Managing time is the basis for all productivity systems, yet the systems assume people already know how to do time management. This is  not a fair assumption. Most people don’t know how to manage time, but turn to productivity systems to help them.

It doesn’t matter if your files are organized, you have all your next actions laid out, your tasks prioritized in a grid, or your most important tasks picked out; if you don’t know how to manage the time that these things take, you will never make progress.

Here is a crash course in Time Management as it works in my reality.

Fill Out Your Schedule

In order to manage your time, you are going to have to know what time you have to work with.

As an example, I took a typical Wednesday out of my own schedule. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Sit down with a blank piece of paper, some electronic form, or a pre-printed form. Next, fill in all the time that you are committed to doing something. In my case, this includes work, my percussion lesson and a district meeting.

Next, you need to add in transit time. For me, this means commuting time to and from work, as well as driving time to and from any activities. Both of my after-work activities are via Zoom, so I don’t need to consider this.

The last category of time, often overlooked, is your non-task time. This includes sleeping, getting ready for the day, food preparation and cleanup, as well as some down time before bed to help you relax.

As you can see, my day doesn’t leave time for a whole lot. There is an half hour block between work and my lesson, some time after my lesson, and a little over an hour after the district meeting.

Assemble Your Tasks

Now you need to know what else needs to be done that is not time-specific. This is where your task list comes in.

My task list (and yes, this is the real one) is below. You can see there are both recurring tasks and my “other” tasks.

I assembled this list from several sources. First is my list of tasks that recur on a weekly and monthly basis. This list, which I keep electronically, has been assembled over the years. I keep routine maintenance, correspondence and household tasks in this list.

The second list is from the things I currently have on my plate. There are one-off tasks which come up as a matter of course during daily life, as well as my bigger project goals.

Weed Through the Tasks

When I am short on time, I make it a practice to go through my tasks and apply the four D’s: delete, defer, delegate and do.

Deleting Tasks

The first thing I do is go through the tasks and find the ones that really don’t have to be done at all. Emailing Nancy (an elderly relative I try to email once a month) can be removed because I know that she is currently traveling, and I will pick back up with sending an email next month.

Deferring Tasks

Not everything on my list has to be done today. The only things that are due today on my list are returning the library books, and paying for lessons. And even these could be deferred if it came down to it. I have to look at the consequences of deferring each task.

If I don’t return the library books, I will have a fine. But I could go online and renew the books and return them this weekend. I could skip paying for lessons until next week, but that would increase the stress on my teacher, so I won’t do that.

Delegating

There are many things I can delegate on this list. My husband’s schedule is wide open tonight, so I can ask him to pick up some of the tasks. Of the tasks, he could clean the bathroom, return the sweater, buy dog food and return library books. Since I know he is going to the vicinity of the area where the sweater and dog food are, I will ask him to do those things.

The Resulting Task List

• Computer maintenance – DO – since this is automated and requires only 5 minutes of my time to turn the computer on.
• Process Inbox – DO – there are only two things in my inbox to deal with, and both are filing.
• Backup blogs – DO – again, it’s automated, and if my machine is on for the computer maintenance, this will happen automatically
• Send Nancy email – DELETE
• Clean bathroom – DEFER – it won’t be the end of the world if this doesn’t get done, since the room is essentially clean.
• Outline Book – DO – the deadline is approaching, and it is my most important task
• Blog Articles – DO – I can outline these today and keep on track
• Return sweater – DELEGATE
• Pick up dog food – DELEGATE
• Return library books/online for renewal – DO
• Prep for choir – DEFER – this doesn’t have to be done until Saturday as it is just pulling copies together
• Pay for lessons – DO – this can be done when I go to the lesson
• Knit sweater – DEFER
• Read Data Warehouse book – DEFER

Doing The Tasks

Now that I have a smaller list, I can start considering when to do them.

Working In The Tasks

With a limited amount of tasks, I can now estimate how long each task will take and where it has to be done. With tasks, you have to take into account setup and cleanup time, much as you do with transit time on schedule items. For example, if you are cooking dinner and the recipe says it needs to cook 30 minutes, you still have to allow for time to assemble the dish and putting ingredients away.

