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We Still Don’t Get Things Done

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Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#111

Post by milesvp »

superice wrote: post #18
kilroy123 wrote: post #14

I'm always curious how others "work." I use the Pomodoro technique myself, where I do a minimum of 8 sessions per workday. I try to do 10, but usually, I'm somewhere in between. I do not count meetings. Every day at work, I show up and do a minimum of 4 straight hours of concentrated and focused work. I often get told things like: "I'm killing it", "I'm a high producer", etc. To me, I feel like I'm cheating the syste…

I use a similar technique, combined with meticulous time tracking of every and any minute I spend professionally. As somebody who is self-employed, I quickly realized that working 8+ hours per day is an absolute myth. I count any day where I spent more than 4 hours in a state of focused work as a great day, and weeks where I spend more than 20 hours a week are rare. My personal goal has shifted from trying to work as…

I have found similar results in my time tracking.

At best 2 flow hours before lunch. 2 flow hours after lunch. Sometimes bonus 1.5 flow hours after ‘tea time’ (not sustainable). Sometimes bonus 1 flow hour after dinner (completely unsustainable). Basically 4hrs is sutainable. 5.5 is pushing it.

Also I’ve found if you don’t take at least a whole day off (hobbies that look like work don’t quite count as time off) then daily concentration with quickly deteriorates as well.

edit: I should note that these are high concentration hours, my data isn’t as good for non heads down work.

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#112

Post by Lightbody »

granra wrote: post #109
Lightbody wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it’s worth, we (Reclaim.ai - I’m quoted in the article), have a lot of ADHD customers who tell us that we help with time blocking on their calendar. In particular, the fact that we do it automatically seems to be the thing they appreciate. Edit: First time I’ve ever been downvoted into negative territory. Clearly I’ve embarrassed myself ;P Is it because of self promotion? I guess… seems weird though I/my com…

Looking at the landing page I can see only Google calendar is supported with outlook planned. Is there any chance of regular caldav support. I'm interested in the product but I use neither Google calendar nor Outlook.

I absolutely desire to support it, but just being realistic it is at least 1-2 years off, pending our overall success as a company. The market just isn’t big enough to justify the R&D expense at this stage. Sorry :(

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#114

Post by bluGill »

systemvoltage wrote: post #68
quartesixte wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit due where credit is due: these project management software companies have done a good job of convincing people they need it. I've taken to using tools that most closely mimic notepad+pen or whiteboard+marker. Increasingly I am finding that a physical whiteboard, markers, and post-its are good enough. And if you need to create backups, the image quality on any smartphone is very, very good these days. The more…

If you've ever worked in manufacturing, real Kanban boards are messy but organized for the people to know what's going on. Every Kanban board I've seen is unique in its own ways. Some use post-it notes and some specialized tokens that magentically attach to the board. Design of the board and layout can vary widely, but generally when you see one, it is a workshop organization tool made by people who feel comfortable…

Whiteboards are better in every way but one : a whiteboard doesn't sync with anything central or remote. You have to decide if this matters to you. If yes get a tool, if not get a whiteboard.

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#115

Post by indiv0 »

Doches wrote: post #38

This is _exactly_ why I stopped keeping TODO lists, and started keeping DONE lists instead. What's a done list? Think of it as an anti-TODO list: your DONE list is where you write down everything that you've, well, done. You know that little dopamine kick you get from filing a neatly-tagged TODO or marking off something that you've finished? A done list is just that, and the only way to use it is to train yourself to…

I resonate with this, _a lot_.

TODO lists don't work for me at all. I can't seem to remember to actually check the damn things for what to do next. The overhead of maintaining them also eats up time.

The closest thing I've found that works to motivate and keep me on track is SaveMyTime, which is a time tracking app. I used it in a similar manner to how you describe done lists. I tracked exactly what I've done, every minute of every day. The killer feature of SMT is that it forces you to fill out what you've done prior to unlocking your phone screen. Unlike TODO lists, I have no problem checking my phone frequently :)

This meant that I always had a log of where my time was going, what areas of my life needed more attention, where I was spending my time when procrastinating, etc.

