Comments on: Time Management

By: Slip

Slip — Wed, 10 Mar 2004 01:35:36 +0000

Get an organizer of some sorts so you can try and manage your time, being able to open it any time and seeing what you have to do and what to do after that. :)

By: andrew

andrew — Mon, 08 Mar 2004 22:46:02 +0000

during college i started to do things as they came to mind. of course, if i decided that i needed to write some email, id stop coding the program due the next day to do it :) i dont think id be able to keep it up long term, but it did work out for about a year. i figured that thinking about something else, while doing my work wasnt going to get me anywhere, so id just let myself get distracted for a bit.

i’ve never been able to hand things in late either - when it’s due, it’s due, so i always got it done on time. long nites… lots of them…

By: Amit Karmakar

Amit Karmakar — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 06:05:57 +0000

I agree with Adam and Clandestino. Plan plan plan… or if you wish to see it the traditional way: Location, location, location.

Multitasking is good but comes at a cost. Though a bit of it is fine… Its pretty much like keeping an eye on system resource and checking every now and then how much memory its chugs away… kill tasks that are unimportant and/or can be avoided.(for the time).

And, yes… the old adage… ‘Early to bed…Early to rise, makes one healty, wealthy(not sure) and wise’. LOL. My $0.02 anyway :)

By: Piers Young

Piers Young — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 12:56:29 +0000

An easier said than done thing to bear in mind is trying not to multitask too much.

There’s been some research recently that shows people waste time whenever they “switches” from one task to another - e.g. from writing a thesis to picking up a phone. basically, your brain has to ramp down and ramp up to move from one task state to another, and while it’s doing that you’re not much use to anybody. What’s worse is that the more complicated the tasks you’re switching between, the longer the ramp time.

Some multitaskers can waste as much as 40% of the working day in this ramp time.

Which, let’s face it, is a bummer.

By: Starlight

Starlight — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 22:34:34 +0000

I have been struggling with the same thing - contemplating it TODAY actually. My ability to perform under pressure means I don’t do ANYTHING in advance until I absolutely have to. Then I just stay up all night to get it done and slack around till then next deadline exerts unbearable pressure. Thanks for confessing my confession for me. :D

By: DarkBlue

DarkBlue — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 22:17:52 +0000

Time management? Just say no!

Don’t be a slave to “the man”. Don’t stifle your creativity and/or imagination with a schedule. To hell with that.

As Douglas Adams once said, “I love deadlines, I love the whooshing sound they make as they go whizzing by.” (maybe not verbatim - but you get the idea).

By: Brent

Brent — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 21:56:49 +0000

I’ve been using a product, Tasks, by Alex King (http://www.alexking.org/index.php?content=software/tasks/content.php) ait seems to work well for me to keep track of all my work related project. That and iCal. Tasks is a web based todo list (PHP, MySQL) and I run it on my powerbook. It also ties in with iCal.

By: Clandestino

Clandestino — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 18:52:07 +0000

After going through several time-management classes (time management seems to be a very funny serious thing in the company I’m working for) I found that there is no “golden path” to follow. On the opposite, a lot of concepts that are explained in those classes are pretty similar to each others, and can be resumed in a couple of points:

1) Plan, plan, plan! Setup a schedule of your projects, and prioritize them from the most important to the less one

2) Prioritize! Give each project a value from 1 to 5, one beeing “stop everything and work now”, five beeing “neither so important, nor urgent, but to keep somewhere in my mind”

3) Relax! Avoid beeing stressed by last-minute matters. In the “real” professional world, 95% of projects (even the most important ones) fall (far) behind schedule

As you highlighted (#12), time management is not an exact science. It’s rather a matter of self-discipline, which you can get used to very rapidly

By: Didier Hilhorst

Didier Hilhorst — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 11:43:48 +0000

Thanks for sharing all your tips and tricks to manage time. There are these small things I can change, but those are just echos of something bigger. Lately I’ve been getting to bed earlier and consequently getting up earlier. No matter how clichÃ©, it works. Matty (#9) shared an interesting view on time management which, i think, is closer to my general philosophy in life.

Time management is not an exact science. Different methods work for different people. First of all, in my opinion, you need to be comfortable and motivated to change your lifestyle. It’s a bit like smoking. Tough to kick the habit. Keep the comments coming, and like Adam (#11) I’m curious to know what software is outthere.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 07:32:35 +0000

Great comments so far and some nice routines to try!

Like Virginia (#3), I once had and loved a TickBox pad. The paper form has its’ advantages, as my online ToDo list (Rainlendar) doesn’t recognise past achievements. Can anyone recommend other time management software for the PC?

“it gives me a warm feeling every time I get to mark stuff off”

A necessary step for large projects is breaking it into manageable chunks, and doing a 20/20/20 for your sanity and vision. (Look 20m into the distance for 20s every 20min). Virginia, you are right about the value of keeping your lists, they’re great for morale.