People who get **** done
How do you structure your time (and, how much time goes into planning your time; how effortful is it for you)?
Do you just wake up and go; click into focus when wanted/needed, for as long as is required, no more or less; remember to eat on time; immediately know the most efficient way to negotiate traffic, regardless of weather?
All responses welcome (but eagerly await those from reformed flakes).
Original Post by janelovesjam:
How do you structure your time (and, how much time goes into planning your time; how effortful is it for you)?
Do you just wake up and go; click into focus when wanted/needed, for as long as is required, no more or less; remember to eat on time; immediately know the most efficient way to negotiate traffic, regardless of weather?
All responses welcome (but eagerly await those from reformed flakes).
I have goals/deadlines to meet, so I just kind of make sure it gets accomplished at some point in the day.
I might say to myself okay, at 2 PM, I get up and go do ___ or finish __.
Just setting a time to do something, and fitting it around whatever else I'm up to in a given day seems to work.
STRUCTURE. Your daily routine should be pretty fixed. Figure out what it is that must be done, should be done, would be nice to do and what you'd do if you had spare time. Write these down, schedule them and follow the schedule. Be realistic. You can't do everything but you can do what needs to get done.
I was once told (by a very succesful executive) as we were leaving work for the day "you know I'll never get these guys that work 80 hours a week, they must be doing something wrong".
I am the queen of procrastination so I don't know if I can be much help. I have never missed a deadline, probably because I work well under pressure. I do find that putting things on the calendar or making lists helps me. I like to visually see that I have made progress. Crossing things off the list satisfies that visual need.
That being said...I spent four hours playing Angry Birds yesterday when I was going to do my taxes (they did eventually get done but other things I had planned on doing did not). I am easily distracted by shiny things. :)
I used to be HORRIBLE at time management but lately I have found that without it, I'm screwed. There are never enough hours in the day to do ANYTHING, even though I have a job where I work at 5:30A and get home by 2:30P most days. What I have found is that I needed to get myself out of the habit of "resting" when I got home from work -- this consisted of having a snack and sitting down to watch tv. Usually this "resting" period turned into a couple of hours of watching my shows and eventually total laziness, but I have gotten really good about making myself get my stuff done before I allow myself to rest. Basically, it comes down to forcing yourself to do what you need to do, even if you don't want to do it! Which was really hard for me at first but has gotten a lot easier. If I give myself a reward for finishing all of my tasks it's a lot easier to make myself do them!
Reformed Flake here. Man does this ever hit home.
The possibility that women are raised to be flakier than our male counterparts aside, I had to actively re-train my brain, years ago, to accept that I wasn't 'multi-tasking', I was disorganized and unproductive and thoroughly crisis-driven in my professional life.
My personal life, the smack in the head came when my husband passed. I was abruptly aware of how much I had relied on him to be the thinker in our relationship, and count myself as very, very fortunate that he always took the time to school me (yeah, I know how that sounds) on the mechanics of living an adult life.
If women were raised to be flakier, that would seem to indicate that they would not have been the preferred gender for secretarial jobs...
ETA: Oh, that would be a good strategy, too: Get a secretary.
Two things help me stay productive.
1. I get up early and start working... My 'free time' is at night, after I've finished all that needed to get done during the day. Some of my friends like to hang out during/after school and not start homework until ~9 PM at night.... I'd rather get all my work done asap and have 9 PM onward to relax and watch TV.
2. I lay out things that need to get done. For example, if I plan on working out in the morning, I lay out my shoes and socks by the door. If I need to finish physics homework, I get out all the books/pencils I need and lay them out on my desk so I just can't procrastinate too long.
They weren't the preferred gender for secretarial jobs, Doc, until women started entering the work force. When secretaries were men, only, they made a lot better living, and their position held more status in our culture.
We started out in the transcription of dictation, steno & typing pools and worked our way into the 'secretary' job - which by then was not the same gig, imo.
Original Post by kathygator:
They weren't the preferred gender for secretarial jobs, Doc, until women started entering the work force. When secretaries were men, only, they made a lot better living, and their position held more status in our culture.
