Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with timemanagement

I know I can't say internet "addiction" but...

DerangedGoblin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:10:32 -0800

What am I supposed to do with my time? I use the internet enough that it negatively affects my life, but I don't know what to do instead.

When I cut down on internet, I end up doing nothing. I have no menu of hobbies or things I'd rather be doing, and I think that's from being online so much. It ends up being internet or nothing.

I'm partly asking for suggestions, but also for a way to find out how to figure out what to do for myself, and I'm fully aware of the apparent contradiction there.

Ladder operators refer to some sort of blue-collared workers, right?

Hakaisha — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:40:50 -0800

Help me pass a subject I hate. I'm an undergrad in a chemistry program.

My grades are...mostly solid, if not spectacular; bombed my third year (failed two courses by like 2%, C'ed the rest) from burning out, but otherwise okay. Took a year off to work in my field, came back, much more centered.

Overall, I don't think my study habits are too bad. That being said, from a combination of misinformation by someone I used to trust/respect and just general inadequacy in the subject, I'm still struggling badly in my quantum mechanics course. It's really scaring me.

Mathematics really isn't my forte, and frankly, quantum makes my head spin. Still, I understand the principle of just buckling down and do the damn studying anyway, but my semester is extremely short on time. I have another course I'm taking at the same time (physical chem, which I also failed...but upon applying myself, I am breezing through the course, so it's not like I'm not trying this semester), as well as two labs. The regular one is time consuming but not so bad, but the other one is a directed studies that takes about 5x more time/effort than my ex-friend/ex-supervising-grad student told me it would. The exact details of the blowout isn't really relevant...the only part that is relevant is that due to said blowout, my project got switched halfway through the term, so I'm literally scrambling to make enough progress so I have something to do my oral defense + paper on. Hence, spending a rather ridiculous amount of time in the lab (I've slept at school, worked until half-past midnight, etc).

I don't have high aspirations for quantum; I just need to pass the course as it's required for my degree. I failed the midterm (but 54% of the class did, and the average was 49%, so I'm not alone...we're allowed the option of putting 100% of the grade on our final, but the professor won't scale), and I'm terrified for the final because I at least thought I understood the material for the midterm and still failed the exam, whereas the material being taught now can be Greek for all I'm understanding of it. P-chem is being ignored currently as I'm still solidly on track for that one, but between the two other labs and living rather far from school, by the end of the day when I get home all I want to do is sleep. Even if I do make myself stay up, writing lab reports is about the extent of my brain power; my eyes just glaze over trying to study quantum and I end up going "so what did I just spend 4 hours reading?"

I've asked the prof for tutors; he just said I should do more practice problems (I should) and see him in his office more (I also should). On principle, I know I can pass this course if I really just buckle down and practice the 279235479012389 recommended study questions...but time is a rare commodity and I don't have the 36 hours in one day I really, really need.

I don't study in groups well (we always just end up talking; I prefer to study on my own), and I can't really do the 'study in 10 minute chunks' thing either. If I work, I really need a quiet area and 3 solid hours to just plow through it. Coming back home at midnight after leaving the house at 9:30, and with eyes glazing over, however, is really not conductive to plowing through quantum mechanics.

I admit I can procrastinate, but no more than the average student (and nowadays, after I got my head straight after my year off, probably less...I came home on a Friday night, ate dinner, sat down and started working on a lab report straight until 6 am Saturday morning). Fear is a great motivator, since I'm not 'allowed' to retake a course more than once unless with special permission from the Dean. I just need more time...and I don't have more time. I make do on about 3-5 hours of sleep a night on average, sometimes broken up into powernaps (and then naps on my very long bus ride to/from school). I don't know what else to do.

So...how do I generate enough time out of the same 24 h/d to enable me to study this dreaded subject effectively? I feel like I'm trying to wring water from a stone here. This term is burning me out again, although I generally like my major (at least enough to want to finish the damn degree).

For what it's worth, I'm writing this in piecemeal while waiting for a reaction to finish, so it's not like I'm wasting potential study time here. Again, can't do the '10 minute bite-sized studying', although I wish I could.

(Given that it's about two weeks until end of term, and less than a full month until finals, I don't think dropping out is possible and/or will go over too well, even if I talk to an advisor.)

Improving Personal Productivity in a Modern, Short-Attention Span Age

Dukat — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:04:36 -0800

Why do I feel compelled to seek distractions while working, and what can I do to stop it? Time management/personal productivity filter. Senior college student with very good grades.

