The Time Diet

My Productivity Bracket

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Have you filled out your bracket yet? Basketball? No. I’m talking about your productivity bracket.

We all know what it feels like to be pulled in a million different directions. When we accomplish work, it didn’t just…”happen.” It beat out many other priorities that day. This bracket is a tribute to the countless  time management battles we all fight each day. What tasks would you add to your bracket?

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March Fo(u)rth!

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Have you been putting off starting that one big project? You know, the one that has been at the bottom of your list forever just waiting for “some day” when you’ll finally get to it? Well, that “some day” is today. Just ask your calendar.

March Fo(u)rth!

Today is the only day of the year whose date is a complete sentence, and its message is important.

“March forth and conquer that last lingering task on your list. Reclaim your day and your productivity!”

(OK, so maybe it doesn’t say all of that…but that is how I choose to interpret it!)

We all have those tasks that seem to cling to the end of our list and never go away. The worst ones are the tasks that no one is “checking up” on for us.

If I miss deadlines for work, I’m definitely going to hear about it. If I turn in a paper late for my doctorate, my professors will ask for it. However, other types of tasks tend to get pushed to the bottom of my priorities when I know I’m not accountable to anyone else.

I have told myself that I need to try to set up a book signing for my new book, but I’ve been putting it off. Nobody was pressing me for it and it was easy to push it down my priority list. But no more!

Today, I will March Forth to the local bookstore to get the ball rolling. It will only take about an hour of my time and I will be so happy to finally check that task off my list.

What will you march forth and do today?

Btw, if you enjoy amusing calendar dates, you won’t want to miss  “pi day” on March 14th (3.14) and Star Wars day on May 4th (may the “fourth” be with you.)

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Photo Credit: Michael Marcol

Time Management is Like a Box of Chocolates?

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With Valentine’s Day around the corner, no doubt many of you will be receiving a box of chocolates. This holiday always reminds me of one of my favorite cliché movie lines (which I am only actually quoting here because some of my readers were still in diapers when Forrest Gump was released).
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”

Here is how that applies to time management.

Always put your all into tasks because you never know where they are going to lead.

Opportunities have a way of presenting themselves in unusual ways and you never know where different tasks and experiences will lead you. That’s why, before you dismiss a task as a frivolous waste of time, look deeper. Sometimes the potential is sitting just beneath the surface.

From Hobby to Opportunity

For example, a few years ago, I wrote my husband a song for Valentine’s Day (yes, that’s cheesy and no, you can’t hear it!) I knew next to nothing about recording music, but I wanted this to sound good, so I learned everything I could about the music software Garage Band. At the time, I remember thinking this project was consuming far more of my day than necessary, but it was interesting and fun.

After I finished that project, I realized what a great teaching tool Garage Band could be and started to use it in my classroom…

…which led to me giving several presentations about music technology at our state conference…

…which led to me helping my school district design and implement a music technology class…

…which led to me being asked to teach a Garage Band class at Arizona State University.

I could have never imagined this little project several years ago could have lead to so many cool things, but it did!

If something is interesting and fun for you, make the time to pursue it. By the same token, if something you have to do appears boring and wasteful at first, how can you use the knowledge you’re gaining to do something more beneficial?

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Photo Credit: Simon Howden

My 10-Second Time Management Resolution

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How long does it take you to complete your most dreaded “Vegetable” task on your to-do list? Easy, mindless Vegetable tasks are the easiest to put off because they “just take a few minutes.” However, if you knew exactly how little time they took, you’d be more likely to just get them over with.

While many people resolved to eat healthier in 2012,  my time management resolution is to stay on top of my Vegetable tasks before they build up and become more difficult Meat tasks.

My Time Management Resolution

The tasks I chose to tackle are keeping my office and kitchen clean. Filing a paper, or putting a bowl in the dishwasher hardly takes any time at all, but when I’m faced with a long afternoon of work to do, tidying up is the last thing on my mind.

But we all know how that story ends don’t we? Pretty soon, it isn’t just one bowl, it is a sink full of dishes. Pretty soon, it isn’t just one paper, it is a whole stack of papers. Then I’m left with two messes that will take a more substantial amount of time to tackle. My two easy Vegetables tasks have become Meats.

How Long Things Actually Take

Well this year is going to be different.

It takes exactly 10 seconds to file a piece of a paper.
It takes 6 seconds to put a dish in the dishwasher.

I know this because I timed myself.

Now, when I go to set a document down on my desk, instead of telling myself: “This will only take a minute to file. I’ll do it later.” I will instead say, “It takes 10 seconds to open the filing cabinet and put this away. I’m going to do it now.”

Why This Works

When we really don’t want to do something, we start to convince ourselves that things take longer than they actually do. If we know the exact amount of time it takes to complete a task,  it is easier to find the motivation to do it.

