{"id":15826,"date":"2017-04-05T15:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T22:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=15826"},"modified":"2017-04-05T23:04:02","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T06:04:02","slug":"making-use-of-weird-windows-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2017\/04\/making-use-of-weird-windows-of-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Use of Weird Windows of Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The concept of daily or weekly to-do lists is as outdated as rotary phones. We need to have a total, holographic view of everything we want to accomplish, and all the actions required to start any of them. And we need to have access to views of those actions whenever we actually might be able to do them.<\/p>\n

Most everyone I come across in my clients\u2019 organizations are up to their eyeballs in work, and feel overwhelmed. Strategy and triage are indeed required to address that, but at least as important is the requirement for people to set up their lives to get a lot more efficient about getting a lot more done in a day.<\/p>\n

To steal from a Motorola strategy from many years ago, we need to \u201cmine the bandwidth.\u201d They developed technology utilizing the more discreet areas \u201cbetween the lines\u201d in the radio frequencies already in place. Similarly we need to be ready for, and take advantage of, the weird uneven time and energy spaces we find ourselves in.<\/p>\n

Ever have the attention span of a gnat…either externally imposed or internally generated (like 4:30 PM on a day of six meetings, five of which were brutal)? Ever have a short (but still unknown) time period, with informal distraction, like waiting for a late meeting to start?<\/p>\n

There are very few times and places we really have the appropriate energy level, tools, and uninterrupted time frames to work on some of our \u201cmost important\u201d work. The rest of the day, we shouldn\u2019t be feeling guilty that we\u2019re not working on \u201cjob one.\u201d Rather, we should be maximizing our productivity by picking things to do (that we\u2019re going to do anyway, sometime) that match the situation.<\/p>\n

Catch up on the FYI-type Read-and-Review emails while waiting for meetings. Water your plants and fill your stapler when your brain is toast. Call to make the appointment you\u2019ve been putting off when you have ten minutes before you board a plane. Problem is, most people don\u2019t have all those options already figured out and put in appropriately accessible buckets to rummage through when those situations appear. And mostly when those weird time slots happen they don\u2019t have the energy to remember them or figure them out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a subtle and fine line between doing less important items as a way to procrastinate, and doing them because it is the most productive thing you can do effectively. At worst it\u2019s an energizing way to waste time semi-productively. At best, it\u2019s keeping the decks clear and optimally utilizing yourself as a resource.<\/p>\n

This essay appeared in David Allen\u2019s Productive Living Newsletter.\u00a0Subscribe for free here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The concept of daily or weekly to-do lists is as outdated as rotary phones. We need to have a total, holographic view of everything we want to accomplish, and all the actions required to start any of them. And we need to have access to views of those actions whenever we actually might be able … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Making Use of Weird Windows of Time”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,736,716,32],"tags":[22,29,64,69,46,91,28,3,122,134,786],"class_list":["post-15826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-david-allen","category-educational-tools","category-free-resources","category-productivity-tips","tag-getting-things-done","tag-gtd","tag-three-fold-nature-of-work","tag-implementing-gtd","tag-implementation","tag-david-allen-company","tag-getting-started","tag-events","tag-productivity","tag-time-management","tag-time","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking Use of Weird Windows of 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