Even though I like what I'm working on (most of the time), I have to stop a constant compulsion to seek distractions--fiddle with something else, check my e-mail, etc., even if I KNOW I don't need to fiddle with something, or that I have ABSOLUTELY NO MESSAGES and simply need to do the work. I've read a couple of time-management books (the "get it done" method seems to be working well), and I've done very well in college so far, but I know I'd simply have more *actual quality free time* if I buckled down and did the work rather than sought distractions all the time.

So:
(1) Why do I want to seek these distractions?
(2) What can I do to stop it?
(3) How can I work more efficiently? And learn how to value the 40 minutes of quality free time when I'm finished with the work over the 8 crappy, low-quality, 5-minute e-mail "breaks" I might take?
(4) Also, some of my projects (papers and presentations) require work with a computer, and that makes it difficult not to check the Internet. Not looking for blocking programs so much as an internal tool. I've actually considered doing more "paper/essay" work by hand, even though that's slower, because I wonder if I get less distracted and actually get it done faster relative to the computer/Internet distracting me. Ideally, I'd be able to work like a machine on the computer, and save a lot of time without being distracted.

Know there are a ton of threads on this, and have searched through them without much help--but welcome suggestions and thread recommendations anyway.

How do you let yourself "let go" of time?

Seeba — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:09:46 -0800

How do you let yourself "let go" of time? I can't always tell when someone means what they say when making plans.
This is especially... difficult ... with friends and my girlfriend.

With the agreed basic intention to do something at time Z, I have (in the back of my mind) a running timetable (It's not obsessive-- through conversations, you usually get to hear the high points of someone's day, so I just kind of realize that if they're going to, for example watch a sports game, or are going to work, then I just seem to remember "Hey, s/he started at X time, it probably took Y... add a bit for things-that-come-up... Okay! We should be ready any minute now!")

So I'll go about my day, and make sure I'm available... then time'll pass... more time'll pass... the "things-might've-come-up" changes to "... either there's a major problem, or they're really not interested."

I'll call/contact them to figure out what's up, and it's really frustrating (and kind of insulting, when I think about it) when the answer's something like "Oh, you were serious?! ... uh, well I've been free for a while now..."
Even more frustrating is the "I've been free for a while now... but let's just do it another time"

I know it's something I need to work on-- I used to get really frustrated (my own fault) when I'd make plans weeks in advance-- "Hey, next month there's a concert... let's meet on that night at X time, place Y"... then I'd show up... and an hour later, call to discover they'd just forgotten. I've gotten better-- especially planning that far ahead, I'll make sure to follow up (though usually feel silly doing so).

------------------------------------------

The area where it's getting especially troubling is with my girlfriend. We talk a lot, so both seem to know what the other's doing or interested in. (Normal communication-- I don't want to know what she's doing all the time... I'm interested, usually, but in a "Hey, that's cool that you enjoyed X", or "Sorry to hear that Y went badly" sense, not the "please document your activities" sense... that'd be creepy.)

She knows that I place a lot of value on being precise when making plans, so tries to do so--- but usually that ends up making her feel pressured/bad because she figures "Hey, if I told him I'm interested in doing X, then I HAVE to." Sometimes, she ends up tripping up on her words, and I, in a manner that's maybe too blunt, end up making things worse:
"Hey, we'll make that a tentative plan to do X at time Y."
"... it's in two hours... are there variables I haven't considered? I mean... I don't want to interrupt something more important"
"No no, I'm just relaxing, we'll see if I feel like it when I'm finished."
"... your interest/disinterest in an activity will change in the next hour?"
(This is something I admit I don't really understand most of the time-- you either want to do something or you don't. She explains that it "depends on her mood" which seems to me like a way to pass the buck... but that's a personality thing.)

I try to meet her in the middle when she's indecisive, and say "Hey... let me know your inclination right now-- just let me know what's up if it's something changes, and I'm planning on participating..."

I know she's not trying to be dishonest-- but I feel patronizing if I constantly follow up plans with "Okay, is this something you REALLY want to do, or are you just trying to stall for time?"

--------------------
How do I stop keeping track of the time?

I really hate the internal "argument" I have when someone says "Let's talk in an hour or so", and so in 1 hour I call. They say "Well, I'm doing X, call me in a bit." So, depending on the situation, I check in at regular intervals (30 minutes, or 1 hour, or what-have-you. ... if I think about it, and realize I'm doing it, then I try to vary the time-- 55 minutes the first time, an hour ten the next, etc--- but second-guess myself as to whether waiting longer would be uncaring, or not-waiting-enough time would be pushy.)

