Time Management

The fine art of being happy

while getting your job done

• I suppose that achieving what you want to achieve will make you happy

• You need tools to focus on important, do more, reduce stress

• You are ready to work hard to make it happen

• I will give you opportunity to learn how to achieve your goals

In scope:

Agenda:•Learning basic principles of productivity

•Finding out your roles & defining scenario for being successful in each one

• Identifying what you are trying to accomplish

•Setting 1st portion of goals•Figuring out reserves we can use to

achieve more•Forming action plan: in

MyLifeOrganized or ClearContext

Out of scope:•“I don’t have

motivation!”•“I’m not disciplined

enough for any approach!”

•“World is imperfect & unfair, you must admit!”

Rules of engagement

• No laptops, phones & tablets: do handwriting• Don’t be late: if you missed 10 minutes you missed the logic• Ask questions: the only stupid question is question not asked• No trolling: respect colleagues

The Clarity

Few words on the origins of stress

The Core Concept

That’s official :)

“Wheel of life”

FamilyBusiness

Wealth

Health

Hobby

Commun

it

y

Intellectual

Emotional

Intellectual ual

Pattern 1: Epic Fail

Hobby

HealthHealth

BusinessW

ealthCommun

it

y

Emotional

Emotio

Hobby

Familyessty W

Hobby

Intellectual

HealthHealth

Pattern 2: Skewness

BusinessW

ealthCommun

it

y

Emotional

Emotio

Hobby

Family

Intellectual

Health

How will you feel driving?

FamilyBusinessW

ealthCommun

it

y Emotio

Hobby

STRESSis about

being unable to do things which are important

to you...

Homework: Check #1

•Please write tags from highest to lowest priority

•Now sort tags by total time

•Does 2 lists match?

Health

Family

Work Health: 5

Family: 10

Work: 85

STRESSis about

being unable to do things which are important

to you...or doing them wrong

Homework: Check #2

•Calculate total time

•Calculate total shitty time

•Take % shitty time as of total time

“Discipline”I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...I will not spend time on meaningless stuff...And write

that 1000 times!

Disciplineis remembering

what youWANT

David Campbell

Core Concept: The Battery•There is a battery inside

you, and its more like NiMh than LiIon

•You draw your battery by taking any action

•You short-circuit your battery by doing things wrong

•It recharges when you rest

Important: Cycle energy

0.1 mAWorking...

Done!

Wasting cycles

0.1 mAWorking...

Done!

What should i do now?

I should immediat

ely google

that book!..

Erm... Where

did i left it last time?

The Operating System:

Even here:“Some of my colleagues have featured very strong projects, accompanied with nice children, cozy homes & good mood. Under these feats you will always find some sort of organization - some form of planning & executing procedures.”

There are 3 “time managements”

Dispatcher Creator Manager

DISPATCHING

How to handle that incoming stream of tasks

Anybody who’s primary job functionis to handle errands or requests

of other people is

DISPATCHER

Where dispatching happens:Head of

Dept

Subordinate

Subordinate

Support Unit

Manager

Subordinate

Subordinate

Deputy

Success criteria:

① Errands \ requests not lost

② Response time is predictable

③ Deadlines are met④ Quality is acceptable

How

4 core components:

The Inbox

The Task List

The Procedure

The Effort

Take cycles to remember:

Send report

Buy tickets to

jazz concert

Repair car

Prepare report

Send status update

Research suppliers

Attend meetingCall mom

GTD Processing:“We call these people successful not because they managed to complete all the tasks in their task list.They are successful because they know what needs to be done right here right now.”

Procedure:Make it a ritual:•Print a guideline•Every working day•At the same time•Cut enough time (approx.

