• Checking e-mail
• Making phone calls
• Reviewing the previous day

What’s yours morning priority?

I was listening to a recent podcast with David Allen where he mentioned very interesting element.  Many times we are building a lot very complex structures to support productivity
adding layers of tags, applications etc. In effect we limit ourselves and put more pressure to maintain this system. It becomes a drag. Whereas the opposite should be true. A good productivity system should be light and flexible allowing to fit you into changing events and requirements. You can listen to full episode here.

Continuing with this thought focus on keeping your system just right and fit for purpose.

When you have them, it’s very easy to spend few hours organizing everything in your system. Adding locations, tags, links. Making sure everything is clearly laid out. But is such approach sustainable on daily basis? Probably not.

When you look at how people get organized more often than not everything they have is halfway done. They had some free time, so they decided to organise something they mean to do a long time ago. They put a very nice looking structure of A-Z folders, marked with different colours and labels. After a while only half of the documents are done this way, the demands of the daily work took over and there is no longer any time to maintain this structure.
The same will happen with tasks. You can go full on with application like Omnifocus or Thinkingrock  or Remember the Milk and fill every possible text box, add connections, notes and links, then you can dice and slice actions, projects the way you want.

After initial hurray stage this structure weighs you down and becomes a drag. It becomes apparent that filling all the boxes and putting all the tags and folders is too time consuming. It can’t be sustained in normal day when things are flying at the speed of light.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why a short list of daily tasks is so effective. It’s simple, easy, flexible and becomes great reference point for your progress throughout the day.

To conclude, tools you use should support enough to let you maintain the control of the day yet they should be light easy to use so that they don’t become a drag.

Photo by: Aislinn Ritchie

When I watched those videos initially there was always something worth picking up and implementing. Sometimes it was a small bit other times it was drastic and complete change to the way I’ve been working. Either way it was always worth spending sometime on it.

I’m starting with a classic. It’s David Allen talking to Google employees in 2007. Although it’s four years old I still find it useful. Enjoy.

If you can’t see the video here is the link to original YouTube source.

I’m learning my lesson to keep it slow. In the last few months I had to cut down my running due to a medical problem that prevented me from hitting my standard pace.

Since I’ve resumed running I can only do it at a very low intensity and pace.This is completely new experience for me as I’m well used to pushing myself hard. First of all it’s very difficult to adjust to new lower pace. I need to be very much conscious of my speed and control it. Often times I need to remind myself to slow down. It’s not always easy because of the by internal idea that only slow people and newbies run at my pace. Need to swallow a lot of pride to feel comfortable but I’m getting there.

What this has to do with productivity?

Well a lot. As more and more stuff is coming my way, I’m learning to accept the fact that I can’t do it all. I need to make conscious hard choices about where to put my attention. Sure it’s often fun and exciting to constantly engaging in new projects and activities but this can’t last forever. At some point something gotta give. I’m learning that I can’t do it all and keep everybody happy because I’m one person.

I have my limits, my time is limited, my attention is limited. There is only so much that I can do in 8-9 hours at work. Rather than except everything and strain your limits constantly try this Delegate, say ‘No’, Delete. May not always be possible but it might be enough to buy you some time.

High volume is not sustainable in the long run. Regardless if you are researching an issue, dealing with a client, drafting a proposal if you get too many of these after a while they become a blurr. All you can remember is that you deal with this before but was it last week, two weeks ago or just on Monday?

You/I need periods of down town to absorb new information, to re-think progress etc.

So keep it slow. Remember the parable where a tortoise and a hare take part in the race. In the end slower one won.

PS. I’ve signed up for Dublin marathon in Oct ‘11. Although I’m anxious to start training and get running I’m taking it slow and gradually build up my mileage.

Photo by LabirinthX

Randy Murray writes about getting better grip on your projects, getting to understand what is that a project should deliver. Quite often people procrastinate on things, put them off as much as they can simply because they don’t understand what’s required from them. They weren’t told what’s the purpose of the project. A list of actions to complete is not enough, it doesn’t provide any context to a project. It simply says get it moving, get it done.

A solution that Randy proposes is to write a project abstract. Write couple sentences outlining what’s the project about, why it’s important and who benefits from it. This might help you get a fresh energy to work on that project.

I think this is a great advise especially if all your focus is on cranking out next action steps. After a while it can become dull and boring. Making a project abstract or writing down the successful outcome (vide GTD) is a good way to remind yourself where are you going. Envisioning success can be uplifting and revitalizing. Previously dull and boring project  will now look like something real and alive, it’s much easier to put your energy in it.

Second tip is from Jason Womack. In below video he talks about meetings and in the wider context making the most of your time when plans are changing. You were due to attend a meeting but it’s been cancelled. What do you do with that extra time? How do you react to a cancellation? Jason points that rather than getting busy with your email or organizing your stuff, find 2-3 things you would do if you had an extra time. You’ve just been given an extra 1h of time.

