Comments on: Wasting Time http://www.midlifemusings.com/2008/10/31/wasting-time/ Reflections on life from 40-something Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:57:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: cass http://www.midlifemusings.com/2008/10/31/wasting-time/comment-page-1/#comment-519731 cass Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:35:12 +0000 http://www.midlifemusings.com/?p=1491#comment-519731 I have that time set aside in the afternoon/evening. That time I talked about moving away from the computer I plan to spend reading/playing with kids, crafting, etc--the stuff that gets sucked out of my life when i sit at my desk 16 hours a day. As far as surfing the net and getting ideas, that's why I leave the calendar open all the time. When I get an idea, I put the link and a note to myself as a task (which is how I remembered to generate this post today :smile: ) I had read the inbox zero series and got a lot out of it, and then I read a few more pieces out of my feeds that really made the whole idea gel for me-- get it done, and then stop and do something else, and if that something else happens to be fun for you/me, so much the better! Since your comment happens to be the one piece of email I needed to deal with right away this time, and I've done that, it's time to get up and do something else now. I have that time set aside in the afternoon/evening. That time I talked about moving away from the computer I plan to spend reading/playing with kids, crafting, etc–the stuff that gets sucked out of my life when i sit at my desk 16 hours a day.

As far as surfing the net and getting ideas, that’s why I leave the calendar open all the time. When I get an idea, I put the link and a note to myself as a task (which is how I remembered to generate this post today :smile: )

I had read the inbox zero series and got a lot out of it, and then I read a few more pieces out of my feeds that really made the whole idea gel for me– get it done, and then stop and do something else, and if that something else happens to be fun for you/me, so much the better!

Since your comment happens to be the one piece of email I needed to deal with right away this time, and I’ve done that, it’s time to get up and do something else now.

]]> By: Trevor http://www.midlifemusings.com/2008/10/31/wasting-time/comment-page-1/#comment-519670 Trevor Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:42:17 +0000 http://www.midlifemusings.com/?p=1491#comment-519670 That sounds like you are getting more to the "Inbox Zero" approach created over at 43 folders(http://www.43folders.com/43-folders-series-inbox-zero). I work very similarly. I start my day hitting the inbox and then about 20 minute of putting my todo list together for the first half of the day. If it doesn't flesh out for enough stuff to do in that time I allot some time for news / blog reading. Then I hit lunch and come back and start the process over again. Sometimes tasks will take longer. I tend to break those up between the morning and the afternoon. If I try to focus on one big task for too long I find I get frustrated and it ends up taking longer than if I break it up into to time periods. You've GOT to set aside some time during the day for you however. It's a controversial thought that you set time aside to browse the internet or read news at work. However, especially as a developer and technologist, I find that most of my greatest ideas come from exploring some new piece of technology or code that I've read about during those times. In some cases I even find solutions to problem tasks that I have. That sounds like you are getting more to the “Inbox Zero” approach created over at 43 folders(http://www.43folders.com/43-folders-series-inbox-zero).

I work very similarly. I start my day hitting the inbox and then about 20 minute of putting my todo list together for the first half of the day. If it doesn’t flesh out for enough stuff to do in that time I allot some time for news / blog reading.

Then I hit lunch and come back and start the process over again. Sometimes tasks will take longer. I tend to break those up between the morning and the afternoon. If I try to focus on one big task for too long I find I get frustrated and it ends up taking longer than if I break it up into to time periods.

You’ve GOT to set aside some time during the day for you however. It’s a controversial thought that you set time aside to browse the internet or read news at work. However, especially as a developer and technologist, I find that most of my greatest ideas come from exploring some new piece of technology or code that I’ve read about during those times. In some cases I even find solutions to problem tasks that I have.

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