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Doing Things In Advance
Picture found here
Lately, I have become slightly addicted to doing things far in advance. Sure, doing that, there is a risk that I do something now that I later will discover is not necessary to do at all. But at least in my daily life, there are plenty of tasks that I am sure I need to do, sooner or later.
Now and then, say, a couple of times a week, I pick out tasks on my to do list that is due in the future, maybe two months from now. Before doing what is on today’s to do list, I set aside half an hour to do these future tasks. Doing that, I feel as if I am wrapping a gift for my future self. A spring day in May, I will find that something I need to do in regard to a talk I will give is already completed – by me. I will think “Thank you, past David! You have made this day easier for me.”.
Of course, since I am ambitious and have a tendency to be too optimistic when it comes to time, I today still have some tasks that are past the date that I first thought was a suitable due date. Nonetheless, I let myself indulge in the pleasure of completing tasks well in advance. If I am already a day late by my own standards, thirty more minutes will not do any harm.
That is an investment in future wellbeing.
David Stiernholm is a consultant who creates good structure and efficient work procedures for organizations and their people.
His book “Klart! – Bli superstrukturerad på 31 dagar” is available from April 12th 2012, published by Roos & Tegnér.
You can pre-order it here.
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Adrenaline Junkie
Child with Toy Hand Grenade By Diane Arbus
Some people always tend to do things in the last minute. This might have been acceptable when you were at university. But is it still OK when working at a company where you affect others?
If you’re the kind of person that does everything in the last minute, make up fake deadlines for yourself and get that adrenaline kick that you’re looking for when completing a task for a deadline – without harming or stressing people around you.
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Three Important Things
Illustration by Moonassi
Three Important Things is all about the “big rocks first” technique of scheduling your three most important tasks into your day and letting everything else flow around them.
The analogy concerning the “rocks” goes like this:
You’re given one jar, three big rocks, a small quantity of pebbles and some sand. If you pour the pebbles and sand into the jar first, there won’t be room to force the rocks into it – but if you put the rocks in first, the pebbles can flow around the rocks, then the sand can be poured in to fill the gaps.
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Top Stress Tips
Portrait of an Artist by David Hockney
Here are som of Mark “The Stress Doc’” Gorkin’s, tips on how to handle stress. Read more about them here.
1. Exercise Regularly.
2. Discover the Meditative and Sensual Mode.
3. Find a Hobby.
4. Learn to Let Go.
5. Express Healthy Anger.
6. Declare Your Emancipation Procrastination.
7. Seek Out Others with Similar Issues.
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Checklist for Inspiration
Photo here
Having checklists containing all those tasks that need to be done but don’t really inspire me, gives me space to think of beautiful and interesting things.
David Stiernholm is a consultant who creates good structure and efficient work procedures for organizations and their people.
This post was first published March 11th 2011.
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Doing the Right Thing, is the Right Way to do Things
Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, the optimistic title of Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, inspires me to think twice. There is a difference in doing things right and doing the right things, he says. Yes, right you are, but tell me more please mister Randy.
What exactly is the right thing to do?
I for example usually feel that having another cup of coffee is the right thing to do. There are four questions you can ask yourself to find out, Randy says.
First:
Why am I doing this?
Well, I like coffee.What is the goal?
To get more energy I guess. And happiness.Why will I succeed?
That’s easy. I can smell it brewing in the office kitchen.Last but not least:
What happens if I choose not to do it?Randy Pausch, you have convinced me. I will NOT have another cup. I will sleep much better without it and my teeth will be happy. Thank you. You are great.
Watch his inspiring lecture on YouTube. So far 11 082 315 people already have.
written by Josefine Thronell, copywriter
This is a repost. This post was first published on the 19th of February 2010.
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Record Your Thoughts
Love this time management tip from entrepreneur.com:
Carry a schedule and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious moments are going. You’ll see how much time is actually spent producing results and how much time is wasted on unproductive thoughts, conversations and actions.
// Livia
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Sleep
Picture here
Our dear friends at Sandbox just shared some interesting facts about sleep with us! Check out the wonderful infographic “So What If You Don’t Sleep Enough?” by Cliff Kuang.
Only 7% of people get eight hours of sleep a night. But the effects of this might be calamitous: Getting less sleep is associated with a 200% rise in cancer, a 100% rise in heart disease, and a 20% rise in the likelihood you’ll be dead in 20 years. That said, what the infographic doesn’t tell is that sleeping too much can be almost as a dangerous as not sleeping enough. If you sleep over nine hours a day, you’re more likely to be fat, diabetic, depressed, and have heart disease. So get eight hours, but no more.
// Mai-Li
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Choose One and Only One
Choose one and only one
- To do list
- Project overview
- List of what you are waiting for from othersand as few places as possible for reference material.
// David Stiernholm
Visit his website for more tips on how to structure your time.
David Stiernholm is a consultant who creates good structure and efficient work procedures for organizations and their people.
His book “Klart! – Bli superstrukturerad på 31 dagar” is available from April 12th 2012, published by Roos & Tegnér. You can pre-order it here.
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Take the Easy Way Out
If you want to make things difficult for yourself, use the mail inbox as your to do-list. Because,
- the subject line seldom tells you what to do
- often during the day, someone adds undefined “tasks” to your list
- sometimes, a single “task” represents a plethora of things for you to do (but it does not say so until you dig deeper)David Stiernholm is a consultant who creates good structure and efficient work procedures for organizations and their people.
His book “Klart! – Bli superstrukturerad på 31 dagar” is available from April 12th 2012, published by Roos & Tegnér. You can pre-order it here.
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Andrew Rozas
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