Time Management

Judy Olson

Professor Informatics

ICS

The issue

Too much to do, too little time Limited human memory

– Forgetting outright– “Thrashing”

Guilt, anxiety– not doing the important thing now

Answering the question, “when are you going to have that done?”

The solution (part 1)

Do you have a problem? Collect data

– diary for a week how you spend your time– reflect on it– is there spare capacity?– or should you not be agreeing to do so much?

The solution (part 2)

Planning is the key

“Plans are nothing, planning is everything”

“Any system is better than none”

The solution (part 3)

Make a list– Distributed cognition

With the right plan, there are fewer moment-by-moment decisions

“Just do it”– because if you don’t, you have to plan it all again

What does this planning entail?

List your tasks– Putting everything down

work and home and fun and personal goals “One life, one list”

– Making all of them the size that could be done in less than three hours

– If you have thoughts, details, phone numbers, put them there, too

Planning

Highlight the ones that have to be done soon– e.g., Saturday morning, what has to be done by

Sunday night– e.g., to meet a deadline, what are all the steps– more detail for things that are closer

Planning

Group tiny ones into a block– e.g., email, phone calls, things that require going

out

Estimate how much time each will take– satisfice 80% of the good takes X hours, the

last 20% takes X hours

Planning

Add them up– GASP

Adjust the times– Cut down the time on the less important ones– Decide how long to have fun, sleep

Add them up– OK?

Gasp, NO!

Yes

Put them on the calendar

Then you know when you will work on something– helps answer the question when will you have

that– keeps you from thrashing

Use the calendar as a guide of what to do next

Also helps you answer the spontaneous requests– “wanna go to a movie?”– “Let’s meet on Sunday afternoon for this group

project”– “Such a beautiful day, go for a walk?”

Ah, but then things happen

Plans are nothing, planning is everything The list remains Re-plan often

– for me, about every two days– if not stressed, less often

What tools to use?

For me– Word outliner for to-do list– Print it out– Highlighters for important things– Pens for marking times– Put items on the calendar

3

Email-1/4

1-1/2

1

Recap

Any system is better than none Gather, plan, refer to plan, do it Remain flexible but know your tradeoffs

Additional points

Keeping things organized– Know where they are

files, notebooks, piles gather then sort through have what you need when you work hard

– plan ahead to gather everything good thing to do when you’re not at your best

Know your own rhythms– five GOOD hours a day– do the hard stuff when you are most alert– do the hard stuff first– use your less effective time to do mindless but

effective things

Additional points

Office supplies Places to do the hard work The “just do it belt” Rewards

Other best practices?

Thanks