How To Get Things Done



erifdekciw said:
checked out the action machine and thought it was a cool program and went to download it and its 47$...

Thats just insane for a program that is basically a timer and a note pad. Anyone know where to get a similar program for free?
Click to expand...

You can get it free, there are ways dude
 
amateursurgeon said:
Step 1. Open /windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts in notepad
Step 2. Add line WickedFire - Affiliate Marketing Forum - Internet Marketing Webmaster SEO Forum - Powered by vBulletin 127.0.0.1
Step 3. Save file, and remove your admin privileges
Step 4. Get shit done.
Click to expand...

lol good idea, throw in a whole bunch of other urls you wast time on while you're at it

for me, a simple todo google doc has done wonders ... break your task into little chunks and cross if off when done
 
I started timeboxing after reading this thread, there is a Pomodoro Chrome extension (chromodoro) that works well, it's helping me plod through the menial stuff in my projects that I don't want to do but have to get done.


Side note: piracetam hasn't been working worth a shit for me. Just glad this crap wasn't a rebill, Amazon FTW!
 
justo_tx said:
I started timeboxing after reading this thread, there is a Pomodoro Chrome extension (chromodoro) that works well, it's helping me plod through the menial stuff in my projects that I don't want to do but have to get done.


Side note: piracetam hasn't been working worth a shit for me. Just glad this crap wasn't a rebill, Amazon FTW!
Click to expand...

My Dad is a brain drug nut. He says that you have to take Choline with piracetam to get good results.
 
justo_tx said:
I started timeboxing after reading this thread.
Click to expand...

Cool. As a heads up, it took me a long time to absorb the habit. You know how humans are; most of us have to do something over and over, day after day, to make it part of our normal process. I'm that way. Maybe you are, too.

Unrelated note:

The blog's author answers a question in the comments of his post.

Reader's question:

Really interesting reading, I like the theories and thoughts behind it.

However I have a few questions – per day how long does it take to plan the 30 minute boxes, and how long does it take to change between boxes?

Assuming a day is 9-5 with 1 hour lunch, that gives us 7 hours a day. This makes at most 14 time boxes. Now, if it takes only 3 minutes to plan each box that’s 42 minutes out of the day gone – that’s one and a half boxes.

Also personally I find it better to concentrate on a job for a few hours rather than chop and change between jobs. It can often take several minutes to prepare for work on one project and this is wasted time.

I’m not trying to put down the time boxing methods here, just interested in discussions about the two issues above and what can be done to minimise them.
Click to expand...
Author's answer:

Firstly, for related tasks, you can group them into a single timebox so as to minimise how often you have to switch context. Secondly, you don’t have to set all your timeboxes to have the same interval.

Let me explain a bit further.

Let’s say you have a bunch of admin related tasks which require the computer (eg online bill paying, confirm an appointment via phone/email, reference document to look up). For these, I find it is best to batch the work into a single timebox. As you’ve rightly pointed out, switching context has associated overheads, so batching related tasks (eg tasks that require a computer), can help minimise the context switching involved. I also find if I am in an organising mood, it is best to do lots of organising rather that in bits, so again batching is useful here.

Some tasks take less time than others. There’s no reason why all your timeboxes have to be the same 30 min length. For example, writing tends to take me longer (ie ramp up time), and a 30 min timebox isn’t enough – it’s more of a 2 hour timebox (45 mins ramp up and 1 hour 15 mins of actual work). For answering personal emails, my timebox for it tend to be much smaller (30 mins around 10am).
Click to expand...
Kinda common sense. But you know what they say: common sense ain't so common.

Timeboxing's not for everyone. The key is to find something that works for you, and doesn't screw with your health.

This works for me, and won't cause my heart to explode in ten years.
 
ChrisS said:
My Dad is a brain drug nut. He says that you have to take Choline with piracetam to get good results.
Click to expand...

I thought the Choline was only to offset any headaches from the piracetam, I didn't realize it contributed to the effectiveness. I'll give it a shot, thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom