Some of you might say, that is very bold remark and will ask, "Why are they limited?"
These self-help time management tips and formulas, though well intentioned and interesting, are, for the most part, abstractions. In the end they turn out to be of little use to the common worker, manager, executive, or even spouse or student struggling to get things done. In my forty years in business I've followed these abstractions hoping to get results, only to get disappointments.
Textbook Formula:
Take the most common abstractions and you'll see what I mean:
1. Get organized
2. Prioritize - Make a 'to do' list
3. Be disciplined
4. Be motivated
5. Do not procrastinate
I could make a laundry list of many more abstractions, but the above suffice to illustrate the problem.
My Formula:
My solution for getting things done is nothing new, is nothing grandiose, but it really works. My time management tips are:
1. Choose your task
2. Determine its complexity
3. Divide and conquer
Point 1 is so obvious that it needs no commentary.
Determine the complexity
All I mean by determining the task's complexity is to get a gut reaction as to how long it might take to get it done. Next I sketch out a few episodes, parts, or components of my task; some people call this planning. To me planning means to look ahead as to how I will get from point A to point B.
What I like about my formula is that I don't need PERT or Gantt charts. It usually takes me less than 5 minutes to have my episodes roughed out in a piece of paper; usually in my calendar. Then I act.
For example, I had to grade 40 exams for my macro-economics class; this is my task. This isn't a very complex task, but his has some components. Since the exam consists of several sections -true and false, multiple choice, diagrams - I grade one section at a time. My quick estimate was to spend a minute or so per exam. "This is a one-hour task," I concluded.
Divide and conquer
From history we learn that the old adage "divide and conquer" really works. The Persians were but a small nation of not more than 10,000 people, yet they conquered the entire Middle East, and were about to conquer the Greek Empire. Or, look at the British - they were all over the planet from the 16th to the 20th century.
Since grading exams is a monotonous chore, I divided the chore into 2 segments of 30 minutes each. And in two sittings I had conquered my task.
Conclusion
I have written several books, many articles, and graded countless papers and exams, all by following the above 3 time management tips. That is not even counting the myriad tasks I accomplished when I was in business.
Two books have been influential in developing my approach. The first one is Anthony Trollope's Autobiography, from which I learned that, "A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules." And the second one is Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe from which I learned that you never fell a tree to build a canoe, unless you know how to get it to the water.
