and then go to the next one.
When you have done this for all your scratch files, you are done with the scratch file stage.
The actionables chronological tape stage
Your actionables chronological tape is an Emacs text file that contains all your actionable text in chronological order.
You will never work directly from your actionables chronological tape. No text is allowed there except action items and key reference info. Since you cannot add notes as you work on a task, working there is inconvenient. By contrast, you can sometimes do small bits of work from your notes chronological tape.
Thus we have little to say about this phase. It exists purely as a text repository, and a staging area for batch processing to your BrainStormWFO actionables file. BrainStormWFO is where the real task management happens.
Tasks are always added to the bottom of the chronological tape. A bookmark marks the point where you last batch processed your actionables. It looks like this:
———————————————————
PROCESSED LINE
———————————————————
Here is the procedure for transferring new actionables from the chronological tape to BrainStormWFO.
1. Search for the bookmark in your actionables chronological tape (actionables.org).
2. Copy all actionables after the bookmark.
3. Paste them into the top level “Inbox” of your BrainStormWFO actionables.brn file.
4. Save the .brn file.
5. Move the bookmark to the bottom of actionables.org
6. Save actionables.org file.
How frequently should you batch process your actionables chronological tape to your actionables BrainStormWFO file? That depends on the urgency and importance of the new actionables you’re adding to the chronological tape. Sometimes I do multiple processing rounds per day. Other times one or two per week is enough. Whenever you’re worried that you might be forgetting an important task you’ve recently captured, do a batch processing round.
The BrainStormWFO actionables.brn stage
The BrainStormWFO actionables.brn stage is where your real task management happens.
This section assumes you already know the basics of sorting outlines with BrainStormWFO. It covers specific sorting methods for actionables.brn.
Actionables.brn has several predefined categories to structure your task management. Below these, you will dynamically create subcategories.
Predefined actionables.brn categories
Your top outline level will have the following headings:
Inbox
1. By Time
2. By Priority
3. Habit Instillation
4. By Project
5. Reference
M Missorted
“Inbox” is where you dump text from your actionables.org file. “By Time” is for urgent tasks. “By Priority” is for high priority tasks. “By Project” is for lower priority tasks. “Reference” is for key reference info such as contact details, logins, passwords, etc. “M Missorted” is for text that doesn’t belong in the file.
The “By Time” heading has the following subheadings:
1. “A Day”
2. “A Week”
3. “Waiting on not my queue”
4. “A Month”
5. “A year or indefinitely deferred”
M missorted
1, 2, 4 and 5 are self-explanatory. “Waiting on not my queue” means anything that is not waiting on you to complete other tasks first. For example, if you want to buy a bigger house but can’t currently afford it, the task “buy a bigger house” belongs there. You can complete tasks related to getting more money, but whether you receive the money is ultimately beyond your direct control.
Dynamically created sub-categories in actionables.brn
You will sort your actionables.brn in a cascade. Begin at the top level Inbox. The order of the categories defines dominance. For example, “By Time” precedes “By Priority”. That means that if a task is both urgent and important, it belongs in “By Time”.
After you finish sorting the top level Inbox, move to “By Time”. After you finish sorting the top level of “By Time”, move to “A Day”. Once you have sorted the immediate children of “A Day”, rank them and begin executing.
Ranking dynamically generated sub-categories
After you organize your tasks into the predefined categories, you should group them by project. You might have the following project list below your “A Day” heading:
Inbox
1. Send bill to client #1
2. Plan for trip this weekend
3. Go grocery shopping today
4. Do urgent stuff for client #2
M Missorted
It can be difficult to decide which of these to do first. We will use a task-management trick from Dell to make the decision easier.
The Dell task ranking trick
Dell prioritizes its tasks by ranking them on three dimensions:
- Time required,
- Resources required,
- Impact.
Dell uses a simple 1-5 scale, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. It then multiplies the three scores to get the task value. 125 is the highest possible score, and 1 is the lowest.
For example, something time consuming, costly and pointless would be worth t1 x r1 x i1 = 1. Something fast, free and life-changing would be worth t5 x r5 x i5 = 125.
I do not recommend using the Dell method to rank all tasks against each other. This task prioritization method ignores several task dimensions: urgency, dependencies, obligation, preference, energy level, etc.
Moreover, it is not possible to keep 1-5 ratings consistent across different domains and different rating sessions. Trying to do so causes stress and leads wasteful score adjustment. You will wind up with a very long list of tasks, and the human brain doesn’t handle lists longer than 7 items efficiently. Instead, the Execution Loop pre-sorts your tasks into broad, easy to understand categories, and ensures that you only need to consider 7 items at a time.
I recommend only using the Dell trick on the project headings below the predefined categories of actionables.brn. You can also use it on the subtasks of a project, although this is not usually necessary, because you will intuitively know which task is the logical next step. Do not attempt to compare scores across tasks from different projects, for the reasons previously mentioned.
When you are rating your project headings, you should base your score on the time, impact and cost of the project’s next logical step. This will make the calculation easy and straightforward. Once you have calculated the scores, re-rank your projects and begin executing. Your re-ranked list should look like this:
Inbox
1. Go grocery shopping today i5 x r4 x t5 = 100
2. Send bill to client #1 i5 x r5 x t4 = 100
3. Plan for trip this weekend i4 x r5 x t4 = 80
4. Do urgent stuff for client #2 i4 x r5 x t3 = 60
M Missorted
Rather than do the calculations in my head, I alt-tab over to my browser and enter the multiplication into the Google search bar. You can access the search bar with ctrl-k, so your fingers needn’t leave the keyboard.
Back to the scratch file for execution
You have now selected your next task. Copy the entry in BrainStormWFO, open a new scratch file in Emacs, and paste the entry at the top. Make the entry a heading, and clock in if you wish to track your working time. Then begin executing the task in the scratch file.
The loop has now completed and you are back at the beginning.
Conclusion
Here are the stages of the Execution Loop again:
1. Emacs scratch file
2. Emacs actionables chronological tape
3. BrainStormWFO actionables file
4. Back to Emacs scratch file
The procedure is quite simple, but you may be confused by the text description. If so, watch this demo video using a real case study.