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