The Time Management Thread
- Thread starter wiredniko
- Start date
I'm not really good when it comes to managing my time. In fact I am a a big time procrastinator. I work at the comfort of my own, and also I am not very well-disciplined. I think I need more coaching and advices when it comes to time management. During my high school years, I get the best award for the most late pupil. lol
Funny a lot of us are doing the same shit..
Here is my breakdown:
1. GTD method - organize my desktop this way and also my tasks
2. 80/20 rule - Work on the things that make me money
3. Eat That Frog -Work on biggest task or one I hate first
4. Pomodoro - Give myself a set time to do the task, also give myself breaks
5. Time Boxing - Just get shit done, dont perfect it
6. Using Doit.IM as my manager for all this
So bascially I break shit down as listing all my tasks in Doit.IM in a GTD type of process.
I then go back through and highlight all the 80/20 shit that makes me money so that I focus entirely on making money activities.
Out of those projects, which ones do I hate the most or are the biggest Frogs for me? Those come first.
I then set my pomodoro for 25 minutes and timebox my way through the project, getting done what I can the best I can in that 25 minutes. Sometimes I need a 2nd pomodoro for the project, but thats OK cause pomodoro allows that.
Once I break through my Frog for the day, i hit all the other 80/20 shit until those are done and then start hitting my 20/80 shit in my Doit.IM list with again, pomodoro and timeboxing.
So everything I do is timeboxed within pomodoro and managed in Doit.IM ( unless i am on Mac, then I use Omnifocus or Things ). I always work my 80/20 shit first before my 20/80's or other non money making activites and out of those I also do the Frog first.
Here is my breakdown:
1. GTD method - organize my desktop this way and also my tasks
2. 80/20 rule - Work on the things that make me money
3. Eat That Frog -Work on biggest task or one I hate first
4. Pomodoro - Give myself a set time to do the task, also give myself breaks
5. Time Boxing - Just get shit done, dont perfect it
6. Using Doit.IM as my manager for all this
So bascially I break shit down as listing all my tasks in Doit.IM in a GTD type of process.
I then go back through and highlight all the 80/20 shit that makes me money so that I focus entirely on making money activities.
Out of those projects, which ones do I hate the most or are the biggest Frogs for me? Those come first.
I then set my pomodoro for 25 minutes and timebox my way through the project, getting done what I can the best I can in that 25 minutes. Sometimes I need a 2nd pomodoro for the project, but thats OK cause pomodoro allows that.
Once I break through my Frog for the day, i hit all the other 80/20 shit until those are done and then start hitting my 20/80 shit in my Doit.IM list with again, pomodoro and timeboxing.
So everything I do is timeboxed within pomodoro and managed in Doit.IM ( unless i am on Mac, then I use Omnifocus or Things ). I always work my 80/20 shit first before my 20/80's or other non money making activites and out of those I also do the Frog first.
Nice post.
I don't get the "4. Pomodoro - Give myself a set time to do the task" idea. Task take as long as tasks take... and heaven knows the length of a project.
How are you getting this time and does it not set you off kilter when your task is X number of pom sessions?
Cheers.
Id have to ask if you ever read about or done the pomodoro tech. The basis is doing tasks in 25 min chunks and giving yourself a 5 min break, once you reach 4 pomo's then you get a longer break.
I mostly stuck to this because I never would give myself a break, which resulted in burnout, stress, etc.. Its actually helpful to step away for 5 minutes and know that you only have 25 minutes to hit your mark to actually make you focus.
Now we all know in real life task can take longer then 25 minutes and pomodoro realizes this and thus allows you more then 1 pomo to finish a task if need be.. you could work on the same 1 task through 6 pomo's. The point being giving yourself breaks and staying focused for that 25 min block and not talking on the phone, reading WF, checking email, etc..
I dont get fustrated if a task takes more then 1 pomo, its just how it is. I do however try to timebox myself to that 1 pomo session as best i can. I get done what I can, the best I can in that 1 session and then move on to the next task. At the end of the day I might have a bunch of half done projects on paper, but in reality I got the core of what needed to be done, done and working.. just on paper all the goals might not be done, but the shit is working and functional. The next day I revisit those left over goals from paper and make that my new goals for the day.
Too many people try to be a perfectionist, even me. If I have a goal to build a todo list app and I try to buy a domain name, perfect a layout, build the app and ajax it up, test it out a stable beta in 1 day time ( or even 1 pomodoro ), then I did too much too soon. The only thing I really need to do is buy a domain, get a LP up, and build the core functions to get it just to work in my pomodoro or 2. If that means having sloppy ass code or ugly fucking site, then that is what it means because I timeboxed myself into that 1 or 2 pomodoro, but I got the shit done and functioning. I'll do the rest of my tasks for the day and be happy. The next day, I'll revist the todo list app and add in better sales graphics, ajax, etc.
