Make it tomorrow. How not to waste time on trivia
Let's talk a little about time management. They write a lot about it, but it just says that the topic is very popular and useful. The article combines the techniques of Stephen Covey and Mark Forster . These two techniques proved to be incredibly useful and surprisingly effective. It will be useful to anyone who feels the dam works and does not have time to live.
Early morning is best suited for mental activity. Moreover, not just earlier, but very early: at 4 in the morning. In Eastern philosophy, this time is called brahma-muhurta. Wise people from the east say that there are no owls: there are only wrong larks.
If you need to learn something or write something, without being distracted by anything external, this is the right time. The mind at this time works very well and allows you to engage in the current initiative: learning languages, own IT-project, writing a book, etc.
What you need to get up on time? Early rise begins in the evening and it consists of three points:
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If you read Stephen Covey’s book on the “7 Skills of Highly Effective People,” you may know that there are four types of cases that we have. They are divided by two parameters: importance and urgency.
Unimportant matters
Life can be wasted on trifles. For example, a relative calls you and says that he needs to urgently make an online store of Altai honey. This is unimportant and, in reality, non-urgent business. We do not do such things. Feel free to refuse such offers.
You receive a letter with an offer to test IQ at a 20% discount for three hours. Offer is limited. This applies to urgent and unimportant cases and they can not deal with. There is also a call from his wife with a request to urgently take her to work, because everything is broken there. Delegate this matter to the taxi driver.
When I worked a little bit at Business Lines, there the product manager daily executed a SQL query, saved it in a CSV file and sent it by mail. For this girl, this task was not necessary and not important, but it was urgent. Looking at the picture, the solution suggests itself: to automate. And indeed, when I was entrusted with this matter, I automated the whole process in a few days and more, it did not distract me and was done through the windows manager.
Things to do
Those who have a car know the situation when it breaks down. In most cases, this is preceded by some signs. For example, pounded in the right wheel. We can not pay attention to it, or immediately go and fix it. At the initial stage, the repair of the suspension is important and non-urgent: the car drives and does not affect the speed of the breakdown. However, sooner or later, this breakdown spills over into a more serious one and blocks car driving. The case turns into an important and urgent.
Another example: as a senior programmer, you can do everything yourself. The quality of the code is top notch and everything works fine. But at the same time, you can not engage in truly interesting tasks. An important and non-urgent matter is to prepare a couple of young trainees. If you do not do this, it will lead to the emergence of an important and urgent matter: to find a qualified person to support the project, because you need to do other, more responsible work.
The general rule is this: we don’t do anything at all or delegate. We get rid of them as much as possible. Important and urgent, we rake and do not allow their appearance. Important and non-urgent we do first. Allocate them for several hours a day. These include professional development, participation in the upbringing of children, family holidays, holidays and participation in public life.
Wonderful video with Stephen Covey on this topic:
There is a book by Mark Forster called To it tomorrow. And the author says in it that the first thing to do is to stop and scrape together all the accumulated business in one pile. Some of them can not be done at all, a part is to be delegated, and a part can be done independently, if it is impossible to get rid of them. But the main task is to throw out as much as possible. While you are getting rid of the accumulated cases, you do not accept any new ones: take a day off, leave, disconnect the phone and rake everything.
When a business arrives to us as usual, we tend to do it immediately. Well, or, if not done, then at least carefully look at it. A colleague threw the link in Skype and for five minutes we were stuck. Aunt Asya arrived, showed a white powder and again we are not up to work. My wife calls and says that you really need to go to the parent meeting, because you need to align and line up the teachers so that they eventually understand that your child is a vegetarian.
Marc Forster says you need to make a buffer into which all tasks will flow. The buffer is called "tomorrow." Whatever you have arrived for today, you send this business to the schedule of tomorrow (or do not accept it at all, if it is not important). A colleague comes up and says that you need to send a report. - Okay tomorrow. The wife calls, you need to buy tickets. - Yes, I'll buy it tomorrow. The client wants to change the contacts in the header of the site. “Tomorrow we'll change everything.”
Thus, you are piling up tasks for tomorrow, and today you are engaged in those tasks that were planned yesterday. Sometimes it happens that tomorrow you will not have time to complete everything and the tasks will be transferred to the day after tomorrow, etc. This means that you are not doing your job. More on this later.
It should be strictly remembered that the to-do list is a closed list. If your date has already been planned, there is no need to add anything there: write for tomorrow. There are, of course, cases when something really happened and something needs to be done very urgently. Accident, tragedy, hurricane ... Here, of course, all prioritization breaks down and you need to do what you need. But in general, the list for today should remain closed.
