Discussion Forum > Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps - applied to time and workload management
Seraphim,
that sounds like an interesting parallel, and realistic too. I'll be interested to hear about your thoughts on this.
that sounds like an interesting parallel, and realistic too. I'll be interested to hear about your thoughts on this.
March 24, 2014 at 13:06 |
Nicole
Nicole
On a related note, I wonder if there is such a thing as task or work hoarding ;-)
If so, what would the symptoms be or how best could it be identified? Maybe there are certain parallels to hoarding physical objects...
Any thoughts?
If so, what would the symptoms be or how best could it be identified? Maybe there are certain parallels to hoarding physical objects...
Any thoughts?
March 24, 2014 at 13:22 |
smileypete
smileypete
Great post Seraphim! I’ve had similar thoughts a few times.
I’d be interested in applying the concept of Dave’s ‘debt snowball’ payment method to a time management system. Perhaps substitute all debts with ‘projects/tasks’ and substitute money with time?
I have applied the debt snowball method and it is extremely liberating and reduces anxiety about finances. It would be awesome if a system could be created analagous to this method but for time management instead of money management.
However, I can see three major things to overcome.
1. time estimates would have to be accurate enough
2. managing too many tasks and time estimating each may be problematic. Unless tasks were batched into a manageable and logical set of categories.
3. How would a ‘snowball’ be made? daily, weekly, monthly?
I suppose this would only make sense to someone who is familiar with the payment method. But it could be a powerful system as it it would clear batches quickly and repetitiously and it would reduce anxiety/resistance towards tasks. Plus its fun!
Any suggestions anyone?
I’d be interested in applying the concept of Dave’s ‘debt snowball’ payment method to a time management system. Perhaps substitute all debts with ‘projects/tasks’ and substitute money with time?
I have applied the debt snowball method and it is extremely liberating and reduces anxiety about finances. It would be awesome if a system could be created analagous to this method but for time management instead of money management.
However, I can see three major things to overcome.
1. time estimates would have to be accurate enough
2. managing too many tasks and time estimating each may be problematic. Unless tasks were batched into a manageable and logical set of categories.
3. How would a ‘snowball’ be made? daily, weekly, monthly?
I suppose this would only make sense to someone who is familiar with the payment method. But it could be a powerful system as it it would clear batches quickly and repetitiously and it would reduce anxiety/resistance towards tasks. Plus its fun!
Any suggestions anyone?
March 24, 2014 at 13:52 |
GMBW
GMBW
Current Initiative is similar to the snowball method in that it's one thing at a time, and the time you spend dealing with the hassles of the unfinished project (finding unfiled papers, mental stress) can then be used for the next CI.
Choosing a CI by "What can I get off my plate fastest?" has the benefit of getting things done and building momentum for the day, but if used all the time might lead to poor choices. Estimating times, knowing that whatever you say is shortest gets worked on first, will likely be inaccurate. If you're dreading it, you'll unconsciously give it a longer time. Overall, it would work as a way to shake things up a bit, but CI is probably better for long-term use.
Ramsey's budget envelopes for maximum time spent might help with things that tend to grow, such as relief tasks or that last 20% towards perfection (the part that takes 80% of the time, but doesn't appreciably improve the product). Does Ramsey have a "minimum to spend" other than getting out of debt? I like "It's okay to spend this much on something fun."
Work hoarding? Possibly, if part of our self-identity is "I have a lot of stuff to do."
Too much time on fun things could be similar to retail therapy.
I like the idea of baby steps. DIT's steps could easily be made more formal.
Choosing a CI by "What can I get off my plate fastest?" has the benefit of getting things done and building momentum for the day, but if used all the time might lead to poor choices. Estimating times, knowing that whatever you say is shortest gets worked on first, will likely be inaccurate. If you're dreading it, you'll unconsciously give it a longer time. Overall, it would work as a way to shake things up a bit, but CI is probably better for long-term use.
Ramsey's budget envelopes for maximum time spent might help with things that tend to grow, such as relief tasks or that last 20% towards perfection (the part that takes 80% of the time, but doesn't appreciably improve the product). Does Ramsey have a "minimum to spend" other than getting out of debt? I like "It's okay to spend this much on something fun."
Work hoarding? Possibly, if part of our self-identity is "I have a lot of stuff to do."
Too much time on fun things could be similar to retail therapy.
I like the idea of baby steps. DIT's steps could easily be made more formal.
March 24, 2014 at 15:38 |
Cricket
Cricket
I'm glad to see there's some interest in this! Hopefully we can generate some good ideas together.
GMBW, yes, I've thought about applying the "debt snowball" idea. I thought maybe it could work like this:
1. List all your backlogged projects in order from "smallest" to "largest" (note: this doesn't require a detailed time estimate - just a quick comparison between projects). For each project, make sure you have a a clear idea of what "DONE" means.
2. Delete all the projects you really don't need to do (wouldn't it be nice if you could do that with financial debt, too!). Or at least move them to a someday/maybe list.
3. For each project remaining, write down the minimum time you need to commit every week in order to keep the project alive. Block out that time on your calendar.
4. With any additional discretionary time you have, focus totally on the SMALLEST project on your list. Do whatever you can to scrape up any bits of time you can to throw at that project. Keep applying the focused effort till that smallest project is DONE.
5. Whatever time you had blocked off for that smallest project, now you should block it off for the next-smallest project (in addition to whatever time you had already blocked for that next-smallest project)
6. Repeat from step (4) until all projects are done.
I've had a hard time implementing this, though, because I have a really hard time sticking to any kind of time-blocking strategy. Some people are totally fine with time-blocking, so I can't figure out why I resist it so strongly.
GMBW, yes, I've thought about applying the "debt snowball" idea. I thought maybe it could work like this:
1. List all your backlogged projects in order from "smallest" to "largest" (note: this doesn't require a detailed time estimate - just a quick comparison between projects). For each project, make sure you have a a clear idea of what "DONE" means.
2. Delete all the projects you really don't need to do (wouldn't it be nice if you could do that with financial debt, too!). Or at least move them to a someday/maybe list.
3. For each project remaining, write down the minimum time you need to commit every week in order to keep the project alive. Block out that time on your calendar.
4. With any additional discretionary time you have, focus totally on the SMALLEST project on your list. Do whatever you can to scrape up any bits of time you can to throw at that project. Keep applying the focused effort till that smallest project is DONE.
5. Whatever time you had blocked off for that smallest project, now you should block it off for the next-smallest project (in addition to whatever time you had already blocked for that next-smallest project)
6. Repeat from step (4) until all projects are done.
I've had a hard time implementing this, though, because I have a really hard time sticking to any kind of time-blocking strategy. Some people are totally fine with time-blocking, so I can't figure out why I resist it so strongly.
March 24, 2014 at 15:45 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Another (perhaps more fundamental) problem with the debt-snowball applied to time management is how to deal with new incoming projects.
Dave Ramsey advocates you cut up your credit cards = stop generating new backlog. If you DON'T cut up your credit cards, then the debt snowball won't work at all!
So, how do you deal with new incoming work??
If you look at it like a budget, then it means you can't take on incoming work unless you free up room in your time budget for it, by completing other current work.
So maybe you can do it like this:
(1) Block out the minimal time required for overhead/maintenance/recurring tasks (inbox, tidy desk, etc.)
(2) Block out the minimal time required for handling current work / current priorities. (*)
(3) Block out time to deal with your backlog (as explained in my previous post, above)
(4) Keep some slack to be able to respond to changing situations
(*) What's the difference between "current work" and your "backlog"? I don't know for sure. Maybe you could make a guess how much time you should set aside for new work -- N hours per week. Adjust from week-to-week based on experience.
Dave Ramsey advocates you cut up your credit cards = stop generating new backlog. If you DON'T cut up your credit cards, then the debt snowball won't work at all!
So, how do you deal with new incoming work??
If you look at it like a budget, then it means you can't take on incoming work unless you free up room in your time budget for it, by completing other current work.
So maybe you can do it like this:
(1) Block out the minimal time required for overhead/maintenance/recurring tasks (inbox, tidy desk, etc.)
(2) Block out the minimal time required for handling current work / current priorities. (*)
(3) Block out time to deal with your backlog (as explained in my previous post, above)
(4) Keep some slack to be able to respond to changing situations
(*) What's the difference between "current work" and your "backlog"? I don't know for sure. Maybe you could make a guess how much time you should set aside for new work -- N hours per week. Adjust from week-to-week based on experience.
