managing yourself: how to be productive with your time
DESCRIPTION
Webinar delivered by Jo Alcock on 21st June for AZHIN (Arizona Health librarians).TRANSCRIPT
Managing yourself: how to be productive with your time
Jo Alcock Birmingham City University
@joeyanne www.joeyanne.co.uk
Audience question
What do you hope to learn from today’s webinar?
WEBINAR AIMS, LEARNING OUTCOMES AND OVERVIEW
Introduction
Webinar aim
To equip you with tools to help you clear your mind so that you can focus on Getting Things Done
Learning outcomes
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
1. Implement the Getting Things Done productivity system
2. Apply productivity techniques to optimise time available
3. Manage requests and opportunities to enable progression without overcommitting
Webinar overview
Section 1 -‐ Organising your tasks
Section 2 -‐ Getting started and staying motivated
Section 3 -‐ Preventing overcommitment
ORGANISING YOUR TASKS Section 1
What is Getting Things Done?
• Productivity methodology devised by David Allen
• Series of processes to help you organise information and make decisions about what to do when
• Sometimes known as GTD • Can be used as full system, or
certain elements can be used
Getting Things Done
Five stage process for managing information and improving productivity: 1. Collect 2. Process 3. Organise 4. Review 5. Do
Getting Things Done cycle
Collect
Process
Organise Review
Do
Stage 1 -‐ Collect
• Aim of this stage is to clear your mind to record all physical information and anything you are currently trying to remember
• ALL sources of information should ideally come into one place (physical or virtual)
Stage 2 -‐ Process
• Process each item one at a time, in order
• Decide what each item is and what to do with it – Trash – Reference – Action – Project (multi-‐step action) – Someday
• Don’t leave anything in your ‘inbox’
Stage 3 -‐ Organise
• Separate actionable items into distinct, separate categories: – Next actions – Scheduled actions – Waiting for
• If any action takes less than 2 minutes, do it now
Stage 4 -‐ Review
• System needs regular review • Every day
– Daily calendar – Action list
• Weekly (?Fri afternoon) – Full 5 step process – Ensure all lists, files, folders,
and calendar are up-‐to-‐date
• Less frequently (?monthly) – Bigger picture reviews for
goals
Stage 5 -‐ Do
• Assess situation depending on following factors: – Context – Time available – Energy – Priority
Alternative productivity systems
• Zen to Done • The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People • Never Check E-‐Mail in the Morning
• Bit Literacy • The Four-‐Hour Workweek
• One Year to an Organized Work Life
Audience question
Do you have a to-‐do list? If so, what do you use?
Using lists
“I have a secret. I make lists. That's how I handle stress. And whether they actually help me accomplish more or not, they make me feel so much better. If I can jot down all the tasks that swirl around in my head, I shift from feeling deluged and stressed to feeling in control and calm. And this is before I even do anything on the list.”
Suzanne Riss (2007) in Maggio (2009)
To-‐do list suggestions
Physical Virtual
To-‐do list features
• Record next and scheduled actions
• Utilise contexts – @errands – @office – @online – @home – @phone
• May assign projects/tags • Accessible from anywhere
Tickler file (43 folders)
• Set reminder triggers for time-‐based items to ‘tickle’ your memory – Agendas for meetings – Tickets for travel – Event information – Materials needed for
scheduled task http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG0FU_M_YB8
Tickler file (e-‐mail)
• Email folders (or labels) for each month and date
• Time-‐based emails moved into appropriate folders/labels
Organising your tasks – summary
• Employ the GTD system or another which fits your workflow
• Use a to-‐do list that meets your needs
• Try a tickler file if relevant
Collect
Process
Organise Review
Do
GTD cycle
GETTING STARTED AND STAYING MOTIVATED
Section 2
Right time…
• Are you a morning person or a night owl?
• Can you structure your most difficult tasks when your energy is high?
• Consider utilising 'slump' time to organise to-‐do list and revitalise energy
• Block day into periods of work (ideally 90 minutes)
Right place…
• What sort of environment is conducive for certain tasks?
• Can you work in different places for different types of work?
• Where can you get into the right mindset?
Right information
• Where do you store information?
• How do you make sure it’s accessible from where you will need it?
• How do you group information so that related items stay together?
Extracting information from calls/meetings
• Make notes at meetings and during calls
• Highlight any actions and record these in your list immediately after the call/meeting
• Store your notes for reference -‐ somewhere you can easily recall them
Audience question
Do you know what makes you most productive?