• Computer maintenance – 5 minutes – home
• Processing inbox – 5 minutes – home
• Backing up the blogs – < 1 minute – home
• Outline book – as long as possible – wherever (done on paper)
• Blog article work – 30 minutes – wherever (done on tablet)
• Renew books – 5 minutes – on phone or computer

Some tasks can be put together in batches, saving startup and cleanup time. In my case, grouping computer maintenance and backups together make sense because they are on the same machine. Processing my inbox while I am right there takes advantage of me being in the same room.

I can now work my tasks into my schedule:

• 5:00 pm – Pay for percussion, renew library books
• 6:00 p.m. – Blog articles
• 7:30 p.m. – Computer maintenance, processing inbox, backing up the blogs
• 9:00 p.m. – outline book

Time management is much like fitting pieces into a puzzle. The secrets are knowing what your commitments are, figuring out what needs to be done, and scheduling them in.

One of the ways to get things done faster is to set a tight deadline…and then pare down the task at hand to the bare essentials.

The setting of tight deadlines is known as time compression, and it can spur creativity. But if you set a close deadline, it is essential that you also get rid of the non-essential parts to the task.  Here’s why:

There are three basic elements in any item that needs to be done:

• how many people are doing it
• the time allotted
• the amount of stuff to do

Think of it this way: you have a piece of string. You make a knot in the string to form a loop, then pin the knot to your desk. This represents the people; in this case, you. Now put take two fingers and put them on the inside of the loop so that they pull the string into a triangle.

Visualize this on a graph. The y-axis is (negative) time, or the time closest to the pinned point is the furthest away in true time; and x-axis is the amount that can be done. If time is very far away from today (low on the y-axis), the amount that can be accomplished is greater (Fig. 1). If you move time far up the y-axis, or require something to be done sooner, the amount that can be done must be reduced. (Fig. 2)

Figure 1

Figure 2

So it follows that if you need to get something done quicker, you need to eliminate things from what needs to be done.

Fixing the second point of amount to be done does not allow you to move the time frame. Conversely, if you don’t eliminate things from the task at hand, part of you will be resisting the task from the belief that there is too much to do in the short time span.

]]> http://gqkzq9xu.lauraearnest.com.dream.website/three-types-of-procrastination/ Mon, 02 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3133 I've seen over and over that we procrastinate on something because deep down it goes against our core beliefs or because we know it's a waste of time. I think there is a third type of procrastination: where we procrastinate because at some level we can't accept the larger meaning of our actions.]]>

Over the years I have read dozens of articles about procrastination. People getting to the root of procrastination seem to pin it on one of two causes. I’ve seen over and over that we procrastinate on something because deep down it goes against our core beliefs or because we know it’s a waste of time.

I think there is a third type of procrastination: where we procrastinate because at some level we can’t accept the larger meaning of our actions.

Here is my example: when I was expecting my daughter, I knew I needed a will. In the state I live in, you can make your own will as long as it is notarized and witnessed. So I went out, got some software, and wrote the will. Then I got it witnessed and notarized.

Now here’s the catch. That process I just described started before my daughter was born, and was when she was in third grade. That’s a grand sum total of 8 years.

Talk about procrastination!

But the truth is, neither one of the definitions above apply. This is something I believe deeply in, and goes with my core value that I had to look after my daughter. I do not believe it is a waste of time.

The reasons I procrastinated were that I hit two sticking points that I had to work through psychologically. The first one was the realization that if should both my husband and I be killed, my daughter will not be given to the guardianship of any of our relatives. That’s a big deal — admitting that even though my husband and I were raised by a set of people, we would not given them my daughter to raise.

The second stumbling block was getting the thing signed. That took almost six months of carrying the papers back and forth to work every day. I simply didn’t want to admit that dying was a possibility, and I sought to get around that by not having a will.

Thank goodness this type of procrastination has not occurred very many times in my life. But when it has, it’s usually dealing with the big stuff, the life-and-death-and-future-well-being stuff. It’s where I can’t accept the larger meaning of my actions. And usually denial has a big role to play in that.