March 24, 2014 at 15:55 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Part of the trick when paying off debt is that you don't generate any new debts. The parallel in time management would be that you don't take on any new work untill you have your current work under control. I guess time blocking would help there, if you designate your time blocks in advance for the day, or the week.
Seraphim, like you I have tremendous difficulty with sticking to time blocks. Blocking a chunk of time in my calendar to work on a specific project is a great way to make sure I will *not* work on that project. Not sure what the financial parallel of a remedy for that would be. Ramsey uses budget envelopes, but how to stick to the designated destination for that envelope?
Seraphim, like you I have tremendous difficulty with sticking to time blocks. Blocking a chunk of time in my calendar to work on a specific project is a great way to make sure I will *not* work on that project. Not sure what the financial parallel of a remedy for that would be. Ramsey uses budget envelopes, but how to stick to the designated destination for that envelope?
March 24, 2014 at 16:13 |
Nicole
Nicole
Hm, your post appeared while I was typing mine.
Your point 4 (keep some slack for changing situations) is exactly Ramsey's step 1: create a $1000 reserve fund for emergencies.
You ask about the difference between current work and backlog. Probably the difference is that current work is what you can handle before new work comes in, while backlog is what keeps increasing because new work comes in. Difficult to tell beforehand!
Your point 4 (keep some slack for changing situations) is exactly Ramsey's step 1: create a $1000 reserve fund for emergencies.
You ask about the difference between current work and backlog. Probably the difference is that current work is what you can handle before new work comes in, while backlog is what keeps increasing because new work comes in. Difficult to tell beforehand!
March 24, 2014 at 16:17 |
Nicole
Nicole
Seraphim et al:
Dave Ramsey's method (or at least the summary of it you linked to) is pretty standard debt counsellor stuff and so I used most of the principles he gives while I was coaching.
As a result most of what he says is already incorporated in much of my time management work, particularly Do It Tomorrow.
I would make the following points (all of which I've made before ad nauseam). They do not relate to any particular system.
1) Cut back your commitments until you are actually succeeding in doing all of them properly within the allocated time. Keep this under review at all times.
2) Whenever you take on something new you must give up enough other things to release enough time for the new commitment.
3) Every commitment you take on should include a commitment as to what you are *not* going to do as a result.
4) You should not be doing anything during your work time which does not directly relate to a commitment you have made.
5) Interruptions and emergencies are part of life. Don't plan your work as if they don't exist.
6) Distinguish between real emergencies and things which are only emergencies because you haven't got round to them earlier.
7) Clear backlogs as your top priority.
8) Once you've sorted your backlogs, the next top priority is to work on your systems.
9) Work on getting one thing at a time working really well.
10) Identify the work only you can do and concentrate on that.
Dave Ramsey's method (or at least the summary of it you linked to) is pretty standard debt counsellor stuff and so I used most of the principles he gives while I was coaching.
As a result most of what he says is already incorporated in much of my time management work, particularly Do It Tomorrow.
I would make the following points (all of which I've made before ad nauseam). They do not relate to any particular system.
1) Cut back your commitments until you are actually succeeding in doing all of them properly within the allocated time. Keep this under review at all times.
2) Whenever you take on something new you must give up enough other things to release enough time for the new commitment.
3) Every commitment you take on should include a commitment as to what you are *not* going to do as a result.
4) You should not be doing anything during your work time which does not directly relate to a commitment you have made.
5) Interruptions and emergencies are part of life. Don't plan your work as if they don't exist.
6) Distinguish between real emergencies and things which are only emergencies because you haven't got round to them earlier.
7) Clear backlogs as your top priority.
8) Once you've sorted your backlogs, the next top priority is to work on your systems.
9) Work on getting one thing at a time working really well.
10) Identify the work only you can do and concentrate on that.
March 24, 2014 at 17:14 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Seraphim:
<< What's the difference between "current work" and your "backlog"? I don't know for sure >>
A backlog is when you haven't succeeded in completely clearing the outstanding work relating to a particular project or communication method within an acceptable period of time.
It's up to you to define what an acceptable period of time is in each individual case.
<< What's the difference between "current work" and your "backlog"? I don't know for sure >>
A backlog is when you haven't succeeded in completely clearing the outstanding work relating to a particular project or communication method within an acceptable period of time.
It's up to you to define what an acceptable period of time is in each individual case.
March 24, 2014 at 17:34 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Seraphim, Ill have to examine this a bit closer to see if its doable before implementing. The big issue as you mentioned is how to eliminate all incoming work. How is that defined exactly analagous to cutting up credit cards etc. ?
The closest I could imagine is the creation of a backlog. But backlogs will recreate themselves if there is work to do. As Mark mentioned in 1, it is wise to cut back. and keep cutting back until our comfort is reached.
So in this system, we're thinking of, I also think it would be good to be able to quantify the backlog in order to measure it. Perhaps by time or effort or number of tasks.
Also as Nicole mentioned with the analaogy of budget envelopes, it would be good to budget in terms of time blocks. But the time blocks must be realistic enough that we're commited and disciplined enough to obey by it. And consquences should be acknowledged (similarly as if you miss a bill payment). Ill think this over over the next few days to see if theres a way to make this work.
The closest I could imagine is the creation of a backlog. But backlogs will recreate themselves if there is work to do. As Mark mentioned in 1, it is wise to cut back. and keep cutting back until our comfort is reached.
So in this system, we're thinking of, I also think it would be good to be able to quantify the backlog in order to measure it. Perhaps by time or effort or number of tasks.
Also as Nicole mentioned with the analaogy of budget envelopes, it would be good to budget in terms of time blocks. But the time blocks must be realistic enough that we're commited and disciplined enough to obey by it. And consquences should be acknowledged (similarly as if you miss a bill payment). Ill think this over over the next few days to see if theres a way to make this work.
March 24, 2014 at 21:28 |
GMBW
GMBW
I kept thinking about this tonight, and I concluded what Mark has already mentioned: Do It Tomorrow says it all.
March 24, 2014 at 23:41 |
Nicole
Nicole
Yes Mark, none of this is really new. You give plenty of tools in your books and on this site (especially DIT and DWM) for dealing with these things. I've used DIT and DWM as systems for months or years at a time - and they were helpful in addressing these issues - but didn't provide a permanent solution for me. DIT's "audit of commitments" always revealed the scope of the problem, and helped me prioritize my commitments, and eliminate stuff that didn't really matter - but I kept falling into the same problems nonetheless. Same with DWM's "falling off the end of the conveyor belt" method. The DIT book is probably the single best time management book on the market, in my opinion, and it has been tremendously helpful. But I still struggle with overcommitment and overwhelm.
There is a key difference between the "envelope budgeting" approach (a very old budgeting practice advocated by Dave Ramsey) and the DIT "audit of commitments" triggered after falling a few days behind. With envelope budgeting, you find out where your budget may be falling short BEFORE you spend the money. With DIT, you don't find out you are overwhelmed until you are overwhelmed! An "audit of commitments" can yield great insights and help prioritize one's commitments and eliminate the lower priority ones. But for me, it was not a light process at all, and not something I could easily afford to do when I am already overwhelmed. I'm trying to see if Dave Ramsey's approach may have a more direct analogue and provide another tool or strategy for dealing with the overwhelm.
There is a key difference between the "envelope budgeting" approach (a very old budgeting practice advocated by Dave Ramsey) and the DIT "audit of commitments" triggered after falling a few days behind. With envelope budgeting, you find out where your budget may be falling short BEFORE you spend the money. With DIT, you don't find out you are overwhelmed until you are overwhelmed! An "audit of commitments" can yield great insights and help prioritize one's commitments and eliminate the lower priority ones. But for me, it was not a light process at all, and not something I could easily afford to do when I am already overwhelmed. I'm trying to see if Dave Ramsey's approach may have a more direct analogue and provide another tool or strategy for dealing with the overwhelm.
March 25, 2014 at 4:36 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I decided to do some experimentation with the "debt snowball" idea.
1. I went through all my "projects" in OneNote. (My projects are collections of tasks, emails, notes, web pages, etc., all collected together for the purpose of reaching an outcome or maintaining a process. Each one is a "section" in OneNote.)
