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SSCrazy Eights
Group: General Forum Members
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The best trick I've ever found for time management and efficiency is: If you pick something up, finish it, and do it right. The single biggest waste of time for most people is things like reading through all your e-mails, deciding which ones to handle, then having to go back through them to handle them. Just doubles the time you spend reading them. That one alone saves more time than you might think.
- GSquared
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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SSCrazy
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Monday, March 08, 2010 1:33 PM
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G: Do you prioritize what needs to be done first, or just take things on a FIFO basis?
__________________________________________________
My evil twin is Barry Young.
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. -- Friedrich Schiller
Whenever possible, I prefer to eat the rude. -- Hannibal Lecter
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Right there with Babe
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 1:32 PM
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Aren't too many distractions a result of being too busy and is thus the individual's fault? I think regarding phone calls and emails distractions is a reflection of one's stress level. It is personal choices that affect our ability to handle daily minutia. Too much stress and a simple hello from a colleague can be difficult to handle. The choice to take on too much and then juggle everything is our own decision. One can choose to partake in Twitter and facebook.
At work, we can make choices to say no, or, at least make the requestors aware that their project will have to wait. We can make choices in our personal lives that affect our ability to handle stress.
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Valued Member
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 12:07 PM
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For an IT type worker, I'm a bit of a luddite. I absolutely refuse to have a television, only got a cell phone last year, no ipod, and only buy into some kind of tech craze after it has been proofed in the real world (cell phones do have advantages, I have found, but I also lived just fine without one for decades).
No facebook garbage, twitter (aptly named, for once), etc. I find that these kinds of technology do not improve the quality of my social life, only its 'quantity'.
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SSChampion
Group: Administrators
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DavidL is, I think being ruthless. He's choosing what has value to him and what is worth spending time on.
That's the idea.
Not that Twitter, or answering the phone, watching TV, etc. requires a value judgment from anyone else. It's up to the individual deciding what value something has to them. I see Twitter as valuable to me. I do see a quality value of interacting with others in it. But that doesn't mean it fits you.
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SSCrazy Eights
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 2:35 PM
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Bob Hovious (4/9/2009)
G: Do you prioritize what needs to be done first, or just take things on a FIFO basis?
Prioritize where that's clear, FIFO if priority isn't clear.
For example, with e-mails, I'll sort by priority, then by "chain" then by date. Then I just take the first one in that list, then the second, etc.
Sounds crazy till you try it for a while, then you'll generally find that you get so much more done that it's remarkable.
This isn't something I just came up with. I've worked in offices where this was the suggested operating practice, and more got done in less time, with less stress, than anywhere else I've worked that had a different standard practice.
Even in offices where this isn't standard, I operate this way as much as possible, and even with a heavy workload by most people's standards, I still end up with time to do things like post way too often on SSC, and still get more done in less time than is expected by managers, etc.
I'm ahead of deadline on all my projects right now. Usually am. And it's not because I'm some amazing, incredible, super-fast person. It's because I don't do stuff twice if I can possibly avoid it. Do it right the first time, and do it when I pick it up. Don't procrastinate, just get it done.
- GSquared
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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SSCertifiable
Group: Moderators
Last Login: Monday, March 08, 2010 2:34 PM
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I think it's interesting how we decide what is a 'have to' vs ' want to'. I don't have to blog 5 days a week, but I've made the commitment to do so. Good decision or bad? I see some value beyond just 'wanting to', but it's 1-2 hours a week that has to come from somewhere. As long as I get the other work done and don't complain about hours - all is good. If I cut 2 hours from 'have to' work to blog, that's a valid choice, but I'd argue perhaps not the best one.
We're all lucky enough not to be in the widget business. If you got paid per widget off the assembly line, then it's easy to see that blogging (or whatever) is less important than widgeting and as humans it's easier to reset our priorities.
Andy
SQLShare - Learn One New Thing Each Day
SQLAndy - My Professional Blog
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Forum Newbie
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, April 16, 2009 3:28 PM
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Talk about time sinks:
I-pod great that I can put music on the thing but then I run out of space now what? I spend time creating play lists, moving music on and off, losing the database.
This same issue is true of Facebook, Twitter, Linked In etc…YOU! need to keep it current.
We are looking for a way to connect without the maintenance overhead. We the developers, software architects, and just plan everyday people are looking for an easier and less time consuming path. We keep creating and or using new technology to end up in the same place…too much time required to keep the information and site useful and relevant.
Sure the I-phone and any smart phone is nice but that is just mobility, nothing really new there. The same with the new “Home Phone” from Verizon, computer meets phone again…nothing new, nothing revolutionary here.
It is in the data, there is an inherent interconnectedness (or lack thereof), we just have to find a way to interpret and share what is unseen today.
In the meantime I appreciate the comments as I too am in this daily mode of not enough time, but happy for the struggle.--Eric
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SSC-Enthusiastic
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 11:45 AM
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Overcommitments - used to do that a lot. No more. "Just Say No." Biggest time-saver of all.
I use an iPod. Loaded it with all my music - which did take some time - and never touched it since. Now I just enjoy it on my hikes out on the trails. It's been great and even though I hiked for years with no music, and sometimes still do, it has been fun to have the music with me out there.
TV -- very limited time spent there. 50 years ago Newton Minow called it "a vast wasteland"... and basically, he was right. Except now it's even a "vaster" wasteland.
Being Ruthless. When it comes to your time, you have to be. It's a binary decision to spend time on something - or not. Time is very limited, and more of it can't be bought no matter how much money you have. So being ruthless is appropriate.
Agree with GSquared about not going through emails (or anything else) twice. Handle it now if you can.
Balance - important thing to keep in mind as we decide how to spend our time.
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SSC-Enthusiastic
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, February 25, 2010 11:37 PM
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Steve - have you ever thought about not sending a newsletter on the weekend, but combine it into a larger Monday newsletter. If there is something exceptional then send out a special newsletter. You may need to ask this to a larger forum - but it may be a time saver.
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