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Why time management is ruining our lives

theguardian.com

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Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#171

Post by bootload »

torpfactory wrote: post #121

Some thoughts on time management: - Understanding that you will probably not accomplish everything on your to-do list was an important insight that I discovered a few years into my career. Some things will fall off the list, and that's OK. It's best to make explicit decisions in this regard: I will NOT work on that task / project because it just doesn't have the priority. You may be asked for this sort of reasoning l…

"he would stand in front of management and say "no, fuck that, that's useless". He was quite successful and could "get away" with this behaviour, though I suspect it was this very behaviour which had something to do with his success."

Your manager gets what Merlin Mann could not, the most important tasks are the ones you need to do ^right now^, to completion.

It's interesting that Bethlehem Steel is mentioned. Charles R. Schwab, the Bethlehem Steel boss, someone who Thomas Edison described as a ^hustler^, engaged Ivy Ledbetter Lee to improve productivity at Bethlehem for managers. [1] What is not mentioned is the fact Lee was a business owner of an early PR company and approached Bethlehem for business. His hack to Bethlehem management, set aside 15 minutes at the end of a day and specify six tasks you need done tomorrow;

* Prioritise them, one to six;

* Do each task, in order, till finished;

* Work your arse off;

* Left-over tasks are added to tomorrows list;

* Repeat;

I coin this, JIT task task management [3] and that simple behaviour your manager shows reflects this simple idea. I Merlin Mann totally misses this fact. [4] I was so impressed with Lees idea I wrote an article and some software to explore this idea.

References

[1] James Clear, "The Ivy Lee Method" ~ http://jamesclear.com/ivy-lee

[2] "Zero Tasks: Maximum Six. Add new tasks to leftovers. Prioritise. Kill one task at a time. Repeat.", http://seldomlogical.com/2016/NOV/19/zero-tasks/

[3] A month ago: " To-Do Lists Are Not the Answer to Getting Things Done" ~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12999565#13002833

[4] Merlin Mann, "Inbox Zero" (July 23, 2007) ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9UjeTMb3Yk

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#172

Post by appleiigs »

flor1s wrote: post #140
llwt wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds a lot like the Pomodoro Technique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

I think the Pomodoro Technique is one of those things the article posted warns you against. Having a timer counting down might make you more stressed about time passing. When I was using the Pomodoro Technique many people who I met mentioned that effect to me as a reason why they did not use Pomodoro's.

I've had great success with the Pomodoro technique. It really increased my focus and decreased stress. I plan my day out in time blocks, then I focus one item at a time.

The timer isn't a deadline. It just notifies you of when the 20 minutes is up. I don't even look at the timer when I'm working.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#173

Post by nicky0 »

ryandrake wrote: post #53
rdiddly wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, so you're one of those folks who doesn't answer my emails! Makes me pester you multiple times, by email, SMS, Skype, and if I'm truly desperate, the dog park. You're just outsourcing the work of communication onto me. When you ask for a favor I will pretend I didn't hear it! Winky emoticon.

Thank you for pointing that out. Not answering one's E-mail is on my list of "rude things that somehow have become acceptable". It's part of individual companies' cultures. I've worked places where people can generally be relied upon to get back to you, and places where you might as well print out the message and shred it--it's not going to be responded to. The former means your working relationship with me is going…

I prefer it when people come to ask me in person. So much more efficient. A 5 minute conversation can sometimes replace days of back and forth emails.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#174

Post by nicky0 »

kalmi10 wrote: post #118
andyidsinga wrote: post #12

I suspect that the notion of managing one's inbox creates a sort of kruger-dunning effect with the inbox owner in terms of perceived productivity. I've given up active or structured management of my inbox : I read a few times during the work day, try to keep up, but don't get worried about missing 40% of things that come through. I'm at-ease with the notion that important communications have a way of finding me (emai…

Hm, I just realized I work with some people like you, who seem to miss about half of my mails. Hah, from this point on, I will always call "you" if I need to inform "you" of something.

Good. You're learning.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#175

Post by [deleted] »

kalmi10 wrote: post #118
andyidsinga wrote: post #12

I suspect that the notion of managing one's inbox creates a sort of kruger-dunning effect with the inbox owner in terms of perceived productivity. I've given up active or structured management of my inbox : I read a few times during the work day, try to keep up, but don't get worried about missing 40% of things that come through. I'm at-ease with the notion that important communications have a way of finding me (emai…

Hm, I just realized I work with some people like you, who seem to miss about half of my mails. Hah, from this point on, I will always call "you" if I need to inform "you" of something.

[deleted]

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#176

Post by nicky0 »

gedy wrote: post #69
coldcode wrote: post #64

At work it is routine for people to create long phone meetings, invite 50 people who all are expected to be online, talk for hour with no decision, plan another meeting for later to talk about it again. People only show up because if they don't they will be blamed for anything that goes wrong which will spawn more unpleasant meetings. The actual decision needed could be done in a couple of Slack messages between two…

Those who can, do. Those who can't, talk.

Those who can't, send an email about it.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#177

Post by [deleted] »

gedy wrote: post #69
coldcode wrote: post #64

At work it is routine for people to create long phone meetings, invite 50 people who all are expected to be online, talk for hour with no decision, plan another meeting for later to talk about it again. People only show up because if they don't they will be blamed for anything that goes wrong which will spawn more unpleasant meetings. The actual decision needed could be done in a couple of Slack messages between two…

Those who can, do. Those who can't, talk.

[deleted]

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#178

Post by fsloth »

The book "Algorithms to live by" by Brian Christian pointed out that as a society, we've switched in interpersonal communication from 'circuit switching' to 'packet switching'. I.e nowadays anyone can send anything, and it's the recipients responsibility to deal with all the messages coming in. Earlier, e.g. with phone, fax and paper mail, the communication bandwidth for incoming noise - err, I mean messages - was lower, and the individual did not need to deal with so much traffic.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#179

Post by dwaltrip »

arcanus wrote: post #161
amazing_jose wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read somewhere that Bill Gates' wife forced him to read at least one general magazine every month because he was completely disconnected from reality. He only consumed financial books and magazines and never watched the news. He used to find famous people in parties and events and never recognise them or know why they were famous.

> He used to find famous people in parties and events and never recognise them or know why they were famous. That sounds like a feature, not a bug to me.

Not when you are the head of a huge philanthropic organization.
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