jocelyn mathewes | BORN YESTERDAY blog archives: Professor J: Effectiveness 101 (BORN YESTERDAY)

I don't know about you, but in a given day, there are vast quantities of menial tasks to manage in a given day. Time and task management has always been a shtick of mine, and the fact that I can list principles of effectiveness is just proof of how much of a huge nerd I am. But they're helpful! So here they are, directly from the Nerd's mouth. Whether you work in an office or not, I hope you find these techniques that I use helpful in some way.

develop a system for sorting e-mail

E-mail can be one of the most overwhelming things to deal with on a daily basis--messages pile up, because it's difficult to figure out what to do with e-mail. On the surface, it seems like what you need to do is simply reply to everything. Not so. All e-mail solicits you in three ways: information (no action), questions (reply), or a request (perform a task).

So, before I even reply to anything, I sort my e-mail. Any message that I flag gets put into a Smart Folder I've created in my Mail application called "REPLY / ACTION". Self-explanatory, right? Then, I reply to things as needed, and record things to do in my planner, leaving a message flagged if an action hasn't been performed yet.

set aside specific chunks of time for e-mail

One of the worst things about e-mail is the way it compulsively draws you to hit the "New Mail" button for no really good reason at all, at all times of the day. All the messages and communication from people is affirming, but it's easy to get stuck in a loop of perpetual inactivity while the e-mail piles up, unanswered and calling you again.

So in order to prevent myself from being or falling into a trap, I build a little moat around the time that I check e-mail. I check for new mail only:
1. after I've accomplished a few tasks in the morning, or
2. if I have the time to answer it

That way I am less likely to miss something important, and less likely to derail my workflow.

You can read more great tips about e-mail over at Merlin Mann's productivity website.

pick 1 or 2 large tasks to tackle for the day

I do this for two reasons: in order to focus more easily, and so I don't get frustrated with a list of things left undone at the end of the day. If I have fewer things that I set out to do, not only am I more likely to accomplish them, but I'm also leaving room for some down time, and the other little things that come up.

take breaks after an hour or so

I find this to be very difficult.

You've probably heard of this before. The more you sit and stare at a computer screen, or the more that you keep focusing on a single task, the more likely it is that your activity level will continue to drop as your brain gets tired. Going for a walk, getting up to brew coffee, or even breaking up a computer-based task with smaller physical tasks helps me rejuvenate and feel more willing and able to go back and keep working.

And sometimes when I get frustrated with more menial or boring tasks, I "treat" myself to a bit of collage or some juicy reading material for 10 minutes or so. It helps jazz my brain and gets me going again.

schedule time to take care of the small things

Mopping, vacuuming, and cleaning the bathroom are my weekly chores in my household (the Husband does all the dishes, car maintenance, and takes out the trash). Cleaning is not my favorite thing to do in life, nor is it my highest priority. This makes it a Small Thing, so I try to make sure that it takes up a Small Amount of Time (while still managing to keep things shiny).

So I pick a day to do it (Wednesday), and I give myself a time limit (30 minutes). Given my small apartment, it should take me no more than that. Having a set day helps me not to worry about whether or not it will get done, and having a time limit helps me not to feel overwhelmed by the task.

take time out to plan your week

This is especially helpful if I'm going to have a busy week. Usually sometime on the weekend I'll look at the larger projects or things I have going on, and try to realistically plan my week in light of those obligations. I put the big stuff in first (appointments, obligations, and hard deadlines), then the second tier stuff (personal projects, fun events, and getting together with friends), followed by the little stuff that could slide if it had to (cleaning, small chores, low-priority or slow-burning tasks.

It's especially helpful to plan the week in light of picking 1 or 2 tasks per day, and choosing 1 or 2 multi-day projects to accomplish for the week. I tell myself that it's okay to keep it small, because that keeps me sane.

