Since 2017, I have conscientiously recorded my working hours, which I compare, at the end of a month, with the objectives I had set. Despite an established process, I sometimes get lost from the path I had given myself to follow. I get distracted by my notifications, questions from my colleagues, emails, or by appointments (both zoom and physical by the way) in the middle of the day that take much longer than expected (with preparation, follow-up, etc.).
In this post, I want to tackle the management of my time, the tools and the system I use to achieve my goals. I will also share the traps I fell into while learning.
In this context, not a day goes by without someone publishing an article on their routines, productivity secrets and / or new tools to be more productive. Technology has increased the amount of work that a single individual can do, so we are expected to become more productive. However, this is a very personal theme related to the concept of productivity which is not as simple as it seems.
Productivity is about making the most of the resources at our disposal (especially and primarily our time) so that we can do more in the same amount of time. The ultimate goal is to free up resources that we can use elsewhere, generally to work more ;)
Activity VS productivity
When I started my first job, I made the mistake of being as "active" as possible, it gave me the illusion of being productive. This activity also offered me an important social status vis-à-vis my family, friends or colleagues.
I was active by making myself available at all times, whenever it was, in particular by answering very quickly to a phone, email, question or instant message from a colleague. Worse, I got distracted with social medias or looking at my notifications, etc.
We must keep in mind that after a distraction, we need more than 25 minutes on average to get back to our previous task and also remember that most of the distractions are self-inflicted interruption as opposed to, say, a coworker walking over to discuss a project (see here).
By being available, we support the tasks and objectives of other people who are often of no importance for the progress of our work. At the end of the day, we were very "active" but unfortunately not "productive".
Let's face it, it's a lot easier to have a life on autopilot and in “active” mode than it is to ask ourselves questions about how to change, improve and / or challenge the work we do. Even a colleague or manager who sees us staying late at the office will more easily forgive us for missing an important deadline or for not moving forward on a key project.
Over time, I realised that goals are good for planning, tracking progress, and getting me forward in the short term, but that a system was much more useful for making progress and helping me win by committing to a process long-term. Ultimately, it is our commitment to the process that will determine our real progress.
Setting goals
Even with a process, we have to know where we are going. It is important to have objectives of what we must and want to accomplish, whether as an individual but also as a team, division, or region and to fully understand how our individual objectives are related to those of our team, division or region and ultimately with those of the company.
Very important also, the ability to measure the success or failure of objectives in a quantified manner.
At Seedstars, we set OKRs ("Objectives and Key Results") at the company level and leave it up to regions, teams and individuals to set their own OKRs.
Without going into the detail of individual OKRs (because this topic deserves its own article), you can work on weekly, monthly or quarterly goals. I have opted for monthly goals and I review at the end of each week if they are still adapted to new elements.
If you don't have a system in place for your goals, I recommend that you write down what you want to accomplish during a period and how you're going to measure the success of completing that project.
Please don't make the mistake of making a "to do list" but focus on the projects that will have a material impact on what you need to accomplish.
If a project, subject or theme is too large to be completed in one period then create a file for that project. In the latter, break it down into several sub-projects that you can accomplish over a period of time. The exercise of documenting why you are doing the sub-projects to reach the final one will help ask yourself the right questions but also give you a focus and direction to follow through.
Time tracking
The best way to see how much time we spend working on our goals is to keep track of our hours using time tracking tools (i.e. Clockify or Harvest. I’m using a system where my agenda is my time tracking tool).
Knowing precisely where (and why) you are allocating time on certain tasks rather than others will help you take a step back from the work you have done, need to do and adjust accordingly.
If you find this "time tracking" process too complicated, I invite you to write down, once a week, a few bullet points on what you:
Have successfully accomplished the previous week based on your goals
Failed and why
Want to finish / accomplish the following week (i.e. new goals)
Perform this exercise for several weeks and without any big surprises you will find that you have spent more time being "active" than working on the goals you set for yourself.
Whenever you are ready and want to take it to the next level, time track it conscientiously.
My system
I organise myself as follows:
Depending on the annual objectives of the company, I select 3 to 4 projects which will have, if I reach them, a material impact for the company.
If the projects have an estimated duration longer than a month, then I create a document for the project and I divide the latter into sub-projects, explaining the links and the steps to be taken to achieve the objectives and how I will organise myself to reach them.
Then, for the coming period, I reserve time in my agenda to work on the selected projects. Preferably, I use whole days of work dedicated to a topic (I'm a big fan of asynchronously work) and privilege working in “sprints” to accomplish the project in a given period of time. I also block times for my emails, sports, family and / or friends for reading and writing and finally schedule some "free" time for the unforeseen. What about things that are coming my way? I always try to quickly grasp what is the link between the task that comes to me and my goals set at the beginning of the period. If I can't find any, I'll put it off until later/the next period/sprint.
I note the hours that I allocate to the projects, tasks, etc so I can give a full picture of what I worked on at any given time.
At the end of the week, I review what I have accomplished and adapt my agenda with the new elements available according to my objectives.
Getting sh** done
Thanks to this system, you will now know what you are doing, why and how. You will be able to take a step back on the work you have done during the past period, adjust your goals according to new elements but also improve the way you work in order to be more productive (by removing disturbing elements for example).
Now, it's up to you to adapt your newly built system according to your own needs.