Time Management for Creative People: Manage the mundane – create the extraordinary.
Manage the mundane – create the extraordinary. I smile every time I read that line. It’s empowering. [... Continue reading ... Free e-book: Time Management for Creative People
Technorati Tags: business, creative, design, ebook, free ebook, Time ManagementOk, I fess. Perhaps it’s not as long as should be could be.
But, after throwing a pity fit last week, I’m growing excited about the progress made since taking on Mark’s Time Management series.
I’m a workaholic. I’m used to waking my computer around 5am or earlier. And shutting down around 11pm or later. Weekends and holidays. Trains, planes, cars and hotel rooms.
Bouncing through the back roads of Kenya found me with laptop on my lap. Praying my battery would hold out.
Bali was one of the few holidays where my computer was quiet. Reason? Being exhausted from the overwork it took just to take the time off, I slept through most of the trip.
But now, learning how time management works for me, I’m pushing myself away from the keys most evenings and larger chunks of my weekends.
An unexpected plus? I’m sleeping longer.
An unexpected minus? Because I’m sleeping longer, my back feels like it’s breaking in two.
No matter.
I’m gaining more free time by weaning myself away from emails (mostly) at night and (mostly) during the weekends. Two weekends so far.
Mostly, not completely. Some replies need to be made. And others, well, I’m just made that way.
It feels great.
And it feels lonely sometimes.
And I bet you are wondering how I did it.
By taking Mark’s advice in Get Things Done by Putting Them Off Till Tomorrow.
Mark suggests taking emails from today, and placing them into a folder for tomorrow.
That didn’t work for me in the exact same way as I’m a ‘out of sight, out of mind’ type of lass.
How do I know?
Because I tried it last year. I put all my URGENT emails into their own folder. And there they sat.
I believe they were still there when my macmail went down. Swallowing them alive.
So what I did was tweak Mark’s advice to develop my own version of putting emails off to tomorrow (and further).
Batching it, I go through emails and:
By leaving unanswered emails in the inbox, I know what I need to get back to at some point.
And if I’m snowed under, I have the 50 rule. If my inbox has reached 50 unanswered emails, I try to make the time to answer soon. Or then. Depending.
What works for me might not work for you. Taking the time to read Mark’s well written post Get Things Done by Putting Them Off Till Tomorrow could save you time. It has for me.
My responses to Mark’s weekly questions:
What difference would it make to your work if you knew every morning how much work you had to get through that day?
It would be a dream. I still have too many outside distractions taking me away from my work. It’s getting less, but as it’s only been a week I’m keeping to the ‘I’ll have to wait and see’ of the past five weeks.
Apart from ‘do it tomorrow’ how else could you create ‘buffers’ between incoming demands and your response?
Good question. I’m still at the mercy of workmen (as well as other non email distractions). If I don’t make time to go with their schedule, things don’t get done (delivered, fixed, created).
I’m told a reno is like that. That life feels like it’s always going to be chaos.
But, the dust has settled. The reno to-do list is shrinking to a short list. My time will come.
Technorati Tags: business, creative, design, Time ManagementWell, it’s Monday. The fourth Monday of the forth week of actively working on Mar’s Time Management series. And since it’s after 6pm, it’s been Monday all day for me. A Monday of two steps forward one step back.
I won’t bore you with the details. But, I will say that Tuesday will be spent trying to do what Monday should have done. [... Continue reading ... Managing Time. I Have Needs. They Have Needs.
Technorati Tags: business, creative, design, Time ManagementLast week when I responded to Mark’s post, Prioritise Work That is ‘Important But Not Urgent’, I shared an ah, ha! moment.
The ‘room at the top of the stairs’ moment.
This week, I’m reaping the rewards.
Mostly.
[... Continue reading ... Time Management: Ring-fencing
What if you lived in a country without live music, libraries, decent bookstores or shopping. Or, forget decent, any art museums at all.
And what if this country was on an island (Borneo), where getting anywhere else (anywhere else = offstation) was an effort as well as an expense. And what if it was the norm to have help (help = amah) live in to cook, clean, iron, take care of house guests and additional staff, and look after the garden.
[... Continue reading ... Time Management: What if …
As mentioned in my intro post, Getting My Creative Butt Organised, every Monday I will answer Mark’s questions from his Time Management series on Business of Design online.
From Mark,
So, … paraphrasing from Mark’s first post in the series – The opposite of concentration is distraction, which brings on interruptions, turning into frustration. And around it goes.
[... Continue reading ... Why We Need to be Organised to be Creative
Are you struggling with organising your work, blogging time and home life? I am. These days anyway. In the past I juggled a multitude of projects no problem. These days I’m over-saturated.
(If you are a DWB regular, I’m sure you’ve noticed posts slipping)
I knew this was coming, so I started tackling the problem last year by stepping back from various commitments. Not enough apparently.
[... Continue reading ... Getting My Creative Butt Organised
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