While it may seem obsessive (and in some ways it is) to put your life under this kind of microscope, I've found it especially helpful, because it helps keep the little things little, and makes room for you to tackle the important stuff. And looking at what I choose to let slide versus what I choose to prioritize helps me see if I'm putting my money where my mouth is. Are there little things that I'm making into a big deal unnecessarily? Am I prioritizing the things that I really want to do, or just putting things at top priority for the sake of having a top priority? Answering those questions helps me to continually revise my personal goals, and reveals new venues and ideas that I didn't even realize I was exploring.

Onward and upward! What are some of your lifehacking tips?

w h o ? Jocelyn / w h e n ? March 19, 2007 2:46 PM
t r a c k b a c k? http://www.jocelynmathewes.com/cgi/mt/mt-tb.cgi/22

I'm not a planner. I do not write down a plan. I do not organize priorities. I don't write down important dates in a calendar.

When it comes to me, and I don't recommend this for others because such things are highly specific to the individual, planning wastes more time than it saves.

What ends up happening if I attempt to have a definite plan is that it changes. Some things take longer than they should, others are able to happen at all, and more things get added. This, of course, all has to be added to the plan and more time is spent repairing the plan. At the same time those modifications are frustrating because I liked the original plan, and it didn't turn out how I wanted it to.

Instead, I wing it. Every day, every week, every month I don't have anything specifically planned out. There are vague goals (buy a vacuum cleaner, get a bookshelf) that rest in the back of my mind, and specific tasks that need to get done on a routine basis. However, without a definite plan I don't feel frustrated when I procrastinate or am otherwise unable to get things done.

It's pressureless, and at least for me things that need to get done. Things that aren't absolutely necessary at that time may or may not be put off.

Doe this make me more productive? I actually would argue it does. When I make a definite plan I inevitably still procrastinate. The difference being with the plan that frustrates me and deep sixes anything else I was hoping to do because the first thing on the list either went wrong or wasn't done. Without the plan, I shrug, whistle on my merry way and get things done on their own time.

Now, is this my maximum possible productivity? Probably not. But plans are only as good as the motivation to follow them, and I'm too easy going to follow any overarching schemes. If I decide I'm going to do small tasks X, Y and Z in the next hour, that's no problem. But deciding Monday that on Thursday task W is going to happen never works out.

This isn't to say I don't work well with structure. I certainly do well at work, managing my own time and getting things done. But I don't plan things. I just remember everything that must be done, and do it.

I guess in summary my feelings are that, at least for me, formal plans aren't useful. I'm capable of remembering any short term tasks that need doing, and long term plans change too much to be useful.

Again, this is me. You are you. People are different, and I can think of many people for whom the concept of not having every minute of their lives planned is frightening or otherwise impossible. However, I am not that person.

You're right--the tips I detailed won't work for everyone. Each person has to find a system that works for them. This is true with anything: weight loss, parenting, etc.

But I will contest the unconscious assumption that I detect here that "formalized system" = "plan" = "every day is scheduled down to the minute". This is simply not so.

You pointed out that any plan will inevitably change--true! But a formalized system is not a plan... it's a way of sorting through life's in-box, and a principle by which you prioritize what you have To Do. Formalized systems that are going to be useful must create plans and utilize techniques that make you adaptable--otherwise they're pretty useless.

So, my personal formalized system incorporates task- and plan-limitation, and periodic re-evaluation of the thigns I have to do. This creates an adaptable and flexible plan for the day. By limiting the number of tasks that I officially plan for, I leave room for the stuff that happens at the last minute. And carrying my tiny (managable) planner with me everywhere allows me to consult my schedule at a whim and alter things on the fly.

As you've seen in my personal life, all of my formalized systems for keeping track of things are physical, external to my head, and paper-based. This is because my personality is such that I can't keep everything in my head, combined with the sheer quantity of things I have going on. So my exact system is definitely not for everyone, but the principles that guide it, I think, are.

So regardless of personality or preference, I would argue that even if you don't have a formal paper, electronic, or conscious thought process for these things (which seems to be what you're not so hot on), that these principles are useful and effective. You may even be using a few of them just unconsciously in your brain-based system, or just as a side-effect of deciding that Y is more worth doing than X.