Ask HN: How do you decide what to work on? - JJseiko
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muzani
[https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_personal_productivity.html](https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_personal_productivity.html)

"By not keeping a schedule, I mean: refuse to commit to meetings,
appointments, or activities at any set time in any future day.

As a result, you can always work on whatever is most important or most
interesting, at any time.

Want to spend all day writing a research report? Do it!

Want to spend all day coding? Do it!

Want to spend all day at the cafe down the street reading a book on personal
productivity? Do it!

When someone emails or calls to say, "Let's meet on Tuesday at 3", the
appropriate response is: "I'm not keeping a schedule for 2007, so I can't
commit to that, but give me a call on Tuesday at 2:45 and if I'm available,
I'll meet with you."

Or, if it's important, say, "You know what, let's meet right now."

Clearly this only works if you can get away with it. If you have a structured
job, a structured job environment, or you're a CEO, it will be hard to pull
off.

But if you can do it, it's really liberating, and will lead to far higher
productivity than almost any other tactic you can try.

This idea comes from a wonderful book called A Perfect Mess, which explains
how not keeping a schedule has been key to Arnold Schwarzenegger's success as
a movie star, politician, and businessman over the last 20 years."