Too many people burn out trying to get shit perfect, when you should have just been trying to get to "launch"
The first thing i do is set myself in a good environment. All I do is move downstairs to a solitary and lonely desk. It works because there are no distractions, like TV, xbox, pc, etc.
The second thing I do is implement time boxing by using a kitchen timer. I feel more motivated to do my work when the kitchen timer is watching me with its eyes for every second.
The second thing I do is implement time boxing by using a kitchen timer. I feel more motivated to do my work when the kitchen timer is watching me with its eyes for every second.
I do do the pomodoro technique. I use this: focus booster - home; try the pomodoro technique
I asked cos I assumed from you first post that you were leaving tasks unfinished. The second post confirmed it. Ok... I see what your doing now. That's different. It's interesting to see peoples different methodologies.
My task list is setup that each task is sequential. There are no time limits set to tasks that I simply do not know the time it will take. Just setup the timer and get to it. Once the task is finished, next. That's how I work.
Do you not get frustrated/confused with so many half-done tasks laying around? I'd feel like a headless chicken with your way. I'm trying to see the pros/cons of both our methods.
What may a big reason why I do what I do is that my job is to make vids and procedures for my staff to then use to complete projects. So my tasks tend to be not as complicated as yours (you mentioned web development etc).
You might want to check out Toodledo : A to-do list to organize your tasks I like it more than Doit.IM I guess it might be a personal preference there.
Aside from that I pretty much do the same thing as I explained above minus Time Boxing.
Well after reading this thread I think I have devised a new way of time management.
1. Organize all my tasks on doit.im (includes getting things done method)
2. On doit.im, set the hardest tasks with the highest priorities to the top of the list. (includes eat that frog method)
3. Pomodoro method.
I can't really apply the time boxing method since my assignments generally take me over an hour to complete... and my kitchen timer will only go up to 60 minutes :/
Plus it's really easy to just disregard timeboxing since there is no boss to watch over me, I'll still continue to work on an assignment even if my time is up according to time boxing.
I've looked over timebase, rescuetime, toodledo, etc, but those sites don't compete in terms of simplicity with doit.im
1. Organize all my tasks on doit.im (includes getting things done method)
2. On doit.im, set the hardest tasks with the highest priorities to the top of the list. (includes eat that frog method)
3. Pomodoro method.
I can't really apply the time boxing method since my assignments generally take me over an hour to complete... and my kitchen timer will only go up to 60 minutes :/
Plus it's really easy to just disregard timeboxing since there is no boss to watch over me, I'll still continue to work on an assignment even if my time is up according to time boxing.
I've looked over timebase, rescuetime, toodledo, etc, but those sites don't compete in terms of simplicity with doit.im
I just checked out doit.im. If you work on projects with partners, clients and/or staff you're far better of using basecamp/activecollab etc.
yeah if you got projects for other people that are waiting on you , then you cant timebox. I.E., if a client is waiting for your video or audio by a certain date and your already late producing it.
However, it works well for me because I am my own boss. I can make a lander or start a new campaign and have it up in 25 minutes. It may not be perfected, but it has all the elementary elements I need on it and its running and getting numbers. I can come back later to it in the day and use another pomodoro to clean it up and polish.
What we used to say is that a "bad app that is well implemented is far better than a great one that is poorly implemented"
It doesn't matter what tool you use, even if it's just stickies framing your screen. It just matters that you do something.
It doesn't matter what tool you use, even if it's just stickies framing your screen. It just matters that you do something.
Going back to using Things for task management and workflowy for breaking down projects into several sub lists.
btw, here is a great keygen for the latest version of Things (v1.4.3)
You can download the program from the Things website and then enter your generated key to get out of the trial. Use LittleSnitch to block it from connecting to their website.
btw, here is a great keygen for the latest version of Things (v1.4.3)
Code:
http://www.mediafire.com/?w46d6f7ww5y1dy8You can download the program from the Things website and then enter your generated key to get out of the trial. Use LittleSnitch to block it from connecting to their website.
I love that they modeled it after him but realized that no one could be quite as much as a slave driver as the original Grindstone 1.0.
I just realized Basecamp has a Free account option. Yes, you can only do 1 project and there's no storage, so I don't know how much I'll be able to do, but at least i know I won't be extorted with the threat of that project going away in 30 days if I don't pay up.
I'm using Workflowy strictly for project management too, it's not conducive to being a task list for me since it doesn't have a temporal element to it. I'll still be managing my day to day stuff with RTM.