Having never been in university and a relationship at the same time before, how do I balance these two priorities in my life?

just_ducky — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:22:17 -0800

I am about to start grad school in September. I am also 7 months into a wonderful relationship. Having never been in university and a relationship at the same time before, how do I balance these two priorities in my life? I have been out of university and in a career for a couple of years; however, I am taking leave from my job and starting my Master's degree in September. When I was in undergrad, I did a double major while working two part-time jobs for my entire 5.5 years of school. Consequently, I did very little else - like date.

Now, at the age of 25, I am headed back to school to get my Master's, but this time I am in a relationship with an amazing, supportive, and all-around fabulous guy. However, I can't help but worry about what effect school will have on our relationship, since I won't be able to devote nearly as much time to it as I have for the first 7 months. While I am capable of time managing, I've never had to do it with school, and something much more appealing, like being with my boyfriend. We currently both have regular, and decently complementary schedules, but that won't be the case when I am in back in school. We don't live together, and haven't ever discussed it. I suppose it is an option for the future, but not for the purposes of this question.

What I am wondering from those members of the hive mind who have been in this situation is, what strategies have you used to ensure that you devote enough time to both school and your relationship, and be successful in both? My Master's program is 2 years long, and I desperately want to emerge from it with both a degree and the same amazing, supportive, and all-around fabulous guy I'm lucky to have now.

Automatic alerts of time spent on computer

LaszloKv — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:57:38 -0800

Does anyone know a way to create alerts in Ubuntu every x number of minutes of how long spent on the computer that day? I think an alert system of how long spent on the computer that day would really help with my time management. I don't know if an application or script would be what I am looking for. I tried the hamster time tracking panel app, but that is less ideal, because I can forget to get it to start tracking.

How do I stop worrying about things I don't need to worry about?

the_dude — Sat, 02 May 2009 10:35:41 -0800

GTDFilter: I need help managing my time but it's something different. Not necessarily time for doing things but thinking about them. Basically, I cannot cope with multiple responsibilities effectively; even small things end up taking hours. My problem is this: I'm a fairly active student at a fairly demanding college. With classes and extracurricular activities, I have tons of responsibilities, and to be brutally honest, I'm doing OK in most of them.

My problem is this: if I know that I will have to do something due that day or that week, that single responsibility prevents me from having any sort of enjoyment in anything else. You'd say that I should just get that thing done and go on with my life but sometimes, I cannot technically start doing that work (like I have to wait on someone else do something first as it happens a lot in group projects).

This may not seem that bad but it's really annoying at times. To give you an example: I had a 6 page paper due this friday. Really, I could have pulled that off in 2 hours or less. However, I had to wait until Thursday night to get a confirmation from the teacher about the outline.

However, starting from wednesday, I just was thinking about it all the time. It just keeps my mind off other things; like personal projects that I want to work on or going out with friends.

I don't know if this is making any sense but I feel like my problem is with just compartmentalizing things mentally. I do not have trouble prioritizing or getting things done in the sense of time management. And I do not feel like I'm overwhelmed for that reason; I know there's enough time. But maybe I'm wrong and that's why I need some perspective on this.

Recently Unemployed. What to do?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:31:36 -0800

Recently Unemployed. What to do? Like so many others, I was recently involuntarily let go from my job.

Of course, I'm looking for a new job. That's not all. I have a few ideas of things I want to do, learn, or skills I want to improve upon while unemployed. I thought it's best to take advantage of the time I don't have while normally working. Here are some of my ideas and a problem I have.

1. My field of work is in IT. I'm pursuing finding another IT job. I want to improve these skills while I'm out of work.

2. I want to learn to code web pages and eventually learn the back-end stuff such as incorporating databases and search engine optimization (what else should I be trying to learn?)

3. I also want to read more books, but I have trouble finishing a book in a short enough time span for me to stick with it. I get bored, bail and start a new book and repeat this cycle (how do I learn to read faster with better retention?).

4. I want to be a better photographer (with the camera and with Photoshop.)

5. Devote more time to exercise and fitness.

6. Get some volunteer hours in.

These are the key things I would like to learn or improve upon. They are all hampered by one thing: I have a severe lack of organizational skills. I have trouble prioritizing tasks and making good use of time. My productivity is at an all time low. I have trouble organizing things and keeping the house straight--coming home every night to a house that's still the mess I created the day before is starting to get on my SO's nerves. My SO is very tolerant of (and even creates some) piles of books, CDs, magazines, mail, etc., but this has gone way beyond that--it's even making me feel nervous and overwhelmed when I see these issues at play (or look at the dining room table piled high with stuff that doesn't belong there.) I think that at one point in my life I was able to at least keep things organized and keep a tidy house. Time and task management has almost always been something of a problem. Now that I have more time on my hands than I've had in years, it seems that my organizational skills have tanked and are worse off than ever. At first glance this seems to defy logic.

