Moderation
August 12th, 2005
Recently I had some time to reflect on how busy my schedule is and how I’m dividing my time. I came to the conclusion that I’m doing things all wrong.
Doing it wrong?
Well, doing it wrong may be a strong statement to make but I’ve learned a few things over the past couple weeks. There have been a proliferation of productivity blogs, books and articles making their way around the web. Sure, they’ve been around for a while and this goes more towards my point.
Time, your friend and your enemy
For those not in the know, the whole point of the GTD movement is to organize your work and life efficiently. That’s all well and good but if you’re still not good at managing your time your organization will suffer. If your organization suffers you’re no further ahead than when you started.
One thing that I’ve done to help manage my time better is moderation. This works especially well for those of you working at home. It takes some discipline but moderating your time, your work, and your schedule can also help you become more productive.
How do you moderate?
Here is a short list of things that I do to help moderate my day and projects. Some may work for you and some may not. If you have any tips for moderation and GTD feel free to add them in the comments.
- Take a lunch break. Walk away from the computer and sit down for lunch in another room. Better yet, go out for lunch if your budget allows it.
- Make your lunch break last ½ - 1 hour
- Work on multiple projects throughout the day. At minimum work on one project in the morning and another one in the afternoon.
- Stop working after a specific time. Make the time early enough so you can still spend time with the kids or catch a movie or do something in the evening.
- Stop checking your email every minute or every 5 minutes. Check it every ½ hour or hour.
- In your spare time read books other than ones related to your field of employment or expertise. Constant submergence in one area will wear you out sooner than you’d hoped.
On August 12th, 2005, Faruk Ates said:
Good tips, I should implement the few that I’m not using yet. I try to enforce my lunch time to be not longer than an hour, but my colleagues at work are real babblers and like to linger on after lunch, chatting away for almost a full hour (it’s horrible!). I’m probably just going to start working on while they chat, cos I don’t like the lack of productivity.
I also should stop checking my mail and everything else so often. I have five accounts / systems I check almost every 15 mins, should really cut it down to once / hour.
On August 12th, 2005, Mike said:
Yeah, some of those things are a lot harder when you’re working with others. Especially the talkative type. In all the companies I’ve worked for there were very few that didn’t have at least 2 or 3 people that disliked their work and would do anything possible to extend their lunches and breaks.
When it comes down to it, those are the type of people that have led me down a very unproductive path in the past. After a while I tend to ignore them and get on with finishing my work.
The email thing was the hardest for me and I still find myself breaking my schedule to check my mail more often than I should. I have a feeling that people have the most trouble with that one.
On August 16th, 2005, Colin D. Devroe said:
Reading GTD articles only does you good if you actually heed the advice. So far I’ve taken a few tips from here, a few from there, and I’ve been able to increase productivity rather well.
I still have a hell of a long way to go though.
On August 17th, 2005, Mike said:
Actually applying the knowledge you’ve gained while reading all these articles and books is key. I’ve still got a way to go in that department as well but it’s a journey.