Achieve more with fewer tasks

Somewhere along the way, we mistakenly conflated productivity with output. In essence, the busier I am and the more I churn out, the more productive I’ll be.

When we think of productivity this way, we’re not only doing ourselves a disservice, we often prioritize the volume of our work over its impact.

My Bento method is known for its disciplined approach to limiting the number of tasks we tackle to three-seven per day. Emphasis is placed on selecting impactful tasks, while also matching them with energy levels throughout the day, rather than trying to do too much.

With the introduction of Morgen’s Frames, there’s now an even more effective way to implement this method directly in my calendar.

Why I created Bento

I created the Bento method out of a personal need to find balance and simplicity in the face of overwhelming to-do lists. I often felt stretched thin, trying to accomplish too many things at once while juggling professional and personal responsibilities. The constant demand to stay productive left me feeling burnt out and dissatisfied at the end of the day.

I realized that true productivity isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what matters. By tackling fewer big tasks per day and scheduling them at my peak energy times, I achieved more and felt less depleted at the end of the day.

The Bento method is my way of sharing that sense of balance and intentionality with others.

What is the Bento Method?

The Bento method is a structured approach to task management that focuses on the size and complexity of tasks, helping you balance your workload while avoiding burnout. It involves categorizing your day into three distinct compartments based on task size:

1. Large tasks (🍣): Tasks that require 90+ minutes of deep focus with minimal distractions. These are your most significant and demanding tasks of the day.‍

2. Medium tasks (🍚): Tasks that take 45–60 minutes and require moderate energy and focus, but not your full attention.‍

3. Small tasks (🍗): Tasks that are quick wins, taking up to 30 minutes. These can include administrative work or personal well-being activities.

This setup reduces task overload and increases the likelihood of feeling accomplished by the end of the day.

The order of those compartments matters

The Bento method is not just about doing fewer things, but also matching the demands of a task with your energy levels. For instance, 5 large tasks is likely too much to do well in one day. But 5 tasks overall may be quite realistic if only two of those are large.

Before adopting the Bento Method, I recommend taking note of your energy patterns for one to two weeks. The intent is to become hyperaware of your energy fluctuations hour-to-hour and day-to-day.

Start by drawing a simple Energy Graph, where the x-axis denotes your waking hours in a day and the y-axis is energy. At the end of each day draw your energy curve, where it peaked and dipped throughout the day. Label the curve with the day of the week.

You may notice that your curves are fairly consistent day-to-day or pickup on shifts throughout the week. For instance, I tend to experience two energy peaks in my day, the first around 10:30 am and the second around 2 pm. However, because I drop my son off to school 3 days a week, my start time and energy levels differ on those days compared to the ones when I jump straight into work. Knowing these variations is helpful in my planning.  

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Once I know my peaks, I can be more thoughtful about when to schedule each compartment in my day to make the most of my energy. I schedule my biggest and most challenging tasks at my peaks to make the most of my energy by accomplishing something meaningful that moves the needle. I purposefully avoid wasting peak energy on small and less impactful work.

Map your energy to a workflow

Once you identify how you work best, along with the other time constraints in your day, you can decide which order is right for you:

1. 🐸 Eat That Frog (L>M>S): Start with a large task, move to a medium task, and finish with a small task. Accomplish your biggest and most demanding task first, then carry that momentum for the rest of the day.‍

2. 🗻 Climb The Summit (M>L>S): Begin with a medium task to ease into the day, then tackle your large task once you’re in flow. You can then wind down your day with a small task.‍

3. 🏃🏼 The Slow Burn (S>M>L): Start with an easy win by checking off the smallest task on your list. Then transition to a medium task, and end with the large task once you’ve built up momentum.

If you’re doing three tasks in a day, you will pick the workflow above that works for you and apply it to you day. If you’re doing 5-7 tasks in a day, you may have 2 workflows in your day. For example, you apply slow burn to your morning to build momentum and tackle your biggest task before lunch. Perhaps in your afternoon, you adopt a Climb the Summit and tackle a medium and large task before closing out your day.

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Perhaps this will look the same each day. Or, depending on the fluctuations in your energy curves and your time constraints, you may want to apply different workflows to different days. For instance, on days when you end work earlier to pick up your child from school or to attend a class, you might only have time to apply one workflow. Similarly, if certain days are particularly meeting-heavy, you will have less task time available.

Other days, such as a no-meeting Friday, may be ideal for two workflows. It’s really up to you.

How to translate the Bento Method to Frames

Morgen recently launched Frames, a deep layer within your calendar that allows you to create templates for how you want to allocate your time. Think of Frames as the blueprint for your ideal day or week—you can define specific blocks of time for different types of tasks or activities.

Not only are these a visual guide to when you want to work on what, you can also apply custom filters to each one so the AI Planner can assign the right type of task at the appropriate time.

Here’s how you can use Frames to integrate the Bento method into your calendar:

1. Create 3-7 Frames in your day, devoted to task size.

• A 90-120 minute “deep work” Frame that filters for large tasks (🍣).
• A 60-minute “focused work” Frame that filters for medium tasks (🍚).
• A 30-45 minute “quick tasks” Frame that filters for small tasks (🍗).‍

2. Order them based on your preferred workflow.

• For Eat That Frog, start your day with a Frame dedicated to deep work, followed by a Frame for focused work, and end with a Frame for quick tasks.
• For Climb The Summit, schedule a focused work Frame first, then deep work, and finally quick tasks.
• For The Slow Burn, begin with a quick tasks Frame, transition to focused work, and conclude with deep work.

3. Protect your deep work time from interruption.

‍The 90-120 minutes dedicated daily to large tasks is arguably the most important work block in your day. Yet, because of its size, it’s the most likely to be interrupted. If lots of last-minute meetings get booked into your calendar, set this Frame to ‘busy.’ Your colleagues will see you’re not available and scheduling links will be excluded this time. The other Frames may need to move around based on your other time commitments in your day.

4. Assign tasks due dates and importance levels.

The AI Planner can recommend tasks for your Frames, reducing the guesswork from planning your day. The more you enrich your task data with time estimates, due dates, and importance, the better the recommendations will be.

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If you’re new to the Bento method, I encourage you to commit to it for two weeks. For those of you who are used to cramming as many tasks as can fit into your day, it will feel like a big change. Using Frames is a great reminder to pull back, and truly hone in on just 3-7 things. You’ll be amazed how much can be accomplished even if you feel like you’re doing less.

You can also learn more about how I’ve applied the Bento Method to Frames in this video.

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Francesco D'Alessio is a productivity enthusiast, digital entrepreneur, and the mastermind behind the Bento Method—a system that boosts focus without burning out. Francesco combined his love for tech and personal development by creating Tool Finder, a platform dedicated to helping people discover the best tools and apps for their workflows.