deepstash
Beta
Maker vs manager: How to connect your schedule to your goals
Switching Between Maker And Manager Schedules
The real problem according to experts, is making the switch between managing and making, due to the fact that our brain does not immediately obey us and is stuck on the work that was happening earlier, something known as attention residue.
We can take the help of certain rituals and routines that can help us switch between the two modes, like taking a walk, a few minutes of deep breathing, a short burst of exercise or even a slow cup of coffee.
13 SAVES
26 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
8
Key Ideas
Switching between tasks
Most of us spend our days jumping between tasks and tools.
In fact, most people average only 3 minutes on any given task before switching to something else (and only 2 minutes on a di...
Task switching and focus
Taking on additional tasks simultaneously can destroy up to 80% of your productive time:
- Focusing on one task at a time = 100% of your productive time available.
- Juggling two tasks at a time = 40% of your productive time for each and 20% lost to context switching.
- Juggling three tasks at a time = 20% of your productive time for each and 40% lost to context switching.
A schedule for sustained attention
- Large chunks of focused “flow” time for more demanding projects.
- “Themed” days to reduce the need to recalibrate between different tasks.
- Advanced planning so you can prioritize meaningful work.
- Realistic time set aside for admin, communication, and meetings.
- Clear expectations for your teammates so they know when not to interrupt you.
6
Key Ideas
The urgency bias
We usually give priority to unimportant tasks when there is a sense of urgency around them.
We’re actually psychologically wired to put aside important tasks in favor of ta...
Why it’s hard to ignore urgent tasks
A few explanations as to why it’s so hard to reject urgent tasks:
- The completion bias. Our brains crave the reward we get from checking off small to-dos from our list.
- Tunnel vision: When we get overwhelmed by the things we have to do, we choose to act on those most available to us; these are usually emails, calls, meetings, and other low-friction tasks.
Urgency puts us into reactive mode
The problem is that we’re continually bombarded with urgent work: emails, meetings, calls, and instead of being in control of our time and attention, we respond and act on someone else’s priorities.
12
Key Ideas
Time Debt
The choices we make to ‘borrow’ our personal time to get work done works against us in the long run, just like the money borrowed from a credit card has to be paid back with interest in the future....
Track Your Time
You need to find out just where your time is going currently. You can use a pen and paper, a spreadsheet, or an app to visualize where you spend most of the hours in your day.
Create A Time-Blocking Template
- Block your time for specific types of work, not individual tasks.
- Block your time for core work like coding, designing or writing, for shallow work like daily tasks and maintenance, for meetings and emails, and fill it with frequent breaks to replenish yourself.
- Give yourself space between blocks so that you can decompress and keep your energy levels high.