Where/when/how?
Getting started
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started"
Mark Twain
• Adopt the X minute rule -‐ spend just X minutes starting a task. You may find that you are so into it by then that you want to continue, but at minimum you will have at least started.
Dealing with procrastination
• Discover the source of procrastination -‐ lack of commitment, knowledge, motivation, fear of failure, overwhelmed?
• Deal with the problem • Set yourself a reward
mechanism
Staying on task
• If during a task you hit a hurdle or need extra information, make a note of the question or jot down the extra task to come back to after you have completed the rest of your original task
Dealing with interruptions
• List is constantly evolving • Priorities will shift and
change on a regular basis • Use time-‐based or priority
rankings to help you reorganise your tasks
Pomodoro technique
• Choose a task to be accomplished
• Set the Pomodoro (timer) to 25 minutes
• Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
• Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
• Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break
http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/
Getting started and staying motivated – summary
• Aim to be working on things at the right time, right place, and with the right information
• Have a plan to deal with procrastination and interruptions
PREVENTING OVERCOMMITMENT Section 3
Knowing what not to do
• Do you need to do this? • Do you want to do this? • Is it something you feel
you should do? Why? • Can it be deleted,
delegated, or simplified?
To-‐don't list
• Keep a list of activities that you sometimes feel you 'ought' to do but know drain your energy, take up too much of your time, or are unrewarding
• Be sensible and realistic about your capabilities, skills and commitments
• Practice saying no -‐ be firm but kind when turning down opportunities and offer an alternative if possible e.g. "I'm sorry, I can't do that but Mr X might be interested"
Saying no
“Not saying no often enough is one of the biggest causes of being too busy”
Maggio (2009)
• Before responding, let person know you'll get back to them but spend time making the right decision
• Don't give excuses if it's something you don't want to do, be honest and keep your response simple
• Saying no is much kinder than saying yes and not fulfilling your commitment
Audience question
Do you have any tips for preventing overcommitment? Any examples?
Preventing overcommitment – summary
• Know what not to do and when things can be deleted, delegated or simplified
• Consider a to-‐don’t list
• Learn how to say no politely
SUMMARY AND RESOURCES Conclusion
Organising your tasks – summary
• Employ the GTD system or another which fits your workflow
• Use a to-‐do list that meets your needs
• Try a tickler file if relevant
Collect
Process
Organise Review
Do
GTD cycle
Getting started and staying motivated – summary
• Aim to be working on things at the right time, right place, and with the right information
• Have a plan to deal with procrastination and interruptions
Preventing overcommitment – summary
• Know what not to do and when things can be deleted, delegated or simplified
• Consider a to-‐don’t list
• Learn how to say no politely
Recommended reading
• Allen, D. (2001) Getting Things Done: How to achieve stress-‐free productivity. Piatkus.
• Hines, S. (2010) Productivity for Librarians: How to get more done in less time. Oxford: Chandos Publishing.
• Houghton-‐Jan, S. (2008) Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to Cope with Information Overload. Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to Cope with Information Overload. Ariadne [online], 56.
• Maggio, R. (2009) The Art of Organizing Anything: Simple Principles for Organizing Your Home, Your Office, and Your Life. New York: McGraw Hill.
Image sources http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwvc/6306132745/ -‐ tickbox
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benelwell/9009855796 -‐ overview
http://pokechild.com/gtd-‐flawed-‐system-‐helpful-‐system/ -‐ GTD flowchart
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaljingsr/3915514724/ -‐ investigation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schlosi/6413179977/ -‐ inbox
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaljingsr/3915516040/ -‐ group discussion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmachiavello/3327609638/ -‐ to do list
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelanman/366190064/ -‐ calendar
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29254399@N08/3187186308/ -‐ clock
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/4782854680/ -‐ hurdle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliejohnson/2122722198/ -‐ Quality Street
http://www.flickr.com/photos/splic3/6811683059/ -‐ alarm clock
http://www.flickr.com/photos/callisto/2172555529 -‐ information
http://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2927082003/ -‐ do not disturb
http://www.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/news-‐in-‐pics/2009/01/06/motivatior.jpg -‐ Mr Motivator
http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/7537238368 -‐ overload wave
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27282406@N03/4134661728/ -‐ thank you
http://www.iconfinder.com -‐ icons
