Side Hustlers' Anthem: Time Management Is Always Easier Said than done, But As I See It, It's About What's Comfortable.
Let me start this out bluntly. Managing time is one thing, but it's also literally impossible. There are far too many factors in life that control how fast, how slow, or how effective we can operate as humans, as well as members of our society. There's an overwhelming pressure to get things done, and as technology continues to change, it actually seems as though we're competing against either super humans or super standards. That, too, is also not true at all. The secret to it all, as corny as it sounds, is just simple discipline. I truly and honestly believe that we have been conditioned and trained to give so much of ourselves to the bigger picture - that is, society, or to the corporate engine - that we often have no clue how to replicate that level of discipline for ourselves. We're taught that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes Fridays are "school nights", or "work nights", so we hardly ever look at those days as days to get shit done. Instead, after a day at the office, we throw on a pair of sweats, grab a meal, watch TV, then prepare for bed. RULE No. 1: Throw That Life AwayIf you've ever used a piece of electronics that overheated while you used it, you may remember that you allowed for it to cool down, and once it did, you went right back to using it again. We are not built like that. We are far too conscious, and often times far too creative to subject ourselves happily to that type of cycle. In 2014, while working at Toyota, I would come home at either 6pm, or 10pm and brew a cup of coffee. I would sit down in my room, reviewing what it was I needed to get accomplished, review stats (we'll discuss stats), and then get to work. When a Twitter follower asked me why I brew coffee at 9pm, I simply replied, "When I'm going to give my job 8hrs, I always start the shift with coffee, then go to a meeting". The idea I was setting up was for every hour I given a corporation or job, I would fight to give myself that same amount of time. Take the following tips and insight on how I manage my time and my life. I started tapping into a number of routines that I felt like I wanted to build, but was still unsure of. Before I could conclude on what I wanted of my routines, though, I had to find what I wanted to be my most optimal results. Job after job we're pressed and pushed to deliver results through processes, scripts, workflows, and data base management, yet when it comes to our own lives, we suddenly think 1+1=2 and therefore we should see results. I broke that habit, because I knew it was unrealistic. So, my first break through to being more productive was to develop my own productive processes. For the sake of keeping this blog concise, though, I simply cannot dive as deep into the rabbit hole as I'd like to (and trust, it goes deep). But, if you've pulled anything from what I've said thus far, it's that in order to be able to balance and juggle the multiple tasks you'd like to manage in your life, yes, it requires a level of robotics. It requires for you to develop and analyze your personal life. Truthfully, I don't have a personal life and, as you'll see, everything I do is actually integrated into a calculate plan for myself. Very seldom do I wander off task completely. So here's some basics to try out. Know Which Routines To Keep, Which Routines To BreakI don't take the same way home everyday. I don't take the same way to work everyday. I do not look at the weekends as "days off" anymore. I stray away from binge-watching entire seasons of shows (I may do 2-3 episodes at a time, honestly). I have broken down my life into sections of what takes the longest, and what takes the less amount of time. Even down to where I store my clothes is calculated based on how quickly I can get in and out. Some habits, while healthy, just aren't conducive to being as productive as possible. You're going to have to determine first which of your routines are the bad apples you need to get rid of. Self-Blame vs. Self-DisciplinePart of the reason why this may seem so difficult, or even far-fetched is because most people who succeed at these kinds of daily life schedules and routines are rich (maybe famous), and charge for this knowledge. Also, most people don't believe in these kinds of things unless they come from successful people. That's fine. But I'll expose you so that you can now be held accountable. I first heard of this idea from a professor of mine reflecting that Benjamin Franklin kept a daily agenda for himself based on 15-minute intervals. Ben Franklin knew what he would be doing for an entire day, based on every quarter of an hour. That is as strange as it is impressive. At first, I thought it was bullshit. I thought to myself that Ben Franklin lived at a time when a horse on a road was as much traffic as you'd see; that roosters were your alarm clock; and when Black people's days were...