The Codex / Free guides & toolsIdeas worth exploring.
Ideas worth exploring.
Work worth making.
Test an idea. Work through a creative block. Think clearly about a decision. Practical guides, worked examples, free briefs and a weekly planner. No account required.
GUIDES, TOOLS & STUDIES22 entries
01Ideas & decisions
Investigate an idea, compare directions and make a considered choice.
Ideas & decisions
Investigate an idea, compare directions and make a considered choice.
How to test a business idea before a full buildTurn a promising idea into a question you can investigate. Compare alternatives, speak to potential users and choose a small test with a clear decision afterwards.GuideHow to choose between too many ideasCompare ideas against the life and work you actually want. Choose a useful experiment, keep the alternatives and avoid turning a temporary choice into a permanent verdict.GuideHow to think through a difficult decisionMake the options, trade-offs and unknowns visible. A short decision brief can help you move beyond repeatedly thinking about the same question.Guide
02Creative work
Find a direction and develop work worth sharing.
Creative work
Find a direction and develop work worth sharing.
03Start
Restart the work you keep putting off and define a finish.
Start
Restart the work you keep putting off and define a finish.
How to stop procrastinating on a projectStart with one useful action: name the result, identify what is blocking it, and give a small piece of work a time and a finish. Here is a practical way to restart.GuideDefine what finished meansA practical brief for an ambition that has stayed too broad for too long.Guide
04Plan
Make the work fit your available time.
Plan
Make the work fit your available time.
A free weekly planner for your next projectPlan the work against the hours you have. Use this free weekly planner online, download your plan or print a copy. No account or email required.Free toolTime management for work you want to finishA practical approach to time management: choose a result, count the hours you actually have, break the work into useful blocks and review what happened.Guide
05Focus
Limit the scope and choose the support the project needs.
Focus
Limit the scope and choose the support the project needs.
06Review
Look at the evidence and decide what happens next.
Review
Look at the evidence and decide what happens next.
07The Realm studies
Different disciplines. Ideas to carry into your own work.
The Realm studies
Different disciplines. Ideas to carry into your own work.
08Downloadable templates
Free text files to copy into your own notes or documents. No sign-up.
Downloadable templates
Free text files to copy into your own notes or documents. No sign-up.
Idea-validation briefInvestigate an assumption and define a useful first test.Download .txtCreative-project briefCompare directions and choose the next creative experiment.Download .txtIdea-comparison briefChoose where to put your time and preserve the alternatives.Download .txtWeekly project plannerAllocate tasks against the hours you have.Download .txtProject restart briefIdentify the obstruction and choose one next action.Download .txtFirst-version briefDefine a small finish and keep the scope under control.Download .txtProject decision briefCompare options, evidence and the smallest useful test.Download .txtWeekly project reviewRecord the evidence, decision and next commitment.Download .txt