Ask YC: What methods do you use to manage your time? | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC: What methods do you use to manage your time?

21 pointsvikram26 comments

I've been trying GTD.

- Start work at 9am

- Work for five hours till 2 (with short break for snack), only on very important stuff, no distractions/interruptions like email/chat etc. This time is for writing, designing, coding.

- After lunch, work on emails, planning, organising, less important stuff etc for 2 or 3 hours

- Finish at 6, personal stuff afterwards

As long as there are no distractions, and I get 5 hours of uninterrupted, valuable work done every morning, then I end up being very productive. Much moreso than the old 14 hour days I used to work where all activites run into each other and blur into endless drudgery.

This according to me is the only way of getting any useful work done...get 5-6 hours of solid work done before lunch.

I like this approach (although I would shift things earlier, because I'm an early bird). A couple of questions, if you don't mind:

- Do you have meetings, and if so, how do you balance them against your "protected" time? - Do you work with global employees? I have someone who works for me in India and my boss is in the UK. Would you suggest I reserve the afternoon and just reverse the schedule? - Do you allow for bits of personal things during "protected" time if you hit a block or single-task fatique? What is your strategy for staying focused during that time?

I'm actually considered highly productive. However, I do think I spend too much time being tactical and I feel a bit ADHD--I am a bit ADHD, but I don't think jumping around different tasks and mindsets all day is good for me in the long run.

I don't think there's a single method that is optimal for all people. For example, I think there's an inflection point in your optimal strategy when your tasks pass the point where you can actually do all of them.

For myself, I like to reframe the issue. Instead of "Look at all my tasks, which one is highest priority?", which takes lots of mental energy, I just concentrate on NOT doing things that don't support my goals. This allows me to tackle small chunks and build momentum.

One of the best ways to get something done is to NOT do things that don't contribute.

I find GTD extremely attractive, but any attempt to implement it in my life (and I've tried a few times), has been an abject failure. A few things I've found helpful, though, to minimizing time-wasting generally are:

1) Stop playing video games, or if you can't bear the thought, add some "friction" to make it harder to do without thinking (in my case, I have a few favorite Windows games, but since I have a MacBook, I need to open a VM to play the game. That additional requirement forces me to think whether I really have the time to do it.

2) Do repetitive tasks in groups (sort of obvious).

and 3) (I've had some success with this, but it's extremely hard to stick to) Don't leave your email client open unless you absolutely have to- continually interrupting the current task to see the most recent ad from Amazon, or some email forward, is a huge time sink. Surprisingly few emails are actually urgent.

Structured Procrastination, RescueTime, and some tips from Marc Andreessen:

http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/the_pmarca_guid.html

The point about using 3x5 cards to keep track of stuff you actually get done and then to make a quick hit list for tomorrow seemed especially useful to me.

I just found out about http://gootodo.com/ which allows you to use email to manage your lists, too. Gootodo lets you send it emails using specially formatted recipients that determine where in your todo list the email item goes. Then you just have it mail your your list in the morning. It might not satisfy the "where did all my time go today" itch but it sure seems to do the trick for tomorrow's tasks.

1) Work on 1 computer, receive email on another (KVM switch works well for me) 2) Always follow this order: write code, write blog, read blogs. 3) Stop eating out -- it's not actually faster (at least when you work from home making something right there is faster and cheaper) 4) Just do it. Don't procrastinate. Don't check things online (download stats, visitors logs, etc.). Don't distract yourself with work that doesn't get you anything. 5) Stop watching TV when you have something interesting or arduous to do. Finish it first. 6) Stop playing video games when you have something interesting or arduous to do. Finish it first. 7) Don't over think posts on news.ycombinator.

-- Get back to work. :-)

It's funny how often now people say "write blog" in context of working: "sit, code, write blog, read blogs". I would even say that "twittering" on a regular basis feels almost like a job for many.

The word "blog" has completely lost its original meaning. In fact there aren't any real blogs left anymore. Most of them are more like expanded resumes (programmers acting smart) or nothing but souped-up press-releases (corporate "blogs") or sales pitches mixed with recruiting efforts (guys like joel).

Are you sure you write a blog? Does it have anything not related to work? Like real topics we all think about and discuss in a public setting: like jokes, sex, politics, sports? If not, it's not a blog, it's your personal PR outlet where you're simply selling yourself.

Sorry for ranting. :-)

If I may, I'd rephrase point 2 as: "Be proactive, not passive or reactive". And I'd compress your points 4-5-6 into one: "Don't replace hard but workwhile work with easy but worthless play."

I stop trying to manage my time and just DO the things that I need to do.

I agree although...this might help too.

I assign a dollar amount to a task or just create a block schedule for a few important tasks and prioritize that way.

For me, this pretty much sums it up:

"What's the best thing you could be working on, and why aren't you?"

from

http://paulgraham.com/procrastination.html

A Ouija board and Mac Mail's todo list. Some spirits keep spelling out "GTD" (the book remains on my shelf), but I just haven't found the time to read it.

There is a plenty of good web applications for this. I use OrchestrateHQ for to-do lists, 30 Boxes as a calendar and 37signals' Backpack for notes.

Not sophisticated, and only a first step to get some kind of traction, but using it can make a real difference to me:

a) Define your main project

b) Choose an activity that you like and that comes naturally as procrastination

c) Choose a reasonable time ratio between them, and respect it

As an example, every hour of surfing the web has to be (sooner or later) compensated by three hours of work on the main project.

It feels better if you do the same backwards: for every x hours of work on the main project you reward yourself with an hour of surfing.

Also, saying you have to do something is disempowering language that drives you to rebellion. Remember yourself why you want to do it. Think of the consequences of both doing it and not doing it. If after that you still don't want to do it, don't do it.

HN's procrastination block.

It's a good idea to manage tasks, not time. Which is what GTD aims to do, isn't it? And only the chores should be managed--things that you wouldn't spend your time doing if you had the choice. Real work should be enjoyable, and when you try to manage it, it turns into a set of chores.

I use Things as a task manager as a sort of 'GTD-light'. I haven't found the need to follow any particular system religiously.

I also use RescueTime to keep me in line.

I keep a todo list in my text editor and work on high priority items on the list until they're done. That's about it.

Todo lists for direction, RescueTime for tracking, 8aweek for blocking wasteful sites.

I use Smacklet.

http://www.smacklet.com

A combination of a Tangible Vision, Mindmap and a task/objective list

I use omnifocus. It will be perfect on iPhone. Now, it's only of limited use. I use it more for organizing my thinking then my day down to the hour. I find if my thinking is organized, and I know how to do what I want to get done, managing time just happens without requiring further effort. If your thinking isn't organized all the time management in the world won't help you.

what the hell is time management?

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