30 min for starters)•Follow it carefully•Takes approx. 1 month to

adopt

Unload it:

• Call…

• Send…

• Remind…

• Arrange…

• Take…

• Talk to…

• Distribute…

• Organize…

• Prepare…

• Gym…

• Buy…

• Cook…

• Take to…

• Don’t forget to…

Ideas for delegating:

Task (or ToDo) List:

Eisenhower matrixImportant and

not urgent

Important &

Urgent

Not importa

nt & not

urgent

Urgent but not importa

nt

Urgency scale:Bo

ttom

No

dead

line

Dead

line

arriv

ingDe

adlin

e is

toda

yDe

adlin

e Mi

ssed

Top

Importance scale scale:

Botto

mCo

mm

on

good

He

lping

Co

lleag

ueAs

signe

d by

Cu

stom

erAs

signe

d by

my

Boss

Affec

ts m

y KP

I

Top

Cannot start?

Tasks which I hate! Why I hate it? What I can do to change that?

I hate requesting servers from admin because every single time It takes MONTHS to get it!

Because I like writing code and drinking beer, not writing long emails!!!

Can having beer with admins be fun and actually speed up server approval?..

Hint (always works)

Stay focused!•Choose task•Close Facebook,

Skype etc.•Set timer for 25

mins•Focus on the task•Focus on the task

– no chats, sms etc.

Software can help:

Hint: 3 MITsImportant task

Important task

Important task

Important task

Important task

Important task

Important task

Important task

These 3 things are absolutely realistic to complete today. I know why I’m doing that. Not doing them means being lazy & dumb. I will not end like this. I will not end this end until I finish these 3 Most Important Things…

Typical day:

Clear inbox

Update policy

Discuss policy

Finalize policy

Train team in TM

Lunch

PPT for board meeting

Next chapter in my book

Complete report for boss

Do report for boss

As you planned it

Clear inbox

Update policy

Discuss policy

Finalize policy

Train team in TM

Lunch

PPT for board meeting

Next chapter in my book

Pick kids after school

Do report for boss

The reality

Publish policy

Write 1 chapter

Complete report for boss

Publish policy

Write 1 chapter

I started at 10. not

8

So I immediat

ely skipped this task

I just started,

and unexpect

ed meeting jumped

inI need some coffee after dam

meeting

No training

for team, I need to

finish policy

Errand which I

missed in inox

appeared

Errand which I

missed in inox

appeared

Time to pick

children up, no MITs

dome!

Mistake: overcommitment

Finding time:•Travel time•Moving in pick times•Communicating offline•“Optional” meetings•Stupid non-automated

tasks•Flight & train times

Improving quality of time:

5 - 30 mins30+ mins

Those tasks need

more focus,

energy & special

conditions

These tasks can be done

even from smart phone

Typical Contexts:No noiseGood lightConvenient

placeNo distractorsRight

temperatureAll tools

@ Quiet Room@ Fast Internet@ Servers Accessible@ Out of office@ Creative Mood@ Cannot Think

Large tasks:

Iceberg tasks:

Buy tickets to vac!• Choose date• Confirm with wife• Remind wife• Confirm with

manager• Ping manager• Ping manager again• Research flights• Discuss flights with

family• Find somebody with

MC• Pay for tickets

Prepare new policy!• Write outline• Discuss outline• Rewrite goals• Discuss goals again• Draw workflow• Describe roles• Add examples• Add appendix• Discuss again• Make changes

Summary:•Unload everything to Inbox•Sort: file, do now, delegate, add to Task

List•Prioritize Task List•Do I & U: focus•Iceberg found: split into chunks•Change Tasks which you don’t like•Reclaim your time for achieving more

Congratulations, you earned:

CREATING

Short guide into building your future

Anybody who works

TOWARD LONg-TERM PLAN

is

CREATOR

Success Criteria:① Your have your dreams & your

plans and② [While reacting to external

interrupts]③ You still make this plans happen④ Without burning out

Your principles \ purpose

Your lifestyle & career

Long-term goals what you want to be, do or

have

Your current “projects”

Your tasks & errands

50,000 Feet View50,000

30,000

40,000

20,000

10,000

Visualizing your ambition:

Business

Family

Mental

Physical

Travel

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul

Fun

Aug Sep Oct NovOpen US Subsidiary

Earn MSGP cert

Adirondack & Appalachian Mountains

Train for Woodland championships

Finish boathouse

Replace ERP solution

Managing retail from UGSC London

Woodland

DecTransfer manufacturing back to UK

Prepare for Jan Austria

Vac after each of runs

Do something stupid and \ or funny every time you want it

25M

per Q

20K run

compl.!

