I was asked to talk about time management the other night. Been mulling it over for a few days now, and I decided to put my thoughts here, mostly because I wanted to get them somewhere before they vanished.
I’m terrible at managing time. I get distracted easily. I find that there are too many things that I want to get done, too much “stuff” that I don’t know, and I am paralyzed with my inability to do anything. It can be as simple as learning a new library, or as complex as my life’s desire to get all my writings in some semblance of organization.
But I have had limited success in my time management.
I found that the best work that I do is when I love the work that I am doing. If I get it in my head that the topic I am writing about is something that I am passionate about, then I tend to just… go. But how do I impart that on someone else? And what happens if I DON’T love what I am doing? Well…
I’m easily distracted. I find that music helps me concentrate. Sometimes it is a Phillip Glass album, Solo Piano with no lyrics. Or some new EDM that is out there, or Drum and Bass, or even old school Punk Rock. Something mindless. In this way, I can block out the distractions of the world and just… do what I need to do.
I work best with a deadline, and if I could suggest one thing to point you at success it would be to have the ability to set a meaningful deadline for yourself and then follow through with that deadline. Strangely this comes from when I was young and would stay in the shower too long thinking about any number of things. I would finish cleaning my body, and then “count down” till I would get out. This strangely carried over into telling myself that there is some deadline when there otherwise isn’t one. Like, if I am writing a bit of code, I will say “tonight I will finish two models for X and Y, and hook them to the controllers.” Sometimes that workes great, other times, not at all. Even when it doesn’t work though I will get more work done than I would have initially.
The other thing I do is a trick I learned from my ex. They told me that if I can get something done in five minutes, and that needs to get done, do it RIGHT NOW. This is a simple rule to live by (and the one that I am using to get this post written, strangely enough). But it does many things. First, it forces me to be realistic about how long something might take me. Second, I end up cutting huge, unfathomable tasks into tiny five-minute “chunks” and string enough of those together and BAM! your whole project is done. Third, it lends to be precise as to how my time is used.
The last thing I personally do is mix fun into work. This can be as simple as a game that I play to break up large tasks, or as complex as getting up and walking around the office when I am stuck on a problem. I also do my best to love what I am doing. Find an application for what I am learning in something I love, and think about that while I am learning. This also helps with retention I have found. I remember better when I also think about how it applies to me.
so… the TL;DR here is thus:
- Love what you do
- set deadlines that mean something to you personally
- five-minute chunks
- have fun (damnit!)