Organizing your time

[xlrsnbrgParticipant 1786]

A friend of mine is reading this book called “Time Management (for system administrators)” by T. A. Limoncelli and he recommended it to me. He said it’s one of the best books he’s ever read. He’s not a system administrator and neither am I, but I picked it up too and after reading the first few chapters, I have to agree: this might be one of the most useful books I have ever read.

All the previous time management books I’ve seen suck. They tend to show you silly tricks or methods that don’t work on long term and just make you more stressed. This one is different. This guy gives you a series of principles that will make your work more organized, while reducing mental effort and stress; and then explains how to use them to plan your short term, medium term and even life-long tasks and objectives. What struck me is that I recognized some of them in advice I’ve seen on this forum.

Here are a few quotes from my notes:

* Don’t trust your brain to remember things. Write them down in an organizer and focus your brain only on the task you’re working on right now.
* Turn regular activities into routines so you spend less time planning for things that are going to happen anyway.
* Set priorities. Stop caring for things that don’t matter.
* Always spend 10 minutes at the beginning of the day to plan the tasks you’re going to do that day. Especially on the hectic days when you might be tempted to skip this and jump directly to work or e-mail.
* Sooner is better than later. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t spend more time thinking and planning for a task than the actual time it takes to do that task.
* Nobody said on their death bed that they wish they had worked more. Enjoy your free time.
* Unclutter your work space. Mess distracts the mind. Keep it clean and tidy. Put away stuff you don’t need any time soon. Don’t be afraid to throw away stuff you don’t use.
* Stop checking the e-mail all the time. Once every 2 hours is enough. If there’s anything urgent, they can come to your office.
* Don’t open facebook, messenger, newspapers etc. while you work.
* Find the best time of the day you are focused, and plan the most important work during that time. Don’t let anything interrupt you unless it’s extremely urgent. If possible delegate new tasks to your coworkers, if not record the task for later and acknowledge politely that you will take care of it, then return to your work.
* Learn to say no to people.
* It takes 21 days for the brain to turn a routine into a habit.

I might write more as I read more chapters.

A man shouldn't make his life's objective to be on the side of the majority, but to avoid finding himself in the ranks of the insane. (Marcus Aurelius)

[Jan SobieskiParticipant 28791]

All well reasoned advice.

Thank you.

Love is just alimony waiting to happen. Visit mgtow.com.

[HitmanParticipant]

People fail to plan. .they don’t plan to fail.
Great tips.
Keep your home clean and neat.
Keep your car clean and up to date on maintenance.
Stay well stocked with food and have a minimum amount of laundry to do.
Cover the basics.
Make it a habit.
Spare time will pop up and you can then truly enjoy it !

[Chaff/FlareParticipant 3235]

Hitman wrote:

People fail to plan. .they don’t plan to fail.
Great tips.
Keep your home clean and neat.
Keep your car clean and up to date on maintenance.
Stay well stocked with food and have a minimum amount of laundry to do.
Cover the basics.
Make it a habit.
Spare time will pop up and you can then truly enjoy it !

I needed to hear that. Got away from me

When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to reflect.

[Author]

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