A system idea – (maybe?)

[bonnieUK]

Hi!

This is something I’m working on with myself at the moment.

I doubt this is an original idea, but I call it “morning optimisation†but it could be called “peak time optimisation†to be applicable to other times of day.

The idea is, to figure out when you are most productive during the day and take steps to optimise that peak efficiency time – e.g. scheduling the bulk of the day’s activity into that time, particularly any MITs (Most Important Tasks) as well as those little annoying chores that get put off (these are often the opposite of MITs, but don’t take very long and are likely to become a long list of annoying MITs at some point anyway if left ).

I seem to be a morning person, so I am trying to make better use of my mornings, which are basically from when I wake around 7.00 to 7.30 until lunchtime about 12.45 (yeah I know, I’m not a hardcore morning person, the kind who wakes at 5am though I would like to be if I could get to bed earlier!).

Some things I’m doing (very much early stages work in progress here!) are as follows:

• Follow morning routine
• Follow anti-procrastination rule (no checking personal emails etc. until lunchtime).
• Carry out MITs in the morning where possible.
• Clear small tasks/chores from to-do list (without spending too much time on each).
• Focus 100% on one task at a time where possible.

I’m not sure how this can be simplified into a catchy system concept, so to those reading, feel free to take this idea and run with it!

This system is working very well for me on work days, I’m already getting more done at work, plus clearing a few little chores before work. On weekends it’s good too as long as I don’t sleep in! (I don’t know if other morning people find this, but if I get up later than about 8.30 my productivity and energy levels are severely impaired for the rest of the day – which is fine if I plan on having a totally lazy day, but not if I’ve got lots of things I want to do).

p.s. just in case anyone is wondering, my morning routine (developed after joining FLYlady) at the moment is something like this:

• Empty dishwasher / fold laundry / other little jobs as needed (nothing too time consuming or noisy - husband is still in bed!)
• Breakfast and quiet time/meditation or reading (very important to start the day in the right mood!) – 15 mins.
• Shower etc., get dressed (quick and easy as long as I’ve chosen my clothes the night before!) – 15-20 mins.
• Quick bathroom clean-up – 2 mins to wipe surfaces, brush toilet etc. (very easy when done everyday because nothing seems dirty)
• Put on make-up, drink water, take vitamins – another 5-10 mins approx.
• Check calendar & dairy / to-do lists.

I’m hoping that once I get a bit more streamlined with these I can add a few more things to save time later in the day (e.g. some food preparation for dinner).

[kccc]

I've been doing the "energy optimization" (or whatever you want to name it) for a while. Like you, I'm a morning person, but not a crack-of-dawn morning person.

At work, my strategy is to block out two hours before noon each day (or most days) for those tasks that take sustained concentration. When I'm asked when I'm available for meetings, I only offer afternoon times. It took me a while to figure out that I shouldn't give away my "prime time" for things that didn't need it, because I simply couldn't use "leftover time" for that kind of work.

In the PM, I can send quick emails, do short tasks, etc. But if I can get a block of work done in the mornings, I have a sense of accomplishment for the day.

At home, I manage most of the morning routine and do the carpool when it's our turn every other week. (In return, my night-owl husband does most of the evening routine in terms of getting our son ready for bed.)

I do FLYlady routine lists too, and have them posted on the whiteboard in our kitchen since I tend to be brain-dead at night. I try to "work ahead" as much as I can... lunches and coffee get put together the evening before. Food for dinner thawed in the morning. That kind of thing.

I see my work in terms of horizontal (across multiple work projects and home) and vertical (deep in one project/activity) management. If I can get one good vertical chunk a day, then life is good.

[bonnieUK]

When I'm asked when I'm available for meetings, I only offer afternoon times. It took me a while to figure out that I shouldn't give away my "prime time" for things that didn't need it, because I simply couldn't use "leftover time" for that kind of work.

Hi KCCC

Me too on this! I also seem to have about 2 hours before lunch of solid work time (but between 9 and 10 is often dealing with post and little things) which makes me feel like I've accomplished something, even if the afternoons are filled with fire-fighintg and getting side-tracked.

I like the term "energy optimisation"

[kccc]

I like your anti-procrastination rule. I may have to implement it. This morning, I put off a critical task because something in my inbox distracted me. (Also work that needed doing... but not what I'd planned.)

Have you seen this? It's sort of like "Getting Things Done" meets "No-S Habit-Building" in my mind: Zen to Done He has it out as an e-book, which I have.

