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Time Management For Grumpy Programmers
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Chris Hartjes
February 04, 2017
Technology
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Time Management For Grumpy Programmers
Slides of a talk on time management strategies I gave at SunshinePHP 2017
Chris Hartjes
February 04, 2017
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Transcript
Time Management For Grumpy Programmers Chris Hartjes SunshinePHP 2017 https://joind.in/talk/31298
Who Am I? Long-time PHP user Testing advocate Verified Twitter
User Life-balance champion Semi-organized
What do people REALLY mean when they start talking about
“Time Management”
“I want to get stuff done.”
“I have too much to do”
“I want control of my life.”
– WikiPedia “Time management is the act or process of
planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.”
“Doing what you can with the time you have.”
“Getting Things Done” by David Allen “Time Management For Anarchists”
by Jim Monroe
The Grumpy Time Management System 1. Work from finish to
start 2. You can never “create more time” 3. Do fewer things but do them better
Let’s use this talk as an example of the system
in action
Work from finish to start I knew when I had
to give the talk …and I know how long it takes me to write one… …so I picked a completion date
“I knew when I had to give the talk…” Open-ended
tasks destroy productivity Create your own deadlines if necessary
“I knew when I had to give the talk…” Put
future events in your calendar You WILL forget important things so reduce the risk
“So what goes in my calendar?”
EVERYTHING. Really. EVERYTHING
“What goes in my calendar?” Meetings at work Activities with
my kids Down-time with my wife Hobbies
Putting things in my calendar reduces the stress I feel
about what I do
I added the conference to my calendar
None
Resolved to finish the talk before I left for the
cruise
“…and I know how long it takes me to write
one…” Learn your work pace Break down tasks to the smallest bit Don’t lie to yourself!
Impossible to estimate tasks if you don’t know your own
pace per unit of work
Talk Creation Work Pace Usually takes me 1 hour to
create my talk outline Usually takes me 4-5 hours to create slides
6 hour estimate for the talk
Break Tasks Down Be brutally honest with yourself Rely on
past experience to drive timelines Stop when you can’t break it down any more
“…and I know how long it takes me to write
one…” Leave room for mistakes Do the work in blocks Don’t overextend!
Leave room for mistakes You will make many mistakes You
will need to take breaks Don’t be a hero
Do the work in blocks Helps you learn your work
pace Allows pauses for rewards Stick to the blocks, don’t rush ahead!
Don’t overextend By figuring out blocks, you can schedule actions
NEVER WORK OUTSIDE THOSE BLOCKS NO, I MEAN IT
“…so I set aside time on my calendar to work
on it” Added in 6 1-hour blocks of time… …and got to work creating this talk
That’s really it
That’s really it (Not really)
DISCIPLINE
Learn it or you will be forever overworked and under-appreciated
“Creating time”
“I’ll make some time for that”
“I’ll do that when I have some time”
“You can make more money but you can’t make more
time.”
The Truth About Time We all get the same 168
hours per week We all make choices about what to do with our time
“We’re not winners or losers, we’re choosers”
Using my calendar for everything showed me what I was
actually doing
Taking control of your time is the best thing you
can do for your career and your mental health
“Do fewer things better”
None
Warning Signs You Need To Do Less Work “I always
have killer deadlines” “My brain needs me to keep busy” “I’m afraid I am going to get fired”
Nobody is the villain of their own time management story
Doing less work and concentrating on doing better leads to
better outcomes
We don’t “rise to the occasion” We “fall back to
our skill level"
Almost done
Time management hacks!
There aren’t any.
Anyone that says that is just moments away from trying
to sell you something.
The 4-Day Work Week “Hack”
The 4-Day Work Week “Hack” Interview and get a job
offer with a 20% raise Tell employer “I want to stay but only work 4 days a week for the same money” Either you get an extra day or extra money
The Grumpy Time Management System 1. Work from finish to
start 2. You can never “create more time” 3. Do fewer things but do them better
“But Chris…”
“…how can I learn ‘discipline’ to do this?”
“…my workplace is chaotic and new requests come in all
the time!”
“…how do I co-ordinate things with others who don’t do
this?”
“…aren’t there times you have to reschedule events?”
Thank you and enjoy the other talks http://grumpy-learning.com @grmpyprogrammer https://joind.in/talk/31298