What do I do? How do I start to affect change immediately? How do I get organized and get on to what I want to do and learn, in addition to everyday responsibilities? How do I reclaim what I believe I once had? How did you handle it when you were in a similar position? What advice, links, reading material, tools, and techniques can you suggest that will empower me to make change now? Do you have advice specific to my list that will help me get going on these goals?

Thanks all.

If you needed, you can email me at: what.to.do.while.unemployed@gmail.com

Unusual online calendars?

so_necessary — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:36:18 -0800

Are there any calendar apps that break the 30-days-at-a-time mold? The standard online 30-days-at-a-time calendar isn't really serving my needs as well as it could. I want something that helps me keep track of imminent stuff and further away stuff, at the same time, in a visually coherent way. Apps like Google Calendar slice stuff up into months, so stuff only tends to appear on my radar when it's less than a month away. It's a bit jarring, and doesn't encourage longer-term thinking.

(For instance, I obviously want to see what things I'm doing over the coming month. But I also might be moving to a new city in the Autumn, so I kind of want to see that steadily approaching from "distant" to "next week." Or be able to zoom out and see that I don't have that much going on in July, so I should make some plans for then. Somewhat secondarily, another neat feature would be if I could create "fuzzy events" - so a deadline that's 60 days away requiring 40 hours of work is painted in faintly, but as time passes it becomes more "glaring.")

In my mind's eye I'm seeing something a bit like the timeline view in Garageband, where I can smoothly zoom down into detail of a single bar and then out to see the structure of the whole song. Perhaps even with different tracks for "fun" and "work" and "chores" and stuff...

So basically, I'm looking for any kind of unconventional, unusual or innovative calendar app that transcends the one-month-at-a-time GUI, either online or for OS X. Whatcha got for me?*

*I don't have any special demands in terms of syncing with other devices, combining with other people's calendars, etc.

How to Manage Multiple Goals?

PFL — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:37:26 -0800

How do I best manage my time in order to work on different areas of my life? I've been spending some time lately trying to work on a few different goals of mine. In short, I'm working on becoming a better guitar player & songwriter, I'm training for a marathon, and I'm also working on improving my social skills with people I don't know.

This is pretty time-consuming; I spend a lot of time running, playing music, and getting out of the house and talking to people. I just don't know how to best manage this. Part of me thinks I should work on a little bit of everything each day, but I also think it makes sense to dive into one of those goals one day, then another one the next day, etc. and just have one that I focus on each day.

What do mefites prefer?

Also, for the sake of this question, let's please assume that concentrating on one goal at a time is not an option. I want to find the best way to work on them all at once.

Going back to school baby!

latch24 — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:12:12 -0800

How can I cope with a busy schedule? So, yay for me, I got accepted into a part-time design course at my local technical college. This course is something I have been dreaming about for the past couple of years and in an area that I love and enjoy learning about. Catch is - I work full-time. I'm starting to get really stressed that I won't be able to cope with the time suck, especially as this will be for the next 18 months (starting in about 2 weeks). My typical week will look like:

Mon: 8.30 - 5pm (Work) 6-9pm (Course)
Tues: 8.30 - 5pm (Work) 6-9pm (Course)
Wed: 8.30 - 5pm (Work)
Thu: 8.30 - 5pm (Work) 6-9pm (Course)
Fri: 8.30 - 5pm (Work) 5.05 - G&T induced oblivion (Ok, I joke! This would be an occasional Friday)

I'm not sure if I am panicking unnecessarily but I am very concerned that I am going to get burnt out, start to resent having assignments and extra work to do and become really de-motivated. I do not want to screw up this opportunity to learn and excel... My question: how have you coped with a busy, relentless schedule and what tips and tricks can you share so that I can make sure I use this opportunity to its fullest?

*I've already studied at university and got through my 3 years ok but was only working casually so had lots of spare time (far too much actually - oh Passions how I miss thee!) **I know it might not seem that busy to some of you amazing me-fites but I haven't done anything but work and hang out for the last 3 years...