Random numbers are often used in math-heavy fields like machine learning and cryptography. But random numbers are also a great tool to bust through resistance to tasks that lead to procrastination.

Procrastination is baffling and requires a great number of strategies to defeat it regularly. I find that my procrastination gets worse if I don’t change things up. Using random numbers helps me get things done from time to time.

Using Random Numbers To Approach A Task List

This method works to power you through a bunch of tasks. It’s really easy to apply random number to get things done, with a bit of prep.

1. Make a list of tasks.

The first step is to make a list of tasks that need to be done. Make sure they are do-able in your current place and time.

Don’t add tasks that have to take place at work when you’re at home and vice versa.

Also make sure that your task is ready to be done. If you are waiting for Cousin Dorothy to give you a response before you call Aunt Em, the task doesn’t go on the list.

2. Number the tasks.

It doesn’t matter what order the tasks are in on the list. Just number them from top to bottom.

3. Note the number of tasks.

You will need this to generate the random number.

4. Generate a random number.

The next step is to get a random number. There are many ways to get one:

• >An app. There are several random number generators for both Android and iOS.
• Random.org. This website has a little box that allows you to put in your limits. Put in your number of tasks in the box that reads 100.
• Voice assistant.“Hey Google, give me a random number between one and twenty-six.”

5. Do that number task.

If the number is 12, do task number 12. Finish it before you come back to the list.

6. Repeat until your task is empty.

If the random number generator selects the number of a task that you’ve already done, you can:

• Ask for another number
• Do the task previous or after the number
• Renumber your list so there are no gaps before asking for another number

My Results

I have used this method on average about once every other week for the past couple of months. I find it eliminates my resistance to an overly long task list, and gets me through more tasks. I use it when I find myself reading through my task list over and over, trying to figure out what to do next.

There are many different ways that you can use to beat procrastination. In fact, whole books have been written about ways to get going. Here are the 5 techniques I use most often to get me going:

Permission to Fail

A lot of my procrastination is rooted in perfectionism. I don’t want to do something imperfectly so I never do it at all. I get around this by writing out permission for me to fail at something, or I write out a description of how I could complete this task really poorly. Then I attempt to do just that. For example, if I am writing a newsletter article and can’t seem to get started, I give myself the assignment to write out everything in run on sentences or in a mind dump. Then I can go back and work with the material on a second go-around.

Ugly Frog

In the case that I am putting off something really important, I apply the frog principles from Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (BK Life)*. I know that if I have to eat an ugly frog, it doesn’t pay to sit and stare at it first. So I just dig in. I have internalized this message so completely that I cannot think of an example from my life off-hand. A fictional example: let’s say you have a sink full of dirty dishes that need to be washed. They are already starting to smell bad. If you keep avoiding them, it will turn into a worse job. If you dig in, it won’t take as long as you think.

A counterpoint to getting around this situation is to not let it occur in the first place. This is applying another frog principle: you eat an ugly frog one bite at a time. If I keep up with a task, it will never get to the point where it becomes a big job. If I keep the bathrooms clean on a daily basis, I never have to spend an entire day cleaning them.

Delete It

If I am avoiding a task consistently, sometimes it is because I subconsciously recognize that I don’t need to do it at all. If that is the case, I delete it.

Remove Distractions

Sometimes I start procrastinating simply because there are things more interesting going on. I get sidetracked easily, particularly from tasks I don’t have a lot of enthusiasm for. (Example: give me the choice of mowing the lawn or talking to a neighbor, and I will pick the neighbor) I find that removing all distractions will help me get started. I have had some very productive writing sessions by taking my computer to a place where there is no Internet access!

Comparison

The comparison method is a new one for me, and comes from Mark Forster. When I have a whole list of things I can’t get moving on, I take them in pairs and do the easiest one first. Then I take the one I didn’t do and compare it to the next item on the list and do the easiest of that pair. This really has helped get me un-stuck in the past weeks.

By using these methods I can usually get through my ordinary bouts of procrastination. Do you have any that you rely on?