2. I divided them up into a few categories:
- "Explore" has 15 projects (general areas of interest such as "Agile" or "Career Development" or other misc things to explore).
- "Tracking" has 12 projects (delegated projects that I need to track, or other important streams of information I need to follow, such as decisions coming out of an ongoing steering committee meeting).
- "Recurring" has 15 projects (ongoing maintenance projects, recurring 1:1 meetings, etc.)
- "Deliverables" has 11 projects: specific deliverables, with a deadline, for which I am responsible.
3. Everything needs to go on the calendar -- somewhere. "If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't exist".
4. First, daily stuff like checking email needs to be accounted for. I track small one-off tasks on a task list (pocket notebook and Outlook tasks) and allocated a small daily amount of time to deal with them. I blocked out 1-2 pomodoros in the morning for all this.
5. All the "tracking" and "recurring" projects need to be accounted for. Most of these already occur through regular meetings or email updates, so this didn't result in anything new going onto my calendar.
6. All the "deliverables" need to go on the calendar somewhere. This is where I'll apply the "debt snowball" effect. First, for each deliverable, I estimated and wrote down how many pomodoros I think I need to complete it. Also wrote down the minimum number of pomodoros I need to give this project every week to keep it moving forward adequately. And also wrote down the deadline. Then sorted them all from smallest to largest. If they were about the same size, then prioritized by deadline as well. Then, I put each item on the calendar: 1 recurring pomodoro for each pomodoro I want for that project. For example, let's say I really need 2 pomodoros each week to keep a project alive. Then I scheduled two separate pomodoros for that project = two half-hour blocks on the calendar.
7. Two of the "explore" items are important enough to need time allocated every week -- so those two items got 1-2 pomodoros each on the calendar. The rest of the explore items are set aside for now.
8. For all the above, when I "put it on the calendar", I am trying it like this: Block out in 30-minute blocks (= 1 pomodoro). Set up each 30-minute block as a weekly-recurring item, with a special color, and set as "free" (instead of "busy" or "out of office", so it doesn't appear as "busy" when someone else views my calendar). Put them all on Monday to start with. Give each of them a 5-minute reminder.
9. Looking ahead to this coming week, I moved the items (this week's occurrence only) from Monday to wherever I wanted to actually schedule them -- avoiding conflicts with meetings and appointments, and other logistical issues. For example, after a long meeting, I always want a bit of a break, maybe a 10 minute walk to the cafeteria for a cup of iced tea or something, or a chat with my neighbor. So I tried to leave the time free right after a block of meetings, and didn't put any pomodoros there.
10. I left as much slack and free time in the calendar as I could. I will use that time for whatever I want: interruptions, emergencies, rejiggering the pomodoro schedule, and ESPECIALLY putting as much time as possible toward the smallest deliverable.
11. Here's how the debt snowball works: Put as as much time as possible toward your smallest deliverable. When it is completed, then allocate all of the scheduled time for that project to the NEXT smallest project. Keep repeating till (a) your deliverables are all done, or (b) you have new deliverable assignments that need to be worked into the mix.
12. Here's my plan for new work. As new work comes up, identify if it's a real deliverable project, or just a one-off task or exploration idea. Put it in the appropriate place to track it. For new deliverables, put it in a "pending" list. Then the next day, during daily startup routine (inbox, task list, etc.) review the "pending" list to see if any of the pending deliverables need to be "activated". If yes, then put them on the list with all the other "deliverables" -- and then re-set the snowball. I.e., go to step 6 above, and set it all up again.
I think this will work, because real "deliverable projects" don't actually come up that often. Most of my deliverables are quarterly or monthly. Of the 11 on my list right now, every one of them has been on the list for at least 3 weeks, and most of them for at least 6 weeks.
I am using "pomodoros" to try to break my resistance to time blocking. I can handle 25 minutes of focused work on just about anything. I think this may have failed before, because I was trying to get 2-3 hours of "focus time", and it was just too large a block to commit myself to.
I'm also going to try to strictly follow the pomodoro time limits: as soon as a new task appears in my reminder window, I will stop (mid-sentence if needed), take a short pomodoro-style break, and then start on the new item.
I set this up this afternoon and started working it. The pomodoro effect really helped a lot to stick with the timeslots. Maybe the resistance will come back -- I will keep playing with it, and let you know.
1. I went through all my "projects" in OneNote. (My projects are collections of tasks, emails, notes, web pages, etc., all collected together for the purpose of reaching an outcome or maintaining a process. Each one is a "section" in OneNote.)
2. I divided them up into a few categories:
- "Explore" has 15 projects (general areas of interest such as "Agile" or "Career Development" or other misc things to explore).
- "Tracking" has 12 projects (delegated projects that I need to track, or other important streams of information I need to follow, such as decisions coming out of an ongoing steering committee meeting).
- "Recurring" has 15 projects (ongoing maintenance projects, recurring 1:1 meetings, etc.)
- "Deliverables" has 11 projects: specific deliverables, with a deadline, for which I am responsible.
3. Everything needs to go on the calendar -- somewhere. "If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't exist".
4. First, daily stuff like checking email needs to be accounted for. I track small one-off tasks on a task list (pocket notebook and Outlook tasks) and allocated a small daily amount of time to deal with them. I blocked out 1-2 pomodoros in the morning for all this.
5. All the "tracking" and "recurring" projects need to be accounted for. Most of these already occur through regular meetings or email updates, so this didn't result in anything new going onto my calendar.
6. All the "deliverables" need to go on the calendar somewhere. This is where I'll apply the "debt snowball" effect. First, for each deliverable, I estimated and wrote down how many pomodoros I think I need to complete it. Also wrote down the minimum number of pomodoros I need to give this project every week to keep it moving forward adequately. And also wrote down the deadline. Then sorted them all from smallest to largest. If they were about the same size, then prioritized by deadline as well. Then, I put each item on the calendar: 1 recurring pomodoro for each pomodoro I want for that project. For example, let's say I really need 2 pomodoros each week to keep a project alive. Then I scheduled two separate pomodoros for that project = two half-hour blocks on the calendar.
7. Two of the "explore" items are important enough to need time allocated every week -- so those two items got 1-2 pomodoros each on the calendar. The rest of the explore items are set aside for now.
8. For all the above, when I "put it on the calendar", I am trying it like this: Block out in 30-minute blocks (= 1 pomodoro). Set up each 30-minute block as a weekly-recurring item, with a special color, and set as "free" (instead of "busy" or "out of office", so it doesn't appear as "busy" when someone else views my calendar). Put them all on Monday to start with. Give each of them a 5-minute reminder.
9. Looking ahead to this coming week, I moved the items (this week's occurrence only) from Monday to wherever I wanted to actually schedule them -- avoiding conflicts with meetings and appointments, and other logistical issues. For example, after a long meeting, I always want a bit of a break, maybe a 10 minute walk to the cafeteria for a cup of iced tea or something, or a chat with my neighbor. So I tried to leave the time free right after a block of meetings, and didn't put any pomodoros there.
10. I left as much slack and free time in the calendar as I could. I will use that time for whatever I want: interruptions, emergencies, rejiggering the pomodoro schedule, and ESPECIALLY putting as much time as possible toward the smallest deliverable.
11. Here's how the debt snowball works: Put as as much time as possible toward your smallest deliverable. When it is completed, then allocate all of the scheduled time for that project to the NEXT smallest project. Keep repeating till (a) your deliverables are all done, or (b) you have new deliverable assignments that need to be worked into the mix.
12. Here's my plan for new work. As new work comes up, identify if it's a real deliverable project, or just a one-off task or exploration idea. Put it in the appropriate place to track it. For new deliverables, put it in a "pending" list. Then the next day, during daily startup routine (inbox, task list, etc.) review the "pending" list to see if any of the pending deliverables need to be "activated". If yes, then put them on the list with all the other "deliverables" -- and then re-set the snowball. I.e., go to step 6 above, and set it all up again.
I think this will work, because real "deliverable projects" don't actually come up that often. Most of my deliverables are quarterly or monthly. Of the 11 on my list right now, every one of them has been on the list for at least 3 weeks, and most of them for at least 6 weeks.
I am using "pomodoros" to try to break my resistance to time blocking. I can handle 25 minutes of focused work on just about anything. I think this may have failed before, because I was trying to get 2-3 hours of "focus time", and it was just too large a block to commit myself to.