This year, pick your most annoying Vegetable, whether it is for work, home, or school, and time how long it actually takes you to complete. Then, when you catch yourself trying to put it off, ask yourself if it’s really worth saving it until “later” and letting it become a Meat task, or is it better to just take the allotted time now and finish it.

Good luck with your Vegetables and Happy New Year!

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A Procrastinator’s Holiday

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Happy Holidays from The Time Diet!

(sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)

“Dashing through the mall
More gifts are left to buy
My calendar’s so full
It’s bursting at the sides!

So much work to do
So much on my plate
Maybe this will be the year
I don’t procrastinate!

Oh….

Calendars, To-Do Lists
Planning all the way
Next year I’ll be organized
And that’s the way I’ll stay (Hey!)
Time Killers, Distractions
They won’t bother me
2012 will be the year
Of productivity!”

Wishing you and your family a Happy Holiday and a Joyous New Year!

~Emily Schwartz

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Cutting Your Losses

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The more hours of our day we sink into a failing task, the harder it is to admit that we may have made a mistake and move on. We continue to sink more wasted hours into the task in a fruitless attempt to make up for the time we’ve already wasted. The better plan is often to simply cut your losses, change your approach or scrap the task and make the most of the rest of your day.

Our brains don’t naturally work like this. When we have invested precious hours into something, we go into “loss prevention mode” in which we do anything we can to protect our investment. Unfortunately, in an effort to save wasted time, we just end up wasting more time!

It’s Human Nature

Here is an example of this concept using money rather than time from a study detailed in Psychology Today that says a lot about our time management:

In a hypothetical situation, participants were told that they had just invested 9 out of a total 10 million dollars developing a product when a competitor released a better and cheaper version. Knowing they could never compete with this new product, 80 percent of participants still said they would continue to invest the remaining 1 million dollars.

While logic would conclude it is better to lose 9 million dollars than 10 million, our natural instinct tells us to keep spending in vain in an attempt to recoup the lost money.

While this study had to do with money, I’m betting that if the study involved deciding whether or not to devote one more day, week, or month to a failed project, the results would be the same.

You’re Not Giving Up

There is a difference between giving up on yourself and cutting your losses when it comes to time management.

When a plan isn’t working, continuing to throw time at it won’t help. When you hit the pivotal moment in a task where you can either scrap it or keep going, ask yourself:

1) Will circumstances change in the future that will make my approach more likely to work?
2) Can I rework my plan without giving up on it entirely?
3) Is this plan the only way to achieve the results I want?  

If you answered “no” to these questions, then stop throwing more time at a failing task, cut your losses, move on, and try a different approach or a new direction altogether. You’re not “giving up” on yourself, but rather are making a calculated decision to make better use of your time.

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The Slow Day List

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During crunch time,  don’t you find yourself saying, “Why in the world didn’t I do this sooner??” That is why using a “Slow Day List” is so important.

We all have days that are busier than others. A Slow Day List is where we keep track of things we can do on less-busy days to help prepare for our stressful ones. During our most hectic times of the year, we’ve all thought to ourselves, “Next time, I’m going to do _______sooner,” but then… we forget.

A Slow Day List is a place to keep track of those things, so next time you have a less-busy day, you can easily remember exactly what to do to get ahead.

Crunch Time

The time between mid-November and mid-December is my “crunch time.” As a music teacher, I have six concerts to get my students ready for. As a student, I have papers to write and reading to finish. As a college teacher, I have assignments to assess and grades to prepare. As a person, I want to squeeze in time to enjoy the holiday season.

During this crazy time of year, I have added many things to my Slow Day List that I can hopefully do next year to ease my stress. I wanted to share some of those with you in the hopes that you too will start your own list!

Emily’s Slow Day List

1) Automate my Grading
I have 44 students in the online class I teach, and I made individual rubrics for each one of because I thought it was easier than figuring out the University’s automatic system…nope! On my next slow day I will figure out how to use the system so my grades are automatically tabulated. It will save me tons of time next year.

2) Make my Concert Programs on the First Day
I know my students save the programs from their first band concert, so I don’t want to leave any one’s name off. However, the small task of making this piece of paper always sneaks up on me and I end up rushing through it. Next time, I’m going to make the program on the first day of the quarter when I first set up my class roster. There is no reason not to!

3) Outline Papers Earlier
It is always easier to write papers from an outline, rather than from a blank screen. I may not want to write my paper too far in advance, since we’re not done covering material, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start sketching out my ideas.

4) Get Decorations Ready Earlier
I don’t need to put up my Christmas tree on Columbus Day, but making time for being festive once Thanksgiving is over is difficult with my other obligations. Next year, I will have my decorations ready to go before the holiday season starts getting busy.