This is so simple and powerful idea that it can be easily overlooked. In majority of workplaces we are pressed for time so those unexpected “time windows” where you’re scheduled to do something else are great opportunities. I think it takes some practice to shift from busy work to working something more productive. It’s super easy to burn hour checking email.

Start thinking that you’ve been given an extra hour and make a habit of spending that time on tasks that are important to you. Keep your task list updated and current so next time someone cancels a meeting you know what to do.

In first approach, you start from thinking out your life’s purpose, major and smaller goals then you move to projects and lastly to actions. Once you’ve clarified your purpose and goal you have a picture of where you want to go, so now is the time to plan out the steps. Also every decision you’re faced with can be screened against the purpose. If the request matches to your purpose than it’s potentially worth doing but if it’s not aligned than there is no point in doing it.

In the second approach, you look at the stuff you have around you, right here and now. As you progress through your current commitments, you can start to look where they lead in terms of the bigger picture. Once the projects are under control you can review the wider context of where they lead and whether the result is one you want. As you gradually build that picture, it’s becoming easier and easier to make the decision about which things should be moved forward and which should be retired.

The main critique of the top down approach is that it’s doesn’t deal well with day to day stuff. The kind of things that need to be done but really don’t fit into your goals. Other element is that it’s fairly difficult to come up with the master plan for life in one sitting. For majority of people this most likely will be a lengthy process.

On the opposite, the bottom up approach is criticized for not providing clear direction of where things should be going. It’s like stacking a ladder against the wrong wall, you’ll get to the top bit is the top you wanted?

Regardless of your view on which is better you can use them both whenever the situation requires. Let me analyse two scenarios to show you how this works.

Scenario 1
You’ve been working on different projects but overtime, enthusiasm faltered and things are not moving as well as before. There is a growing disconnect with current situation and whatever option you consider none looks enticing.

This is a prime example where top down thinking can help. Spending some time thinking and analysing the situation in the bigger context can bring more clarity and direction. Consider your position and see what are the goals you’re aiming at, check whether what you’ve been doing is in line with them. If it isn’t, you know where to start. Delete, eliminate, cut out.

Scenario 2
You’re swapped with countless tasks and there seem to be not end on that tunnel. As soon as you complete one there are three or four more new coming in. With the flood of new stuff and piles of old there isn’t any place to go.

If you want to solve above than bottom up approach would suit best. Before thinking of goals and life’s purpose start with the ground work. Review all off those items. Decide which require action and which are simple FIY. Go through all of them and don’t skip. Once done pick the first item and start working.

Different situations require different tools and approaches. Our life’s situation changes on very regular basis so sticking with ideas that were relevant six months ago may not be the best choice especially if your situation has moved dramatically.

Use these approaches to your advantage and make progress.

Before holidays

Most people before they go on holidays want to close out on as many projects and tasks as possible. There is that frantic rush to complete as much as possible so things don’t look as bad when you come back. However in most cases you really can’t finish it all in one day. If you haven’t done something for three weeks you wouldn’t do it simply because you go on holidays. But to the point. Since you can’t and won’t finish it all before holidays you need to pass things to your co workers. If you follow the GTD system or maintain list of your commitments then it’s easy:

• pass your project list – review the list and check for projects that need to be moving while you’re away. Pass the next actions or any  follow ups that need to happen. This way you can ensure the things move at least a little bit and don’t die or alternatively blow up once you’re back.
• pass you action list – review the list and check for any tasks that need to be done while you’re away. Perhaps there are some repeating items that only you do, or maybe certain reports need to delivered in that time. By passing those action again you keep things moving and leave a great impression that things get then even when you’re not in the office.
• pass your waiting for list – review the list for any item that will need a follow up during your absence. When people know you’re off they tend to push thing away knowing things can wait. In the end upon our return we discover that nothing got done as things went where not chased.
  this is what’s going on at work.

On Holidays

At home you can still benefit from list. Hours before the holidays are usually rushed, lot of things to do. It’s easy to miss something like forget the extra pet food, water the plants, turn of the heating or all the electric devices. Packing stuff for two weeks of traveling means there is a lot to take. Clothes, toiletries, documents, money, cameras, charges, batteries, memory cards, mobile phones etc. It’s easy to loose track of what’s in, what’s still needed and what’s not worth taking as you ran out of space.

An easier solution to that is to use checklist. Having one or more will allow to make sure you’ve packed everything, made necessary arrangement for your house, plants and pet.
Some people prefer to sit on the beach, sip drinks and do nothing, some like to see as much as possible and run like crazy from one place to another. Others are somewhere in the middle they like to hang out around the pool for while but also want to experience local culture, food, architecture. For those two type having some sort of list will help to make sure you make the most out of your holidays. Perhaps you could list all the places and attractions you would like to see during your stay.     

