posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 11:45 AM by AnjaliSastry

how we (try to) get things done

In class a week ago, we had a lively discussion on the systems we use to keep on top of things. Many of us have evolved pretty good (and highly varied!) systems for tracking to-do lists, getting things done, and following up. Some of the things we mentioned:

­       integrating gmail or outlook with to-do lists

­       using Jott to turn voice messages into email (including email to yourself)

­       using Backpack or similar sites to keep your own to-do lists accessible from any browser; each page has its own email address and your Backpack site can also include calendars and email reminders which you can send to yourself

­       customizing your own iGoogle (or yahoo) homepage: set up feeds from Stellar sites (15.990 this semester is: http://stellar.mit.edu/SRSS/rss/course/15/sp08/15.990/ )—to add this feed go to “add stuff” on your iGoogle homepage, then “add feed” on the left to paste the rss url

­       to note new to-do items, phone message notes, etc, consider using a gadget on your iGoogle homepage—e.g. sticky notes or other To-Do lists such as Remember the Milk

 

One question we touched on in class, that I want to underscore here, is: where is the time to look back at it all and figure out what you're learning? And, do you have a system in place that allows you to check if you have the right things on your to-do list to start with? Answering these questions requires you to set aside time for reflection, evaluation, and planning.

 

As a result of wrestling with such questions, you may find that you want to set up a conversation with a coach, mentor, colleague, partner or friend to go over some issues you need to resolve or experiences that you want to make sense of. At its best, such a conversation could get you new insights—for instance, a personal lesson learned that you resolve to remind yourself of regularly. A review or feedbacks session may also result in your deciding to cancel some of your projects or say no to new ones. These are second-order changes, ones which have real potential to change the course of your life and experiences. But of course they must be balanced with the daily challenge we all face of just getting things done.

We talked in class about a Sloan alum, a venture capitalist who sets aside one to two hours of his schedule every day—time that he protected for this mode of reflection, planning, and research. It allowed him to reexamine past decisions in light of ensuing events, something which he otherwise might not have done. He spoke of the massive pressure that he and all his colleagues faced to fill in every hour of his day with meetings and “work.” But days full of “work” can leave little time for you to figure out how to work smarter. How do you withstand such pressures?

I don't know a ton about the work in this area -- it is a domain in which the links between the research and the popular advice are sometimes unclear -- but I do know that the traditional "Coveyesque" (7 Habits of Highly Effective People; links below) advice to start with the big picture, first-things-first approach is designed to ensure that your list includes things that are important but may not seem urgent. The David Allen approach gives plenty of weight to the question of what should be on your list to start with, but he advocates a bottom-up approach (just start getting things done) paired with regularly-scheduled reflection and checkins, from the weekly to the larger scale. But I think that we often neglect the latter. And, one thing often missing in the chronically over-committed (not that I'm speaking from personal experience....) is the feedback part: do you really compare budgeted to actual time spent on tasks regularly so that you can update your heuristics for assigning time to each future task?

With that in mind, here are a few resources I've found useful in this domain:
For lots of tips on time management: lifehacker (One can spend an awful lot of time browsing on this supposedly time-saving site!)
From a magazine, a recent overview of David Allen's approach to Getting Things Done. Here is David Allen's site. A nice quick overview of GTD and some links.
A post on using Google tools for GTD (search for more, too); another one from Allen's company
And many of you already know that Stephen Covey's principle of beginning with the end in mind. Start here for some of his articles or go to his site.

Now, make sure you tell me if you end up doing things differently.... (and of course, what you make of the experience!)

Comments

# re: how we (try to) get things done

Thursday, May 01, 2008 11:53 PM by Richard
Hi Anjali I just wanted to drop by and send greetings your way

# re: how we (try to) get things done

Friday, May 02, 2008 11:40 AM by Amy Fazen
It is interesting. It was not until I read this blog that I realized that before returning to school, I took a lot more time to assess the big picture and reflect on whether I have the right things on my to do list than I do now. Why has this changed? I used to carve out the first and last half hour of my day to sit and reflect on this. Now, I am lucky if I do it once a week. Perhaps it is due to the lack of a consistent work space that is inherently my own. My “office supplies” consist of what I can carry on my back, including my computer! I hardly ever study in the same spot – even when I do, I can’t leave any of my “office supplies” there since it is a communal space. Perhaps it is due to the fact that each team and club I am involved with has their own agenda and each person on the team or in the club has their own schedule and agenda as well. When you work for a company, everyone has at least the same stated goals. Even if you are working on different projects, they tend to be tangentially related, or at least others are aware/respectful of the timeline and goals of the project. Lastly, I find another thing that seems to “throw me off my game” is the lack of professionalism some students and groups show towards each other. In a work environment, it would be seen as inappropriate to send an email to set up an “urgent” all-hands meeting with only a few hours warning. If it is done, people tend to address the fact that they know it is inappropriate and apologize. I cannot count the number of times that I have gotten an email like this to set up a meeting, and frequently because I do not check my email constantly, the few hours notice becomes a few minutes notice. The response, not an apology, but “why don’t you have a Blackberry?!?”

Wow. I sound like such a complainer.

Back to the subject at hand….in the blog, Professor Sastry mentions a lot of technology to help oneself get organized and keep track of tasks. I actually try to steer clear of this. Whenever I use technology, I find myself trying to multitask or be super efficient. For me, in order to see the big picture and assess my effectiveness, I need to sit down with a pencil and pad of paper, take a deep breath, and really reflect on overall goals and the tasks required to get them done. I have to make a concerted effort not to multitask or be efficient while doing this reflection. Almost like a time of Zen. By doing this, I am much more in tune with what my commitments are, so that I am more apt to push back and say “no” to future requests. By no means am I knocking the technologies and online resources available to help do this. More power to people who can focus on one task while they sit on their computer. I, on the other hand, have much less self-control – I find myself constantly checking three email accounts even as I write this comment!

# re: how we (try to) get things done

Monday, May 19, 2008 1:00 PM by Kate Clopeck
As I mentioned in my blog post after this week, the “getting things done” class was one of my favorite classes all semester. I am always looking for new ways to organize my schedule/inbox/to-do lists and I thought that this class was really helpful. One thing that I thought was interesting in your follow-up blog was finding the time to look back at it all and figure out what you are learning. This is something that I really need to work on. In a way, this class has really been good for me, because it has forced me to reflect on how I do things. If we didn’t have to blog for class, or fill out our weekly updates, I would rarely take the time to look back and reflect. After this class is over, I am going to really work hard to continue with this reflection by trying to set aside time in my schedule to review my to-do list, past and upcoming events and think about what I learned. I think I could progress even more if I started to discuss my work habits/methods for getting things done with others. I think it is hard to start these discussions, because they are a little uncommon, and the person you ask for input may not be used to giving it.
Like you said in one of my blog responses, it would be useful to explain my goals to this feed backer and ask them to specifically comment on what I would need to work on to meet this goal. All of this goes hand-in-hand with my “feedback” personal learning goal.