9 ms·

Time management hacks

88 points by karika 14y ago

pagade 14y ago
Look at your TODO list and check if you can: Eliminate - Is this really needed to be done? What if I just don't do it? Delegate - Do I have to do it? Is it ok if someone else does it for me? Automate - Will I have to do this again? If yes, can I automate it?
- sgpl 14y ago
  ^ This is much more helpful than the posted content; which is essentially a collection of quotes on time management.
azov 14y ago
It's missing one slide: "it's more important to be happy than productive". Crossing stuff off your TODO list with maximum possible speed is not the end goal in itself.
- Houshalter 14y ago
  What if being happy is on the TODO list?
  - jdotjdot 14y ago
    Then you are bound to fail.
    - lubujackson 14y ago
      Unless you can be happy in hour increments.
- triplesec 14y ago
  although... I am only happy if I'm productive.
  - kbenson 14y ago
    Then I feel sorry for you. Truly.
    - trhtrsh 14y ago
      The feeling may be mutual.
      - triplesec 14y ago
        lol. I can be happy if I'm resting, but not if I don't feel I'm currently achieving much. Direction, purpose, identity, creation of meaning for the self, that kind of thing.
chatmasta 14y ago
Time management is knowing your limits and navigating around them. Or, in HN-speak, "optimizing for your productivity given a constraint of 24 hours."
jacalata 14y ago
"Things I wish I'd known at 20: Your time is worth $1000/hour, act like it" Actually, for most 20 year olds that's not true. For me, for instance, it was absolutely a good tradeoff of time and money for me to catch a train to the airport, taking 1 hour and $10, instead of catching a $50 cab for a half hour trip (therefore, I am saying that half an hour was worth less to me than $40). Clearly he meant this 'metaphorically', but when your metaphor breaks down so easily, it might not be as meaningful as you thought. What did he actually want to say there? Was it something less pithy like 'value your time'? 'Consider the opportunity costs of everything you spend time on'?
- tedivm 14y ago
  Lets say that 30 minute cab ride cost an additional $40. If your job is paying you $8 an hour then you have to work an extra five hours for it. Taking the bus didn't cost you half an hour, it saved you four and a half.
  - trhtrsh 14y ago
    Your job may be paying you $8/hr, but if you can be doing something to move up to a higher paying job, the value of that activity may well be >$8/hr
  - jacalata 14y ago
    An $8/hr job is another great example of something that the simplistic "your time is worth $1000/hr" would imply you should never even do.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
m_ke 14y ago
My best time management hack was replacing my todo list with a calendar. With todo lists I tended to put things off for later and never got everything done. With a calendar I'm forced to commit to a specific time.
wongwf82 14y ago
The biggest hack I have was using 20 minutes countdown clock like http://e.ggtimer.com/20minutes http://e.ggtimer.com/20minutes. And it must be easily accesible from the Bookmarks toolbar so I can easily select 20 minutes, etc. and then get going. I think this relates to point #7: "We're always more focused and productive with limited time". :)
Paul_D_Santana 14y ago
The simplest and easiest way to get more important things done: Ask yourself three times daily, via Outlook reminder or whatever is convenient: "Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?" This is from the book The Four Hour Workweek, an excellent, excellent book. I've listened to it twice now (26 hours). This book has changed my mindset and has made me much more efficient and effective at work, and life in general. Also suggested in the book, time tracking software like rescuetime.com or Manic Time is extremely eye opening. It was astounding how long I was spending writing emails. Now I have various email templates for common issues I face. What a great book. [Edit]: Well that is quite the coincidence: another article on the front page of HN talks about Tim Ferriss: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5470252 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5470252
- trhtrsh 14y ago
  The key to productivity is to harness procrastination: Always have something else to avoid, that makes your work seem like procrastination. Make up a dreaded obligation, so that work for your other goals is seen as an escape.
prof_hobart 14y ago
The only one I don't agree with is 21 - "Yesterday's home runs don't win today's game". Whilst you can no longer do anything about what happened yesterday, it can still have a huge influence on how today goes, particularly if you spend much of your day influencing other people, and you often need to keep that in mind. E.g. - I'm preparing for a presentation with a director - did my last interaction with him go well? If not, I'm probably going to have to work extra hard at getting my message across. Unfortunately a lot of people don't seem to get this and treat pretty much every interaction as a self-contained thing, not realising what effect existing preconceptions will have on this interaction, and not really thinking about what impact this interaction wil have on future ones.
- trhtrsh 14y ago
  You didn't read the whole quote. It says to focus on the present and future, not rest on past laurels. The quote was "Yesterday's home runs don't win today's game" not "Yesterday's practice don't win today's game".
  - prof_hobart 13y ago
    But yesterday's home runs may well have a psychological impact on both you and your opponent in today's game. Not resting on your laurels is fine, but putting what happened yesterday totally out of your mind when you come to today's game/task isn't always the best thing to do.

