Prioritization · 7 min read
Eisenhower matrix to calendar: protect the work that matters
Turn an Eisenhower matrix into a realistic calendar plan with six worked examples, effort estimates, buffers, and a weekly review.
Read articleThe Critical Path library
Make room for work that matters.
Practical planning guides, worked examples, and editable worksheets. Move from an overloaded task list to a week you can actually execute.
Capacity · 7 min read
Weekly capacity planning for a calendar full of meetings
Build a realistic weekly task budget from working hours, meetings, buffers, and uncertainty. Includes a worked 40-hour example and worksheet.
Read articleCapacity · 8 min read
Due date vs time allocation vs calendar block: what each means
Separate deadlines, effort estimates, and calendar reservations. Follow a six-hour worked example and learn what to change when a plan slips.
Read articleScheduling · 6 min read
Time blocking with buffers: build a calendar you can actually execute
Plan focused work around meetings with a 15-minute buffer, realistic effort estimates, and a clear distinction between deadlines and protected time.
Read articleScheduling · 6 min read
How to diagnose overlapping calendar invites without deleting the wrong events
A safe checklist for overlapping task blocks: verify identities, calendar scope, timezones, buffers, sync health, and the final provider placement.
Read articleLeadership · 7 min read
A chief of staff weekly review that turns priorities into owned commitments
Run a practical weekly operating review: clarify outcomes, resolve blocked work, assign owners, check calendar capacity, and close follow-up loops.
Read articleScheduling · 7 min read
Out of office after scheduling: a practical rescheduling checklist
Check what should happen when an absence collides with existing task blocks, including calendar scope, buffers, deadlines, and sync evidence.
Read articleCapacity · 7 min read
Split a six-hour commitment into realistic focus blocks
Turn a large task into usable focus sessions while keeping one outcome, a realistic effort budget, clear plan steps, and an honest deadline.
Read articleScheduling · 7 min read
Plan next week's commitments with Google Calendar alone
Build a realistic week using Google Calendar: choose outcomes, reserve task time, preserve buffers, review unfinished work, and avoid duplicate tracking.
Read articleFollow-through · 7 min read
Build a task automation by picking options, not drawing joins
Build a clear When–If–Then task rule, preview both branches, activate it safely, and understand what Critical Path automations can change.
Read articleTrust · 7 min read
Requested, connected, sent, delivered: read integration status correctly
Diagnose calendar and Slack integration problems by separating authorization, routing, provider acceptance, and actual destination verification.
Read articleScheduling · 7 min read
Travel across time zones without moving the wrong deadline
Separate date-only deadlines from timed calendar blocks, check workspace and display timezones, and handle travel and daylight-saving edges safely.
Read articleTrust · 8 min read
Recover task save conflicts without overwriting a teammate
Understand Saved, Offline, and Review sync in Critical Path, preserve pending edits, and recover safely when another tab changes the same fields.
Read articleFollow-through · 7 min read
Turn a customer escalation into an owner-controlled follow-up loop
A customer escalation workflow with one owner, named dependencies, proportionate follow-up, explicit closure, and a reusable action tracker.
Read articleFollow-through · 7 min read
Delegate the action, not the accountability: a practical waiting-for system
Build a delegated-task follow-up system with clear acceptance, named owners, useful checkpoints, verified invitations, and explicit completion.
Read articleLeadership · 6 min read
A hiring decision pipeline with clear owners and deadlines
Coordinate hiring decisions with explicit owners, dependencies, preparation time, and closure without turning a task planner into an ATS.
Read articleLeadership · 6 min read
Prepare a board meeting without letting the deck consume the week
A practical board-meeting preparation timeline with decision-led tasks, realistic effort, review gates, confidential-work boundaries, and a template.
Read articleLeadership · 7 min read
Use outcome tracks without creating another project-management job
Link daily tasks to useful outcome tracks, correct automatic suggestions, interpret progress honestly, and archive work without losing commitments.
Read articleFollow-through · 7 min read
Triage, Committed, In motion, Waiting: define a pipeline your team can use
Define practical task-pipeline entry and exit criteria, separate commitment from execution, review stale waits, and use At risk without hiding blockers.
Read articleLeadership · 7 min read
A weekly execution review that measures closure instead of busyness
Interpret closure, lateness, blockers, reminders, and protected time with explicit denominators and a practical weekly review.
Read articleTrust · 7 min read
Plan on iPhone, review on iPad, execute on Mac: a mobile-web acceptance checklist
Test the Critical Path web workflow across Apple devices without confusing a browser experience with an unreleased native app.
Read articleComparisons · 7 min read
Before you pay for an automatic planner: ten tasks to test during evaluation
Use ten reproducible tests for buffers, out-of-office changes, capacity, recovery, ownership, exports, and planner reliability.
Read articleLeadership · 6 min read
Turn meeting action items into owned commitments before the meeting ends
A practical meeting close-out method: separate decisions from actions, assign one owner, define acceptance, and reserve realistic execution time.
Read articlePrioritization · 7 min read
Reset weekly priorities when the plan changes without abandoning important work
A practical priority reset for disrupted weeks: identify the changed constraint, price the interruption, choose displacement, and protect the next move.
Read articleCapacity · 6 min read
Estimate task effort without pretending you know the exact answer
Estimate active task effort with ranges, assumptions, and a small discovery step; turn uncertainty into a realistic allocation and review the result.
Read articleFollow-through · 7 min read
Waiting on someone? Use a follow-up checklist before sending another reminder
A waiting-for review checklist that separates healthy waits from blockers, checks evidence, chooses proportionate follow-up, and defines escalation.
Read articleLeadership · 7 min read
Run an executive portfolio dependency review without another status meeting
A CEO and CFO operating method for connecting outcomes, initiatives, dependencies, capacity, and intervention decisions in one review.
Read articleFollow-through · 6 min read
Build one revenue and marketing commitment system from campaign to customer promise
A CRO and CMO playbook for linking launches, pipeline commitments, customer follow-up, dependencies, and cost-to-value evidence.
Read articleTrust · 6 min read
Run people operations with clear commitments and without employee surveillance
A CHRO and people-leader guide to role-safe work visibility, workload signals, delegation, privacy, and fair intervention boundaries.
Read articleTrust · 6 min read
Connect technology systems of record without creating a second ungoverned database
A CTO guide to normalized connectors, tenant isolation, idempotency, portfolio lineage, resilience evidence, and provider acceptance.
Read articlePrioritization · 7 min read
Protect attention for your most critical action
A seven-day Critical Path practice for capturing actionable commitments, protecting focused time, using reminders, and closing the loop.
Read articleStart with your real constraint
Too many priorities? Start with the matrix-to-calendar guide. Too little time? Work through the capacity worksheet. Unexpected collisions? Use the calendar checklist before deleting or resending anything.
Evaluating a planner? Read the comparisons →