Tips or tricks to help me with time management issues?

laroodles — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:19:24 -0800

Time management issues...please help! When I was in Grade 7, I used to spend hours on homework. I had great difficulty actually getting the assigned tasks done quickly and while I was not tested for learning disabilities, I don’t think that is the issue because I’ve always gotten decent marks.

It got so bad that my parents decided to pull out an egg timer. Once the egg timer rang, I was to stop working on that particular subject be it math or history and go to the next, even if I had not finished all of the assigned reading!

Fast forward to today. I am a 2nd year law student and still coming to the same problem. I have a full course load, I’m working at a criminal law firm twice a week, doing mooting (where law students pretend to by Ally McBeal), and am part of several student clubs. This workload is quite common so I don’t think that is the issue.

My boyfriend is my age but already a lawyer and I find when we spend time together, nine times out of ten I will be reading and doing homework and he will be playing video games and reading on the internet. While I recognize that I’m in school, and that school involves a lot of work, frankly, I’m afraid I will reproduce these same habits when I get into private practice.

Instead of always doing homework, I will be always working on client files. I won’t lie to you, I was one of those kids (and still am) who loves work. I think it defines who I am in an odd way. I take great pleasure and pride in the type of work I do. But I also think that spending too much time on it gets in the way of the other pleasures of life. I also worry to what extent my sense of being overwhelmed vs. my partner always having extra time will play out in our relationship dynamic, especially if we settle down and have kids.

So Mefites. I am looking for any time management tips and tricks that you have learned over the years specifically with respect to getting your work done. My boyfriend has suggested I do a time diary, ie. record what I do in all parts of my life and how much time I spend on it. I have been keeping it up for the past month or so, but don’t really know what to do with the results. I look forward to hearing from you!

N.B. I did appreciate the post on avoiding burnout (http://ask.metafilter.com/99742/help-me-avoid-burnout) but I think my post also has a relationship dimension which I am hoping people can speak to.

Can I have my creative cake and eat it too?

mynameisluka — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:33:08 -0800

Working writers: how do you carve out time for fiction? Here's a question for working writers. I've managed to turn my passion into a full-time life as a freelance writer. I do corporate stuff, copywriting and marketing pieces, journalism, and I'm thrilled to be working for myself at something I adore. My real passion, however, is fiction, and like so many others, my real aspiration is to complete and sell the novels that have been niggling at me for years.

Trouble is, at the end of the day it's really difficult to transition from non-fiction to fiction and from have-to-I-get-paid to want-to-so-I'm-disciplined work. I find myself using my sore wrists and zonked brain as an excuse...and I'm starting to get scared that I'll never achieve my dream of being a working novelist.

I'm wondering how other writers approach this dilemma. Is "suck it up" the only answer, or are there some tips/tidbits/tweaks I'm missing?

Formal Time Commitment to Hobby + Grad School = ?

Alterscape — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:51:43 -0800

I am about to begin my 2nd year as a Ph.D student in a hybrid comp-sci/multimedia/engineering program. I took up soaring this summer for the sake of my mental health (and to fulfill a long-time dream), and I'm loving it. Should I join an organization that will make flying more economical, but will require a firm time commitment? I currently rent a glider from a commercial operation, which affords me scheduling flexibility but is expensive. I am considering joining a club which is much less financially demanding, but requires volunteer service to maintain the airfield/aircraft and for operations. The time commitment is more or less identical (I should be flying once a week to keep my skills up), but the club requires monthly volunteer work (which, because of the distance, amounts to a full day of non-school time).

Part of me says "join the club, because you'll be obligated to fly frequently and spend time around pleasant, wise people who are not in academia. This will keep you sane. There's still six full days in the week to get everything else finished. Besides, you're a poor grad student; any money you can save is good money."

Part of me says "To be a good grad student, you should be ready to work around the clock on projects if need be, even weekends." However, last year has taught me that following this train of thought leads to a burnt out, grumpy me who does things like learning to fly in the interests of mental health.

I'm interested in opinions from both grad students and aviators. Is it realistic to think that as I progress through my Ph.D, if I work diligently during the week, I can take a full day of "me time" one weekend day a week (or even, let's be realistic, every other weekend)?

I'm not Superwoman. Help me get real!

streetdreams — Sun, 25 May 2008 08:28:19 -0800

I tend to get very excited about lots of different projects and overcommit myself. I can be happily insanely busy for a while, but then I get overwhelmed, freak out and flake out. I don't want to do this anymore. How can I find balance and learn to work sustainably?

