Randy Pausch lecture on time management
So this really isn't a book, but it's very important. Important enough to break the rules to present notes on this lecture.
In this lecture he proposes using a four quadrant to do list. Each task you meed to do goes into the to do list, and you do the activities that are important and due soon first, then the activities that are not important and not due soon last. In fact those activities might not even get done, they are the ones that fall through the cracks.
Use the four quadrent to do list
Due Soon Not Due Soon
Important 1st to do 2nd to do
Not Important 3rd to do 4th to do
Ways to manage:
Manage from beneath
Delegate
Management is about growing your people
Delegation:
Grant authority with responsibility
Do the ugliest job yourself
People urn to be more challenged
Communication must be clear
Give people a specific job, specific date & time, specific reward
Give people objectives, not procedures
Tell people importance of each task
Procrastination:
Make a fake deadline
Are you afraid you are going to fail?
Do the worst stuff first
Communication:
Telephone / Announce goals for phone calls & emails
/ Group your phone calls for before lunch or the end of the day
EMail / Don't delete e-mail. ever
/ Be specific,
/ Nag after 48 hours, people don't respond after 48 hours
/ Touch each piece of paper once, or e-mail once
Verbal / Ask people in confidence, the truth is like gold
/ Renegotiate deadlines
/ Write thank you notes
Time Management:
/ Plan each day, each week, each semester (month)
/ Make to do list (time box it)
/ Keep a time journal to find where your time is going
/ 100 things to do in my life, don't work on anything else
/ Doing things right vs. doing the right things adequately
/ Experience comes from doing things wrong
/ Most things are pass/fail, don't go for an A when you only need a C
/ Don't spend more time on things than you need to spend on them
Find your creative time, and defend it ruthlessly, spend it alone
The brick walls are there to stop the people that don't want it, the other people.
