Time management in the age of distraction

By Patrick Coleman, Black & Veatch

When I started using the Harvard^â Planner in the early 1990s, I bought A. P. Martin’s book on time management (Martin, 1993). Recently, I purchased his updated edition (Martin, 2012) and noticed that not only had the subtitle changed but also new chapters had been added.

Flawless Time Management changed from Practical Timesaving Tools & Techniques in 1993 to Managing Priorities, Deadlines, Meetings, Interruptions and Saying No in 2012. The new chapters discuss time bandits, such as meetings, email, interruptions and drop-in visitors. It also expands on key skills such as learning to say “no,” working with and delegating to colleagues, and using the Internet effectively.

These revisions are in response to four changes in the workplace that have made managing time much more difficult:

• Distractions – There are more of them.
• Inboxes – They will propagate if not curtailed.
• Task breakdown – Frequently we are asked to produce a product rather than to complete a task.
• Etiquette – We need to be politely proactive when managing time.
• How then can we respond to these changes? How do we retain our humanity and invest our time wisely in this “Age of Distraction”?

Managing distractions

We need time to think, or we cannot do our job, let alone live our lives. If we are rested and energized and we focus our minds on one thing, we produce our best work.

We can do more than one thing concurrently. However, it is a myth that when we “multitask,” we are as productive as if we did one task at a time. We would be more efficient if we worked in focused bursts (e.g., 25 minutes) with a short break in between (the Pomodoro Technique). When we know that a text message may come in or we are listening to a conference call while working on a report, pieces of our mind are allocated away from our main task. We work slower and less efficiently. We become like a computer with too many windows open that slowly grinds to a standstill.

A distraction is a thing that prevents us from giving full attention to something else. It may be something external like a noise, or internal like a memory or feeling.

As more offices become open plan and space per employee reduces, we need to respect each other’s space even more because the buffer between us has shrunk. We need to be aware that our actions can sabotage our colleagues’ efforts to focus. We need to spend our colleagues’ time as wisely as we spend our own. For this reason, we need to minimize hallway conversations, avoid eavesdropping, reduce unplanned visits, keep quiet, do not use a speakerphone, do not have fragrances or spicy food in the cubicle, and use our inside voice.

Distractions also come from within us, such as self-doubt, negative feelings, etc. We need to be able to calm or at least compartmentalize these thoughts that can eat away at our ability to focus. Otherwise, we may find ourselves physically in the office but mentally somewhere else.

Conserving capacity to think

There is a limit to how long we can concentrate. We have two “brains” – one is linear and logical and the other is nonlinear and pattern-oriented. If we only used the linear one, we would either have been eaten or died of exhaustion. Most of the time, we rely on our quick nonlinear, pattern-oriented brain. It is fast and requires less energy. It is correct enough times so that we stay alive, but it is not the brain we use for serious thinking. If we are distracted or tired when working, the nonlinear brain kicks in and we start to make mistakes.

We need to give our linear brain a rest. In this age it means we need to “disconnect”, whether for a minute or a few weeks. We need to stop and breathe/stretch, take a walk, take a power nap, take an evening off, or take a vacation without our phones.

There are four actions we can take that will make our quest to conserve our energy and manage our time easier:

1. Reduce the number of inboxes – Time management specialists advise us to reduce our inboxes to less than six (Allen, 2015). Each day we need to act on input from various sources. This has not changed. What has changed is the nature of this input and the number of input sources. Thirty years ago, it was two sources: our boss and our family. Now, most people have more than one email address, a smartphone and instant messaging. We need to corral this input into less than six inboxes. We do not have the organic bandwidth to handle more than this effectively.
2. Learn to manage inputs – In the transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy, more of the inputs changed from a request to do a specific task, to a request to provide a solution or create a product. This means we need to teach individuals how to break the request down into manageable steps, with an eye on what resources are required and which team members to engage.Laura Stack (Stack, 2012) teaches a system based on six decisions: Discard, Delegate, Do, Date (Defer Until), Drawer (File because you need it later) and Deter (Stop a source from sending you junk).

3. Master the art of saying “no” – We need to master how to manage time without damaging relationships with colleagues. As always, we need to avoid the tyranny of the immediate and recognize that not all tasks have the same urgency or deliver the same value. Learning to say “no” with empathy, learning to delegate and learning to ask for help are key skills we all must hone, if we are to survive in the workplace.
   One challenge for young engineers is how to manage their managers. The first step is to build a relationship that allows you to make a deposit in their “emotional bank account.” When we have to make a “withdrawal,” that is, to disappoint our manager because we are too busy to do what they ask of us, there will be good will from which to draw.We need to learn to say “no” positively – “I would love to but…”. We should not make empty promises because not delivering on a promise is worse than saying no in the first place (Stack, 2012). Also, we should not let fear of disappointing someone overwhelm common sense. Stephen Covey (Covey, 2004) states correctly that “you have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, non apologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do this is to have a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside of you.” That “yes” is a clear vision as to what you want to invest your time in.

4. Neutralize time bandits – We need to be polite but honest when dealing with time bandits. Time bandits include poorly run meetings, unnecessary email, inappropriate Internet surfing and streaming, updating social media, socializing, negativity, handling personal issues on company time, smoking, arriving late/leaving early, and grinding out boring/unnecessary tasks (Stack, 2012).

If asked, most people agree that unnecessary and poorly run meetings are outright time pirates. All meetings should have an agenda, a time limit, a timekeeper and a chairman. When in a meeting, that is the only place you should be – phones off, laptops closed, etc. The same rules apply to conference calls and video conferences.

Time management in the age of distraction

The six key elements of any time management cycle are capture, process, populate, schedule, execute and review:

• Capture – The first step in time management is to capture requests. These may be captured in a notebook or an email inbox. We need to be aware that just because we can talk or write, does not mean we can communicate. Effective communication is a skill we need to work on daily. Once a request is captured, write your understanding down somewhere. Capture tasks in no more than six places (inboxes). This may be in a notebook, an email or an app (e.g., TeuxDeux, EverNote). Then seek confirmation that you understood what was asked of you.
• Process – Once captured, the requests need to be broken down into tasks. In other words, a project execution plan should be created to deliver a requested solution or product. David Allen calls this collection of tasks “projects” (Allen, 2015). When breaking down a request, ask: “What do I know, who can help me, where can I find an example and what resources do I need?” Once broken down and assessed, ask: “Can I complete this task on time? If not, can I modify my approach, or do I have to ask for an extension?”
• Populate – At the core of any time management system are a to-do list and a calendar. The next steps are to populate these, execute the work and then reflect back on how things worked out. The to-do list is populated with tasks that you need to do over the next four weeks. Longer term tasks remain parked in your “project” files. Once the list is created, a priority needs to be assigned to each task. Then tasks that can be delegated to others are also identified.
• Schedule – The next step is to block out meetings and appointments in your schedule. For important tasks only, plan what day you will do what task.
• Execute – Use your to-do list and schedule to remain focused.
• Review – At the end of each day, week, month and year, review what happened, extract any lessons learned and then modify priorities and your schedule to suit.
  

Patrick Coleman is a Principal Process Engineer with Black & Veatch. This article appears in ES&E’s November/December issue, as part of the Consultants’ Forum.