Thread by @jbhuang0604

For the first time in five years, I have a full-time work schedule. I thought I will trivially be 3-4 times more productive, but it turns out managing time well is so damn challenging. 😬

After watching productivity videos to procrastinate, here are what I found useful. 🧵

*Eat that frog*

If you have to eat a frog, make it the very first task you do in your day. If you have to eat three frogs a day, do not start with the small one.

*Have a plan*

If you have no idea what you will be doing 2:30 PM next Wed, you are doing it wrong. It's okay to be flexible and change the plan, but make sure that you have a plan to start with.

*Do what you are doing*

Be aware of what the task you are doing at the present time. Multitasking is simply an illusion of rapid context switching.

*Treat time as space*

Make EVERYTHING you plan to do as a calendar entry (including planning the calendar) and do it at that time. Check out @deviparikh's excellent blog post.

deviparikh.medium.com/calendar-in-st…

*Use interrupt coalescing*

Group and defer interruptions (e.g., emails, slack messages, twitter feeds) according to their urgency. Allocate a specific time slot in a day to address these interruptions.

*Break your day down into short time chunks*

Get a timer/app, work on your task for 25 mins. Take a 5 min break and repeat. (Pomodoro Technique)

*Learn to say no*

Before accepting any new tasks, ask yourself
• Why should I do it?
• What happens if I don't do it?

Pro tip: Create a "no" folder to save the things you said no. Celebrate how much time you get back in your life.

*Give up precise task prioritization*

Sometimes you may be spending more time ranking the tasks than actually doing it.

*Touch each email exactly once*

Open an email, skim through it, and make a quick decision (reply/archive/allocate a time slot). Keep your inbox zero.

Any tips/advices on time management are very welcome!

(Procrastinating with this twitter thread...)