How I Consistently Manage My Study and Chaotic Work Using AI - Reclaim.ai

Archer Newton
31 May 202212:32

TLDRIn this video, the speaker, a third-year medical student, shares how he manages his chaotic schedule with the help of AI. He emphasizes the importance of having a central calendar to keep track of all his commitments and tasks. The speaker introduces an application called Reclaim, which assists in smart scheduling based on user-defined parameters. He explains how to use the calendar effectively by blocking time for non-negotiable events and tasks, and how to deal with unexpected changes by using features like 'snooze' and 'add time'. The video also highlights the significance of maintaining habits and ensuring they are not neglected due to a busy schedule. The speaker concludes by encouraging viewers to use such tools to reduce stress and live a more intentional life.

Takeaways

  • 📅 Utilize a calendar as a central place to organize your schedule and ensure you know what you're doing at any given time.
  • 🗓️ Time block non-negotiable events and tasks in your calendar to stay prepared for upcoming commitments.
  • 👀 Regularly check the weekly view of your calendar to understand how tasks impact the rest of the week.
  • 🔒 Lock important tasks in your calendar to prevent overbooking and ensure they are not missed.
  • 💡 Use smart scheduling applications like Reclaim to automatically find the best times for tasks based on your parameters.
  • 🚫 Overestimate task durations to avoid a broken schedule due to optimistic time allocations.
  • 🏋️‍♂️ Protect important habits like exercise by ensuring they are scheduled at a frequency that suits your lifestyle.
  • 📝 Combine your calendar with a to-do list for a more comprehensive task management system.
  • 🛠️ Use the task feature in Reclaim to automatically schedule the best times for studying or work.
  • ⏰ Add buffers or free time slots in your calendar to handle unexpected tasks or events.
  • 📊 Review your calendar stats weekly to assess how you're spending your time and make necessary adjustments.

Q & A

  • What is the main challenge the speaker faces in managing their time effectively?

    -The speaker often overloads themselves with various commitments, including medical school, running businesses, and maintaining relationships with family and friends, which makes it difficult to manage their time effectively.

  • What is the 'single source of truth' that the speaker relies on to keep track of their activities?

    -The speaker uses a calendar as their 'single source of truth' to keep track of their activities and ensure they know what they are doing at any given time.

  • What are the two key components to a successful calendar system according to the speaker?

    -The two key components are ensuring that you have events blocked into your calendar and time blocking non-negotiable events that you must attend, placing them where they best suit your schedule.

  • How does the speaker use the weekly view of their calendar?

    -The speaker uses the weekly view to understand how not completing a task on a certain day will impact the rest of the week, allowing them to manage their time more effectively.

  • What application does the speaker use to ensure that their calendar is successful and why is it beneficial?

    -The speaker uses an application called Reclaim, which is beneficial because it helps with smart scheduling based on the parameters set by the user, ensuring that tasks are scheduled at the best time for the user.

  • What is the significance of the 'shield' and 'free' emoji in the context of Reclaim?

    -In Reclaim, the 'shield' emoji indicates a locked task that cannot be moved, ensuring that the time is protected for that specific activity. The 'free' emoji signifies that the task is ready to be moved if something else takes up its time slot.

  • How does the speaker ensure they maintain their habits, such as exercising, despite a busy schedule?

    -The speaker uses Reclaim to schedule and protect time for their habits. If a habit like exercise is at risk of being overwritten due to a busy day, Reclaim will alert the user, helping them to maintain the habit at a certain frequency.

  • What is the speaker's highest priority habit that they ensure they do every day?

    -The speaker's highest priority habit is having lunch every single day, which they ensure doesn't get skipped, even on busy days.

  • How does the speaker use buffers in their daily schedule?

    -The speaker schedules buffers, or blocks of time designated for nothing, to deal with the uncertainty that arises during the day. This provides flexibility to handle unexpected tasks or events.

  • What feature of Reclaim does the speaker use to manage study or work tasks?

    -The speaker uses the task feature in Reclaim to automatically find the best time for them to study or work, ensuring that they have the necessary time without overbooking their calendar.

  • How does the speaker ensure they don't miss out on important tasks halfway through the week?

    -The speaker uses Reclaim to add tasks and ensure they fit perfectly within their calendar. The app's smart scheduling helps to prevent tasks from being missed or postponed due to other commitments.

  • What does the speaker recommend doing at the end of each week to review their time management?

    -The speaker recommends taking a quick look at the stats provided by Reclaim at the end of each week to review how they've spent their time and to make any necessary changes to align with their desired lifestyle.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Organizing Habits with AI

The speaker, a third-year medical student named Archer, introduces the topic of managing habits and tasks without manual organization, thanks to AI. He discusses the importance of having a calendar as a 'single source of truth' and integrating various apps to cover different aspects of life. The video aims to show how to maintain habits like having lunch, preparing for exams, going to the gym, and journaling by using a calendar system effectively. The emphasis is on time-blocking and ensuring non-negotiable events are scheduled first, followed by flexible tasks. The speaker also mentions the limitations of time blocking and suggests overestimating task durations as a solution.