Returning to work

Coming back to work is never a very pleasant experience. Although you might enjoy coming back to the day to day routine of tasks and activities the work it self may be less appealing. To make the transition smoother and less haphazard you can refer to your list. And if things have been completed as you would hope than all you have to is get an update on the events that concern you and and update your lists. Once you catch up on things you can get into work mode.
This way you can avoid having this in between time when you are at work but not fully settled, when you are at work and try to focus but can’t do that because of to many things pilling up on the desk and not being sure where to start.

Whether you follow GTD principles or other self management methods having set of list which  clearly describe your commitments and actions is undoubtedly useful at work but it can also positively impact your holidays and way you spend them.

This is the final post of what became a three part series about looking at your time, where it goes and what to do with it.

When it comes to working through your day there are generally two approaches. Free fall where you let the loudest, shiniest, most recent thing to take over your day. There is no structure and the only aim is to move  through as many actions as possible.
On the other hand you could look at your day and give it a structure. Schedule some very specific time to work on some important projects. Perhaps these are not the most attractive things you could do, perhaps they are thing the you dread doing. Yet they need to get done and if you don’t have any one to delegate to you have to do it yourself.

Time Blocking what is it?

Time blocking is one of the classic techniques for making sure that your time goes where you want it. This is where rubber meet the road. You’ve looked where your time goes using time map. You’ve planned it using budget, now you need to execute it. Time blocking is exactly that, it helps you follow through on the decisions you’ve made.
It’s very simple to use. All you have to do is pick up a calendar, select an action/project you want to work on and set the time and put it in a calendar. The aim of this is to block any other activities and get focused on that one thing. 
 

Benefits

• Direction – using time blocking you can add a shape you your day. You can make a choices about the tasks that are important to you and you can devote your time to them. Instead letting yourselt to freely flow through the day you can make sure some of it is used for the right things.
• Focus – is about getting fixed on one thing and giving it maximum of your attention. Blocking time precisely let’s you do that. It works two fold.  You can focus on the task at hand and work through it. You can also focus on actions that allow you making progress in the direction of your goals and plans. Getting enough focus will help to limit impact of the distractions around you like, your colleagues wandering around, people talking over the phone, pinging email client, etc.
• Close off on overdue items – some items on your todo  may seem to be more attractive that others and unfortunately that means the second group is always pushed back. Whether you want it or not those tasks still have to get done. What you can do is simply block some time for those type of menial tasks and have them off your list.
• Reminder – often times it’s easy to get caught up in spinning world of incoming email, co-workers asking favours. Day just whizzes through and you just can’t remember doing anything meaningful. Blocking time will work as a reminder of what you supposed to do. If you use electronic calendar you’ll get a pop up message or text from Google. This works even with paper planners. Next time you look at it you will notice that you ought to be doing something.

I recommend watching this video by Gina Trapani which is a great summary of how time blocking can be used during the day:

(via Fast Company)

Time blocking is very simple but effective technique. Sometimes it might be very easy to over use it. Blocking out full day for different tasks is not the best idea. Although you need structure for your day you also need flexibility. Days are not linear there is always something different happening that you haven’t planned for.

If you liked this post please share your views. Do you block time for some tasks? Does it help? Do you get more done?

What’s a budget?

Budgets are widely popular in the financial world. In very simple terms it’s a list of all the income/revenue streams coming in and all the planned expenses in a period. Each year every country would announce it’s budget plans. This is pretty significant event for the financial markets. Based on the content of the budget proposals economists and analysts try to forecast the future growth and economic conditions of a country.

On smaller scale families and individuals are advised to keep a budget to monitor their spending and income to build future wealth and financial stability. 

In general terms budget is a framework, a plan which details areas of spending and the available resources. The net difference between both will indicate if you have anything left or whether you’ve overspend the available supply.
Budget also works as a boundary which indicates whether you’re spending too much or too little.

What’s a time budget?

In this context a time budget would be a plan detailing available hours against the activities you want to spend that time on. Time budgets can be created for weekly,monthly or even yearly intervals giving you a wide perspective. Similarly to financial budget you would have fixed commitments like eating, sleep, work, commute, shopping and more flexible appointments like exercising, going out, visiting friends and so called free time. Once your budget is read then you can review and you can decide whether you can afford to spend your time on some activities or should you spend it on something else.

How it’s different from time map?

Time maps as we  described them last time show your time and commitments as they  are. Their main purpose is to provide you with a higher view of your current situation. Time budget looks into the future. Budgeting is really a planning process where you look at your commitments, needs, wants and try to figure which are sufficiently important to have your time. Setting time budget is more about taking control of your time and not letting it slip through your fingers.

