Managing Your Time, Tasks, Commitments and Energy
Good leaders are good managers (even though the reverse is not always true). Having the right tools and practices to support your leadership is crucial. Leading others effectively also requires you ensure they are setup to achieve too.
Welcome! This short module on learning to better manage your time, task, commitments and energy is essentially an introductory overview of best-practice teaching on time management, based on the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology by David Allen. It will take you approximately 45 minutes to complete, including watching a few short videos. Additional content is made available for those wanting to invest more than 45 minutes in the "Additional Resources" at the end of this module.
The 8 minute video below provides a super-quick overview of the GTD workflow.
This video is created by and an advertisment for the iOS/Mac app Omnifocus. It is probably the best full-featured GTD app available, and the one which I have used for over 10 years. I recommend it highly! A web search for "best gtd apps" will unearth many other great to do list apps to choose from for each and every device. Whether using this app, another app, or a paper-based system, most of the principles remain the same. There are advantages to both approaches, and you need to explore what works best for you.
- How does this overview align with your current productivity practices?
- Where do you think the greatest opportunities to improve exist for you?
Most of us probably subconsciously go through some sort of thought process as outlined in the video above. When life is simple, with few commitments, a pad and pen might be enough to scribble a quick list of tasks to knock off each day. But what about when life isn't so simple?!
“Lets say its 10:26am Monday, and you’re in your office. You’ve just ended a half-hour call with someone. You have three pages of notes from the conversation, containing a few important things to follow up. You have an important meeting scheduled 11am (about half-an-hour from now). You were out late last night with some friends - still feeling a bit tired - and you told which one of them you’d get back to them about… what?! You’ve got about 6 telephone messages in front of you, a couple of which look urgent. You have a major strategic planning session with the team in two days at which you’re presenting, of which you are yet to formulate all your ideas. The oil light came on in your car as you drove to work this morning. You have 25 unread emails, and your line manager has just sent you a text message, wanting your thoughts on a critical article in the local paper before her 3pm meeting today. Are your systems set up to maximumly support dealing with this reality at 10:26 on Monday morning?
Adapted from: David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Audible.com, Ch. 9. 9:20sec)
So, you need a better system than a pad and pen...
Imagine capturing every important thought, task or commitment in a trusted system. You find you no longer need to worry about forgetting anything because it is captured in a way that works for you. You can sit back in a virtual 'control room' and make well-informed decisions about what you will do and when. You are fully equipped to manage your energy (peaks and troughs) and you're feeling a lot less stressed.
This is possible! It's what "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen sets out to achieve. After a decade of using this system, and couching others in it, I can assure you it is very effective.
Let's look at the main tools the average 'knowledge worker' uses:
- Calendar (Cross-platform app)
- To Do List (Cross-platform app)
- Email (and other communication platforms)
- File Storage (Reference material)
Additional tools may include:
- Mind-mapping / Brainstorming tools
- Note-taking tools
- Contact-management tools
Of course, many other types of productivity tools could be added to this list: document, spreadsheet and presentation software; project management software; password management software; writing apps, PDF and text-to-voice reading apps... the list goes on.
They all add something to our potential level of productivity. This module will focus primarily on setting up and maintaining a to do list and calendar, along with a few suggestions on how to stay on top of emails and other forms of communication. This will allow you to get a better grip on solidly managing the basic workflow of your daily commitments.
CALENDAR
What belongs in the calendar, and what belongs on the to do list?
Best practice would dictate that things that must be done on a certain day - due dates, phone calls, meetings, etc. - belong in the calendar. Everything else goes in the to do list. This is because the minute you start to fill up the calendar with things that don't really need to be done that day, it dilutes the value of the calendar as a tool, and you begin to not take what's on there seriously.
So what this usually means is a commitment you've made with someone to do something or be somewhere ought to exist in your calendar. Add the location and/or any other details you'll need for that commitment in the calendar (including notes, or a link to a note), set a reminder alarm to alert you in plenty of time to get there or do what needs to be done. A second alarm an hour, day or week ahead might be the perfect "ah-hem!" to make sure it is on the radar and there are no nasty surprises.
Finally, if it is a project requiring more actions than can be done quickly, you might want to consider further tracking it in the to do list as a project in its own right. This will allow you to map/plan it out, gather resources, set milestones and keep ahead of the curve. It is better to have it recorded in two complimentary systems than have it drop off the radar. Doing this usually means the to do list is the major driver of acheiving the task, and the calendar allows you to quickly check or otherwise see when its due during a weekly review.