How can I learn more about project management beyond to-do lists?

cadge — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:42:35 -0800

I'm a web app programmer lacking good project/time management skills, and I'm not really in the best environment to pick them up. I'm OK at the lower-level tasks like daily to-do lists, but how can I learn to handle higher-level tasks like estimating time, prioritizing, and planning project life cycles? I'm a web app programmer with a computer science education. My jobs have mainly been in education and non-profits; it's very fulfilling but they haven't been the best environment for picking up good industry practices.

My current job (small development team, mostly working alone on projects and doing all my own bugfixing/testing) requires a fair amount of independent project management, and I just don't feel that I have the training. I can maintain a daily to-do list and activity log just fine, but I am falling down on things like:

Figuring out how much time a project should take

Handling existing projects with deadlines AND incoming requests (ranging from "This would be nice" to "This is broken on Production FIX NOW")

Prioritizing when reporting to several project clients

Project life cycle planning

Effective project management tools

I feel like I'm having to research or invent a lot of this on the job, and that's not where I excel at all. I work best if I can learn from a class or if I can pattern myself on a role model (and that last option is not so applicable right now - mostly I work alone on these projects).

I'm not sure where to begin. I'm afraid that I will pick up a book and get completely lost in a world of baffling Gantt charts, workflows better suited for gigantic corporate projects, or outdated/discredited practices.

Are there courses, books, or online resources out there that might help? How can I learn more about practical project management from a macro point of view - the month-spanning project level, not the daily task level? This is actually freaking me out a bit lately - I am swamped with work and requests, and I just don't feel equipped to properly handle it all.

GradSchoolFilter: How bad did I screw up, and can it be fixed?

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:14:26 -0800

I'm trying to get a M.S. in Computer Science, I already have a B.S. in Computer Science. Started last year as a full time student, took a semester off, and now trying to take classes while holding a full time job. My horrible time management skills combined with not knowing how crazy my job gets in August has caused me to do poorly in class. So poorly, that I may be "ineligible to continue graduate study". I'm very de-motivated by the whole situation and wondering what my options are, so I have a couple of questions :

Is it possible to "switch majors" in Graduate School?
Is a second undergad degree regarded at as highly as a master's degree? I'm considering going back for a second undergrad if I can't continue with Graduate study.
If I go to another school for a totally different program, is it okay not to mention my current school when I apply? I don't want to have what happened at this school weigh negatively on me getting in somewhere else.
I'm working as a Programmer/Analyst. I was going for the Master's to get better job prospects. Would it be a better use of my time to get training on specific technologies rather than an advanced degree?

This deals with career info, so I don't want it tied to my name, hence anon post.

Started last year as a full-time grad student on an assistantship. I later realized that I was burnt out from getting my undergrad and that I needed time off of school. Got a job and decided to give school a break.

There is a 5 year limit on me completing the degree, and it started last August (2006). I figured if I did at least one class a semester, I could get extremely close to that limit. I also planned to increase my course load as I went further along. Given that, I started again this past August in a class that I thought I needed to complete to be able to take other courses. I had reservations about not being ready to go back yet, but I thought that taking it slow and easy would have worked.

My job is full time, and gets extremely busy around August. I hadn't taken that into account when I decided to go back to school. It offers no tuition assistance for what I do, but my manager has been flexible with letting me take time off. I'm the only person in the office that can do integration between different systems, and I have never-ending list of pending projects.

I'm not doing well in the class because I can't seem to unplug myself from my job long enough to do the homework and study. I'm to the point of being apathetic about the whole situation. I'm even doubting whether this is the degree I want.

The only other degrees (undergrad or graduate) I would be content in pursuing are ones that wouldn't help me in job advancement or I don't have enough background in (philosophy, psychology, [a particular language] studies, cognitive science). I'm aware that getting some business knowledge under my belt would make me the ever so desirable "techy w/ business experience", but I have no interest in that.

So, I'm confused and trying to figure out where to go from here. All advice is appreciated.

My name is John, and I am trying not to be a workaholic.

parmanparman — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:36:38 -0800

Is there a support group for a charming, literate, young, kissable workaholic media professional who is trying to be less of a flake in his personal life? Seven weeks ago I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area. At a coffee shop the first week of September, I met a really awesome woman* but around the same time my professional life really took off with a vast amount of management work. I turned into a flake with all the work I had to do, and that ended the relationship. Since, I have really worked hard to make sure all of the work is not on my back. I hired two new employees, have (nearly) kept to my commitment of being smoke-free, and am working out at the gym on a regular basis. Now that I have a semblance of free time, I am trying to put an end to my free-time flakiness so that I don't make the same mistake with a wonderful woman (and friends) again. I should note that at this point, I am really more interested in making friends and dating (and keeping those commitments) rather than jumping into an LTR. Advice, suggestions, encouragement, "cool beans" are asked for and gratefully received.