One form of procrastination that I fight frequently is what I call Newton Procrastination: a body at rest will remain at rest. It’s the main reason I can’t get moving on things. And the key to fighting this is to make the barrier to motion so small that it takes almost no effort to get past it. We’ll talk about this today in Episode 79: Lowering Resistance.

Links from show:

• Newton’s Laws
• Timer Book Light*

Support me at Patreon: You can find all the episodes over at Patreon.

I struggle with procrastination, especially if the list of items seems overwhelming. I try to read everything I can, including articles by Leo Baubata (ZenHabits), and Charlie Gilkey (Productive Flourishing). But Mark Forster really hit a home run by bringing relative difficulty into it.

Relative Difficulty

The essence of this approach is to take your to do list in pairs. One task will seem relatively easier than the other, and you should do this one. There will always be one that seems easier, even if the task looked at singly would not seem easy at all.

Putting Relative Difficulty to Work

Instead of spending your time resisting one tasks, it makes more sense to work through the rest of the list using relative difficulty comparisons. That way you will be doing something, getting more done, and also get yourself moving. This will increase your chances that the inertia created will get you moving on your hardest task.

Pros and Cons

I don’t think this is a method to use on a regular basis, because it would lose its effectiveness. Also, I think it must be used on a finite list such as the ones Mark Forster recommends in Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management* , for if you had an infinite amount of little tasks you would get mired in doing little nothings. However, I think it is a good way to get moving on lists and definitely a good way to get moving when resisting the top of the list.

In this episode, we talk about when procrastination is a lack of clarity; approaches to stopping procrastination; and ten specific anti-procrastination methods.

Support me at Patreon: You can find all the episodes over at Patreon.

It’s been a year since most of us entered isolation. What have you been doing with your time?

Support me at Patreon: You can find all the episodes over at Patreon.

Sometimes it is hard to get going. Like a battery left too long inactive in the cold, we can’t get started on what we need to do.

Everyone has their methods of getting started on a task. Here are my six favorite:

#1: Use A Timer

For some reason, if I tell myself I only have to work on something for 15 minutes and then I can go play, I get started and keep going. In order to do this, I use my trusty timer. Watching the clock doesn’t have the same effect as a timer for me. There are very few times where I truly want to stop after 15 minutes, but if I want to, I can.

#2: Use A Varied-Task Method

As an expansion on the timer, but when I know I need to slog through a bunch of stuff, I use the (10+2)*5 method. I do 10 minutes on task, 2 minutes off, with 5 repetitions. I can get through a lot of stuff knowing I get 2 minute breaks to do anything I want.

I like this better than Pomodoro because 10 minutes always seems much more do-able than 20!

#3: Shut Down Distractions

I am very distractable. If my task at hand involves the computer, I shut down distractions. If I am writing, I will generally use my writing software in full screen mode, and yes, I will turn the background black with green Courier text (ala WordPerfect). If I am researching something, I use Freedom to block unwanted sites (like mail or news or Pinterest). I have even turned of WiFi when necessary. Staring at a blank screen, knowing I couldn’t do anything else if I wanted to, has spurred me to start on many tasks.

#4: Use File Grouping

If I am doing a task that requires a bunch of apps or browser tabs to be open, I will often get sidetracked while I am opening everything up. For the things that I repeat on a regular basis, I have folders set up in my Documents that have links to all the applications and/or websites I need to complete the task. Then when I want to do that task I open the folder, press Ctrl+A to select everything, and hit enter. With just those applications open, I crank through my work quickly. I am amazed at how well this trick works.

#5: Use A Second Desktop

If I am being pulled away from something to work on another task, the temptation to stay and just get a bit more done is strong. Especially if I don’t want to lose my train of thought. Closing down windows means I have to remember what I had open and why, and can keep me from starting the new task. (This happens frequently at work)

When I need things to be isolated, but I don’t want to lose track of where I am on something else, I will spin up a virtual desktop in Windows. I then use the new virtual desktop to complete my task without the pull of the other open windows.

#6: Rewards

When all else fails, promising myself a trip to Starbucks will get me to start just about anything I have been procrastinating on.

We all have favorite methods for starting a task. What are yours?