5 ms·

The rule of 3 in time management & productivity.

westiseast 13y ago
I though it was (1) Don't have kids, (2) Don't have kids and (3) Don't have kids. No? :)
- shuaib 13y ago
  Productivity that will eventually result in the extinction of mankind? :)
  - pstack 13y ago
    Not likely. The irresponsible will always reproduce like rabbits by the drinking age.
  - gumby 13y ago
    Fuck it, let other people worry about the extinction of humanity -- they can have the kids. The genetic differences between all of us are pretty minor anyway, so one's as good as another. Who knows who Aristotle's kids were anyway?
    - shuaib 13y ago
      Even if we rule out the possibility of human race going extinct (which is quite improbable anyway?), isn't missing on a family life (wife and kids) quite a huge compromise in pursuit of some vague definition of 'productivity'?
      - rak 13y ago
        If you don't want to marry or have kids, you're not really compromising anything. imho, it's about being honest with yourself about what you want.
        bloodorange 13y ago
        Indeed. I don't even remotely fancy raising a child (or multiple). However, I understand that others find it desirable. To each his/her own.
      - gumby 13y ago
        It's only a compromise if you prefer kids to other activities. I have plenty of friends who have spouse and kids, or spouse and no kids, or are single (or other combinations for that matter). There doesn't seem to be a gross correlation between family state and happiness among them, although the research says that the childless are happier than those with 'em. I'm changing the world by doing stuff other people aren't. Most people are spawning, so it seems unlikely that I will change the world by doing so. Note: FWIW I do have spouse and offspring, and enjoy my family life, but I am not pretentious enough to think that those things are part of my "contribution to humanity" any more than driving my car is. And what's with the sexist "wife and kids" bit anyway?
- hobo_mark 13y ago
  You say this in jest, but I also don't understand how people chose to have a full-time job (even worse, a startup) AND kids (not judging anyone, I just do not understand it). There clearly aren't enough hours in a day to manage both as well as they deserve and not live a stressful life. Before you reach for that downvote button, this is what I am personally doing: - try to become financially independent (with the sweat and all-nighters that go along with it, when needed) - if (and only IF) I ever manage to do so, start a family with the good conscience that I will have the means to be there as a father - if not, rinse and repeat until I do Does it make any sense?
  - slurry 13y ago
    No, it doesn't make sense. Your comment is naive and/or jerkish. You should feel bad about yourself for posting it.
    - c7b0rg 13y ago
      This must be facetious. If not, please explain. OP's thoughts seem rational to me.
      - slurry 13y ago
        Face-rational moralizing about people's lives and especially reproductive choices is, as a general principle, nearly always jerkish. "Only have kids once you're independently wealthy" qualifies as rational only on HN or Reddit.
        hobo_mark 13y ago
        How is it different from something like "I don't buy a house I can't afford"?
        slurry 13y ago
        There are contexts (say, the comments section of a story on foreclosure) where "I don't buy a house I can't afford" would be a full-on raging asshole thing to say. But you went further than that: "I also don't understand how people chose to have a full-time job...AND kids" You clearly implied that holding any full time job and having kids was irresponsible. Because "I don't understand how [something about mores]" is a construction that American English speakers use to point out things they consider irrational, dumb or otherwise undesirable. You even anticipated that your comment would make people mad ("before you reach for the downvote button", "not judging anyone"). Because you went a good sight further than "I don't buy a house I can't afford." I think my initial judgment of "naive and/or jerkish" stands.
pdevr 13y ago
This ensures that you finish at least the top three tasks everyday. A good start. There is a subset of people who have more than three tasks with equal priority to be done on a daily basis. They will still be overwhelmed, since the carried over tasks over a period of time will be too much to handle for the "role of 3" way.
patrickmay 13y ago
This is a variant of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. Instead of three items, he recommends always knowing what the most important task is for any project, and doing that. Definitely worth a look.
- tomhallett 13y ago
  The biggest part of GTD which has really helped keep me organized and achieving my goals, is recognizing your memory can be fairly terrible at remembering things when it is important to remember them. So everything I need todo gets written down. Then I will stop stressing about my todo list and forcing myself to remember. He calls it "mind like water". With this technique + kanban for my personal life (todos, open source projects, baby books, etc) my wife is 1000% happier.