I'm also going to try to strictly follow the pomodoro time limits: as soon as a new task appears in my reminder window, I will stop (mid-sentence if needed), take a short pomodoro-style break, and then start on the new item.
I set this up this afternoon and started working it. The pomodoro effect really helped a lot to stick with the timeslots. Maybe the resistance will come back -- I will keep playing with it, and let you know.
March 25, 2014 at 5:19 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Here's what it looks like on my calendar:
http://www.dropbox.com/s/0heabr0cq6adyw0/sample%20calendar.png
blue = meeting
yellow = pomodoro for deliverable or explore
white = free
It looks very congested to me... I am not sure this will work!!
This is just for my work items -- personal/volunteer stuff isn't tracked here. If I can get this to work at work, then I'll try to transfer the idea to personal/volunteer time.
http://www.dropbox.com/s/0heabr0cq6adyw0/sample%20calendar.png
blue = meeting
yellow = pomodoro for deliverable or explore
white = free
It looks very congested to me... I am not sure this will work!!
This is just for my work items -- personal/volunteer stuff isn't tracked here. If I can get this to work at work, then I'll try to transfer the idea to personal/volunteer time.
March 25, 2014 at 5:39 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim, I agree with 3. In finding my calendar to be a powerful overlooked tool. I'm interested to see how this works for you.
I would forsee a chaotic schedule if you're scheduling pomodorro size blocks on the calendar.
A few hints on keeping a calendar manageable:
- do not schedule obvious things (breakfast, lunch, dinner, commute) those things generally have their own trigger and it defeats the purpose of putting it on your calendar. Eventually it'll become too cluttered.
-if possible, set up few calendars. I've made the mistake of creating a calendar for each area of life. While good in theory for organization, it becomes tedious after a while to organize events to their correct calendars. I have a my own calendar (in blue) and all shared calendars in red. Less is more.
- block large blocks of time. too many mini blocks and your notifications will drive you crazy. Plus , once you miss a small block of time you'll be rearranging and rescheduling far too often.
- try to not overlap time blocks.
- get comfortable with missing an event due to emergencies/interruptions and habitually rescheduling what was missed. This was annoying at first for me but now I just accept it.
I would forsee a chaotic schedule if you're scheduling pomodorro size blocks on the calendar.
A few hints on keeping a calendar manageable:
- do not schedule obvious things (breakfast, lunch, dinner, commute) those things generally have their own trigger and it defeats the purpose of putting it on your calendar. Eventually it'll become too cluttered.
-if possible, set up few calendars. I've made the mistake of creating a calendar for each area of life. While good in theory for organization, it becomes tedious after a while to organize events to their correct calendars. I have a my own calendar (in blue) and all shared calendars in red. Less is more.
- block large blocks of time. too many mini blocks and your notifications will drive you crazy. Plus , once you miss a small block of time you'll be rearranging and rescheduling far too often.
- try to not overlap time blocks.
- get comfortable with missing an event due to emergencies/interruptions and habitually rescheduling what was missed. This was annoying at first for me but now I just accept it.
March 25, 2014 at 5:53 |
GMBW
GMBW
Here's how next week looks right now.
http://www.dropbox.com/s/rele95b00v02l4k/sample%20calendar2.png
blue = meeting
yellow = pomodoro for deliverable or explore
white = free
It shows my current meeting / training schedule in blue (hard appointments, cannot move). (This is an especially busy week!!)
It shows the yellow pomodoros as they appear in their default recurring setup: two pomodoros every morning for email, etc., and the allocated weekly number of pomodoros all set up on Monday.
Before the week starts, I'll move the pomodoros around to fill a few empty slots. Obviously they are not all going to get a place on my calendar this week! I could fill Friday with this work, but then wouldn't have any slack at all to deal with interruptions, etc.
http://www.dropbox.com/s/rele95b00v02l4k/sample%20calendar2.png
blue = meeting
yellow = pomodoro for deliverable or explore
white = free
It shows my current meeting / training schedule in blue (hard appointments, cannot move). (This is an especially busy week!!)
It shows the yellow pomodoros as they appear in their default recurring setup: two pomodoros every morning for email, etc., and the allocated weekly number of pomodoros all set up on Monday.
Before the week starts, I'll move the pomodoros around to fill a few empty slots. Obviously they are not all going to get a place on my calendar this week! I could fill Friday with this work, but then wouldn't have any slack at all to deal with interruptions, etc.
March 25, 2014 at 6:04 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
@GMBW:
Good points, I generally agree with all of them.
<< I would forsee a chaotic schedule if you're scheduling pomodorro size blocks on the calendar. >>
I would foresee a chaotic schedule just by opening up Microsoft Outlook and looking at my typical calendar, even before trying this pomodoro approach! LOL But that's OK, it works, and the work gets done. And at least my calendar isn't triple booked like many people I know.
<< do not schedule obvious things (breakfast, lunch, dinner, commute) >>
I do block out lunchtime with an "out of office" timeblock, just to give a clue to coworkers outside my timezone that this is our local lunchtime. It also gives me a much needed break to go for a walk or whatever. I may end up using it for working time. But at least it's harder for coworkers to rope me into a meeting at that timeslot.
<< if possible, set up few calendars >>
I have two calendar, and they are set up in one overlapping view in Outlook. One is for my work calendar and anything I need to do during the workday or early evening after work. The other is for my family schedule: stuff going on with everyone at home, such as my son's college schedule, or Lenten church services. This allows me to see other things that may impact my own scheduling choices, but should not appear on my own calendar.
<< block large blocks of time >>
I've tried that, and it doesn't work for me. I resist the large blocks, and will typically do ANYTHING except the task assigned in the large timeblock. :-(
I'm going to try the pomodoros for now and see how it goes. I don't mind having the reminders.
<< try to not overlap time blocks >>
Yes, I already make sure to resolve all those before the week begins, and will plan to keep doing that while working in the pomodoros.
<< get comfortable with missing an event due to emergencies/interruptions and habitually rescheduling what was missed >>
Yes, this is why I've tried to leave as much slack room as possible, to help me move things around on the fly as needed.
Thanks again!
Good points, I generally agree with all of them.
<< I would forsee a chaotic schedule if you're scheduling pomodorro size blocks on the calendar. >>
I would foresee a chaotic schedule just by opening up Microsoft Outlook and looking at my typical calendar, even before trying this pomodoro approach! LOL But that's OK, it works, and the work gets done. And at least my calendar isn't triple booked like many people I know.
<< do not schedule obvious things (breakfast, lunch, dinner, commute) >>
I do block out lunchtime with an "out of office" timeblock, just to give a clue to coworkers outside my timezone that this is our local lunchtime. It also gives me a much needed break to go for a walk or whatever. I may end up using it for working time. But at least it's harder for coworkers to rope me into a meeting at that timeslot.
<< if possible, set up few calendars >>
I have two calendar, and they are set up in one overlapping view in Outlook. One is for my work calendar and anything I need to do during the workday or early evening after work. The other is for my family schedule: stuff going on with everyone at home, such as my son's college schedule, or Lenten church services. This allows me to see other things that may impact my own scheduling choices, but should not appear on my own calendar.
<< block large blocks of time >>
I've tried that, and it doesn't work for me. I resist the large blocks, and will typically do ANYTHING except the task assigned in the large timeblock. :-(
I'm going to try the pomodoros for now and see how it goes. I don't mind having the reminders.
<< try to not overlap time blocks >>
Yes, I already make sure to resolve all those before the week begins, and will plan to keep doing that while working in the pomodoros.
<< get comfortable with missing an event due to emergencies/interruptions and habitually rescheduling what was missed >>
Yes, this is why I've tried to leave as much slack room as possible, to help me move things around on the fly as needed.
Thanks again!
March 25, 2014 at 6:14 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I just read your above post and saw your calendar.
For me, I envisioned the weeks calendar would be filled with back to back time blocks so that every hour was accounted for . Similar to zero based budgeting where every dollar has a name, you would have zero based time blocking where every hour has a name.
There will be some white space left over but ideally you want to eliminate as much as possible and reorganize as necessary.
The 'time snowball' would build the moment you make a choice (for whatever reason) to not stick to the full time block. In other words, discretionary time would only be built if you save time from your time blocks by either finishing enough work earlier than anticipated or simply not doing it. Whatever that discretionary time (time snowball ) is would go towards the smallest project (debt).
