Comments on: Interruptions: one of the costs of maintaining a time-management system http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/ A survival guide for the 21st century researcher Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:37:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-39052 John Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:15:55 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-39052 I agree that stopping and looking for paper or waiting for your computer / pda to power up or even to open the application interrupts the process. I started using Jott and even though it's not perfect and now it's not free anymore, it was pretty easy to speed dial then speak whatever it was I needed. The transcribing wasn't always perfect, but good enough so I would be reminded of whatever it was I wanted. I agree that stopping and looking for paper or waiting for your computer / pda to power up or even to open the application interrupts the process.

I started using Jott and even though it’s not perfect and now it’s not free anymore, it was pretty easy to speed dial then speak whatever it was I needed. The transcribing wasn’t always perfect, but good enough so I would be reminded of whatever it was I wanted.

]]> By: Bastien http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-38 Bastien Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:53:01 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-38 Org-mode is fully integrated with emacs calendar facility. You can check for deadlines, schedule tasks, display weekly/monthly reports of what has been done, etc. You can even produce a clock-table showing the time you spent on differents projects/tasks... but er... i'm not such a fanatic! Losing time is something i plan to have time for (someday). Org-mode is fully integrated with emacs calendar facility. You can check for deadlines, schedule tasks, display weekly/monthly reports of what has been done, etc. You can even produce a clock-table showing the time you spent on differents projects/tasks… but er… i’m not such a fanatic!

Losing time is something i plan to have time for (someday).

]]> By: jose http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-37 jose Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:10:23 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-37 Well, the problem with simple text files is that it is difficult to do reports on what you have completed per week, month, etc. What I used to do is to use an outliner (vim TVO) and delete (pressing the d key twice: dd) the tasks that were done. No intergration with calendar, no reminders, etc. I went like this for a long time. In my view, it is important not only to do the stuff but to see which things get done and which dont. For that, some weekly/monthly reports are needed... I haven't checked emacs in a long time, maybe everything is there now. Do you delete the tasks as you do them? How do you keep logs of tasks done? Of course you could use a versioning system, but looks like overkill for a simple task like this... Well, the problem with simple text files is that it is difficult to do reports on what you have completed per week, month, etc.

What I used to do is to use an outliner (vim TVO) and delete (pressing the d key twice: dd) the tasks that were done. No intergration with calendar, no reminders, etc. I went like this for a long time. In my view, it is important not only to do the stuff but to see which things get done and which dont. For that, some weekly/monthly reports are needed… I haven’t checked emacs in a long time, maybe everything is there now.

Do you delete the tasks as you do them?
How do you keep logs of tasks done? Of course you could use a versioning system, but looks like overkill for a simple task like this…

]]> By: Bastien http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-35 Bastien Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:12:14 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-35 (Please consider the following not being part of the battle ;) Well org-mode interacts with the Emacs calendar to provide recurrent tasks, reminders and even time-clocking funcs. But one another fact I didn't mention above and which is quite important: using text files for complex todo lists is more convenient when your job mostly consists in <em>writing</em> stuff (email, reports, etc.) - which is the case for me... but i'm aware most people make a difference between fiddling and working :) (Please consider the following not being part of the battle ;)

Well org-mode interacts with the Emacs calendar to provide recurrent tasks, reminders and even time-clocking funcs. But one another fact I didn’t mention above and which is quite important: using text files for complex todo lists is more convenient when your job mostly consists in writing stuff (email, reports, etc.) – which is the case for me… but i’m aware most people make a difference between fiddling and working :)

]]> By: jose http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-34 jose Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:34:57 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-34 Hi Bastien, I used to do that on Vim (prepare for battle :)... ), but the lack of calrendar, recurrent tasks, and reminders kiiled the deal for me. Since them I have even moved my notetaking from vim (plain text) to oneNote (the dark side is calling me, I can feel it :) Hi Bastien,

I used to do that on Vim (prepare for battle :) … ), but the lack of calrendar, recurrent tasks, and reminders kiiled the deal for me. Since them I have even moved my notetaking from vim (plain text) to oneNote (the dark side is calling me, I can feel it :)

]]> By: Mike Brown http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Mike Brown Wed, 08 Nov 2006 16:45:16 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-28 Hi Jose -- Oh, I have no doubt that systems can always be made more efficient and improved. But given the plethora of choices vs the plethora of things that have to be done, I'm settling more in my old age for "satisficing," aka "good enough." Having 75-85% of my day go well is good enough for me, so that I can sustain the little shocks of interruptions, writing things down, maintaining my system. etc. When I think about how much time and money I spend just to keep my Windows PC up and running (I'm not talking about productivit applications, but spyware/virus / firewall/ defragment / etc.) ie just on MAINTENANCE!, I'm appalled. Hi Jose — Oh, I have no doubt that systems can always be made more efficient and improved. But given the plethora of choices vs the plethora of things that have to be done, I’m settling more in my old age for “satisficing,” aka “good enough.” Having 75-85% of my day go well is good enough for me, so that I can sustain the little shocks of interruptions, writing things down, maintaining my system. etc.