88 points by karika 14y ago

Look at your TODO list and check if you can: Eliminate - Is this really needed to be done? What if I just don't do it? Delegate - Do I have to do it? Is it ok if someone else does it for me? Automate - Will I have to do this again? If yes, can I automate it?

sgpl 14y ago
^ This is much more helpful than the posted content; which is essentially a collection of quotes on time management.

azov 14y ago

It's missing one slide: "it's more important to be happy than productive". Crossing stuff off your TODO list with maximum possible speed is not the end goal in itself.

Houshalter 14y ago
What if being happy is on the TODO list?
- jdotjdot 14y ago
  Then you are bound to fail.
  - lubujackson 14y ago
    Unless you can be happy in hour increments.
triplesec 14y ago
although... I am only happy if I'm productive.
- kbenson 14y ago
  Then I feel sorry for you. Truly.
  - trhtrsh 14y ago
    The feeling may be mutual.
    - triplesec 14y ago
      lol. I can be happy if I'm resting, but not if I don't feel I'm currently achieving much. Direction, purpose, identity, creation of meaning for the self, that kind of thing.

chatmasta 14y ago

Time management is knowing your limits and navigating around them. Or, in HN-speak, "optimizing for your productivity given a constraint of 24 hours."

jacalata 14y ago

"Things I wish I'd known at 20: Your time is worth $1000/hour, act like it" Actually, for most 20 year olds that's not true. For me, for instance, it was absolutely a good tradeoff of time and money for me to catch a train to the airport, taking 1 hour and $10, instead of catching a $50 cab for a half hour trip (therefore, I am saying that half an hour was worth less to me than $40). Clearly he meant this 'metaphorically', but when your metaphor breaks down so easily, it might not be as meaningful as you thought. What did he actually want to say there? Was it something less pithy like 'value your time'? 'Consider the opportunity costs of everything you spend time on'?

tedivm 14y ago
Lets say that 30 minute cab ride cost an additional $40. If your job is paying you $8 an hour then you have to work an extra five hours for it. Taking the bus didn't cost you half an hour, it saved you four and a half.
- trhtrsh 14y ago
  Your job may be paying you $8/hr, but if you can be doing something to move up to a higher paying job, the value of that activity may well be >$8/hr
- jacalata 14y ago
  An $8/hr job is another great example of something that the simplistic "your time is worth $1000/hr" would imply you should never even do.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

m_ke 14y ago

My best time management hack was replacing my todo list with a calendar. With todo lists I tended to put things off for later and never got everything done. With a calendar I'm forced to commit to a specific time.

wongwf82 14y ago

The biggest hack I have was using 20 minutes countdown clock like http://e.ggtimer.com/20minutes http://e.ggtimer.com/20minutes. And it must be easily accesible from the Bookmarks toolbar so I can easily select 20 minutes, etc. and then get going. I think this relates to point #7: "We're always more focused and productive with limited time". :)

Paul_D_Santana 14y ago

The simplest and easiest way to get more important things done: Ask yourself three times daily, via Outlook reminder or whatever is convenient: "Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?" This is from the book The Four Hour Workweek, an excellent, excellent book. I've listened to it twice now (26 hours). This book has changed my mindset and has made me much more efficient and effective at work, and life in general. Also suggested in the book, time tracking software like rescuetime.com or Manic Time is extremely eye opening. It was astounding how long I was spending writing emails. Now I have various email templates for common issues I face. What a great book. [Edit]: Well that is quite the coincidence: another article on the front page of HN talks about Tim Ferriss: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5470252 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5470252

trhtrsh 14y ago
The key to productivity is to harness procrastination: Always have something else to avoid, that makes your work seem like procrastination. Make up a dreaded obligation, so that work for your other goals is seen as an escape.

prof_hobart 14y ago

The only one I don't agree with is 21 - "Yesterday's home runs don't win today's game". Whilst you can no longer do anything about what happened yesterday, it can still have a huge influence on how today goes, particularly if you spend much of your day influencing other people, and you often need to keep that in mind. E.g. - I'm preparing for a presentation with a director - did my last interaction with him go well? If not, I'm probably going to have to work extra hard at getting my message across. Unfortunately a lot of people don't seem to get this and treat pretty much every interaction as a self-contained thing, not realising what effect existing preconceptions will have on this interaction, and not really thinking about what impact this interaction wil have on future ones.

trhtrsh 14y ago
You didn't read the whole quote. It says to focus on the present and future, not rest on past laurels. The quote was "Yesterday's home runs don't win today's game" not "Yesterday's practice don't win today's game".
- prof_hobart 13y ago
  But yesterday's home runs may well have a psychological impact on both you and your opponent in today's game. Not resting on your laurels is fine, but putting what happened yesterday totally out of your mind when you come to today's game/task isn't always the best thing to do.