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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

#51

Post by junto »

One of my bosses had a good way of dealing with emails. He would only write one single short replies.

No "Dear/Hello Blah", no sign off, just one single terse sentence that was straight to the point.

He detested my wordy, time laboured and well formatted emails that looked like letters. He had a point.

He treated email like a messenger application, whereas many of us still see it as an electronic replacement for the physical letter. Once you see the difference the time savings are huge.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#52

Post by ryandrake »

junto wrote: post #51

One of my bosses had a good way of dealing with emails. He would only write one single short replies. No "Dear/Hello Blah", no sign off, just one single terse sentence that was straight to the point. He detested my wordy, time laboured and well formatted emails that looked like letters. He had a point. He treated email like a messenger application, whereas many of us still see it as an electronic replacement for the…

This style breaks down when you ask three distinct questions, and the boss (who's so busy he can't even form sentences) simply responds "YES". Now you're guessing. Yes to everything? Yes to only the last question? Now more E-mails are needed and nobody wants that.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#53

Post by ryandrake »

rdiddly wrote: post #26
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…

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 to be smooth and collaborative. The latter means I'm going to treat you like a deadbeat and come around and nag you in person.

I actually really hate being that "Hey, didja read that E-mail I sent?" guy, but if you're not responsive, I am going to have to pay you a visit. And I have no idea when you're in the zone and when you're just chilling. If you would just answer your E-mail, then you get to do it at the best time for you.

One thing I've found helpful over the years is: When you are depending on getting a response, say so. "NEED RESPONSE BY EOD TUESDAY" Make it the very first thing in the body of the E-mail, or even make it the subject of the E-mail, since some people only skim the subjects.

Another tip is to state clearly what assumption you will make about their thoughts if you do not hear back in time: "If I don't hear back by EOD, we will go forward with the proposal."

EDIT: Another good tip I forgot to mention: If your E-mail is going to multiple people, and you need one or more of them to respond or take action, type their Full Name in bold and red then ":" then the specific action the need to take and by when. This helps people who only scan their E-mails, as their name stands out.

Most of these tips are actually pretty obvious, it seems silly to even write them down.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#54

Post by jimmaswell »

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…

Why not just set up phone notifications and deal with emails as they come in when you happen to use your phone? You never miss anything that way. Works great in my experience.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#55

Post by chris_7 »

jimmaswell wrote: post #54
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…

Why not just set up phone notifications and deal with emails as they come in when you happen to use your phone? You never miss anything that way. Works great in my experience.

That sounds like a bad way to live - I don't want anyone (and especially marketing nonsense, which is so much of the email that I get, despite me flagging all of it as spam) to be able to interrupt me at any time (still wish I could send all non-contact phone calls directly to voicemail).

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#56

Post by frahs »

ryandrake wrote: post #52
junto wrote: post #51

One of my bosses had a good way of dealing with emails. He would only write one single short replies. No "Dear/Hello Blah", no sign off, just one single terse sentence that was straight to the point. He detested my wordy, time laboured and well formatted emails that looked like letters. He had a point. He treated email like a messenger application, whereas many of us still see it as an electronic replacement for the…

This style breaks down when you ask three distinct questions, and the boss (who's so busy he can't even form sentences) simply responds "YES". Now you're guessing. Yes to everything? Yes to only the last question? Now more E-mails are needed and nobody wants that.

I think you're confusing being terse with being bad at communicating.

Original comment isn't talking about giving useless answers, they are talking about removing flowery language from emails and keeping them as short as possible while still giving enough info.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#57

Post by ryandrake »

colund wrote: post #4

I manage my time by stopping reading after a few sections when I realize that the article does not contain information that will matter to me for real. It's actually quite simple. Only do things you really want to do and try to do it well. Be nice to others and be nice to yourself. Don't waste time reading stuff which is boring but... "stay hungry... stay foolish"

Haha, I notice that too. 5000+ word article on managing one's time.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#58

Post by Terretta »

jimmaswell wrote: post #54
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…

Why not just set up phone notifications and deal with emails as they come in when you happen to use your phone? You never miss anything that way. Works great in my experience.

Is your time and your mental flow your own, or does it belong to miscellaneous third parties to interrupt on their terms?

Would you prefer to operate by your own priorities or theirs?

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#59

Post by chris_7 »

rdiddly wrote: post #26
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…

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.

I get tons of emails from recruiters, marketers, etc. I reply to none of them, and I think it's unfair that by sending me mail that I don't want they are implicitly entitled to labor (writing a response) from me.

Re: Why time management is ruining our lives

#60

Post by Terretta »

bosie wrote: post #36
moxious wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure all of your communications are so critical? There are also people who will chase others to the dog park to tell them that a CI build passed...

i don't follow how you got to the snarky "critical" if andyidsinga is ignoring 40% of emails?

As long as they ignore the right 40%.
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