3 ms·

This is only occasionally important to engineer/programmer types (and that's definitely not who this is geared toward in the author's defense -- it's Harvard Bu

This is only occasionally important to engineer/programmer types (and that's definitely not who this is geared toward in the author's defense -- it's Harvard Business Review for god's sake). You definitely should be taking stock _sometimes_ of "how things went with your team" or whatever, but it's not even close to how best to use the last 5 minutes of a day. The best use of the last 5 minutes of my work day, without question, is making a few comments on about half a sheet of paper of what open questions I have for tomorrow and a couple of directions I might head to solve them, along with caveats/gotchas I thought of while working. This way when I let go of work for the day, I don't think about it anymore unless I really want to and I'm confident that I have enough written down to hit the ground running the next time I want to work. This frees me up completely to do something _besides_ work.

sruffell 16y ago
I know your comment is basically part of the central premises of "Getting Things Done" but your words "This way when I let go of work for the day.." resonated with me. Perhaps today is when I start using those last 5 minutes to take at least one note a day.
- Nate75Sanders 16y ago
  I'm actually really terrible of letting go of work, but one of the things I noticed is that part of that is the fact that I'm trying to keep track of too much in my head. "I'll have to remember to copy config file X over if I move process Y to machine Z tomorrow" "I have to factor out that piece of code, this will be the 3rd time I've written something similar" "Call person about thing" "Email other person about other thing" Instead, with my piece of paper, I remember one thing: "I need to read my notes tomorrow". It allows me to focus a little better.
TheSOB88 16y ago
I agree, to a point. That kind of thinking definitely has a place, and it works wonders for productivity I'm sure. You're talking about making it clear what you need to do tomorrow, making a plan so you always know what to do next. This article, though, is talking about evaluating your goals and methods, something far beyond "next actions". Are you even headed in the right direction? Is your strategy as effective as you thought? No matter how excellent your work is, you need to be working on excellent things.

sruffell 16y ago

I know your comment is basically part of the central premises of "Getting Things Done" but your words "This way when I let go of work for the day.." resonated with me. Perhaps today is when I start using those last 5 minutes to take at least one note a day.

Nate75Sanders 16y ago
I'm actually really terrible of letting go of work, but one of the things I noticed is that part of that is the fact that I'm trying to keep track of too much in my head. "I'll have to remember to copy config file X over if I move process Y to machine Z tomorrow" "I have to factor out that piece of code, this will be the 3rd time I've written something similar" "Call person about thing" "Email other person about other thing" Instead, with my piece of paper, I remember one thing: "I need to read my notes tomorrow". It allows me to focus a little better.

TheSOB88 16y ago

I agree, to a point. That kind of thinking definitely has a place, and it works wonders for productivity I'm sure. You're talking about making it clear what you need to do tomorrow, making a plan so you always know what to do next. This article, though, is talking about evaluating your goals and methods, something far beyond "next actions". Are you even headed in the right direction? Is your strategy as effective as you thought? No matter how excellent your work is, you need to be working on excellent things.