Bullet Journals & other time mangement talk

[farmerbarleymow]

You know they don't really believe that deadline is real though don't you. And thus the cycle continues.

I know, but it saves me having to shout at them at the actual deadline. I'll also omit any references to the actual deadline in the e-mail to keep them guessing.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I know, but it saves me having to shout at them at the actual deadline. I'll also omit any references to the actual deadline in the e-mail to keep them guessing.

This is why I say deadlines are bullshit. They're just social fiction, where everyone knows they aren't real deadlines, which makes it harder when there is a real deadline. You also get "deadline escalation", where people create shorter and shorter deadlines and those doing the work assume they are longer and longer. It's easier to just not use them at all.

 

[equationgirl]

GTD has some good stuff about "inboxing" - identifying where tasks come from, gathering them, doing the quick ones right then, then filing the others as appropriate.

IME there's a limited amount any system can do about impossible situations though. The point of divorcing tasks from deadlines is that deadlines don't determine how long the tasks for them will take, let alone what else you also have to do. I used to triage ad-hoc requests based on the urgency/importance axes (apparently this is called the "Eisenhower Principle") as well as order they were received and, unofficially, "is this person an arsehole", but after a while, if you get two or more people saying their thing needs to be done tomorrow and there's only time for one of them, it's a social issue - requirements capture and expectation management. I'd try to find out what they really needed doing, and when they really needed it, which is exhausting and time-consuming and sometimes involves asking other people.

Having a formal process for submitting requests to fall back on did work because it's hard to argue with - I think all departments should have one. It's also an idea that appeals to bureaucracy-minded folk so can get put in place by them.

I have used the formal system for submitting requests in the past with some degree of success. I play office top trumps a lot with requests (CEO requests are done first, then the degree of difficulty applied to other directors, then other requests). They've mostly learned that asking me repeatedly when something is going to be done doesn't help their cause.

 

[Hollis]

I play office top trumps a lot with requests (CEO requests are done first, then the degree of difficulty applied to other directors, then other requests).

My previous line manager - the CEO of the org. used to adopt this approach in the extreme - the only occasion he'd ever do anything was when the Chair was requesting something.

He managed to survive 4 years before 'they' figured out he was shite... Says alot for the power of an expensive suit and teeth whitening.

 

[Hollis]

Tried a simple bullet journal for a while, but like everything else never really built up the habit.

Tend to instinctively do a bit of 'time blocking', but again, haven't made it completely habitual.

Currently mostly use Notion, but we'll see how long that lasts.

How are you getting on with Notion? I had a look at it today - prompted by it being voted the best note-taking app on some twitter poll...

At first sight it looks abit too complicated and not intuitive... I can see it covers lots of things within one app though.