Benefits of having a budget.

Setting up a time budget can bring a number of benefits:

• Focus on important areas – by creating time budget you can pinpoint areas of higher importance and give them sufficient amount of time. If for example getting into shape would be your top agenda item, then you could create a budget that would take into account 1h of training each day. Consequently you would reduce time spend on other areas in order to set aside time for exercise.
• Less time wasting – with increased focus on important items, you would reduce the time that’s wasted. When setting up budget you would identify elements that don’t take you anywhere and in fact should be eliminated from your schedule.
• Progress on goals – setting up a budget can be a significant boost to making progress on your goals. Simply bringing them to your attention and setting a side sufficient amount of time will allow you to start making a progress. No more saying “I don’t have enough time”.
• Sharpen your attention – Some activities like deep thinking or creative work require significant amounts of time. Unfortunately those are mostly pushed to the back as there is never the right time, mood etc for them. If your work, goals depend on having creative/uninterrupted time making an allotment in the budget will help you with that.

How to create?

Creating a budget is relatively easy and involves just a handful of steps.

1. List the activities your want to accomplish in a week or or a month.
2. Estimate the number of hours you need to have for each task or commitment.
3. Add all of the together and compare against total available hours i a week or month(24h in a day, 168 in a week, 708 in a month).
4. Remember to leave few free hours as there always are some unexpected or unplanned thinks popping up.

For example I try to sleep not less than 7-7.5 hours per night so every week  that means 7.5h x 7days = 52h per week.
Another big chuck of my time is used for my day job, that including commute takes around 9,5h x 5days = 47.5h per week.
Other rather fixed activities that I spending my time on is eating/cooking which takes around 2,5h a day which = 17.5 per week.
Since triathlon is one of my hobbies I need to dedicate sufficient time to keep in shape and that takes around 6-7 per week.
When I add all above I’m using  124 hours on activities that are somewhat fixed but I also have 44 hours a week that I can plan any way I want. Some of it will go toward spending time with my wife, going out, some will go to reading and learning, cleaning, shopping etc.

Once you’ve created your initial budget then you can analyse it and decide if this is what you what or are there any elements that should come forward or should be pushed back. It’s very much a balancing act.

Budget is very much a pro active tool. It’s planning tool where you learn how to use the main resource of your life – time. It gives you a chance to create a framework of commitments for coming week or month. It can help you model new behaviours or introduce new way of using time. Time budget also puts your need and desires in the perspective of what is really available to you.

If you want to have "more time" or to manage it more effectively I have couple of tips for you. 

Where is my time?

Nothing comes from nowhere and in order to have more time you need to know where it goes. Your first task is to think what are the ways you spend your time. It would be the best if you could track it for a week or so. For starters simply jot down all the regular and irregular activities that form part of your life.

Think of as many as possible.  Then look at your list and check how many hours per day or per week are you spending on each activity.

If you really want to know where your time goes consider tracking it for a week or more if possible. There are countless software packages for doing that, some even allow to monitor your computer usage, used applications and visited internet sites. But remember, it’s not only about tracking your computer  activities, look at your life as whole.

Daily/Weekly chart

Once you have your list of activities ready it’s time to put a map in place. It works best if you use daily or weekly perspective of your week.

Lets start with a simple and easy method that will give you results very quickly:

1. Take a ruled sheet of paper and some colour pens or alternatively use spreadsheet on your computer.
2. List all the hours in the day starting from 0:00 to 23:00. Each of the line represent a single hour of your day.
3. If you need more granular approach, say 30min slots just divide the lines appropriately or find bigger piece of paper. 
4. Now start on the top and go down drawing a line between each activity. Once you’ve done fill the blocks  with colours you want. 

[sample day schedule]

What you can see now is the map of day’s activities. By sketching this quick map you can identify any time sinks or simply realise that you have a lot on your plate and there is not much room.

If you have listed the number of hours you spend on each activity per day or per week then you can create pie chart. This method approaches your time map from slightly different angle and lets you see all the areas where you spend your time in proportion to the total time available. You can also see how they stack up against each other and what are the areas that dominate your schedule.

[sample weekly activities]

It’s worth considering this approach if want to look at things from monthly or even annual perspective.

Analyse

Once you’re done with your map it’s time to look at it and analyse it. There is no point in creating something if you’re not going to use it. Time maps give you an overview of your situation so now you need to look at it and start asking questions.

• What is important?
• Is there anything that can be eliminated?
• Is there any free time?
• Am I spending time in the right way? etc

Next week I will look at time budgeting which aims at re-shaping your current schedule and making space for activities that are important and move you towards your goals and desires.