(loses 4G LTE). At first, this idea was far-fetched to me, until I tried it. Being more cognizant of your time actually makes you way more attentive to how much time you bullshit in your day. And then I found an article mapping out the daily routines of some of the world's most widely known creatives. Names like Voltaire, Kurt Vonnegut, Maya Angelou, Victor Hugo, and even Pablo Picasso. What was a day in their life like. Well, for one, they dedicated a vast amount of time to their crafts. Again came the skepticism, but this time, I actually wondered greatly if I was being too skeptical and therefore doubting my ability. After reading the article and analyzing my own life I came across some problem areas and area of opportunity. At the forefront of all my problems was idle time, sleep, doing my craft, work and my commute to/from home and work. Here's how I crunched time. MY ROUTINESI have a confession: I time everything. Showers are 10 minutes. Sleep is upward to 5hrs. Working on GoodKnocking is typically about 3-4hrs at a time. BuzzBoost Social is upward to 5hrs. Working out has been reduced to 60mins (typically not in a gym because of wait times and commute). Getting dressed is about 25 minutes, down from 45 minutes because of my Pinterest Board full of potential outfits. Socializing is kept on a 3hr clock, typically two or three days a week. The only thing that is not clocked is my personal life, and idle time. I'll admit though that I do keep an eye on the clock of how long I've been idle, or how long I've been away from my computer. HOW DO I DO IT?There is no way I'd be able to keep track of everything that I do without technology. Unlike Benjamin Franklin, I refuse to walk around with a planner or a journal with hand-scribed details of my day. So instead, i keep a record of this through a number of different apps, all of which are below. These are very useful and are the hacks to being more productive and being far more happy with your outcomes and results. The first of my many apps I find crucial to keeping a schedule is, of course, a calendar. Google Calendar is my go-to in scheduling social outings, coffee meetings, business meetings, events, and yes, even Date night. I also collaborate on a calendar with my preferred DJ, DJ Brightlight for bookings such as weddings, etc. With reminders, goals, and events, Google Calendar keeps me up to speed and where I need to be. My saying goes: "if it's not on my calendar, it's not guaranteed." Another simple tool, which is equipped in every smartphone is Countdown. My Countdown app is honestly one of the most important tools I have. It is literally the difference between standing in the shower thinking about the meaning of life and being 15 minutes early to catch that parking spot at the event. The biggest use I have for my Countdown is my showers and when I drop by an event I said I was "just going to check out". For such events, I usually give it 90 minutes before I'm daps and pounds, then out the door. Nothing screams, "Yeah, he's got to go" like an alarm going off. I got to go. Seriously. Last, but certainly not least, let's talk about it: your craft. Your blog. Your podcast. Your baby! How does it all fall in? Well, first you - the creative, the soloprenuer, the underdog - have to get comfortable with the idea that you need to fit into small spaces. What that means is you have to be able to complete small tasks in small spurts of opportunity to apply to the bigger picture. Drafting a blog in Evernote will help you with consistency compared to trying to sit down and complete one big blog at a time. Lastly, you are going to need a project management tool. We're all different, but the one thing I highly suggest (and if you took one thing only from this post) is to become process-driven, not results driven. I've always said that if you've been successful at something, try to do it again. If it doesn't quite work out the second time, you weren't successful, you were lucky. Project management tools come ready to help you make your small business (and that's what you are) much more agile and process-driven. Whether you decide to use MeisterTask, or Wrike, or Trello, my biggest suggestion is to first identify your goals. One or two goals are more productive than six to ten, and then factor in what small tasks need to be done to reach that goal. Lay those out on your project management tool and let's get it. This is the difference between feeling good about progress - great or small - and coming home feeling overwhelmed by responsibility and accountability. Most project management softwares come equipped with timers, calendars, notes, visuals, and team collaborations. I have no doubt that if you can get to the bottom of the disciplinary part of building your routines, then you will thank me for introducing you to these project management tools. Accompanied by automation softwares like Buffer, Zapier, or even Automate.io, you'll be so far ahead of where you were. Of course there is a lot more to this process, but I'm interested in touching on different topics separately. So, be sure to subscribe to Written By Mistah Marvel for updates on what's coming next from the continuation of this series, "The Side Hustlers' Anthem".
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorFrom Personal testimonies to gadget reviews, I'd like to give you a little bit of everything in between. Archives
September 2018
Categories
All
|