Nick Wilson has a great suggestion dealing with time usage on the Performancing.com blog, pointing out that
"Its one thing to be efficient, and dilligent in your productivity efforts, but when you start adding other people to the equation you can quickly get bogged down in . . . unproductive tasks, conversations and meetings."
I know that this happens with me and my art life, not to mention my personal life. Any helpful suggestions for dealing with distractions and time-wasters in my studio / office is welcome, so I read more with interest.
It turns out that Nick's idea developed in a conversation he had with Merlin Mann from 43Folders. Even before the conversation actually began Merlin asked if Nick would like to:
" bullet point what we needed to get done in our discussion, and . if 15mins would be sufficient. . .As a result of sticking to a time frame, and having a defined structure to the call, we got what we needed to do done in time"
Great idea; and one that sounds to me as if it would be applicable to many of our lives - and doable as well. What it would require would be a bit of self discipline and a willingness to be proactive.
The discipline could have wonderful potential though and may pay off in a real profit from this approach. In fact Nick says that
"The act of deciding what had to be accomplished . .(and). . agreeing how long it would take made for a very productive meeting, and I learnt a lot about getting other people to be productive when it would affect me in the process."
Taking that lesson back to my life, if I'd just jot down a bullet point list of what I want to accomplish in the next bit of time I have, and decide on a time limit that I agree to stick to might just be the first step.
In that vein, in the [non] billable hour blog self described life-long idea collector Matt Homann tells about an exercise done by Mark at Manager Tools with his clients.
Quoting Matt quoting Mark
" . the disparity between what they (clients) know their jobs to be and what they spend their time doing is the primary source of their dissatisfaction in their role."
Bingo. We need to make this kind of agreement with people we're working or interacting with and also make the same kind of agreement with ourselves regarding what we're going to accomplish.
A habit takes 21 days to establish - supposedly. I'm going to give it my best shot.