LIFE-HACK: For electronic calendars, consider using an emoji on due tasks, documents or presentations, etc. (e.g. ⏰) 🖥 📔), or even just consistent wording; then you can do a search for that emoji or word, and effectively create a smart list of such tasks quickly and easily.
TO DO LIST
While the calendar defines the "hard landscape" (David Allen) of the day (i.e. the commitments you're tied to, unless you renegotiate something otherwise), the to do list captures all the other stuff, from one-off tasks to major projects, that you need to get done.
Anything and everything you need to do should be captured in your calendar, your to do list or your email (which we'll come to soon). You'll also need some system to store information that doesn't need to be actioned, and we'll address that in this module briefly too.
The following 35 minute video provides a more in-depth account of a good to do list workflow.
You will have realised by now the importance of having some way of capturing your thoughts wherever you are, and not relying on your memory to remember when to do everything. An inbox is the best way to do that quickly. Managing too many inboxes is laborious, but not having an 'inbox' when you need it can be frustrating! You want that great idea or commitment out of your head ASAP and into an inbox (or straight into your trusted system, when you have time to add it straight in).
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them." (David Allen)
In the following video, David Allen will coach you through the Natural Planning Model. Feel free to skip straight to the 5:30 mark, where he get's into the guts of it, if you like. Pay particular attention to how the concept of 'the next action' features in this model; in particular, how it helps you (or those you're coaching in GTD) move towards achieving goals.
LIFE-HACK: Before moving on, one final way to conceptualise decision-making is in considering where a task sits on an important/urgent matrix. The image below provides a very simple but helpful framework in considering this.
Ugh! Email!!! Email is a to do list that other people write for you!
Email (along with other emerging forms of electonic communication) can leave us feeling very overwhelmed - especially as our inbox fills up and things we need to do something about get lost amongst a bunch of other messages.
Using the GTD methodology, any email that can be dealt within 2 minutes or less should be right there in the Inbox. All other emails that can be moved to an 'archive' or specific folder where they belong should be, provided they don't require something further from you. This is the first stage of a basic email triage.
The second stage involves moving all other emails still requiring attention, to a separate folder to deal with later. I recommend creating a folder called "!!! ACTION" which (because of the exclamation marks at the start) should automatically sit at the top of your email folder structure (and get your attention). This allows you to acheive "Inbox Zero" - a completely empty inbox, where you will notice new emails as they come in. Then, when you sit down to process any emails needing something more from you, you can just go straight to your "!!! ACTION" folder and deal with them there.
Finally, if there is anything especially urgent and important, you might want to consider adding a note in your to do list. And, of course, any commitments you make via email almost certainly ought to be noted in your calendar.
The "listicle" below from European-Business.com provides some great tips on how to achieve Inbox Zero.
REFERENCE MATERIAL
Stuff that doesn't need to be actioned, but might still be useful, needs to filed in a way you can retrieve it as quickly and easily as possible. This is called reference material in the GTD world.
Emails can be stored in a folder structure or archive in that system; paperwork typically in a filing cabinet or tub; information on people can be stored in the notes section under their name on a smartphone and electronic files on a computer or cloud-based system. There are also an ever-increasing range of apps out there that can store information in ways that make it all readily accessible.
Like inboxes, you want as many places to store information as you need, but not one more. Then, when you need to locate something, provided you have named the item/file in a way that when you search for it you can find it (or use an app such as Evernote that uses text recognition of the item/file content), it shouldn't be too hard a task.
- Where are your biggest potential gains in storing useful information effectively?
- Dump those ideas in your trusted to do list and you can decide what "the next action" is later.
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
Good management facilitates great leadership!
Getting things done through sound self-management practices is a crucial first step in managing and leading well. Trust is built in showing up each day, doing what you say you will do, and being where you say you will be, when you said you'll be there. It is upon this foundation that leadership theories, frameworks and styles are developed.
The next module will introduce you to some great leadership theories. This will provide some insight for you into how to lead in ways that are congruent with values-based and faith-based mission and ministry.
Additional Resources:
The video below provides some great guidance on getting on top of your emails, along with some other really good self-management principles.
David Allen's original TED Talk on Getting Things Done is engaging and gives a good overview of the system.
From the Getting Things Done website:
"How well are you doing with your control and perspective? Are you a Crazy Maker, Captain and Commander, Responder, or Micro Manager? In less than two minutes, the GTD-Q® will give you visual results about your current reality, describe your strengths, and offer opportunities for improvement."
Click the button below to take the test.