time hacks: managing your day-to-day and long-term projects
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Time HacksManaging day-to-day and long-term projects
Ellie Dworak, William Weare & Erin White
The Big Picture
William Weare
Establish goalsDetermine prioritiesMap projects to calendarWork in brief, daily sessions
“People can be divided into three groups: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen,
and those who wonder what happened.”
“If you want to be great at getting the right things done, you have to start by defining clearly what you
want and why you want it.” (Fritz, The truth about getting more done, p. 166)
Let’s talk about priorities.
“The reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing
second things first.”Robert J. McKain
Map projects to your calendar.
“You need to think ahead and make sure you schedule your week in a way that you get to achieve what you want to achieve.”
(Fritz, The truth about getting more done, p. 66)
Will’s world
Work in brief, daily sessions.
Constancy and moderation.
Advocates for writing every day
Gray, Tara. Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar. Teaching Academy. New Mexico State University, 2005.
Rockquemore, Kerry Ann, and Tracey Laszloffy. The Black Academic’s Guide to Winning Tenure—Without Losing Your Soul. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2008.
Silvia, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive AcademicWriting. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.
The Nitty Gritty
Erin White
Automation: think like a computer
Thomas A. Limoncelli, Time Management for System Administrators
Simple things Hard things
Done once do it manually automate it
Done often automate it buy or write software
Managing e-mail: Philosophies
The “waterfall” or “executive” approach*
Managing/triaging the volume
Inbox zero (Merlin Mann)and/or inbox as to-do listdelete, delegate, defer, do, respond
* I made this up.
Managing e-mail: Time-savers
Filters/rules: keep it out of your inbox
Simple thing done often: cleaning out messages
Listservs, newsletters, automated messages
Be ruthless!
ExamplesIf to: address is “lita-l@lists.ala.org”Move to folder Listservs\LITA
If message subject contains “Special Offer”Move to Trash
Managing e-mail: Time-savers
Message templatesSimple thing done often: composing similar messagesCalled “canned messages” in Gmail
Examples“The ____ system is currently unavailable. We’ve reported the issue with the vendor and will update you as soon as possible.”
Welcome e-mail for new colleagues with orientation information
Fielding feedback/common questions
Managing e-mail: Time-savers
Keyboard shortcuts/macros
Simple thing done often: replying, archiving/foldering, deleting, searching
In Gmail, activate keyboard shortcuts in Settings. Use J and K to navigate through messages in your inbox. Enter to read messages. R to reply. E to archive and remove from inbox. C to compose new. ? to see all shortcuts.
Common shortcuts for desktop programs
Ctrl+R to reply
Ctrl+N to create a new message.
Lightweight project management
List of all projects
Project names, owners, statuses, importance
As simple as a spreadsheet
Separate sheet for finished projects
Project charters/plans
Scope: what is and is not included
RACI: responsible, accountable, consulted, informed
Milestones and due dates
Checklists for common tasks
Lightweight project management tools
Google Docs spreadsheets
Portable, easy to share/edit on the fly
Can be embedded in web pages
GitHub
One repository for project list
One repository for each large project
Repositories can have documentation, track issues and milestones
22
Project list in Google Docs
23
Project plan in Google Docs
24
Launch checklist in Google Docs
25
Project list in GitHub
26
Project plan in GitHub
Making Time
Ellie Dworak
The quick and dirty time inventory
5-minute list #1: what are you doing?
Activity
Reference desk
Online learning assessment task force
Book chapter revisions
SLA presentation
Running reference desk statistics
5 minute list #2: how long is it taking?
Activity Estimated hours/week
Reference desk 8+
Online learning assessment task force 0-4
Book chapter revisions 2-4
SLA presentation 4-6
Running reference desk statistics 0-8
5 minute list #3: how important is it?
Activity Hours/week Relative importance
Reference desk 8+ 5 Very!
Online learning assessment task force
0-4 4 It’s interesting, and I agreed to serve.
Book chapter revisions 2-4 5 Sigh. Must be done, I suppose.
SLA presentation 4-6 5 Important, a deadline approaches.
Running reference desk statistics
0-8 4 Important if a decision is being made.
4 I enjoy this project + deadline.
5 It’s what I do.2 Will anybody really read our report?
3 I’m so done.
1 I’m being OCD. Nobody else cares.
5 minute list #4: must it be done right now?
Activity Hours/week
Importance
When?
Reference desk 8+ 5 Whenever I’m scheduled.
Online learning assessment task force
0-4 3 Can ask to reschedule meetings; flexible otherwise.
Book chapter revisions 2-4 3 We have a whole month . . .
SLA presentation 4-6 4 Need a draft this week in order to practice with group.
Running reference desk statistics
0-8 3 Not usually a rush.
5 minute reflection
What can you:
Stop doing
Do less of
Do more quickly
Ask for help with
Relax about
What would you like to:
Take on
Do more of
Do differently
Stop doing: Always offering to take extra desk hours.
Do less: Writing for publication. Keep it in balance.
Do more quickly: Creating powerpoint slides.
Ask for help with: Hmmmm . . .
Relax about: Deadlines that are only in my head.
Take on: Learn more about research methods.
Do more: Outreach to liaison areas.
Do differently: Try not bringing work to the reference desk for awhile.
It’s not just about time
What activities do you need time for?
What kind of time do you need?
What sort of environment do you need?
Dedicated chunks of timeSelected locationMinimize interruptions
OK to multi-taskLocation not so important importantInterruptions OK, maybe even good
Boundaries: set a timer; set a day of the week; complete something else first
Stop breathin
g so loudly, I need to focus
I would rather eat nails
Don’t tell anybody, but I kinda like this
I could do this
standing on my
head on the bus
Task
Schedule regularlyLet yourself be bad at itSmall goals with incentivesCollaborate/commiserate?
Balance high focus activities with those that require less attention
Brief work sessionsGet it over with first thingDistract yourself with shiny things
Activity How’s it going? Things to change or try
Reference desk I love the desk so much, I end up there more than I can really afford.
Pause before offering to take extra desk hours.
Online learning assessment task force
Good, but I really don’t have time for it and I feel badly about not doing much work yet.
Chat with chair about time commitment.
No more special projects for awhile (if possible)
Book chapter revisions Fine, once these revisions are done. But it’s been time consuming and I could use a few months without a publication deadline.
Cut back on proposals to one or two a year.
Set aside half a day, turn off telephone, finish.
SLA presentation Great, but I need to stop revising slides.
Set a timer for 5 minutes/slide.
Running reference desk statistics Takes me way too much time because I love making graphs and charts.
Write down exactly what is needed (e.g. busiest hours during the week) and do just that.
The end
Ellie Dworak elliedworak@boisestate.eduErin White erwhite@vcu.eduWilliam Weare wweare@iupui.eduImage credits
http://bit.ly/timehacks
Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/52Q5Q58
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