*And what a kisser.

What class can I take to get better at managing time and being organized?

croutonsupafreak — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:29:44 -0800

What kind of one-day or multi-day session training can I attend to help me improve my time management and organization skills? I need to take this course in the greater Portland, Ore., area. Googling yields a LOT of results, and no easy way to evaluate how good they are. Yep, just got my performance evaluation. Yep, this is my boss's top priority for me for the coming year. I agree with her.

I especially need to do a better job at juggling the constant urgent daily chaos with long-term project needs, and with tracking HUGE amounts of information that come at me in multiple forms - including through e-mail, the web, fax, mail, notes I take on my computer, notes I take on paper, and notes that people write me within the office.

I have been trained in Seven Habits, and I did learn some but it wasn't detailed enough for my specific needs. And I read most of GTD on my own, but had a really hard time implementing it. Maybe a class would help some.

Busybee is getting tired

elisynn — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:07:54 -0800

How to run a busy schedule and not lose friends along the way. I run a very tight schedule with two jobs, volunteer work, and a full load of university classes. This means that I have to be very selective in terms of who I want to hang out with and when so I could get everything done. Lately I'm finding that I'm offending a lot of people because I'm having to arrange meet-ups and such on my own schedule. I'm fine keeping in touch through the occasional phone call and email, but they want to do stuff with me, and they turn down invitations to just come to my house and hang out.

I've had this problem in the past and I've never dealt with it well. I have a lot of interests and I like to keep myself busy (though if I go anywhere and mention it to someone like a friend, I often try to extend an invitation to them to join me), and that seems to alienate a lot of people. I just don't have enough time in one week to see everybody when they want it, and anyway, I'm a total introvert--I can't take company for long periods of time. I don't know if this is a case where I should find people who share more of my own interests or personal circumstances, so that people aren't constantly accomodating to me and vice versa.

So for all the busy people out there with hectic schedules, how do you juggle that and a satisfactory social life?

How to find time to do everything in life?

Alabaster — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:36:25 -0800

Not-enough-hours-in-the-day-filter: Any advice on developing/maintaining skills which require daily practice/effort, while balancing other priorities and time commitments (heath, family, creative pursuits, etc.) ? (specifics inside) There are about a zillion things I want to do in my life, but with some thought I can distill it down to a handful of priorities. These are not simply "pastimes", but skills that I want to actively maintain and develop over my lifetime, and which require DAILY, dedicated time and effort:

(in no particular order):

SKILLS/HOBBIES to practice daily:
-Work out at the gym (to lose a significant amount of weight and maintain physical health for myself, my wife, and--eventually--children)
-Compose music (for personal pleasure and occasional freelance work--this is my passion, but it often falls by the wayside when life gets busy)
-Practice one or more musical instruments (to maintain my skills on my primary instruments and also to learn a new instrument every once in a while)

FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD
-Spend time with my wife (and eventually children) and maintain our relationship
-Keep up with chores and do projects/maintenance around the house, yard, etc.

CAREER
-Teacher planning (I am a high school teacher which requires some "homework" nearly every night--planning lessons, grading papers, keeping records, etc.)

ADDITIONALLY:
-Meditate daily
-Read/contemplate/write/journal/pursue creative interests
-And, I strongly desire to begin training in a martial art

I work approx. 7am-4pm as a high school music teacher, and often have evening rehearsal commitments as well (7-9pm once or twice per week). By the time I squeeze in a workout, this leaves very little time to practice anything else on my list, let alone spend time with family, pursue more casual interests, or have any "down-time" for relaxation and recreation. In the meantime, months and years pass and my most important skills go undeveloped.

I realize that the life I am describing here is not particularly extreme, and that most people are able to balance their career, family, health, hobbies, and creative pursuits in some way. How?

I'm not necessarily looking for time-management tips (I have read and partially implemented GTD and tried several other techniques, and tried several pieces of software for scheduling, goal-setting, motivation, etc.) I suppose I'm looking more for philosophical input, advice from personal experience, and practical suggestions for keeping up with stuff on a daily basis without squeezing together an unmaintainable schedule.

I could take the bull by the horns, if you'd stop replacing it with a squid...

brain cloud — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:54:02 -0800

How can I communicate to my boss that I would like to be more proactive, when he continually drops last-minute projects on me? I got my annual performance review today, and overall it was very good, except that my boss' boss (with whom I interact directly about 50% of the time) added a comment to my evaluation that essentially said that he wants me to be more proactive.