We started out in the transcription of dictation, steno & typing pools and worked our way into the 'secretary' job - which by then was not the same gig, imo.
I still don't see why I would hire a flaky woman over a non-flaky man to organize my schedule, then.
I can't function if I know there is stuff I have to do. It will literally haunt me. I can't procrastinate cause if I do, whatever it is I'm doing instead won't be fun because I'll still be worrying about what I need to do.
So I just do it.
From doing laundry to stupid research papers.
Example, I have classes today. When I get home from school, the first thing I am doing is taking an online quiz, reading up a bit more on an artist and then writing my outline for my research paper, writing the abstract for it. Then I can do whatever I want! :D
I set tasks for little things throughout the week. I'll do clothes on X day and then I'll clean the hamster cage on X day. Give the dog a bath on X day. I stretch out daily chores for the whole week. I even have a white board on the fridge that I use to write my list of things I have to do for the week. It'll only be checked off by end of Friday so the weekend is free. Only thing I'll have left to do tomorrow is clean Sir Francis' (my hamster) cage. Then I can tralalala all around the house until Monday.
Hm, I guess I'm a reformed flake, I certainly spent a few years during and after college just kind of, drifting.
As soon as I wake up I think about what I need to do for the day, even down to the basic stuff like, 'work out; wash my stank a**; eat breakfast; etc'. After about 15 minutes of reviewing the day's activities I eventually get up and, well, go about my day as planned.
It also helps to prep the night before, such as picking out the days outfit, packing lunch, or if I have to drive somewhere, I plan out the route, etc. That way, after I review the days activities I can get up and do them, without much hassle cause I already gathered all the materials the night before.
I wouldn't say my system takes much effort, but I have a fairly uncomplicated life. The only person's schedule I have to worry about is my own, as my husband freelances and does his own thing on his own time.
i'm a list-maker. it's satisfying to cross things off once they are accomplished. sometimes i prioritize the list, and sometimes i pick and choose what i feel like doing at the time.
writing tasks down seems to make them more important....and also there's less chance of forgetting something
I prioritize in my head. Sometimes I write things down but mostly I just remember. I do procrastinate - esp when it comes to cleaning. But basically I just do what needs to be done and what I feel I can accomplish. I evaluate as the day goes. I do stop to think about the best way to structure my day from time to time but my days are generally similar and it's not too hard to figure out.
When I plan too much and attempt to make things too structured I never stick to the plan so I gave that up. When I make lists it's generally of things I want to get done but not when to do them. On occasion I might assign a day to the task but that's as far as it goes.
I was never a flake but I am concerned about what's gonna happen when my memory isn't as good as it is right now :-/
My husband is type A. I admire him. My daughter recently presented him with a piece of paper with scribbles on it. When he asked what it was, she responded "a list Daddy." He was SO proud.
Alas, I'm not one of these people. I think my iPhone is starting to save my life though. I've started entering things that need to be done in "reminders." It has, thus far, reduced my flakiness tenfold.
Other than this, I use Lotus notes calendar to document work deadlines.
Original Post by cptbunny:
II set tasks for little things throughout the week. I'll do clothes on X day and then I'll clean the hamster cage on X day. Give the dog a bath on X day. I stretch out daily chores for the whole week. I even have a white board on the fridge that I use to write my list of things I have to do for the week. It'll only be checked off by end of Friday so the weekend is free. Only thing I'll have left to do tomorrow is clean Sir Francis' (my hamster) cage. Then I can tralalala all around the house until Monday.
I do this same thing for my kids. I have a list on the fridge. Monday is vacuuming, Tuesday is bathroom, Wednesday vacuum again (3 dogs & a cat), Thursday is sweep & mop, etc. If we keep on track and just do one chore a day, the house stays in reasonable shape and it doesn't pile up.
I also find it very helpful to get to work early. Lunchtime workouts are great also and get them out of the way. Goals and priorities are also important and the steps that you need to take to achieve them.
For things that I really hate to do I will promise myself a reward. I told myself if you finish your taxes and go to spin class, you can go to happy hour tomorrow. It worked and I did both things and then was able to enjoy the happy hour.
