Time Management

14 min. read

We all have 24 hours a day, and managing those hours is crucial in running a business, project management, etc… Availability is something we all overlooked. Plan your day, after you have added the must-dos and meetings, which will give you the number of hours Available.

The Pomodoro Technique

25 min - work
5 min - break

96 sessions a day.

15 Min Interval Technique

96 - 15 minutes segments a day

45/15 Technique

24 - 45-15 sessions

References and Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIPmjnsCPR4

Time Management

Multitasking is a myth

Task switching

Switch cost - brain align to the new task

Supertasker - Lauren Moore

Setting priorities and goals
ABCD Analysis
A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important,
B – Tasks that are important but not urgent,
C – Tasks that are unimportant but urgent,
D - Tasks that are unimportant and not urgent.
Pareto analysis
80-20 rule
80% of the tasks can be completed in 20% of the time
20% of the tasks will take up 80% of the time
The Eisenhower Method

Domino reaction method
This is the idea that there are actions that you invest in once and which produce over time in different channels. Writing a book is such an action, because it requires a one-time effort, and once you finish it, it continues serving you

POSEC method
Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing

Inherent in the acronym is a hierarchy of self-realization, which mirrors Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

Prioritize - Your time and define your life by goals.
Organize - Things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful (family and finances).
Streamline - Things you may not like to do, but must do (work and chores).
Economize - Things you should do or may even like to do, but they’re not pressingly urgent (pastimes and socializing).
Contribute - By paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference (social obligations).

Implementation of goals
A task list (also to-do list or things-to-do) is a list of tasks to be completed, such as chores or steps toward completing a project. It is an inventory tool which serves as an alternative or supplement to memory.

Task lists are used in self-management, grocery lists, business management, project management, and software development. It may involve more than one list.

When one of the items on a task list is accomplished, the task is checked or crossed off. The traditional method is to write these on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil, usually on a note pad or clip-board. Task lists can also have the form of paper or software checklists.

Writer Julie Morgenstern suggests “do’s and don’ts” of time management that include:

Map out everything that is important, by making a task list.
Create “an oasis of time” for one to control.
Say “No”.
Set priorities.
Don’t drop everything.
Don’t think a critical task will get done in one’s spare time.[16]
Numerous digital equivalents are now available, including Personal information management (PIM) applications and most PDAs. There are also several web-based task list applications, many of which are free.

Task list organization
Task lists are often diarised and tiered. The simplest tiered system includes a general to-do list (or task-holding file) to record all the tasks the person needs to accomplish, and a daily to-do list which is created each day by transferring tasks from the general to-do list. An alternative is to create a “not-to-do list”, to avoid unnecessary tasks.[16]

Task lists are often prioritized:

A daily list of things to do, numbered in the order of their importance, and done in that order one at a time until daily time allows, is attributed to consultant Ivy Lee (1877–1934) as the most profitable advice received by Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939), president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.[17][18][19]
An early advocate of “ABC” prioritization was Alan Lakein, in 1973. In his system “A” items were the most important (“A-1” the most important within that group), “B” next most important, “C” least important.[6]
A particular method of applying the ABC method[20] assigns “A” to tasks to be done within a day, “B” a week, and “C” a month.
To prioritize a daily task list, one either records the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assigns them a number after they are listed (“1” for highest priority, “2” for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which order to execute the tasks. The latter method is generally faster, allowing the tasks to be recorded more quickly.[16]
Another way of prioritizing compulsory tasks (group A) is to put the most unpleasant one first. When it’s done, the rest of the list feels easier. Groups B and C can benefit from the same idea, but instead of doing the first task (which is the most unpleasant) right away, it gives motivation to do other tasks from the list to avoid the first one.
A completely different approach which argues against prioritising altogether was put forward by British author Mark Forster in his book “Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management”. This is based on the idea of operating “closed” to-do lists, instead of the traditional “open” to-do list. He argues that the traditional never-ending to-do lists virtually guarantees that some of your work will be left undone. This approach advocates getting all your work done, every day, and if you are unable to achieve it helps you diagnose where you are going wrong and what needs to change.[21]
Various writers have stressed potential difficulties with to-do lists such as the following:

Management of the list can take over from implementing it. This could be caused by procrastination by prolonging the planning activity. This is akin to analysis paralysis. As with any activity, there’s a point of diminishing returns.
Some level of detail must be taken for granted for a task system to work. Rather than put “clean the kitchen”, “clean the bedroom”, and “clean the bathroom”, it is more efficient to put “housekeeping” and save time spent writing and reduce the system’s administrative load (each task entered into the system generates a cost in time and effort to manage it, aside from the execution of the task). The risk of consolidating tasks, however, is that “housekeeping” in this example may prove overwhelming or nebulously defined, which will either increase the risk of procrastination, or a mismanaged project.[citation needed]
Listing routine tasks wastes time. If you are in the habit of brushing your teeth every day, then there is no reason to put it down on the task list. The same goes for getting out of bed, fixing meals, etc. If you need to track routine tasks, then a standard list or chart may be useful, to avoid the procedure of manually listing these items over and over.[citation needed]
To remain flexible, a task system must allow for disaster. A company must be ready for a disaster. Even if it is a small disaster, if no one made time for this situation, it can metastasize, potentially causing damage to the company.[22]
To avoid getting stuck in a wasteful pattern, the task system should also include regular (monthly, semi-annual, and annual) planning and system-evaluation sessions, to weed out inefficiencies and ensure the user is headed in the direction he or she truly desires.[23]
If some time is not regularly spent on achieving long-range goals, the individual may get stuck in a perpetual holding pattern on short-term plans, like staying at a particular job much longer than originally planned
Software applications
Many companies use time tracking software to track an employee’s working time, billable hours etc., e.g. law practice management software.

Many software products for time management support multiple users. They allow the person to give tasks to other users and use the software for communication.

Task list applications may be thought of as lightweight personal information manager or project management software.

Modern task list applications may have built-in task hierarchy (tasks are composed of subtasks which again may contain subtasks),[25] may support multiple methods of filtering and ordering the list of tasks, and may allow one to associate arbitrarily long notes for each task.

In contrast to the concept of allowing the person to use multiple filtering methods, at least one software product additionally contains a mode where the software will attempt to dynamically determine the best tasks for any given moment.[26]

Time management systems
Time management systems often include a time clock or web-based application used to track an employee’s work hours. Time management systems give employers insights into their workforce, allowing them to see, plan and manage employees’ time. Doing so allows employers to control labor costs and increase productivity. A time management system automates processes, which eliminates paper work and tedious tasks.

GTD (Getting Things Done)
Getting Things Done was created by David Allen. The basic idea behind this method is to finish all the small tasks immediately and a big task is to be divided into smaller tasks to start completing now. The reasoning behind this is to avoid the information overload or “brain freeze” which is likely to occur when there are hundreds of tasks. The thrust of GTD is to encourage the user to get their tasks and ideas out and on paper and organized as quickly as possible so they’re easy to manage and see.
Pomodoro
Francesco Cirillo’s “Pomodoro Technique” was originally conceived in the late 1980s and gradually refined until it was later defined in 1992. The technique is the namesake of a pomodoro (Italian for tomato) shaped kitchen timer initially used by Cirillo during his time at university. The “Pomodoro” is described as the fundamental metric of time within the technique and is traditionally defined as being 30 minutes long, consisting of 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of break time. Cirillo also recommends a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes after every four Pomodoros. Through experimentation involving various work groups and mentoring activities, Cirillo determined the “ideal Pomodoro” to be 20–35 minutes long.[27]

Time Management
Morning Ritual
S - Silence, Meditation, prayer
A - Affirmations
V - Visualization
E - exercise
R - Reading
S - Scribing (Writing)

Palm your morning the night before

Get into the zone, look at the book flow, the flow state. El Rod

Pick one and only one thing to work on, no multitasking

25/5
45/15
50/10

What to work on (things that move you closer to the the goal I have)

10x stuff

Activities that pay me the highest

Making a plan

Measurably forward

Make goals for a week

Mastermind sessions

Todo list
Yearly
Monthly
Weekly
Daily

Do I really need todo this?

What is the one thing I can do that will pay me the highest return?

Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important things?

The other 80/20 rule

Admin bullshit

Spend 80% of your time on yourself

Pickle Jar Theory

Spend the first 3 chunks of uninterrupted work time on stuff that matter

Schedule time for other things

6:00: Wake-up
6:15: Exercise
6:30: exercise
6:44: Breakfast
7:00: Shower
7:15: Emails/Admin
7:30: Emails/Admin
7:45: Emails/Admin
8:00: Drop-off Kids
8:15: Drop-off Kids
8:30: Drop-off Kids
8:45: Drop-off Kids
9:00: Work
9:15: Work
9:30: Work
9:45: Break
10:00: Work
10:15: Work
10:30: Work
10:45: Break
11:00: Work
11:15: Work