Well, ditto! I'd love to be more proactive than I am now...but nary a week goes by that he doesn't drop a last-minute, extremely time consuming project on my desk which is to be done to the exclusion of all other things I am responsible for. I find that I spend what downtime that I do have by anticipating and reacting to the hurried nature of his suprise tasks for me. His deadline is always, "I need it done yesterday." No sooner do I think I have a moment to breathe and collect myself, and the cycle repeats itself. Basically, I've learned from experience that I may as well forget about coming up with any long-range plans for my team because his needs will always trump my 'wants'.

I can sometimes delegate parts of these projects - I have two subordinates who report to me - but never the whole thing, because of the technical nature of the projects, and my boss' boss' expectation that I be directly engaged in what he hands me. I'm making the guy sound like a tyrant and really he isn't -- he's a nice person, generally easy to get along with, but I think the key here is that he does not have much of an appreciation for what he's asking me to do, the time and resources involved, and the fact that I have daily responsibilities that are going to require some of my time no matter what. Interestingly, my direct boss doesn't feel the need to overload me like this; he'll generally ask for status on my work, give me small assignments here and there, generally trusts me to know what I am doing, and is sympathetic to my state as the victim of his boss' ninja-style approach to assigning tasks.

I'm not necessarily asking for advice on how to shirk the workload. There isn't a big enough staff to pass the buck even if I wanted to do so. I'd really like to know if there is a way that I can successfully communicate upward to my boss' boss that his management style is directly hindering his expectation that I be more proactive?

How to plan a daily schedule for a dissertation?

janecr — Mon, 21 May 2007 03:44:59 -0800

I need a daily work schedule to get me through a PhD. I am really bad at managing large amounts of unstructured time. I'm trying to draw up a daily schedule which factors in all the different things I need to do - writing, reading, library, sorting out notes etc. It should be easy, but I'm struggling - any tips, examples?

I'm Bipolar and Disorganized -- Please Help

SteveTheRed — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:12:54 -0800

I'm trying to get my life organized. As I've mentioned here before , I'm also bipolar. Any ideas? I've always been insanely disorganized. I constantly find myself in situations where I have to take "emergency actions" to make up for very poor planning and organization. I have bought socks many times on the way to work. I don't know how to prioritize. I don't multitask. Life seems like an overwhelming torrent of tasks that I can't possibly get done.

I have noticed that if I can dedicate myself to one thing, I can do that one thing very well. I am back in school for a bachelor's degree in Informatics and Biology. I get good grades only because as each assignment becomes due, I dedicate my time and effort to doing it well. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of everything else. This would be OK if I were only a young college student, but I'm in my mid-30s and have a wife, three special needs boys and a decent job for which I am responsible. I can't seem to slice my time to meet all of my obligations. I can't even find the knife!

Then there is the bipolar thing. I have a very rapid cycle that is somewhat controlled by medication (it was horrible), which I have been on for ~10 years. When I'm somewhat manic (like today), I have an easier time managing things than when I am depressed. When I am depressed, I mostly sleep and get very little done. I mention the bipolar disorder because you may find it pertinent in giving advice.

I've looked at GTD and I've tried all manner of calendars, reminders, Remember the Milk, etc. I'm hoping for something deeper: How do I get started with organization from a base of utter chaos? I have a strong desire to achieve my goals in life but I know that I don't have a prayer without a plan.

Help me keep track of the time I spend writing

agent99 — Wed, 02 May 2007 12:13:53 -0800

Is there a Mac application that can help me keep track of hours, dates, and time I spend writing? I'm facing a giant writing project in the next six months or so and I want to keep track of how many hours I'm working and when. So, at the end of it all, I want to be able to look at a bunch of data and see that I worked for 35 hours on chapter 1, mostly between 11 pm and 2 am, or that the entire project took me 700 hours of writing.

Ideally it would be some kind of small widget where you just press "start" and "stop" every time you work.

I've checked out a few web apps, like toggl (too simple), harvest (not free), and tick (not enough detail)--are there others that do what I want them to, or am I missing features on the ones above that already do what I want them to?

Desired qualities:

1. Free (ideally)
2. Mac compatible
3. Has a widget interface of some kind (not essential)
4. Keeps track of the amount of time AND the time of day and dates
5. Data is downloadable into csv format
6. Web app is OK but must be able to record time while I'm not connected to the internet (and then upload later).

Does such a thing exist?