Original Post by dnrothx:
Original Post by kathygator:
They weren't the preferred gender for secretarial jobs, Doc, until women started entering the work force. When secretaries were men, only, they made a lot better living, and their position held more status in our culture.
We started out in the transcription of dictation, steno & typing pools and worked our way into the 'secretary' job - which by then was not the same gig, imo.
I still don't see why I would hire a flaky woman over a non-flaky man to organize my schedule, then.
You wouldn't. Hence the need to re-train my brain.
I'm pretty organized and manage time well at work. However, on my days off, nothing gets done. It's very easy for me to just start doing nothing which usually involves watching TV or the internet. My house is a mess because not only do I not like to do housework, I just don't get around to doing it. It's quite easy to just walk right by it. Laundry is constantly piled up. I can't see doing laundry several times a week when I can just do it all in one day and be done with it.
Yeah, I'm a procrasinator and don't make time for things. No, it doesn't bother me much to have a messy house.
The thing that does bother me is that I don't complete projects or that it takes me way to long to accomplish things I'd really have rather accomplished much sooner. But it's just too much effort to schedule and stick to a schedule. I naturally rebel against regimentation.
They'd be puff pastry....
I work more than full time. I go to school part time. I have a toddler and an infant. I have a social life. And I'm training for a 5K. With all of that, I plan everything based on priority and overestimation of time.
I work every Sunday and it's slow at work. This is when I do my most time consuming homework and take my chapter test. I run a mile and a half on my lunch break.
I work every Monday. I spend the mornings with my babies, often going out to breakfast since Husband is done working for the week. Errands are done prior to work with the whole family. Work is pretty busy, I don't plan to do homework on Mondays. Weight lifting on my lunch break.
I work every Tuesday. Husband gets up to go to the gym early, I get up with the kids and make breakfast. We laugh, we play, I leave early to go to class. Then work. Work is slow enough to do homework and have my babies visit for lunch. After work I run.
BLAH BLAH BLAH, rest of the week nonsense.
I work every Saturday. Babies spend the weekend at Gramma's house. On my way to work, after spending a fun-filled morning with everyone, I take them to Gramma's. Work is slow, I get the last of my homework done if it's not done already. Since nobody's home at night I run after work, then go out with my friends. Maybe I'll run to the grocery store at 2 AM for some ice cream and to heckle Husband.
Week starts over.
When it comes to ensuring I have time to get every last bit of this all done, including travel time 'cause traffic in this area can be a ****, I overestimate by five minutes and have three alternate routes to get to everywhere I'm going. That extra five minutes comes in handy when I have to reroute or allows me a few precious minutes with my babies before they get dropped off at Gramma's or five minutes of peace to sit back and relax.
I don't know if it's a mom thing but a lot of this clicked once I had my first baby. Otherwise, if it didn't get done on time I just said **** it, that's what tomorrow's for.
I am a full-time corporate attorney, I am training for a half Ironman, have races every two weeks for the next few months and in between that I have horse shows. I have two horses I ride and train plus the house to maintain with two dogs, the parrot, the fishtanks and the snake, and two not-for-profits of which I am a board member.
Just about every minute is planned. I am lucky in that I don't need or want very much sleep. So I sleep a few hours a night. I have back-up plans and secondary back-up plans for everything to make sure it all gets done. I wake up and immediately get started -- I am the multi-tasking queen (I have three monitors at work so I can keep one window open with CC on one screen and work is up on the other two).
I also have accepted that sometimes, things aren't going to get done. If I see this is coming, I prioritize what is left and then do what needs to be done. One of the best pieces of advice from another crazy-busy woman was: If no one died, it was a good day. So just remember if you don't get to the dry cleaners or whatever: hey, at least no one died!!!!
I don't normally make lists since I have a good memory. I make them if there are a lot, 50ish, of little things that need to be done over the course of the week in addition to all of the every day stuff. But that's mainly because I get sick satisfaction crossing things off lists.
I'll slow down some day but not today!!!! I'll sleep when I'm dead!