When I think about how much time and money I spend just to keep my Windows PC up and running (I’m not talking about productivit applications, but spyware/virus / firewall/ defragment / etc.) ie just on MAINTENANCE!, I’m appalled.

]]> By: Bastien http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Bastien Wed, 08 Nov 2006 16:18:25 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-31 Hi folks, i'm using <span class="removed_link" title="http://staff.science.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools/org/">org-mode</span>, the native organizer of Emacs. As expected with Emacs, org-mode files are <em>plain text</em> files. As a consequence, editing todo lists, organizing tasks by categories (or even tags), planning appointments, taking notes, composing drafts for e-mails... all of these activities are done in just <b>one single place</b>. Hence living in my organizer is my way of saving time, not wasting it... (at least i don't have the feeling i'm wasting my time - which could easily be quite subjective!) Hi folks,

i’m using org-mode, the native organizer of Emacs. As expected with Emacs, org-mode files are plain text files. As a consequence, editing todo lists, organizing tasks by categories (or even tags), planning appointments, taking notes, composing drafts for e-mails… all of these activities are done in just one single place. Hence living in my organizer is my way of saving time, not wasting it… (at least i don’t have the feeling i’m wasting my time – which could easily be quite subjective!)

]]> By: jose http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-22 jose Tue, 07 Nov 2006 18:57:21 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-22 Silvia, that sounds like an efficient method: collect thoughts in the fastest way possible, and process them in batch mode later. I'll try that for a while. Mike, I agree that the benefits are large in managing your time with a systematic approach. Still, I find myself spending time looking for the right application, or how to streamline my system better, and that is also a cost. I'm sure you know this: jon.zaadz.com/blog/2006/3/how_to_have_a_36_hour_day His entire point is that saving time in little chunks (e.g., 20 min a day) can add up and give you a good chunk of time a year! But I agree, 20 minutes are not worth the fuss... IF they were in a single chuck! The problem is that they are spread all over my day. Silvia, that sounds like an efficient method: collect thoughts in the fastest way possible, and process them in batch mode later. I’ll try that for a while.

Mike, I agree that the benefits are large in managing your time with a systematic approach. Still, I find myself spending time looking for the right application, or how to streamline my system better, and that is also a cost.

I’m sure you know this:
jon.zaadz.com/blog/2006/3/how_to_have_a_36_hour_day

His entire point is that saving time in little chunks (e.g., 20 min a day) can add up and give you a good chunk of time a year!

But I agree, 20 minutes are not worth the fuss… IF they were in a single chuck! The problem is that they are spread all over my day.

]]> By: Mike Brown http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Mike Brown Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:39:08 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-18 Costs are important, but balance them against value and benefits. As the value of a system rises, I think costs (if they're stable) become negligible. The benefit of a well-ordered system is that it can recover from shocks and interruptions and resume where it left off. People who are unorganized and interrupted likely suffer a greater disruption. What would be the costs of trying to remember the item rather than writing it down? What would be the cost (the ULTIMATE cost) of ignoring the interruption and continuing with one's task? The brief amount of time it take to note interruptions or ideas on a single piece of paper, which is then processed at the end of the day (or even the next morning), is well worth it. I'm probably not as efficient as you (come on, I'm writing a comment to a blog posting! how time-efficient is that!?!), but I don't sweat 20 minutes lost to maintaining my system throughout the day. Entropy/chaos/life happens, man, and no system exists that can beat it, except regular attention and maintenance. Costs are important, but balance them against value and benefits. As the value of a system rises, I think costs (if they’re stable) become negligible.

The benefit of a well-ordered system is that it can recover from shocks and interruptions and resume where it left off. People who are unorganized and interrupted likely suffer a greater disruption.

What would be the costs of trying to remember the item rather than writing it down? What would be the cost (the ULTIMATE cost) of ignoring the interruption and continuing with one’s task? The brief amount of time it take to note interruptions or ideas on a single piece of paper, which is then processed at the end of the day (or even the next morning), is well worth it.

I’m probably not as efficient as you (come on, I’m writing a comment to a blog posting! how time-efficient is that!?!), but I don’t sweat 20 minutes lost to maintaining my system throughout the day. Entropy/chaos/life happens, man, and no system exists that can beat it, except regular attention and maintenance.

]]> By: Silvia http://www.academicproductivity.com/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Silvia Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:28:14 +0000 http://www.academicproductivity.com/blog/2006/interruptions-one-of-the-costs-of-maintaining-a-time-management-system/#comment-17 I am using teh Jot function is Slick run you've recommended. At the time to process, I select all copy and paste to Edit Pad and put things in TR ( Thinking Rock). Silvia I am using teh Jot function is Slick run you’ve recommended. At the time to process, I select all copy and paste to Edit Pad and put things in TR ( Thinking Rock).
Silvia

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