Optimizing The Way We Spend Our Time

DweezelJazz — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:00:00 +0000

A few months ago I was desperate to improve my work output. I had outlined my goals and set timescales, but could tell that I wouldn’t reach them with my typical daily routine. At the end of each day it was becoming more and more excruciating to find that I was no closer to doing what was needed in order to reach those goals. I just had to figure out if there was any practical way to reach them.I started by analyzing all the ways in which my time was being spent and in what amounts. This was a crucial and extremely revealing step in understanding where my time was disappearing.Some areas of our lives may be less under our control than we would like. There might be aspects of our lives that we’re not aware of taking significant amounts of our time. If we have a situation that we hope someday might change, we might unwittingly plan for the future without taking into account that circumstance’s full impact on our present activities. Understanding all the demands on our time gives us the chance to assess the realistic timescale for achieving our goals. This in itself can remove an incredible amount of frustration and pressure.But even with circumstances that we may not be able to directly change, it may be possible to find ways to more effectively work with or around them. And once we know where our time goes, we have the opportunity to prioritize all our activities, and even eliminate those that aren’t essential and don’t give us the return we’re looking for.Around this time, I came across a book called: “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. It covers all aspects of setting up a personal system to organize ourselves so that we can become more efficient and productive. It was very helpful and got me moving forward in a way that has really made a huge difference.Following David Allen’s recommendations in this book, I did a few basic things. David Allen points out that a tremendous amount of energy is wasted by trying to remember tasks that need to be completed. If we write them down in a place we know we can rely on to find them, then we don’t have to pointlessly keep mulling them around. We can free up our minds to think of more creative things instead.I also understood from the book that it’s important to break up tasks into one-step actions. Once we know what to do it becomes easy to do it. For example, if we write down ‘organize party’, it’s not clear what action is needed first in order to accomplish this. Once it’s broken down into a list of actions to complete, we can just do them and tick them off as we go.David Allen also suggests, in the office framework, to delegate, or in a more personal framework, to ask others for help. This may not be an obvious option for someone to consider. If we’re not used to asking for help, this can be difficult. But it’s well worth considering, because this can lead to many unforeseen benefits and possibilities.I don’t think I followed strictly everything David Allen said, but this is what I did as a result of reading his ideas:Wrote down absolutely everything that needed doing, small and large tasks alike.Created categorized lists of tasks.Created categorized lists of projects (a project being anything that required two or more steps in order to be completed).Created a list of tasks that could be completed either by me or by someone else, and then asked for help.Put recurring tasks in the calendar on my computer so that each day a list pops up of things that need to be done that day. This is a tremendous help. For example, I no longer have to think, keep track, or rummage through random bits of receipts to find out how long it has been since the water filter was changed and when it’s necessary to buy replacement filters for it. Or when the kitchen needs its next deep clean.Defining all the tasks that need to be completed, both routine and one-offs, enabled me to really address how those things are accomplished and when. It also allowed me to ask others for advice on how to tackle some of the things I didn’t directly have control over. This has resulted in some dramatic changes that I would never have been able to make on my own.I keep looking for ways to change and improve and, with the passing weeks, have been able to add more to the schedule than I had previously thought possible, but that were in fact in my original set of goals for the future. Now, each day generally provides me with more accomplishment in a way that’s directed towards those goals. And that’s a great feeling.I thought I’d mention this process in case you might find it helpful too. Life is a lot more fun when we can play the game with a better hand to win more victories.I didn’t realize until after this photo was on the computer that there looks to be an 8 card behind the 10… well, there’s even more there than first meets the eye!

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Optimizing The Way We Spend Our Time