I though it was (1) Don't have kids, (2) Don't have kids and (3) Don't have kids. No? :)

shuaib 13y ago
Productivity that will eventually result in the extinction of mankind? :)
- pstack 13y ago
  Not likely. The irresponsible will always reproduce like rabbits by the drinking age.
- gumby 13y ago
  Fuck it, let other people worry about the extinction of humanity -- they can have the kids. The genetic differences between all of us are pretty minor anyway, so one's as good as another. Who knows who Aristotle's kids were anyway?
  - shuaib 13y ago
    Even if we rule out the possibility of human race going extinct (which is quite improbable anyway?), isn't missing on a family life (wife and kids) quite a huge compromise in pursuit of some vague definition of 'productivity'?
    - rak 13y ago
      If you don't want to marry or have kids, you're not really compromising anything. imho, it's about being honest with yourself about what you want.
      - bloodorange 13y ago
        Indeed. I don't even remotely fancy raising a child (or multiple). However, I understand that others find it desirable. To each his/her own.
    - gumby 13y ago
      It's only a compromise if you prefer kids to other activities. I have plenty of friends who have spouse and kids, or spouse and no kids, or are single (or other combinations for that matter). There doesn't seem to be a gross correlation between family state and happiness among them, although the research says that the childless are happier than those with 'em. I'm changing the world by doing stuff other people aren't. Most people are spawning, so it seems unlikely that I will change the world by doing so. Note: FWIW I do have spouse and offspring, and enjoy my family life, but I am not pretentious enough to think that those things are part of my "contribution to humanity" any more than driving my car is. And what's with the sexist "wife and kids" bit anyway?
hobo_mark 13y ago
You say this in jest, but I also don't understand how people chose to have a full-time job (even worse, a startup) AND kids (not judging anyone, I just do not understand it). There clearly aren't enough hours in a day to manage both as well as they deserve and not live a stressful life. Before you reach for that downvote button, this is what I am personally doing: - try to become financially independent (with the sweat and all-nighters that go along with it, when needed) - if (and only IF) I ever manage to do so, start a family with the good conscience that I will have the means to be there as a father - if not, rinse and repeat until I do Does it make any sense?
- slurry 13y ago
  No, it doesn't make sense. Your comment is naive and/or jerkish. You should feel bad about yourself for posting it.
  - c7b0rg 13y ago
    This must be facetious. If not, please explain. OP's thoughts seem rational to me.
    - slurry 13y ago
      Face-rational moralizing about people's lives and especially reproductive choices is, as a general principle, nearly always jerkish. "Only have kids once you're independently wealthy" qualifies as rational only on HN or Reddit.
      - hobo_mark 13y ago
        How is it different from something like "I don't buy a house I can't afford"?
        slurry 13y ago
        There are contexts (say, the comments section of a story on foreclosure) where "I don't buy a house I can't afford" would be a full-on raging asshole thing to say. But you went further than that: "I also don't understand how people chose to have a full-time job...AND kids" You clearly implied that holding any full time job and having kids was irresponsible. Because "I don't understand how [something about mores]" is a construction that American English speakers use to point out things they consider irrational, dumb or otherwise undesirable. You even anticipated that your comment would make people mad ("before you reach for the downvote button", "not judging anyone"). Because you went a good sight further than "I don't buy a house I can't afford." I think my initial judgment of "naive and/or jerkish" stands.

pdevr 13y ago

This ensures that you finish at least the top three tasks everyday. A good start. There is a subset of people who have more than three tasks with equal priority to be done on a daily basis. They will still be overwhelmed, since the carried over tasks over a period of time will be too much to handle for the "role of 3" way.

patrickmay 13y ago

This is a variant of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. Instead of three items, he recommends always knowing what the most important task is for any project, and doing that. Definitely worth a look.

tomhallett 13y ago
The biggest part of GTD which has really helped keep me organized and achieving my goals, is recognizing your memory can be fairly terrible at remembering things when it is important to remember them. So everything I need todo gets written down. Then I will stop stressing about my todo list and forcing myself to remember. He calls it "mind like water". With this technique + kanban for my personal life (todos, open source projects, baby books, etc) my wife is 1000% happier.