The blog is good too. Zen Habits.

Okay, lunch break is over. Back to critical task. I have about another good half-hour in me.

[urbansix]

I like your second rule too. (all are invaluable 5 actually) I was working on something to make myself more productive and to quit wasting work time doing personal and/or wasteful internet browsing. I was going to call it Morning Luddite. Originally I said no internet until after Shovelglove and run (if running that day), which worked pretty good for me. Now that I'm working from home I desperately see the need to add "log 3 (dare I say 4? maybe as olympic gold level...) billable hours before any personal internet"

[bonnieUK]

Hi, just catching up on threads

KCCC - I quite like Zen habits and check it out about 1-2 times per week (I have to control myself when it comes to reading blogs or I could spend all day doing it!).

Urbansix - I thought about calling my morning anti-procrastination rule morning luddite too but as I use a computer and sometimes the internet - goverment websites etc. (and yes it can be tempting just to click the Yahoo button while online, but so far I have been good!) for work it didn't seem to fit I'd recommend start by setting the goal of 3 hours and then move on to 4 once you've got that established. Good luck

[kccc]

Bonnie, you continue to be an inspiration!

This morning, I checked my email before I left home, weeding through junk quickly and noting outstanding tasks. Then... when I got to work I didn't open email until I first put in my time on my big task.

I feel SUCH a sense of accomplishment today. What a great strategy! It kept me from doing lots of little tasks - things that DO need doing, but that can be done in low-energy time.

Thank you.

[reinhard]

Great discussion! Sorry it took me so long to weigh in.

I sort of integrate this "morning optimization" into my daily cards. Tasks I KNOW I'm going to get done because some human or animal will scream don't need explicit formulation -- so I can skip writing down stuff like "brush teeth" and "make breakfast" or even "do dishes." Stuff that I might actually neglect to do but really shouldn't becomes a task in the routine column, which I sort more or less chronologically: cat meds, speak German with the girls, etc.

As for procrastination, I guess I have three tricks:

1. "anti bookmarks" a list of sites that I keep on my big picture sheet which I'm not allowed to look at from 9-5. This has worked like a charm. You'd think you'd have to write down a million sites, but for me at least, there are just a few "gateway" sites that I'd check automatically and could lead to endless further browsing. By restricting those, I have to think where to start, and when I think, I realize that I shouldn't bother starting anywhere and get back to work. I still wind up spending some time on these sites, but it's limited and off peak hours that aren't very fit for productive work anyway, and because I know I don't have much time, my browsing is more focused -- I do actually come away with useful knowledge in a reasonably time efficient way.

2. keeping a single explicit task for checking and posting to the everyday systems bulletin board so I don't do it a hundred times a day. By taking something potentially problematic and turning it into something positive, I both limit it, and make it actually useful. I turned a (partially) bad habit into a (mostly) productive responsibility. I'm also forced to budget for it -- it's 1/10 of my N-daily tasks.

3. (new) a task on my daily card called "CHECK" which put a mark next to every time I check my personal email. I'm finding that four times a day is a comfortable limit (not wanting to draw that slash through the four marks to make them five is powerful disincentive!). I have to make the mark BEFORE checking, so I don't forget, and to make it more intentional. I only just started doing this, but so far it's paid good dividends. Without it, I'd easily check my personal email 10 or even 20 times a day.

Reinhard

[kccc]

Reinhard, I like the "check" idea for email.

I've started dividing my tasks into "above the line" and "below the line." For routines, that mostly is the morning cluster and the evening cluster (which is how they fall). But for work tasks, the critical ones go up top and the less-critical ones on the bottom. I leave blank(s) between the groups (Because of how my tasks are "chunked" I rarely use all 10 lines. And if I need to, I can use the blanks for emerging tasks.)

Above-the-line tasks are the ones that really "count" toward a successful day.

However, I rarely get all my tasks checked off, and fall into the trap of "quantity vs. quality" too easily. I'm going to give myself one star for "all above line tasks," two for "all tasks," and NONE for "below line tasks done, but above line tasks not done."

Another strategy... for some tasks, like "writing" - the amount of time/effort is not well represented by the line on the card. It looks like less work than a small call list, even though it's much more. For those, I put blank check boxes, each of which represents a 15-minute increment of time that I want to dedicate to the task, and give myself points for filling those boxes. Keeps me focused, and represents work better.