Time Management For Grumpy Programmers

Slides of a talk on time management strategies I gave at SunshinePHP 2017

Transcript

1. Time Management For Grumpy Programmers Chris Hartjes SunshinePHP 2017 https://joind.in/talk/31298
2. Who Am I? Long-time PHP user Testing advocate Verified Twitter User Life-balance champion Semi-organized
3. What do people REALLY mean when they start talking about “Time Management”
4. “I want to get stuff done.”
5. “I have too much to do”
6. “I want control of my life.”
7. – 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.”
8. “Doing what you can with the time you have.”
9. “Getting Things Done” by David Allen “Time Management For Anarchists” by Jim Monroe
10. 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
11. Let’s use this talk as an example of the system in action
12. 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
13. “I knew when I had to give the talk…” Open-ended tasks destroy productivity Create your own deadlines if necessary
14. “I knew when I had to give the talk…” Put future events in your calendar You WILL forget important things so reduce the risk
15. “So what goes in my calendar?”
16. EVERYTHING. Really. EVERYTHING
17. “What goes in my calendar?” Meetings at work Activities with my kids Down-time with my wife Hobbies
18. Putting things in my calendar reduces the stress I feel about what I do
19. I added the conference to my calendar
21. Resolved to finish the talk before I left for the cruise
22. “…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!
23. Impossible to estimate tasks if you don’t know your own pace per unit of work
24. Talk Creation Work Pace Usually takes me 1 hour to create my talk outline Usually takes me 4-5 hours to create slides
25. 6 hour estimate for the talk
26. 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
27. “…and I know how long it takes me to write one…” Leave room for mistakes Do the work in blocks Don’t overextend!
28. Leave room for mistakes You will make many mistakes You will need to take breaks Don’t be a hero
29. Do the work in blocks Helps you learn your work pace Allows pauses for rewards Stick to the blocks, don’t rush ahead!
30. Don’t overextend By figuring out blocks, you can schedule actions NEVER WORK OUTSIDE THOSE BLOCKS NO, I MEAN IT
31. “…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
32. That’s really it
33. That’s really it (Not really)
34. DISCIPLINE
35. Learn it or you will be forever overworked and under-appreciated
36. “Creating time”
37. “I’ll make some time for that”
38. “I’ll do that when I have some time”
39. “You can make more money but you can’t make more time.”
40. The Truth About Time We all get the same 168 hours per week We all make choices about what to do with our time
41. “We’re not winners or losers, we’re choosers”
42. Using my calendar for everything showed me what I was actually doing
43. Taking control of your time is the best thing you can do for your career and your mental health
44. “Do fewer things better”
46. 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”
47. Nobody is the villain of their own time management story
48. Doing less work and concentrating on doing better leads to better outcomes
49. We don’t “rise to the occasion” We “fall back to our skill level"
50. Almost done
51. Time management hacks!
52. There aren’t any.
53. Anyone that says that is just moments away from trying to sell you something.
54. The 4-Day Work Week “Hack”
55. 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
56. 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
57. “But Chris…”
58. “…how can I learn ‘discipline’ to do this?”
59. “…my workplace is chaotic and new requests come in all the time!”
60. “…how do I co-ordinate things with others who don’t do this?”
61. “…aren’t there times you have to reschedule events?”
62. Thank you and enjoy the other talks http://grumpy-learning.com @grmpyprogrammer https://joind.in/talk/31298