Track Your Multitasking and Be Surprised

I played with a little experiment this week in which I record in real time all activities I'm currently doing. I do this using my daily planning method as a platform (more information doing this kind of tracking in my product). In this case I mark all current activity using ">". In the screen shot you see that I (in this moment) have four going on:

• Writing an email asking for help promoting above product (part of emptying my inbox),
• Clearing out my email inbox,
• Writing this post (a form of capture), and
• Partially ("~") emptying my paper inbox.

Whew!

Yes, I'm aware that I'm multitasking when I'm doing it (occupational hazard), which doesn't make it productive, but tracking it brought it home. What can I do with this data? Ignore it! Seriously, it gives me an excuse to back off a bit. And I'll keep experimenting with a personal informatics principle I'm playing with: Information leads to awareness leads to action leads to insight. (A variation of the three A's: Awareness, Acceptance, Action?)

I'm curious: Feel like giving it a go? Does the informatics principle above hold water? How would you use this data?

Do You Need a Don't-Care-o-Meter?

A client recently shared that her boss told her she needed to care less, and it was causing her work to suffer. She calls it her Don't Care-o-Meter, and the idea blew me away. (I treasure being floored by new ideas. It's one of many reasons I love my job - a stream of stop-and-think ideas from insightful people :-)

How do you interpret this? Here are a few off-the-cuff thoughts:

• Being less serious about the outcome helps loosen up thinking. Tense people often focus too much on the immediate, and self-filter the bigger picture. It gives perspective.



• It defuses perfectionism. Everyone who brings me into their workplace is ambitious and motivated, and they pretty uniformly shoot for "A+ papers." Try this crazy experiment: Say the following when you feel 80% done with a task: "It is now Good Enough."



• It makes you think about how much effort you need to put into something. Try asking "What response is appropriate?"



• It gives you an excuse to check in on your emotions. Is it time for invoking a healthy sense of detachment?

I'll finish with how my client put it:

Now whenever things are not working out, or I feel stressed we check in on my "I don't care-o-meter". If I'm caring too much about things I know I have to back off. I've never had a case where I wasn't caring enough about something. But many cases where I just had to let go and say I can't worry about this anymore.

I'm curious: Have you done anything like this this yourself? Is there something in your work or life you could turn up the Don't-Care-o-Meter on?

Image: barometer, Originally uploaded by AndyB

Expectations

While working with a client on managing an overwhelming workload, we explored ways to cut fire fighting. When I'm brought in, I look at two aspects: Reaction and Prevention. Reaction is symptomatic treatment of an acute situation. In this case we cover how to best manage the current reality - setting up workflow systems, for example. This provides relief and some breathing room. Then we cover prevention - reducing the causes of the (often chronic) condition. One dimension I bring up is the managing of expectations. Here are a few examples:

• Do you have a response time policy? Is a 24 hour one for email possible? Related: Depressurize your email with a 24 hour response time and What's your maximum response time?


• Are you expecting a certain outcome in a ... plan, project, conversation, goal, or relationship? This will definitely lead to suffering (a Think, Try, Learn principle).


• Have you noticed that good phone customer service tells you how long to expect waiting, when you're put on hold, and what's the plan ("I'm transferring you to...") Do you do this for others?


• Are your expectations of what you can personally accomplish realistic? How about others'?


• Do you do "blue sky" planning, say for travel? "Expect delays" isn't bad advice!

I'm curious: What expectations have you created in the minds of your clients, coworkers, and yourself? How were those created? Implicitly?

Time Management and Surprise: When You Want It & When You Don't

I love the idea of surprise and delight (fill in the 2x2, anyone?), an expression I first heard about in the hospitality industry via an interesting client. I wrote about the former it in One way to enjoy the ride - celebrate surprise!, and I've been thinking about when it might be welcome in time management.

Productive Surprises

• Gestating ideas that show up when you need them. (Result of a solid capture/review habit.)



• Ideas, solutions, or insights that pop up unbidden. (Result of a freed-up brain?)



• A welcome interruption that you decide to take. (Made possible by being able to quickly change gears and return with minimum loss of state.)



• A ticker file item that you forgot was in there.



• Honest praise from someone who knows your work.

Unproductive Surprises

• Arrive to a meeting without needed support materials. (Solution: Keep a project folder for each project, and remember to grab it before taking off. Put a reminder in your calendar appointment if necessary.)



• Forgot an appointment. (Solution: Solidify your calendar use.)



• Didn't plan for the unexpected - traffic problems or contingencies, say. (Solution: Start the project with planning - creating an outline is always my first task.)

I'm curious: What surprises have you experienced in managing your work? Any suggestions?

Are We Too Linear? (The Case for Curves)

Curves are on my mind lately. First, when walking and biking I notice that straight roads with smooth surfaces are dangerous. Why? Here's how someone put it:

If you design roads like rifles, people drive like bullets.

(Does anyone have the reference? I couldn't find it. Kunstler?)

This got me thinking:

• Curves are beautiful - they please the eye (why?) Maybe this is because:
• Nature creates them (more than straight lines?)
• (Specific application) Human bodies with curves are awesome. (On current cultural norms around beauty, check out Zaftig: The Case for Curves, via Adios Barbie.)
• The architecture I've noticed (esp. new construction) doesn't seem to favor them (too expensive or complex?)
• Curves are safer? Again, around roads, I remember reading about a European country that removed speed limit signs from country roads, and found that driving became (surprisingly!) safer. (Again, I can't find the reference to this. Anyone?)
• It's time for old school analog controls to be back in vogue. Examples: The Star Trek TOS communicator and transporter controls, and the original Star Wars death star trigger were tactile and gave an indication of motion. Compare to the new Star Trek with its boring flat screens. OK, an exception: Minority Report's ultra cool gestural interface (video). Another example: Electro-Harmonix's classic stomp boxes.

I'm curious: What do you think?

(Image: Interior showing curved ebony wall in the open-plan living area and chrome girders, Tugendhat House, Brno, by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1928-30; © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)