Is it possible to send tasks for the day after tomorrow? Yes, of course you can. Just the minimum buffer is tomorrow. You may have tasks that need to be done on a certain day, this is quite normal.
Can I plan for a week? Stephen Covey says it can and should. How does this compare with the Do It Tomorrow system? —Schedule a week not too close. One or two important things for each day of the week is enough. The rest will fly themselves. If there are sufficient intervals between your weekly affairs, you can insert another couple of tasks into the schedule for tomorrow without straining.
Forster introduces the concept of "current initiative". This is what you do daily. For example, saw some useful project or do Spanish. Most likely, you will not be able to set specific tasks for such projects and you just need to enter the “Spanish language” item in the plan. It will be repeated every day and you will be pleased to mark it as done, and this, by the way, is a very pleasant incentive that supports the system.
If you have a blockage, even in the system of Kovi-Forster, then you are not doing your job. Here's how to distinguish your work from someone else's:
Sign from here
If I, as the head of the studio, begin to draw icons or fill the client site with content, this will be harmful for the business. Of course, I can handle it, however, these are tasks that can and should be delegated. This is not my job. Focus on the tasks that only you can really do.
Technically, the easiest way to write in a notebook. This is quite normal, but hard for me. Notebook you need to carry with you, do not forget to write in it and do not forget to look at it. So personally, I find it much more convenient to use the telephone and computer. My arsenal is:
If someone has other good tools, please share in the comments. It is always very interesting. I can say that I also tried WeekPlan and Zendone, but stopped at trello.
I think this is enough to live in peace and without any trouble. The method does not pretend to be the ultimate truth, however, it definitely works. The main thing to follow, and not just to know about it.
Lyrics: Igor Talkov Jr. has a good song about time management.
All happiness and divine love)
Day regimen in general
Early morning is best suited for mental activity. Moreover, not just earlier, but very early: at 4 in the morning. In Eastern philosophy, this time is called brahma-muhurta. Wise people from the east say that there are no owls: there are only wrong larks.
If you need to learn something or write something, without being distracted by anything external, this is the right time. The mind at this time works very well and allows you to engage in the current initiative: learning languages, own IT-project, writing a book, etc.
What you need to get up on time? Early rise begins in the evening and it consists of three points:
')
- do not eat at night (especially cereals);
- plan tomorrow: what will you do in the morning and why do you get up;
- lie down on time; what time it is individually, but 7 hours of sleep is usually enough.
What are we doing?
If you read Stephen Covey’s book on the “7 Skills of Highly Effective People,” you may know that there are four types of cases that we have. They are divided by two parameters: importance and urgency.
Unimportant matters
Life can be wasted on trifles. For example, a relative calls you and says that he needs to urgently make an online store of Altai honey. This is unimportant and, in reality, non-urgent business. We do not do such things. Feel free to refuse such offers.
You receive a letter with an offer to test IQ at a 20% discount for three hours. Offer is limited. This applies to urgent and unimportant cases and they can not deal with. There is also a call from his wife with a request to urgently take her to work, because everything is broken there. Delegate this matter to the taxi driver.
When I worked a little bit at Business Lines, there the product manager daily executed a SQL query, saved it in a CSV file and sent it by mail. For this girl, this task was not necessary and not important, but it was urgent. Looking at the picture, the solution suggests itself: to automate. And indeed, when I was entrusted with this matter, I automated the whole process in a few days and more, it did not distract me and was done through the windows manager.
Things to do
Those who have a car know the situation when it breaks down. In most cases, this is preceded by some signs. For example, pounded in the right wheel. We can not pay attention to it, or immediately go and fix it. At the initial stage, the repair of the suspension is important and non-urgent: the car drives and does not affect the speed of the breakdown. However, sooner or later, this breakdown spills over into a more serious one and blocks car driving. The case turns into an important and urgent.
Another example: as a senior programmer, you can do everything yourself. The quality of the code is top notch and everything works fine. But at the same time, you can not engage in truly interesting tasks. An important and non-urgent matter is to prepare a couple of young trainees. If you do not do this, it will lead to the emergence of an important and urgent matter: to find a qualified person to support the project, because you need to do other, more responsible work.
The general rule is this: we don’t do anything at all or delegate. We get rid of them as much as possible. Important and urgent, we rake and do not allow their appearance. Important and non-urgent we do first. Allocate them for several hours a day. These include professional development, participation in the upbringing of children, family holidays, holidays and participation in public life.