Example : timblock a is scheduled from 9am to 12pm. But you decided enough work has been done and are finished at 11am. So you now have a 1 hour of a time snowball/discretionary time to go towards your smallest project. According to your list this smallest project is identified and without too much decision making that entire hour goes fully towards that small project until it is done.
If the small project consumes the entire 1 hour snowball, then you move to the next time block according to schedule.
If the small project does not consume the entire 1 hour snowball, (say it required 45 minutes), then the remainder goes to the NEXT small project according to the list.
Repeat
So I'd imagine the calendar be your budgeting tool , each time block be your 'envelopes' and the list be there simply to tell you 'This is the smallest project '
For me, I envisioned the weeks calendar would be filled with back to back time blocks so that every hour was accounted for . Similar to zero based budgeting where every dollar has a name, you would have zero based time blocking where every hour has a name.
There will be some white space left over but ideally you want to eliminate as much as possible and reorganize as necessary.
The 'time snowball' would build the moment you make a choice (for whatever reason) to not stick to the full time block. In other words, discretionary time would only be built if you save time from your time blocks by either finishing enough work earlier than anticipated or simply not doing it. Whatever that discretionary time (time snowball ) is would go towards the smallest project (debt).
Example : timblock a is scheduled from 9am to 12pm. But you decided enough work has been done and are finished at 11am. So you now have a 1 hour of a time snowball/discretionary time to go towards your smallest project. According to your list this smallest project is identified and without too much decision making that entire hour goes fully towards that small project until it is done.
If the small project consumes the entire 1 hour snowball, then you move to the next time block according to schedule.
If the small project does not consume the entire 1 hour snowball, (say it required 45 minutes), then the remainder goes to the NEXT small project according to the list.
Repeat
So I'd imagine the calendar be your budgeting tool , each time block be your 'envelopes' and the list be there simply to tell you 'This is the smallest project '
March 25, 2014 at 6:14 |
GMBW
GMBW
Now that I think about it, I suppose this can also work without the calendar. Just two list.
1. Commitment/ time block/schedule/agenda like list with start and end times.
2. A list of things to do that indicates/ identifies the smallest project via something quantifiable ( time estimates, effort estimates?)
You focus on list 1 but will probably finish the time block ahead of schedule, or willpower will get the best of you. At that time you use the remainder of time, and apply it to the easiest/ smallest thing to do on list 2. Repeat.
This would create a balance between doing commitments and knocking of small things. When willpower diminishes ( ideally it doesn't) you switch to the absolute easiest thing possible.
Right now as it stands, the easiest thing possible on list 2 would be ' break'. Lol
1. Commitment/ time block/schedule/agenda like list with start and end times.
2. A list of things to do that indicates/ identifies the smallest project via something quantifiable ( time estimates, effort estimates?)
You focus on list 1 but will probably finish the time block ahead of schedule, or willpower will get the best of you. At that time you use the remainder of time, and apply it to the easiest/ smallest thing to do on list 2. Repeat.
This would create a balance between doing commitments and knocking of small things. When willpower diminishes ( ideally it doesn't) you switch to the absolute easiest thing possible.
Right now as it stands, the easiest thing possible on list 2 would be ' break'. Lol
March 25, 2014 at 6:38 |
GMBW
GMBW
BTW Seraphim what happened to personal Kanban, is it that it still works OK but you're looking for something a bit better?
March 25, 2014 at 11:33 |
smileypete
smileypete
Seraphim:
I wrote an article years ago (so many that I don't think it even made it onto this site) about how to budget one's time in the same way that a debt counsellor advises you to budget your finances. Here's more or less what it said.
Step One:
Work out how many hours you *really* have per week to do your work. Clue: it's always a lot less than you think!
Step Two:
Work out how much time you need to allow for unforeseen interruptions and emergencies. Clue: if you've put less than 20% of the available time you're fooling yourself.
Step three:
Take your top priority commitment and allocate the number of hours you estimate it will take to do the work properly. Then do the same for your second priority commitment. Continue until you have allocated all the available hours. Clue: You will not be happy with the result.
Step four:
Shed all commitments you cannot fit into your time schedule without cheating. Clue: without cheating, I said!
Step five:
For a week keep a record of how much time you spend on each authorised commitment. Revise steps two and three in the light of this. Repeat this step each week until the actual hours you spend on each commitment are consistent with the planned time allocation. Clue: this is not going to happen overnight!
Step six:
If your commitments change, then repeat the above steps. Clue: if you increase the time on one thing, then there is less time available for all the others.
I wrote an article years ago (so many that I don't think it even made it onto this site) about how to budget one's time in the same way that a debt counsellor advises you to budget your finances. Here's more or less what it said.
Step One:
Work out how many hours you *really* have per week to do your work. Clue: it's always a lot less than you think!
Step Two:
Work out how much time you need to allow for unforeseen interruptions and emergencies. Clue: if you've put less than 20% of the available time you're fooling yourself.
Step three:
Take your top priority commitment and allocate the number of hours you estimate it will take to do the work properly. Then do the same for your second priority commitment. Continue until you have allocated all the available hours. Clue: You will not be happy with the result.
Step four:
Shed all commitments you cannot fit into your time schedule without cheating. Clue: without cheating, I said!
Step five:
For a week keep a record of how much time you spend on each authorised commitment. Revise steps two and three in the light of this. Repeat this step each week until the actual hours you spend on each commitment are consistent with the planned time allocation. Clue: this is not going to happen overnight!
Step six:
If your commitments change, then repeat the above steps. Clue: if you increase the time on one thing, then there is less time available for all the others.
March 25, 2014 at 20:52 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
@GMBW:
<< I envisioned the weeks calendar would be filled with back to back time blocks so that every hour was accounted for . >>
But then you don't have any slack, and can't plan for contingencies. It would be like having nothing set aside for a rainy day - no emergency fund. "Slack" gives you an "emergency fund".
My rule for the empty timeslots is "do whatever I want". Sometimes that means keep working on whatever I was already working on. Or switching to my top-priority smallest project and trying to get it done. Or maybe it means taking a break and visiting this website. Or taking an extra pass at my inbox. Or do some reading. Or knock out some misc tasks. Or go for a walk. Or whatever makes sense at the time.
<< There will be some white space left over but ideally you want to eliminate as much as possible and reorganize as necessary. >>
It becomes a constant reorganization chore if you have no room at all for flexibility.
<< The 'time snowball' would build the moment you make a choice (for whatever reason) to not stick to the full time block. >>
I'd rather build the slack into the process intentionally.
<< I envisioned the weeks calendar would be filled with back to back time blocks so that every hour was accounted for . >>
But then you don't have any slack, and can't plan for contingencies. It would be like having nothing set aside for a rainy day - no emergency fund. "Slack" gives you an "emergency fund".
My rule for the empty timeslots is "do whatever I want". Sometimes that means keep working on whatever I was already working on. Or switching to my top-priority smallest project and trying to get it done. Or maybe it means taking a break and visiting this website. Or taking an extra pass at my inbox. Or do some reading. Or knock out some misc tasks. Or go for a walk. Or whatever makes sense at the time.
<< There will be some white space left over but ideally you want to eliminate as much as possible and reorganize as necessary. >>
It becomes a constant reorganization chore if you have no room at all for flexibility.
<< The 'time snowball' would build the moment you make a choice (for whatever reason) to not stick to the full time block. >>
I'd rather build the slack into the process intentionally.
March 27, 2014 at 21:55 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
@GMBW:
<< In other words, discretionary time would only be built if you save time from your time blocks by either finishing enough work earlier than anticipated or simply not doing it. Whatever that discretionary time (time snowball ) is would go towards the smallest project (debt). >>
I guess we are conceiving of the debt snowball differently. Here is the process in Dave Ramsey terms:
(1) Make a list of all your debts, in order from smallest to largest.
(2) Make the minimum monthly payment on ALL of them
(3) On the smallest one, throw as much money as possible at it until it is paid off.
Example: debts of $1000, $2000, and $5000, with minimum monthly payments of $50, $100, and $200. And let's say I have $250 extra in my monthly budget I can throw at the smallest debt. And let's disregard interest rates for the sake of simplicity.
At first, I'd pay $300/month at the smallest debt, and the minimum payments to the rest. I'd try to find ways to commit more than that, cutting whatever else I can, to raise that minimum committed amount. And if I happen to come across any extra money at all, I'd throw it at the smallest debt as well.