The very action of seeing that "What did you do in the last 15 minutes?" reminder helps kick my brain into "That's a good question, what should I be doing now?" mode.

Unfortunately I've since switched to iOS so SMT isn't an option anymore. I can't seem to find a similar app. Most of the existing time tracking apps expect you to actually set timers, which defeats the purpose. Damn Apple and their OS restrictions mean that no one can make an app that lets you show a screen like that prior to unlocking either.

I've settled for writing my own, private app as a replacement. It shows a widget on the home screen (as in-your-face as you can get on iPhones) with the same features as SMT. "X many minutes since you last logged your time, here is a list of likely things you were working on".

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#116

Post by emodendroket »

> You can blame Zeigarnik again. The mere act of making a to-do list relieves so much itchy stress that it can, paradoxically, reduce the pressure to actually get stuff done. “People feel that when they put all their tasks somewhere, they’ve already done most of the work,” Perchik says. But it’s an illusion. The pile of work is still there.

If it went so long without being done, perhaps it wasn't so important after all, and giving yourself permission to quit thinking about it is just what the doctor ordered.

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#117

Post by quartesixte »

bluGill wrote: post #114
systemvoltage wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've ever worked in manufacturing, real Kanban boards are messy but organized for the people to know what's going on. Every Kanban board I've seen is unique in its own ways. Some use post-it notes and some specialized tokens that magentically attach to the board. Design of the board and layout can vary widely, but generally when you see one, it is a workshop organization tool made by people who feel comfortable…

Whiteboards are better in every way but one : a whiteboard doesn't sync with anything central or remote. You have to decide if this matters to you. If yes get a tool, if not get a whiteboard.

If no sync means forcing the engineers out of their desks and onto the floor so they actually talk to the production teams and hold in their hands the product that so far has only lived in CAD for them, then I’ll take no-sync any day of the week.

Of course, that’s not feasible but hey, a guy can dream.

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#118

Post by phs318u »

My current job title is "Head of T". I have to get lots of stuff done. But unless my to-do items are, "play guitar", "play nethack", "go for a walk" or "eat as much spaghetti as you want", chances are I don't _want_ to do those things. I _have_ to do them. I promise, you that a list comprised totally of things that I _want_ to get done - will get done. The things I _have_ to get done? Eh - sometimes they get done, sometimes the can gets kicked down the road, sometimes they get delegated, and sometimes (my favourite) they get cancelled. I have tried countless tools over my decades working, and none have helped me with the motivation issue.

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#119

Post by jdauriemma »

throwslackforce wrote: post #75

If we were actually interested in getting things done, we'd get them done, right? It seems like the core of the problem is people having priorities imposed on them that don't match their own, actual priorities. When people aren't getting things done, they're usually doing other things, their actual priorities, not staring idly into space. (Usually. And maybe staring into space is fine too). If your well-being or the…

Yes! I used to be obsessive about TODOs but never found a solution that worked for more than a year. After the novelty wore off, my lists would grow longer and the satisfaction of clearing them would wane. Then I just stopped.

And my productivity grew anyway! If I value the task, it gets done because it stays on my mind. Reminders help because there’s no giant list to maintain or to make me feel guilty or defeated. Without the TODOs, I have been more spontaneous and naturally more selective about where I focus my attention.

Re: We Still Don’t Get Things Done

#120

Post by hanniabu »

moksly wrote: post #32

The more project management tools I have to work with, the less likely I am to work for or with a company. I have a somewhat similar stance on software architecture. Sure, I’m TOGAF certified but if you actually expect me to work with notation correct Archimare/UML/whatever and not just draw boxes on a napkin you’re either insane or sell a product with no competition. This is anecdotal of course, but after 30 years o…

My favorite job and most efficient I have ever been was when all we used was a set of trello boards with a list of dev, admin, and auxiliary tasks. Dead simple to manage, everyone can see what's going on, and we would just have a meeting every week or 2 to discuss where we are and coordinate on the next steps to repopulate the boards.
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