Time management

[rivercrow]

Hold onto your hats folks, I have a startling announcement:

Originally Posted by Rivercrow

I have a time management problem.

Yeah--no kidding. Because I have no need to manage groups of people now, organize computer processes, shake sticks and rattle cages, my Te and Se skills are ebbing out the window like so many spiderlings in a gale.

It's not altogether a good thing.

(I'm on Benadryl today too, which has not helped my lucidity in the tiniest. )

How do the rest of you open-ended people get the necessary things done?

[ptgatsby]

Originally Posted by rivercrow

How do the rest of you open-ended people get the necessary things done?

Delegate.

(Seriously, that's what I do in your situation. Try being lower on the totem... it's way harder when you are being delegated to! )

[rivercrow]

Heh.

I'm working for myself at the moment. Makes delegation hard to do.

[ptgatsby]

Originally Posted by rivercrow

Heh.

I'm working for myself at the moment. Makes delegation hard to do.

Ermm... right. That does make it difficult.

The best answer, non-type based, is to walk away from work until you are ready to start, then start and carry through. The main risk is that you become unproductive while sitting around trying to accomplish things. Better to go into flurries of concentrated work, rather than get into the trap of "But I should... but I don't wannnnnnt to..." Do whatever you want, but don't flounder when working.

As an INTP, I'll say that it's about as effective as... uhh... Yah. Why I am posting on MBTIc again? Right.

[Jennifer]

I barely get things done.

Obviously y'all know more now of the extent of what I have jam-packed into my mind, the things that have made it so hard to focus and organize trivialilities... but really, the only thing that controls my life at the moment is the Pressing Need of the Moment.

Part of me likes that, in a way. I actually feel good by seeing what I can make work with the least amount of preparation ahead of time. But much of life just can't handle that much impromptu action, and it's not good for long-term progress anywhere.

I'm in the process of (*gasp*) creating some itemized lists of things I need to do, and breaking long-term goals down into concrete steps to accomplish and "check off."

But it's like landing on Mars: I have no clue where I am or how to do this. In the past, even if I had a list, I would just ignore it.

Hmmm, maybe I could delegate something to gatsby... or RC. As a favor.

[faith]

Originally Posted by ptgatsby

Ermm... right. That does make it difficult.

The best answer, non-type based, is to walk away from work until you are ready to start, then start and carry through. The main risk is that you become unproductive while sitting around trying to accomplish things. Better to go into flurries of concentrated work, rather than get into the trap of "But I should... but I don't wannnnnnt to..." Do whatever you want, but don't flounder when working.

As an INTP, I'll say that it's about as effective as... uhh... Yah. Why I am posting on MBTIc again? Right.

That's pretty much how I approach it. Either I don't touch the work, or I immerse myself in it until it's done.

Just thought: That's how I eat too. Seems like I forget to eat for a long time, then get really hungry and eat everything in site. Weird.

[FineLine]

Originally Posted by rivercrow

Hold onto your hats folks, I have a startling announcement:



Yeah--no kidding. Because I have no need to manage groups of people now, organize computer processes, shake sticks and rattle cages, my Te and Se skills are ebbing out the window like so many spiderlings in a gale.

It's not altogether a good thing.

(I'm on Benadryl today too, which has not helped my lucidity in the tiniest. )

How do the rest of you open-ended people get the necessary things done?

I'm pretty good at organizing and staying on schedule. It took me a while to learn, though. I used to procrastinate so badly that I dropped out of my senior year of high school because I hadn't done any work the entire year and about 10 reports and projects were all coming due at the same time.

Anyway, I like moving quickly between lots of little tasks. My ideal situation is to have a day loaded up with lots of tasks ranging from 5 minutes to 20 minutes in length. Everything stays fresh, I stay engaged in the work process, and the biggest challenge is to have everything organized so that nothing drops through the cracks or gets lost in the paper-shuffling.

I use the same principle on longer tasks. If I'm having trouble getting started on a big project, then I'll start early and work on it in 5-minute increments now and again over the day. It may take forever getting the project properly underway, since it may take multiple increments just to break out the books and prep the materials. But working in short increments is easy, and meantime the project percolates in my head during the time I'm working on other tasks. Eventually I get a firm picture of the project in my head and I can start working on it for longer time periods or just sit down and get it done all at once.

Same thing for doing a lot of difficult projects around the house on the weekend. I prep multiple project sites around the house the night before, then the next day I circulate from one to the next doing 5 minutes on each. It's unproductive at first, but it helps me get started on them relatively painlessly. And eventually I reach a point where the projects take off and I can sit down and really concentrate on them.

The only danger in this approach is that you may leave a lot of half-finished projects lying around the house or office. But then just tackle them with fresh 5-minute intervals until they're done.

That's just one trick among many that works for me. Consider getting a self-help book on procrastination/getting organized/time management. A lot of times these sorts of problems are solved by just finding some easy little trick that works for you.

FL

[ptgatsby]

Originally Posted by faith

Just thought: That's how I eat too. Seems like I forget to eat for a long time, then get really hungry and eat everything in site. Weird.

I used to do that... back when I was a computer junkie, I would throw myself into something and then simply stop eating... drinking. In order to cope with this, I'd fill up a jug of water, add some lemons... I wouldn't even be aware of drinking it, but it'd be gone. Sadly, this backfired, because I began ignoring that I had to go to the bathroom.

But that's what you want to emulate. If you start getting distracted, simply stop what you are doing and walk away until you can focus. The focus takes time to develop, but it does happen.

[rivercrow]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

I barely get things done.

This is a feature of yours I quite like, actually.

Hmmm, maybe I could delegate something to gatsby... or RC. As a favor.

Heh. Riiiight.

In college, a friend and I would make "To Do" lists for each other and prioritize things. That worked out. Maybe I need another list-exchange buddy.

[rivercrow]

Originally Posted by faith

That's pretty much how I approach it. Either I don't touch the work, or I immerse myself in it until it's done.

Just thought: That's how I eat too. Seems like I forget to eat for a long time, then get really hungry and eat everything in site. Weird.

I do this too. Drives hubby crazy....