So let's say it took 2-3 months to pay off that smallest debt. And let's say that, in the end, I had managed to commit $350 per month toward that debt. Now that this debt is paid off, I can commit all that money to debt #2. So that means I commit $450 per month toward debt #2. And still pay the minimum on debt #3.
Let's say I managed to trim my budget some more, and got that monthly commitment to the smallest debt up to $500/month. And now I've paid off debt #2. Now I can commit that $500 per month to debt #3, giving me a total of $700 per month on debt #3.
It builds momentum as you go -- you get excited to see how the debts disappear, and motivated to find new ways to go faster.
Here is how it translates to the calendar system, at least how I am doing it right now.
Let's say I have three projects roughly sized at 10 pomodoros, 20 pomodoros, and 50 pomodoros of total work to complete each of those projects (1 pomodoro = 30 minutes). And let's say I need a minimum of 2 pomodoros per week to keep project #1 going; 1 pomodoro per week to keep project #2 going, and 3 pomodoros per week to keep project #3 going. OK, I block out those pomodoros on my calendar for those projects.
I also estimate how many extra pomodoros can I find to apply toward project #1, to get it done, while still going to meetings, dealing with misc. tasks and interruptions, etc. I think maybe I can find 6 pomodoros per week (I have lots of meetings and need some slack in my schedule for misc. and interruptions).
So I end up blocking out:
8 pomodoros per week for project 1
1 for project 2
3 for project 3
In the first week, I can get very close to finishing project 1. So I get motivated, get focused, ignore interruptions, and/or work a little overtime to get it done.
In week 2, I can take all the pomodoros I was committing to project 1, and commit them to project 2. So for week 2, I block out:
9 pomodoros for project 2
3 for project 3
Sometime in week 4, I finish project 2. Then I throw all my project pomodoros at Project 3.
Of course, if new projects arise during this time, I have to reset the mix. But this is how I am working with it for now.
<< In other words, discretionary time would only be built if you save time from your time blocks by either finishing enough work earlier than anticipated or simply not doing it. Whatever that discretionary time (time snowball ) is would go towards the smallest project (debt). >>
I guess we are conceiving of the debt snowball differently. Here is the process in Dave Ramsey terms:
(1) Make a list of all your debts, in order from smallest to largest.
(2) Make the minimum monthly payment on ALL of them
(3) On the smallest one, throw as much money as possible at it until it is paid off.
Example: debts of $1000, $2000, and $5000, with minimum monthly payments of $50, $100, and $200. And let's say I have $250 extra in my monthly budget I can throw at the smallest debt. And let's disregard interest rates for the sake of simplicity.
At first, I'd pay $300/month at the smallest debt, and the minimum payments to the rest. I'd try to find ways to commit more than that, cutting whatever else I can, to raise that minimum committed amount. And if I happen to come across any extra money at all, I'd throw it at the smallest debt as well.
So let's say it took 2-3 months to pay off that smallest debt. And let's say that, in the end, I had managed to commit $350 per month toward that debt. Now that this debt is paid off, I can commit all that money to debt #2. So that means I commit $450 per month toward debt #2. And still pay the minimum on debt #3.
Let's say I managed to trim my budget some more, and got that monthly commitment to the smallest debt up to $500/month. And now I've paid off debt #2. Now I can commit that $500 per month to debt #3, giving me a total of $700 per month on debt #3.
It builds momentum as you go -- you get excited to see how the debts disappear, and motivated to find new ways to go faster.
Here is how it translates to the calendar system, at least how I am doing it right now.
Let's say I have three projects roughly sized at 10 pomodoros, 20 pomodoros, and 50 pomodoros of total work to complete each of those projects (1 pomodoro = 30 minutes). And let's say I need a minimum of 2 pomodoros per week to keep project #1 going; 1 pomodoro per week to keep project #2 going, and 3 pomodoros per week to keep project #3 going. OK, I block out those pomodoros on my calendar for those projects.
I also estimate how many extra pomodoros can I find to apply toward project #1, to get it done, while still going to meetings, dealing with misc. tasks and interruptions, etc. I think maybe I can find 6 pomodoros per week (I have lots of meetings and need some slack in my schedule for misc. and interruptions).
So I end up blocking out:
8 pomodoros per week for project 1
1 for project 2
3 for project 3
In the first week, I can get very close to finishing project 1. So I get motivated, get focused, ignore interruptions, and/or work a little overtime to get it done.
In week 2, I can take all the pomodoros I was committing to project 1, and commit them to project 2. So for week 2, I block out:
9 pomodoros for project 2
3 for project 3
Sometime in week 4, I finish project 2. Then I throw all my project pomodoros at Project 3.
Of course, if new projects arise during this time, I have to reset the mix. But this is how I am working with it for now.
March 27, 2014 at 23:48 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
@smileypete:
<< BTW Seraphim what happened to personal Kanban, is it that it still works OK but you're looking for something a bit better? >>
I still like (and use) personal Kanban for tracking milestones and projects and some other things. It's a great tool to figure out how work is really structured and to get clarity. It's great for visualizing workflow and where things are at in the flow.
But for managing things at the task level, it didn't work so well.
It also didn't give me a good gauge for judging how much work I could handle. I could see that I had a big backlog but couldn't really figure out HOW big, or WHEN it was getting too big.
I just took a Scrum class yesterday, and as an aside, it gave me some ideas for how to improve how I was managing my personal kanban. The main ideas that I felt could improve my personal kanban methods were
(1) capture higher-level "stories" (the general things you want to accomplish, explained at a high level, maybe just a few words or a sentence) and
(2) estimate the relative size of these "stories"
(3) prioritize the stories and limit the total size of stories you tackle at any one time
(4) decide which ones to do NOW (ie. this week, or this month, or whatever works)
(5) break them down into tasks at the time you start to tackle them - not before
This gives you a better way to calculate the size of your overall backlog, and how fast you can process them.
I think this may combine very well with the pomodoro-calendaring approach I'm using right now. I think it could also combine with some of the Dave Ramsey ideas, but in a different way than I'm doing right now, with an ongoing "debt snowball".
It also made me realize that there may be far too much context-switching involved in tracking 11 projects at the same time, like I am doing now. It might be better to limit the total number of active projects down to 3 or 4, and totally focus on those till they are done -- then take the next priority batch of projects, and repeat. But I'm still playing with these ideas and will try some different things.
<< BTW Seraphim what happened to personal Kanban, is it that it still works OK but you're looking for something a bit better? >>
I still like (and use) personal Kanban for tracking milestones and projects and some other things. It's a great tool to figure out how work is really structured and to get clarity. It's great for visualizing workflow and where things are at in the flow.
But for managing things at the task level, it didn't work so well.
It also didn't give me a good gauge for judging how much work I could handle. I could see that I had a big backlog but couldn't really figure out HOW big, or WHEN it was getting too big.
I just took a Scrum class yesterday, and as an aside, it gave me some ideas for how to improve how I was managing my personal kanban. The main ideas that I felt could improve my personal kanban methods were
(1) capture higher-level "stories" (the general things you want to accomplish, explained at a high level, maybe just a few words or a sentence) and
(2) estimate the relative size of these "stories"
(3) prioritize the stories and limit the total size of stories you tackle at any one time
(4) decide which ones to do NOW (ie. this week, or this month, or whatever works)
(5) break them down into tasks at the time you start to tackle them - not before
This gives you a better way to calculate the size of your overall backlog, and how fast you can process them.
I think this may combine very well with the pomodoro-calendaring approach I'm using right now. I think it could also combine with some of the Dave Ramsey ideas, but in a different way than I'm doing right now, with an ongoing "debt snowball".
It also made me realize that there may be far too much context-switching involved in tracking 11 projects at the same time, like I am doing now. It might be better to limit the total number of active projects down to 3 or 4, and totally focus on those till they are done -- then take the next priority batch of projects, and repeat. But I'm still playing with these ideas and will try some different things.
March 28, 2014 at 0:01 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Mark Forster wrote:
<<I wrote an article years ago (so many that I don't think it even made it onto this site) about how to budget one's time in the same way that a debt counsellor advises you to budget your finances. Here's more or less what it said.>>
I like it! :-)
<< Work out how much time you need to allow for unforeseen interruptions and emergencies. Clue: if you've put less than 20% of the available time you're fooling yourself.>>
Yes, I totally agree! I've only been giving myself about 10-15% for slack and it's clearly not enough. I had way too much thrash today, moving my pomodoro timeboxes around because of interruptions and simple loss of focus.