Wonderful video with Stephen Covey on this topic:
How to get rid of small matters?
There is a book by Mark Forster called To it tomorrow. And the author says in it that the first thing to do is to stop and scrape together all the accumulated business in one pile. Some of them can not be done at all, a part is to be delegated, and a part can be done independently, if it is impossible to get rid of them. But the main task is to throw out as much as possible. While you are getting rid of the accumulated cases, you do not accept any new ones: take a day off, leave, disconnect the phone and rake everything.
Buffer: do tomorrow
When a business arrives to us as usual, we tend to do it immediately. Well, or, if not done, then at least carefully look at it. A colleague threw the link in Skype and for five minutes we were stuck. Aunt Asya arrived, showed a white powder and again we are not up to work. My wife calls and says that you really need to go to the parent meeting, because you need to align and line up the teachers so that they eventually understand that your child is a vegetarian.
Marc Forster says you need to make a buffer into which all tasks will flow. The buffer is called "tomorrow." Whatever you have arrived for today, you send this business to the schedule of tomorrow (or do not accept it at all, if it is not important). A colleague comes up and says that you need to send a report. - Okay tomorrow. The wife calls, you need to buy tickets. - Yes, I'll buy it tomorrow. The client wants to change the contacts in the header of the site. “Tomorrow we'll change everything.”
Thus, you are piling up tasks for tomorrow, and today you are engaged in those tasks that were planned yesterday. Sometimes it happens that tomorrow you will not have time to complete everything and the tasks will be transferred to the day after tomorrow, etc. This means that you are not doing your job. More on this later.
It should be strictly remembered that the to-do list is a closed list. If your date has already been planned, there is no need to add anything there: write for tomorrow. There are, of course, cases when something really happened and something needs to be done very urgently. Accident, tragedy, hurricane ... Here, of course, all prioritization breaks down and you need to do what you need. But in general, the list for today should remain closed.
Is it possible to send tasks for the day after tomorrow? Yes, of course you can. Just the minimum buffer is tomorrow. You may have tasks that need to be done on a certain day, this is quite normal.
Can I plan for a week? Stephen Covey says it can and should. How does this compare with the Do It Tomorrow system? —Schedule a week not too close. One or two important things for each day of the week is enough. The rest will fly themselves. If there are sufficient intervals between your weekly affairs, you can insert another couple of tasks into the schedule for tomorrow without straining.
Current initiative
Forster introduces the concept of "current initiative". This is what you do daily. For example, saw some useful project or do Spanish. Most likely, you will not be able to set specific tasks for such projects and you just need to enter the “Spanish language” item in the plan. It will be repeated every day and you will be pleased to mark it as done, and this, by the way, is a very pleasant incentive that supports the system.
Own and others work
If you have a blockage, even in the system of Kovi-Forster, then you are not doing your job. Here's how to distinguish your work from someone else's:
| Own work | Someone else's work |
|---|---|
| Moving forward your business or career | Distracts from tasks that move your business or career forward. |
| The one you get paid for | The one for which you do not pay |
| Brings significant benefits | Does not bring appreciable advantage |
| Uses your skills to the fullest | Uses your skills in half the power |
| Removes comfort zone | Leaves in the comfort zone |
| Challenges | Is simple |
| The one that only you can do | One that anyone can do |
If I, as the head of the studio, begin to draw icons or fill the client site with content, this will be harmful for the business. Of course, I can handle it, however, these are tasks that can and should be delegated. This is not my job. Focus on the tasks that only you can really do.
Instruments
Technically, the easiest way to write in a notebook. This is quite normal, but hard for me. Notebook you need to carry with you, do not forget to write in it and do not forget to look at it. So personally, I find it much more convenient to use the telephone and computer. My arsenal is:
- Google calendar for cases with a specific time. There are meetings, events, going to the movies, birthdays, etc.
- Trello. I created a board, connected a calendar to it, and in the calendar I am planning things for tomorrow. Additionally, the cases are grouped into sections: personal, work, society, friends. Just like Stephen Covey bequeathed.
If someone has other good tools, please share in the comments. It is always very interesting. I can say that I also tried WeekPlan and Zendone, but stopped at trello.
I think this is enough to live in peace and without any trouble. The method does not pretend to be the ultimate truth, however, it definitely works. The main thing to follow, and not just to know about it.
Lyrics: Igor Talkov Jr. has a good song about time management.
All happiness and divine love)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/315120/
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