

What "Super Achievers" Know About Time Management  - cwan
http://fieldguideforinvestors.com/articles/what-every-super-successful-achiever-knows-about-time-management-you-dont

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swombat
_Not the way they are taught by their proponents. Too many use the to do list
not just to set priorities but to project plan at the micro level. They
estimate it will take so long to do this item and then match that with an
available time slot throughout the day. The to do list wastes more time than
it purports to save._

Straw man. Who the hell uses their todo list like that? Who are those
"proponents" who suggest playing this sort of silly "estimate the task and
match it to a time slot" game? I've never met one.

Todo lists are for one thing only: to take the things you said you'd do out of
your mind so you can focus on that one most important task.

~~~
hughprime
_Straw man. Who the hell uses their todo list like that? Who are those
"proponents" who suggest playing this sort of silly "estimate the task and
match it to a time slot" game? I've never met one._

You've never seen a Gantt chart? You're lucky, then.

~~~
swombat
A Gantt chart is not a todo list. And a todo list is not a Gantt chart.
Ranting against the evils of over-planned projects is one thing. Equating that
to the humble todo list is not only silly, it's also very wrong. Terrible
advice.

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hughprime
This is the "makers' schedule" vs "managers' schedule" again. Donald Trump
doesn't need a "To do" list because he (presumably) works on a manager's
schedule -- if he decides he needs to do something he'll tell his assistant to
set up a meeting with the relevant person, then he'll meet with the relevant
person at the appropriate time and the thing will get done. Also, he doesn't
need to worry about the minor errands which most of us need to fill our to do
lists with either, since he can just bark "make me a dental appointment!" at
somebody and it gets done.

To do lists are only relevant to those who actually need to sit down and do
things on their own. Did Einstein have a To Do list? I don't know, but if he
didn't then it was for very different reasons to Donald Trump.

------
coglethorpe
You know what Super Achievers don't do? Blog about the secrets of Super
Achievers.

~~~
jessep
Seriously. This sadly written article lacks weight of any sort.

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mrshoe
To-do lists can work for some people, but here's why they're dangerous:

1) The urgency-importance matrix theory
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MerrillCoveyMatrix.png>). Given the 2x2
matrix of (important, unimportant) x (urgent, not urgent), the two _urgent_
quadrants tend to get done and the other 2 don't. In the case of the
(unimportant, not urgent) quadrant, that's probably fine. But for the
(important, not urgent) quadrant, this is a problem. To-do lists can make it
even easier to focus on the urgent, short-term tasks while starving the
important, long-term ones.

2) To-do lists provide fuel for the procrastination fire by helping you find
ways to occupy yourself while you put off a big task that you don't want to
do. See <http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/>

I think that's the crux of his argument. People who achieve a lot can see the
big picture; they can see the long term. They don't let the small tasks get in
their way.

~~~
microtherion
Ironically, I first misread your argument (1) as an argument IN FAVOR of to-do
lists, because to-do lists have at least the merit that they preserve the
(important, not urgent) items for the next review opportunity.

The phenomenon you describe, unimportant short term tasks crowding out
important long term tasks, is not so much caused by KEEPING to do lists, but
by not properly MANAGING them. I don't see how one would become better at
managing priorities by NOT having a reasonably accurate overall picture of
what the tasks at hand are.

[Disclaimer: As is probably evident from my argument, I'm a somewhat recent
convert to the "Getting Things Done" methodology]

------
hegemonicon
If I had to guess I would say that "Super Achievers" are people so excited to
work on something that they constantly feel frustrated when they're not
getting it done. To fight this, they probably tweak and adjust their habits
until they find ones that minimize their frustration. So you'll find some
people that swear off todo lists, and some people that swear by them. Some
people who plan things out meticulously and some who wait for inspiration to
strike and then work till 2:00 am. There's probably a few basic techniques
that seem to be universal (though I don't think not using to-do lists is one
of them), but the most important is to fiercely want to do something -
everything else will stem from that.

------
scotty79
_In the corporate structure the to do list doesn't appear at the "C" level._

I guess nobody at "C" level has actually anything that he has to do. These
people just wander around dreaming solely or collectively with similar people
and/or yelling at subordinates.

------
tcskeptic
_In the corporate structure the to do list doesn't appear at the "C" level._

In my experience within a Fortune 50 company, this is false. Maybe it is an
exceptional part of the culture here but the C levels I have interacted with
both at the business unit and corporate level are mad for todo lists. Not in
the "I need to slot this piece of work into this slice of time" sense, but
certainly in the "Twenty Things I have asked for from people that work for me
(And will certainly follow up on the next time I speak with them) and Five big
ideas I want to explore" sense.

------
awolf
Good concise article. The real gem here is about compartmentalizing. I think
this is the real key to getting things done. And I think the #1 thing that
makes it difficult to compartmentalize is working longer hours than you
should.

I find that when I put in extra long hours I have trouble "turning it off"
when I get home to relax. Not having that recharge time makes me stressed out
and therefore a less effective worker when I pick-up where I left of the next
day. It's a vicious cycle.

~~~
Harj
_And I think the #1 thing that makes it difficult to compartmentalize is
working longer hours than you should_

i find that living and working in the same space is the the #1 thing that
makes it difficult to compartmentalize for me. it's hard to "turn off" when
your bed is 3 meters away from your desk.

~~~
nirmal
On the other end, it can be hard to "turn on". My main reason for working away
from the apartment.

------
sandrogerbini
I am much more likely to follow the David Allen, Getting Things Done (GTD)
methodology - and not only because its a more detailed study. What I found
this article lacking was the suggestion of a learning curve, or how a
scatterbrained person can become more organized and effective. The GTD
lectures highlight the importance of finding a methodology and a set of tools
that work for you. There is no silver bullet, and I bet a very small minority
of super-achievers skipped over the whole organizational tool phase. They
probably used them, then internalized the processes.

------
niels_olson
How the hell did this get to the front page?

~~~
mrshoe
Maybe there are some HN readers who are part of small teams trying to build
profitable businesses from scratch and they need to figure out how to wear 10
different hats and get 100 hours of work done every 24 hours and still have
time to sleep.

~~~
elblanco
are you in my office?

------
maudineormsby
While I find this interesting, I'm not sure it applies to the lion's share of
people, especially here on HN. Maximizing your opportunities is a great
principle, and for people working in startups and especially in
marketing/sales positions, it's something they might face everyday.

For people in a "makers" role on a day-to-day basis, however, I wonder how
they can do what is being said here. For those, I think that swombat is right
- todo lists serve to get the things that need to be done out of your head so
you can use that brain power more effectively.