<< Take your top priority commitment and allocate the number of hours you estimate it will take to do the work properly. Then do the same for your second priority commitment. Continue until you have allocated all the available hours. Clue: You will not be happy with the result. >>
I'm approaching it a little differently. I have several longer-term projects that must be completed over the course of a month or a quarter, and they all need to keep some momentum (or at least most of them do). Also, my estimate of how many hours remains towards completion may change from week to week, as the project matures, acquires more clarity, and gets closer to completion.
So the first thing I am trying to swag is the minimum number of hours per week I need to keep the project moving along adequately. And I block that on my calendar. (I am realizing that many of these could be "zero" -- i.e., it's OK to let it sit for a while, as long as I leave enough time later to get it done. But some of them really do need attention every week, because of team dynamics, or the organic nature of the project, etc.)
I also do a "swag" of the total size of each project - but mainly to compare them to each other, so I can focus on the smallest ones first and get them completed.
<<I wrote an article years ago (so many that I don't think it even made it onto this site) about how to budget one's time in the same way that a debt counsellor advises you to budget your finances. Here's more or less what it said.>>
I like it! :-)
<< Work out how much time you need to allow for unforeseen interruptions and emergencies. Clue: if you've put less than 20% of the available time you're fooling yourself.>>
Yes, I totally agree! I've only been giving myself about 10-15% for slack and it's clearly not enough. I had way too much thrash today, moving my pomodoro timeboxes around because of interruptions and simple loss of focus.
<< Take your top priority commitment and allocate the number of hours you estimate it will take to do the work properly. Then do the same for your second priority commitment. Continue until you have allocated all the available hours. Clue: You will not be happy with the result. >>
I'm approaching it a little differently. I have several longer-term projects that must be completed over the course of a month or a quarter, and they all need to keep some momentum (or at least most of them do). Also, my estimate of how many hours remains towards completion may change from week to week, as the project matures, acquires more clarity, and gets closer to completion.
So the first thing I am trying to swag is the minimum number of hours per week I need to keep the project moving along adequately. And I block that on my calendar. (I am realizing that many of these could be "zero" -- i.e., it's OK to let it sit for a while, as long as I leave enough time later to get it done. But some of them really do need attention every week, because of team dynamics, or the organic nature of the project, etc.)
I also do a "swag" of the total size of each project - but mainly to compare them to each other, so I can focus on the smallest ones first and get them completed.
March 28, 2014 at 0:12 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim:
<< my estimate of how many hours remains towards completion may change from week to week, as the project matures, acquires more clarity, and gets closer to completion. >>
This only goes to show how important it is to make a *realistic* estimate of how much time a project is going to take before you commit yourself to it. It's very easy to take on a project without the least idea of how much work it's going to take with the attitude "Oh, I'll fit it in somehow". (Speaking out of a lot of personal experience of doing just that!)
<< So the first thing I am trying to swag is the minimum number of hours per week I need to keep the project moving along adequately. >>
My recommendation has always been that one should aim to stay on top of all one's current projects, i.e. to have taken all the action that can be done at that time. Otherwise you are just pushing projects back to a mythical future paradise called "When I have time..."
<< my estimate of how many hours remains towards completion may change from week to week, as the project matures, acquires more clarity, and gets closer to completion. >>
This only goes to show how important it is to make a *realistic* estimate of how much time a project is going to take before you commit yourself to it. It's very easy to take on a project without the least idea of how much work it's going to take with the attitude "Oh, I'll fit it in somehow". (Speaking out of a lot of personal experience of doing just that!)
<< So the first thing I am trying to swag is the minimum number of hours per week I need to keep the project moving along adequately. >>
My recommendation has always been that one should aim to stay on top of all one's current projects, i.e. to have taken all the action that can be done at that time. Otherwise you are just pushing projects back to a mythical future paradise called "When I have time..."
March 28, 2014 at 15:55 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Thanks Mark.
March 28, 2014 at 16:52 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Lessons learned this week:
(1) Context-switching
I'm coming to understand a key difference between a list of debts, and a list of projects:
Paying down financial debt doesn't involve context-switching. It doesn't matter how many debts you have. You could have 2, you could have 5, you could have 10. You just make a plan, and write your checks.
Projects are different. The more projects you are trying to juggle at the same time, the more you have to deal with context-switching (sometimes called "multi-tasking") and the overhead costs associated with that: fractured attention, lost time transitioning from one task to another, etc.
There's no overhead cost to having multiple debts being paid at the same time. If you consolidate them, it doesn't really change anything: the main problem is the total size of the debts. But the more projects you try to juggle, the overhead costs go up pretty sharply. Thus the need to limit WIP.
(2) Not all committed projects need attention every week. I need to decide which projects REALLY need attention every week to keep them going – and which ones can be completely deferred until later.
Debts always have a “minimum monthly payment”.
And many projects also have a “minimum weekly commitment” to keep the project going at a minimal level and stay on top of it.
But not all projects do. I may be committed to it, but there's not necessarily any need to start right now.
(1) Context-switching
I'm coming to understand a key difference between a list of debts, and a list of projects:
Paying down financial debt doesn't involve context-switching. It doesn't matter how many debts you have. You could have 2, you could have 5, you could have 10. You just make a plan, and write your checks.
Projects are different. The more projects you are trying to juggle at the same time, the more you have to deal with context-switching (sometimes called "multi-tasking") and the overhead costs associated with that: fractured attention, lost time transitioning from one task to another, etc.
There's no overhead cost to having multiple debts being paid at the same time. If you consolidate them, it doesn't really change anything: the main problem is the total size of the debts. But the more projects you try to juggle, the overhead costs go up pretty sharply. Thus the need to limit WIP.
(2) Not all committed projects need attention every week. I need to decide which projects REALLY need attention every week to keep them going – and which ones can be completely deferred until later.
Debts always have a “minimum monthly payment”.
And many projects also have a “minimum weekly commitment” to keep the project going at a minimal level and stay on top of it.
But not all projects do. I may be committed to it, but there's not necessarily any need to start right now.
March 28, 2014 at 22:52 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim:
Here's a video of the right way to get and keep projects going:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k44uoVm0lPI
First, get one project up and running properly
Take necessary action to keep on top of project
Then get the next project up and running properly
Take necessary action to keep on top of both projects
Then get the next project up and running properly
Take necessary action to keep on top of all three projects
Repeat until you have reached the maximum number of projects you can keep on top of
At that stage you either have to stop adding more projects, or remove old projects to allow for new ones.
Note the priority is always to make sure the existing plates are spinning properly before adding a new one (though in the video he's deliberately adding a bit of drama to keep the audience engaged).
Here's a video of the right way to get and keep projects going:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k44uoVm0lPI
First, get one project up and running properly
Take necessary action to keep on top of project
Then get the next project up and running properly
Take necessary action to keep on top of both projects
Then get the next project up and running properly
Take necessary action to keep on top of all three projects
Repeat until you have reached the maximum number of projects you can keep on top of
At that stage you either have to stop adding more projects, or remove old projects to allow for new ones.
Note the priority is always to make sure the existing plates are spinning properly before adding a new one (though in the video he's deliberately adding a bit of drama to keep the audience engaged).
March 29, 2014 at 18:39 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
The above "plate-spinning" technique could be adapted for my Rotation system. Instead of starting the list afresh every morning, you could keep the same list but only allow yourself to add a new task after you had done a complete pass through the list without any left-over work on any task.
I haven't worked the details of that out properly - but it's an idea worth investigating.
Another idea for consideration:
When I used to watch plate-spinners on stage in the good old days (it used to be a very popular act in pantomimes) sometimes they would work in pairs. One person would set up the plates, while the other would keep them spinning. They could manage a huge number of plates that way, far more than the sum of what they could have done as individuals.
I haven't worked the details of that out properly - but it's an idea worth investigating.
Another idea for consideration:
When I used to watch plate-spinners on stage in the good old days (it used to be a very popular act in pantomimes) sometimes they would work in pairs. One person would set up the plates, while the other would keep them spinning. They could manage a huge number of plates that way, far more than the sum of what they could have done as individuals.
March 29, 2014 at 19:13 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I've been working a bit more on some of the ideas in my last comments, and think I'm nearly ready to write a blog post on the subject. I hope to do so today.
