Get ready for a metaphor that will change the way that you look at life and time. A common characteristic among people today is over-commitment. Most people underestimate the amount of time that projects take to complete. When this happens, a crash of some type is inevitable. Either the person will turn the mistake on themselves and feel guilty or they will turn it on someone else in the form of blame.

The Tollway is Faster
Instead of crashing, why don't you turn your freeway into a tollway. Consider this, during rush hour the freeway is jammed with cars. Do the cars go faster or slower during rush hour? The answer is obviously slower. In some cases, the freeway turns into a parking lot. At other times, you feel like you're playing bumper cars at the state fair. At all times, rush hour is no fun.

You will often find that tollways move faster than freeways even during rush hour. The reason for this is that the "price" limits the number of cars on the road. The higher the "price", the fewer the cars. You may be wondering how this relates to time.

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By now, you know that not all tasks or projects are created equally, some tasks are critical or "A" tasks, other tasks are important or "B" tasks, and others are useful, but not necessary, or "C" tasks. Thus, when you are making your schedule for the day, you should fill up 70-80% of your capacity with A and B tasks and fill in the remaining holes with "C" tasks.

Set Boundaries
One of the reasons the Bubble Planner is so effective is the principle described in this article, which is always schedule your days less than capacity. This is critical for two reasons. The first from above is that projects always take longer than you anticipate, and second, unexpected things happen.

What About Balance
One of the risks to this approach is that you will actually get less done than otherwise because we are not exactly like freeways. In fact, we have the ability to stretch and grow like muscles. The way to combat "capacity atrophy" is to be sure you always have a project in reserve. Make it a project that you really want to do so that you push yourself on the other tasks enabling you to get to the one you really want.

Turning your freeway into a tollway (or scheduling less than peak capacity and focusing on high value tasks) will help you get more done in less time with fewer mistakes. It will help prevent burnout, unnecessary confrontations, and undue stress. Give it a try, escape the traffic jam, and get to the finish line faster than you ever imagined.