05:02

📅 Using Reclaim for Smart Scheduling

Archer delves into his personal use of the Reclaim app, which aids in smart scheduling based on user-defined parameters. He prefers Google Calendar for its simplicity but acknowledges Reclaim's role in protecting time for important habits. The app helps in managing tasks like exercise, which are non-negotiable, and ensures they don't get overshadowed by other events. It also allows for flexibility, which is crucial for someone with a busy schedule like Archer. The app can alert users if a new commitment might disrupt their habits. Reclaim also offers features like adding buffers to events and task prioritization, which helps in dealing with uncertainties throughout the day. The speaker demonstrates how to create a task in Reclaim and how the app can find the best time to perform that task, ensuring it fits into the weekly schedule.

10:03

📈 Adapting to Changes with Reclaim

The video concludes with Archer discussing the professional use of Reclaim, especially when sharing calendars with others. He highlights the app's ability to keep task specifics private while signaling busy times. The speaker also shows how to schedule tasks, snooze them if needed, and adjust the duration. He emphasizes the app's utility in rescheduling tasks that may not fit initially due to other commitments. The speaker appreciates the app's capacity to adapt to changes and ensure all tasks fit perfectly within the calendar. He mentions the value of reviewing weekly stats to assess time management and make necessary adjustments. The video ends with an invitation for viewers to ask questions and to check out another video on using a to-do list with Amazing Marvin.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the video, AI is used to automate the organization of the speaker's schedule, ensuring tasks are performed at optimal times without manual intervention.

💡Calendar

A calendar is a system of timekeeping that allows people to organize and plan their schedules. In the context of the video, the calendar is the central tool for managing the speaker's time, ensuring that both professional and personal commitments are accounted for and that there is a clear overview of upcoming events.

💡Time Blocking

Time blocking is a time management technique where time is divided into blocks, each dedicated to a specific task or activity. The speaker uses time blocking to allocate specific time slots for non-negotiable events and tasks, which helps in maintaining a balance between different aspects of life.

💡Non-Negotiable Events

Non-negotiable events refer to appointments or engagements that cannot be missed or rescheduled. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of scheduling these events in the calendar first to ensure that the rest of the time can be planned around them.

💡Reclaim

Reclaim is an application mentioned in the video that helps with smart scheduling based on user-defined parameters. It ensures that important tasks and habits are protected and scheduled at the most suitable times, even when the calendar is busy.

💡Habits

Habits are regular practices or routines that are hard to break. The video discusses maintaining habits like having lunch, exercising, and journaling, which are important for the speaker's well-being. Reclaim helps to schedule these habits to prevent them from being overlooked in a busy schedule.

💡Task Feature

The task feature within the Reclaim application allows users to create tasks that the app then automatically schedules at the best time based on the user's calendar and preferences. This is particularly useful for the speaker's study sessions, ensuring that adequate time is allocated for studying without conflicting with other commitments.

💡Buffer Time

Buffer time is unused or unscheduled time预留时间 that is intentionally built into a schedule to accommodate unforeseen events or tasks. The speaker uses buffer time to deal with uncertainty and unexpected interruptions during the day, ensuring flexibility in the schedule.

💡Weekly Review

A weekly review is a practice of reflecting on the past week's activities, achievements, and challenges. It helps in planning for the upcoming week more effectively. In the video, the speaker includes a weekly review as a habit that is scheduled and protected by the Reclaim application.

💡Prioritization

Prioritization is the act of determining the order or importance of tasks or activities. In the context of the video, the speaker uses prioritization to ensure that the most critical habits and tasks are not compromised, even during extremely busy periods.

💡Snooze

The snooze function, as mentioned in the video, allows the speaker to postpone a task or event for a set period when it's not feasible to complete it at the scheduled time. This feature is useful for managing unexpected disruptions and maintaining the integrity of the calendar.

Highlights

AI can help manage daily tasks and organization without manual intervention.

Using a calendar as a central place to track and plan activities.

Integration of multiple apps into a calendar for comprehensive task management.

The importance of time blocking non-negotiable events in a calendar.

Weekly view of the calendar helps in understanding the impact of tasks on the rest of the week.

Exercise and other habits are scheduled with flexibility to accommodate unexpected changes.

Reclaim app schedules tasks at the best time for the user, ensuring calendar success.

Overestimating task duration can help maintain calendar integrity.

Reclaim protects high-priority habits like daily lunch from being overwritten.

Lower-priority habits can be adjusted in frequency based on weekly demands.

Batch processing of tasks like checking messages during designated catch-up times.

Use of buffers in scheduling to accommodate unforeseen daily uncertainties.

Automatic task scheduling in Reclaim for activities like study sessions.

Snooze and prioritization features in Reclaim allow for dynamic calendar adjustments.

The ability to add extra time to tasks ensures they fit within the calendar.

Reviewing weekly stats in Reclaim to assess time management and make necessary changes.

Combining calendar use with a to-do list, like Amazing Marvin, for enhanced task management.

Reclaim's smart scheduling helps in saving time and reducing stress in daily life management.