Project:•Result which will

take number of steps to be achieved

•Each steps is actually task

•Each task can be done when you will find appropriate to do it

Buy new car

Write down reqs

Estimate budget

Research market -> shortlist

Shortlist: discuss with colleagues, choose 3

Test drive 1-2-3

Pay for car

Register in police

Buy New Car

3 х 3 principle:1. 3 projects simultaneously2. 3 MITs for 3 projects each

week3. 3 MIT tasks every day

Timeboxing:Daily Tasks

Daily Tasks

Daily Tasks

Daily Tasks

Daily Tasks

Daily Tasks

Project CDaily TasksDaily Tasks

Project A

Project A

Project A

Project B

Usually hardest day to

timebox

Project B

Most productive

patternTypical

pattern

Unexpected

Unpredictable

Early start is good for creative tasks – nobody distracts

Bad pattern

Useless

Hard task vs soft task:

Meet Sam at the airport (Mar 17, 14-30) at take him to the office

Plz prepare me attrition breakdown by level; I need it for meeting at Jan 20

Slicing:There is

actually a lot of time

hidden inside any workday

There are even 2-3 hr long

windows of

uninterrupted work

And you must slice your tasks into very

fine grained pieces

To use it you need to know which

piece of work you

have which fits

The NEXT:For every of your

projects…

You have next tasks to pick up

Finish my 1st 5K run

Habit:

Complete my 1st 5K Fun Run

Train 3 times per

weekRun for 30

minsKeep 6m per KM pace

5Kmrun

completed!

Same for revenue:•We need 100K revenue from site!•One of 100 visitors buys for 1K•One of 10 impressions generates

1 visitor•I work for 20 days per month

•How many impressions should I do every day to generate 100K?

Use it to achieve

your target KPIs!

That’s your goal card: 3 MITs of week & habit to exercise

That’s all the todo

accomplished this

week

That’s projects toward

you have worked

That’s your notes on what's going on

and impression

s

That’s your 5 star rating of the week

Typical mistake:“I found myself trying to fill every single minute with activity. Even when I was sipping coffee at mom’s kitchen I was thinking ‘omg, during these 15 minutes I can do so much useful things…’”

Typical Energy Production:

Energy production tips:

Degrades:• Insufficient sleep

• Irregular pace

• Lack of physical activity

• Alcohol

• Heavy food

• Monotonous work

• Pressure & “discipline”

Increases:

• Good rest

• Regular pace

• Trained body

• Healthy food

• Switching contexts & task types

• Allowing yourself “rebellions”

Work of same type:

Energy degrades because

task becomes boring…

But after switching

type energy goes up again…

And this trick works

several times

Summary• Know your goals in each of the areas• Prioritize & visualize them• Do 1-3 projects at once• Secure some time for them or slice them &

cram them into your daily run• Install new habits which help you achieve your

goals (one at a time)• Review your progress & make adjustments• Follow this workflow, but from time to time

screw it completely and do whatever you want!

Congratulations, you earned:

MANAGING

How to make most of your teams time

Anybody who

CLEARS THE PATHfor people

is

MANAGER

Success Criteria:① Your team achieves results② Because you make them to know

priorities③ And you help them structure their

time

Deliverables-oriented:

Process-oriented:“Score 30% better on next

SAT”

Helpful dashboards:

Rule of thumb:

•Focus on 3 – you will get them•Focus on 5-7 – you will get 3•“Focus” on 10-15-20 – you will get

nothing

Summary•Don't create chaos & rush•Clearly set priorities•Restructure team schedule to recover

time•Allow them to manage their time•Help them define results & lead

metrics•Coach them how to not waste cycles•Don’t ruin their schedule

Those who do are:

The Software

Choose whatever you want:Has Inbox

Has Projects \ Goals & TasksShows them on time lineAnd has good NEXT screenAllows time estimates & contextsProvides “review” capabilityAllows at least 2-level task hierarchyHas mobile client