In re-reading an older post on time, I found my tone quite tetchy! I think I was tired of hearing people say ‘I didn’t have time to do x…’ as a reason for not doing something. I wanted to revisit the subject with some more thoughts on how we view and use our time, and things to try if you want to work with greater focus and intention.

Types of time we need to do our work

Time for lone work, reflection and response – asynchronous
VS
Time for collaboration, discussion and group decision-making – synchronous

Time to step away and get some air or do something different to freshen ourselves.
VS
Time to push through when we’re nearly there

Time to get started
VS
Time to switch off to eat, meditate or nap.

Time to work proactively
VS
Time to work reactively

Proactive Time VS Active Time VS Inactive Time. See here for more on this

Time for Divergent thinking
VS
Time for Convergent thinking

Time for deep work on something complex – analysts and other techies really need this!
VS
Time for admin
Time for sending or responding to messages

Time for experimentation and trying out something new
Time for learning and practicing a skill
Time for ideas
VS
Time for planning our workload and deciding priorities
Time for writing documents – or writing a blog post 🙂

Time for one-two-one support from peers or your manager
VS
Time for sharing knowledge with others
Social time, getting to know others or building relationships

Being intentional with your time and encourage your team to do the same

Block out time in the calendar for your priorities and for your breaks.

Choose to be unavailable and indicate it on your online status. Set time for admin and replying to messages once a day and you will not fall behind. Your boss should know how to contact you in a genuine emergency.

Chunking time – it there is a boring task you can chip away at try scheduling 10 mins at the end of each day of inactive brain time. If it needs quality time, schedule an hour at your prime time of day, but again, think about whether you might need a few of these sessions or if it works for you to spend whole days on something to really immerse yourself.

Try Pomodoro technique to get you unstuck when you can’t start. Also helpful to ensure you are devoting chunks of uninterrupted time to deep work.