Anything that I specifically love doing, like learning new things and getting better at my job, is reserved for the nights. I have set up recurring calendar invites for myself for these 15 minutes everyday at 10AM and 7PM. Answering emails, for example, does not feature in my list of accomplishments but still has a dedicated time slot each day. In these 15 minutes, I also send myself an email everyday with the subject line, “ What did I accomplish today?” Accomplish, yes, and not done. Similarly, towards the end of my work day, I also have 15 minutes to wrap my day and check my progress for the day. But once these 15 minutes pass, I just focus on whatever I have committed myself to for the day. Every morning, in the 15 minutes that I just talked about, I also move some slots here and there and change some tasks depending on my priorities. Whatever new comes in, I do the same exercise - simply add it in the calendar to be taken up in a next available slot.
I don’t take up any new work or ad hoc work on that day unless it’s equivalent of fire-fighting. It reflects the actual progress I plan to make in a day.Īt the start of every work day, I spend 15 minutes simply looking at the tasks I have added in my calendar for the day and adjust time slots and tasks if need be. My calendar is no more guided by others or filled with meetings. Why B? Adding something on the calendar helps me plan my days and weeks much in advance. What if it gets done sooner? That happens! And I love it when that happens. During the actual time of doing that task, if it doesn’t get done, I simply add another time slot for it (while minimizing the chances of this happening in the first step itself). I will usually also add a 20% buffer for unknown unknowns. Why A? This helps to give myself a time boxed goal of getting something done. As soon as I identify a task, instead of putting it on my ToDo list (and getting worried looking at the ever-expanding list), I do just two things now:Ī) Spend 10 seconds and figure out a rough time estimate of how much time the task will take.ī) Add that task at a particular time on a particular day, depending on how soon I want to finish it and the task’s priority, right on my my calendar. Productivity Hack - I threw my ToDo List away!
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