Testing Time-Management Strategies – WSJ.com.
As most of you know, I’ve been spending the past year or so working on time management techniques, trying to figure out ways to keep creative, but still get work done quickly and efficiently.
In my new role, I find that I spend quite a bit of time juggling meetings, animating, giving notes, exploring ideas, family, and trying to find time to relax and work out. It’s not easy, and things can easily get dropped or fall behind.
I’ve explored a few ways of keeping track of things, and what I’m working with now is a somewhat modified GTD technique, or Getting Things Done for those of you who haven’t heard of GTD before. It’s a pretty cool technique for managing time developed by David Allen.
It’s working relatively well for me, but I still have yet to find a complete email/iphone/os X/linux workflow that I love with it.
I’ve also attempted the Pomodoro technique a few times, which I really like when I have a whole saturday to work straight ahead on 4 or 5 items.
The main thing that’s keeping me on track is trying to keep my email inbox to 0. My goal is to do it every day, but some days that’s just impossible. If I can’t hit it every day, I try and make SURE I do it by the end of the week.
Anyway, the Wall Street Journal has put together an article talking about time management.. it’s pretty interesting. Check it out!
6 Responses
Last week I saw Cory Doctorow at a book reading. If you haven’t heard of him, he’s this amazing author and a contributer to Boing Boing, blogger, podcaster, twitter meber of EFF, and more. A lot more. I’m a big fan, I’m also amazed how much he produces.
At the book reading I got a chance to ask him how he got it all done. He said he was a big believer in GTD and considers himself a member of it’s “cult” (at least that’s how he phrased it when I asked him about it). I knew he was a big advocate of Linux so I asked him if there was a software package he liked to use. Sure, he said, he keeps at txt file on his computer.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
I’ve looked into the txt file too, ethan.. it’s certainly compelling! I’d love it if I could just use vi for everything. 🙂
Unfortunately, I need some way to handle the email stuff & the syncing with the iPhone.. maybe if I used dropbox? That might be good..
can’t you just sync the Iphone equivalent of Outlook notes.
There are many GTD application for my phone but unlike you Jason, I can’t be bothered to test them all and use Text files (Outlook notes) on my mobile instead.
heh 🙂 I LOVE testing them!
did you try
http://getontracks.org/
I haven’t yet but it sounds promising. Web based so os portability is not a problem.
(BTW thanks for sharing Ani DiFranco – quite a while back!)
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