March 30, 2014 at 8:15 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I am looking forward to it, Mark. One thing I learned from Personal Kanban and again looking at this "Dave Ramsey" approach, is the importance of limiting work-in-progress (WIP). It brings so many benefits.
I've been wondering how some of your systems (DIT, AF, etc.) could be incorporated into an overall system, such that ongoing work could be managed through DIT/AF/whatever, and get pushed to a backlog of potential future projects automatically, and/or pulled from that backlog automatically. This is different than a "someday/maybe" list, in which items don't seem to have any inherent importance or priority.
Maybe Bernie's latest ideas have some applicability here as well. (Layered SMEMA - http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2318550 )
I've been wondering how some of your systems (DIT, AF, etc.) could be incorporated into an overall system, such that ongoing work could be managed through DIT/AF/whatever, and get pushed to a backlog of potential future projects automatically, and/or pulled from that backlog automatically. This is different than a "someday/maybe" list, in which items don't seem to have any inherent importance or priority.
Maybe Bernie's latest ideas have some applicability here as well. (Layered SMEMA - http://markforster.squarespace.com/forum/post/2318550 )
March 30, 2014 at 22:06 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim:
<< I've been wondering how some of your systems (DIT, AF, etc.) could be incorporated into an overall system, such that ongoing work could be managed through DIT/AF/whatever, and get pushed to a backlog of potential future projects automatically, and/or pulled from that backlog automatically. This is different than a "someday/maybe" list, in which items don't seem to have any inherent importance or priority.>>
This formed part of my teaching about the Current Initiative in the days when I was running DIT courses before I'd written the book. I decided in the end to leave the detail of it out of the book, but I think I've written about it elsewhere.
As you know the Current Initiative is the first thing you do every day. This presupposes that you can only have one Current Initiative at a time.
Step 1. Make a list of every project that you might want to have as a Current Initiative.
Step 2. Edit the list down to projects that you definitely want to have as the Current Initiative in the active future. No "someday/maybes"!
Step 3. Arrange the list in the order you want to do the Projects.
Step 4. Estimate how long it will take to get each Project up and running using the Current Initiative.
Step 5. Plot the projects on a time sheet.
Step 6. Make sure to monitor actual time taken against your estimates.
Step 7. Any projects you want to add go at the end of the list (unless they're so important and urgent that you're willing to re-jig the entire list, time estimates and time sheet!)
<< I've been wondering how some of your systems (DIT, AF, etc.) could be incorporated into an overall system, such that ongoing work could be managed through DIT/AF/whatever, and get pushed to a backlog of potential future projects automatically, and/or pulled from that backlog automatically. This is different than a "someday/maybe" list, in which items don't seem to have any inherent importance or priority.>>
This formed part of my teaching about the Current Initiative in the days when I was running DIT courses before I'd written the book. I decided in the end to leave the detail of it out of the book, but I think I've written about it elsewhere.
As you know the Current Initiative is the first thing you do every day. This presupposes that you can only have one Current Initiative at a time.
Step 1. Make a list of every project that you might want to have as a Current Initiative.
Step 2. Edit the list down to projects that you definitely want to have as the Current Initiative in the active future. No "someday/maybes"!
Step 3. Arrange the list in the order you want to do the Projects.
Step 4. Estimate how long it will take to get each Project up and running using the Current Initiative.
Step 5. Plot the projects on a time sheet.
Step 6. Make sure to monitor actual time taken against your estimates.
Step 7. Any projects you want to add go at the end of the list (unless they're so important and urgent that you're willing to re-jig the entire list, time estimates and time sheet!)
March 30, 2014 at 23:05 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
@Seraphim
Wonder if it's worth doing a weekly Kanban at a project level and bigger commitment level. So each week you pick say 2 small and 2 large projects to work on.
If a project gets gets completed in the week move it to a 'completed' lane and pick another one, but keep the the same mix of smaller and larger projects if possible.
If there are lots of meetings or other commitments in the week then reduce the project work accordingly.
Have an 'inventory' for projects not being worked on this week, but only put projects in inventory if there's a realistic chance they will be worked on in the next month (important!), and have hard limits on the number of projects in inventory.
Any left over projects get taken off the Kanban and archived in a book.
At the end of the week a look at the projects in the 'completed' lane should give an overview of progress.
This hopefully should give an overview of the project work and progress, limit work in progress and use a bit of the debt snowball principle as the smaller projects get done. :)
Wonder if it's worth doing a weekly Kanban at a project level and bigger commitment level. So each week you pick say 2 small and 2 large projects to work on.
If a project gets gets completed in the week move it to a 'completed' lane and pick another one, but keep the the same mix of smaller and larger projects if possible.
If there are lots of meetings or other commitments in the week then reduce the project work accordingly.
Have an 'inventory' for projects not being worked on this week, but only put projects in inventory if there's a realistic chance they will be worked on in the next month (important!), and have hard limits on the number of projects in inventory.
Any left over projects get taken off the Kanban and archived in a book.
At the end of the week a look at the projects in the 'completed' lane should give an overview of progress.
This hopefully should give an overview of the project work and progress, limit work in progress and use a bit of the debt snowball principle as the smaller projects get done. :)
March 31, 2014 at 13:03 |
smileypete
smileypete
Budgeting by envelopes (ahead of time) or by audit afterwards (DIT):
Some of my most productive times are when I know a crunch is coming. I estimate how long each task will take, then make the hard decisions up front. I'm intentionally pessimistic about how long each task will take and how long I can work, but not by much.
Knowing that going off the list will mean even more hard decisions keeps me focused. Even my little-and-often projects stay on track during those times, since I see the bigger picture, and know that "tomorrow" will be filled with other things.
I often default into spinning plates, but I'm too optimistic. During light times, I start a few more plates, then my life goes back to normal and they all come crashing down.
For that method to work in the long-run, you need to define a typical week. In a typical week, I can keep this many projects moving nicely. During a light week, do not succumb to the temptation to start even more. Either do more work on the current plates (boring but effective, Dave Ramsey's method), or pick just a few small ones that will be finished before normal resumes (more interesting, but takes more discipline to only pick ones that will be finished). Yes, you can do some of each.
You also need to define a minimal week. What is the absolute minimum that can be done if things are tight for a few weeks. Know which plates can be dropped, and prepare a landing pad. I often keep the wrong plates spinning.
That goes back to budgeting up front rather than after the plates come crashing down.
Some of my most productive times are when I know a crunch is coming. I estimate how long each task will take, then make the hard decisions up front. I'm intentionally pessimistic about how long each task will take and how long I can work, but not by much.
Knowing that going off the list will mean even more hard decisions keeps me focused. Even my little-and-often projects stay on track during those times, since I see the bigger picture, and know that "tomorrow" will be filled with other things.
I often default into spinning plates, but I'm too optimistic. During light times, I start a few more plates, then my life goes back to normal and they all come crashing down.
For that method to work in the long-run, you need to define a typical week. In a typical week, I can keep this many projects moving nicely. During a light week, do not succumb to the temptation to start even more. Either do more work on the current plates (boring but effective, Dave Ramsey's method), or pick just a few small ones that will be finished before normal resumes (more interesting, but takes more discipline to only pick ones that will be finished). Yes, you can do some of each.
You also need to define a minimal week. What is the absolute minimum that can be done if things are tight for a few weeks. Know which plates can be dropped, and prepare a landing pad. I often keep the wrong plates spinning.
That goes back to budgeting up front rather than after the plates come crashing down.
April 10, 2014 at 15:55 |
Cricket
Cricket
(If you aren't familiar with Dave Ramsey, this is a good quick overview: http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/ )
Anyone who has struggled with financial debt knows how much anxiety, overwhelm, and frustration it produces: the feeling that you can't get ahead and can't get on track to achieve your real goals. And anyone who has paid off their debts, is completely debt-free, and committed to living a life with no debt knows what a feeling of peace, strength, and control it can give you: something palpable that you can almost taste -- a feeling of being grounded and solid and free.
When I think of my backlog of work resulting from my chronic overcommitment, it feels just like being in financial debt. I've been wondering what the debt-free peace, strength, stability, control, and freedom might feel like, when applied to personal workload management / time management.
And I've been wondering how the mechanics of getting debt-free might apply to time management.
I'll post a few of my thoughts on this.