What will you add to your Slow Day List?

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The Rule of Three

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Do you have more than three big things on your plate at any given time? If so, you might be overloading yourself.

This weekend, I stumbled across an article in a parenting magazine that I found surprisingly relevant to time management. (It should be noted that I am not a parent, however, when you’re on an airplane and forget to bring a book, you’re at the mercy of whatever reading material the person before you left in the seat-back pocket.)

The article was about how to make sure your child is engaged in enough activities with out being overloaded with too many things. The author referenced something called “The Rule of Three.”

The Rule of Three comes from the chain of command in the U.S. Marine Corps. Apparently, Marines are given no more than three things to worry about at any given time. There are three people assigned to a fire team with the fourth being their leader. Three teams are assigned to one squad and three squads are assigned to one platoon. The number “3” wasn’t just chosen at random either. The Marines experimented with a “Rule of Four,” and a “Rule of Two,” neither of which was as effective and efficient.

The point of the parenting article was to say that if you have your child involved in more than three activities (including school) you are asking them to keep track of more than a Marine, and that just isn’t fair!

When I read this, I couldn’t help but think that this is good advice for everyone, not just for parents of stressed-out children. Do we have the luxury of being able to limit ourselves to three things at a time? Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. Often, if we want to go to school, or have a job, or make time for our families and friends, we will end up with far more than three things to keep track of.

Therefore, I think The Rule of Three applies to focus almost more than involvement. You may be involved with countless responsibilities, but recognize that you’ll have to scale back your focus on some while you increase your involvement in others. This type of balance is what The Time Diet is all about.

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Giving Away Your Time

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We spend so much of our lives getting compensated for our time, that it’s important to remember to give it away once in a while. Even though our schedules already feel packed to their fullest, finding room to volunteer our time to a worthy cause is extremely rewarding and worthwhile.

On Friday, I had an opportunity to witness volunteer work at its finest. The PTO at the school where I work sponsored a Fall Festival to help raise money for classroom supplies. Parents and teachers donated candy, decorations, money, and most importantly, their time, to put the whole thing together.

However, the coolest part of the whole event was the Haunted House. Parents and teachers worked tirelessly to transform the school library into a ghostly maze for kids to explore…if they dared! Volunteers worked from 1:00pm to 9:00pm to design, build, staff and then tear down this popular attraction that raised hundreds of dollars for the school.

As I was watched all the students run screaming and giggling from the exit, only to run around the building and get in line again, I realized that I don’t make nearly enough time in my schedule to volunteer. There were so many people giving up their time to make this happen.

One dad works all day selling ad space in a newspaper, but that night he was a zombie. One volunteer was a high school student on the honors track and heavily involved in sports, but that night she was a mad scientist. Watching all of these people come together to help the school was incredible. They could have just donated 20 dollars and stayed home, but this was far more special.

If you haven’t found the time or opportunity to volunteer recently, I urge you to try it. You’ll be glad you did.

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Photo Credit: Stuart Miles

Passing vs Spending Time

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Usually, I am a huge advocate of finding ways to spend time, not pass time. When you are spending time you are looking for meaningful and purposeful ways to use your precious hours. When you are passing time, you’re just looking for ways to fill your day. Spending time leads to productivity or enjoyment. Passing time leads to….minutes ticking by on the clock.

However, during my flight to Florida last week, I realized that there are some situations when you do want to simply “pass time” in an effort to make it go by as fast as possible. Our 5-hour flight in to Orlando was one of those instances.

In this case, I was so excited to touch down at our destination and get out of my airline-seat prison that I was simply looking to pass the time as quickly as possible. (Coach airline travel is never particularly comfortable, and when you’re 6-feet tall it’s especially tight.)

This experience reminded me that finding things to do that pass the time quickly isn’t always easy. Here are a few tips:

 1) Keep it enjoyable

At first I tried to be productive on the plane, but that wasn’t working. The work I needed to do was un-enjoyable and made the time pass ridiculously slowly. If you want to make time pass quickly, do something you enjoy such as reading a book or listening to music. The phrase “time flies when you’re having fun” is cliché for a reason.

 2) Make it interactive

If you can make your enjoyable task interactive, such as doing a puzzle or playing a game, that’s even better. I like to see how quickly I can finish the crossword puzzle in the back of the in-flight magazine. Doing a puzzle like this keeps your brain engaged and makes the minutes fly by.

 3) Don’t look at your watch

If you’re trying to pass time quickly, resist the temptation to look at your watch. Doing so just reminds you how much time you have left to go. I like to just take mine off and put it in my pocket.

What is your favorite way to pass the time quickly? Please share!

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Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono