The Time Management Thread

wiredniko

wiredniko

Jedi in training
Jul 20, 2010
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New York
For the longest time I tried to get organized and I felt that I was pretty good with time management until I read "Getting Things Done" and it radically changed my world.

After that I read "Eat That Frog", I have been in the process of implementing the main idea, do the biggest/most important project first while still using GTD to organize all my projects.

Yesterday I tried timing myself, 10 minutes working, 2 minute break. It worked well but the 10 minutes felt too short, so after some research I came across the Pomodoro technique which I am currently reading.

It got me thinking, how do you guys manage your time? Any books that radically changed the way you approach work and projects?
 


I manage my time based on my priorities from the top till the last task. Books and stories cab be of help but it will always be you to put up a better time management. Well base on my everyday routine, I can say that I am successful on being organized. I focus on the things that needed to be done. As what I said, there should always the priority.
 
EricVonDoobie said:
It's just total fucking chaos over here. Zero management.
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lulz.

try time boxing. You sit down with your list for the day and mark out how many 25 minute boxes of time you'll need for each one. Start slow, limit yourself to 4 hours of time boxes at first. As you get more successful and consistent, add more time each day.

It's all about managing your expectations. I don't know one person who has a todo list that doesn't span a fucking month or more. Break it into chunks and revel in the small victories so you don't feel like a shithead for not finishing your whole master list in a 10 hour work day.
 
Rescue time is pretty cool, but personally I use Basecamp with all features. Set milestones and deadlines, and pretend you have a boss breathing down your neck.

Actually, you're the boss...so just BE the boss ;)

But having a nagging secretary like Basecamp really keeps me tracking- just USE it.

PS - I'm on break right now for 15 mins- deffo reward yourself from time to time with a bit of fuck-around. All work and no play, etc... But keep it structured.
 
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basecamp + backpack + the power of full engagement (book). also if you can get your hands on any of dan Sullivan's stuff, specifically "the cash conversation" with him and joe polish, listen to that too.

energy management > time management.
 
What I have learned from working online about time management is this. If you do not take time to do anything or you do not sit down and constantly work at something you will go no were.
 
Dan Sullivan's stuff sucks. I don't get anything from the Cash Conversation interview.

seiux said:
basecamp + backpack + the power of full engagement (book). also if you can get your hands on any of dan Sullivan's stuff, specifically "the cash conversation" with him and joe polish, listen to that too.

energy management > time management.
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Wicked Ice said:
Dan Sullivan's stuff sucks. I don't get anything from the Cash Conversation interview.
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Where can you get a look at said interview? Or is it a super deluxe guru deal?


4 Principles of Full Engagement synapsis-
“Principle 1: Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Principle 2: Because energy diminishes both with overuse and with underuse, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.
Principle 3: To build capacity we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.
Principle 4: Positive energy rituals—highly specific routines for managing energy—are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.”
Meh, kinda hokey.
I get pissed when using techniques like pomodoro because when a pomo is completed, I might be just flowing right through shit, and the timers goes off it breaks my concentration.
I am interested in time boxing, looks interesting.
 
The whole convo is about focusing on money making activities as entrepreneur (doing the things that actually make money and outsource the rest).

thelorax said:
Where can you get a look at said interview? Or is it a super deluxe guru deal?
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Yeaaa I think I heard that. TY.
I bought some of Polish's stuff, not that bad really. I think he's a child of Dan K. Wanted to also mention a program called stickies, I tend to use it more than a traditional sticky pad, pretty nice for basic to do lists on screen.

Getting things done wiki summary


Eat that frog notes-
"• If you want to gain control of your life, change the way you work.
• Action is the key to accomplishment.
• People who do better do things differently. They do the right things right.
• Eating the frog means identifying your most important task and tackling it with
single-minded focus until it is completed.
• Launch directly into your most important tasks.
• Your ability to focus on your most important task will determine your success.
• People fail because they aren’t absolutely clear about their goals.
• The best rule for success is to think on paper. Write down your goals.
• Every night, make a list of what you want to accomplish the next day. Have a
master list, a monthly list, a weekly list and a daily list.
• Identify the one skill that, if you developed it, would have the biggest impact on
your career."

http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/08/kick-procrastinations-ass-run-a-dash

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

http://workawesome.com/productivity/timeboxing/
 
cash conversation was like an intro to dan sullivan's principles...i dunno, i mean it's not groundbreaking or anything, but it was still legit.

if you just look @ the power of full engagement for it's basic principles, yeah, it's going to sound real hokey. gotta actually read the book.

btw not a big fan of brian tracy's stuff. feels too old school "climb the ladder" type shit. not that it's bad or anything. im just not into his presentation.
 
ImagesAndWords said:
Once you start using Rescue Time (all you need is the free version), you will begin pushing your own efficiency to new levels.
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+1, programs nice.
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I have used the pomodoro technique for about 4 hours now. Damn, it really works and I like it much more than 10mins work, 2 mins rest.

25mins is a good amount of time to focus on something without constantly having to start and stop work.

I just start the timer, check all my next actions, grab the hardest one and go to work.

I cleaned up my email the fastest I have ever cleaned it up and I have been following doing things GTD style for three months now.

I feel that this was one of the final keys to my time management.
 
Oh I wanted to add assigning time to specific projects as in, I will do xyz in 45 minutes never seems to work for me. I am either bad at estimating time or my projects are too complex to be able to accurately determine.

This is especially true with my day job due to its complexity and dealing with managing an entire team and interacting with multiple groups.
 
wiredniko said:
Oh I wanted to add assigning time to specific projects as in, I will do xyz in 45 minutes never seems to work for me. I am either bad at estimating time or my projects are too complex to be able to accurately determine.

This is especially true with my day job due to its complexity and dealing with managing an entire team and interacting with multiple groups.
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it is absolutely essential you learn how to estimate your time for each task. if a task is too complex to estimate, break it down into simpler pieces. Like I said, manage expectations.

If you don't estimate how long something should take, how can you calculate how efficient you were when you are done?
 
about time theres a time management thread, it's something that bothers me constantly, i've been outsourcing, everything lately, and it handicaps me greatly, when i have to do stuff myself. I have like 5 books on time management, and i can't manage my time to read them!(very shameful joke ;\).

Seriously this helps, i just use the list thing(marker board), and try to go down the list accordingly. I usually do the best, by challenging myself to do all the things on the daily list, and reward myself if I do. But sometimes just starting on the top priority thing is tough. Infact i should be working right now, but instead, i'm typing on how i should be working!!! AHHHH!:angryfire::angryfire:
 
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