Hot answers tagged tasks
19
As a matter of fact we all at some moment of time struggled with code. some one will share it and some one will not. You will find a lot of fakers in our field. at least i have found a lot. so don't worry at all.
1) As far as your problem is concerned i truly understand what you are facing because i was in your shoes not so long ago. the solution to your ...
8
My experience is that it helps to:
A) Have a routine.
B) Write it down.
C) Finish something every time you start.
Routine
With a good routine, a great many decisions you would think about are already made. Unless you work in a factory, your first day in a job or role will be far from routine. Here are some suggested attributes for the routine you ...
8
I would follow this tip from Hemingway:
The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you
know what will happen next. If you do that every day … you will never
be stuck. Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about
it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way
your subconscious will work on ...
8
The first thing to do is check to see if you're being asked for an estimate or a commitment. Especially in software development, these words are often misused.
An estimate should be a range with an indication of your confidence in the values. For example, you might estimate a project as 25% confidence of accomplishment in 5 days, 50% in 8 days, 90% in 12 ...
6
Have a look at http://www.todotxt.com/
This set of tools starts from a simple txt file, the most versatile, industry-standard, non-proprietary file format that will never suffer from versioning problems or can become corrupted by program errors, and that can be stored and opened on any system imaginable.
TodoTXT is a free and open-source set of tools for ...
6
try to pair with someone; it always makes things much easier; it's a lot of fun to work in a good team
when you're done, make sure your code is as good as you can make it to be (if the product works but the code is a mess, it's not what your employer needs) - imagine if you hire a plumber who will be cutting corners, doing a poor job etc - would you like to ...
5
Schedule "relationship time" as one of the projects that needs to be done, and include it in your lists. Create metrics that allow you to track the time you spend investing in the relationship, and make sure you achieve whatever goals you set for those metrics.
In GTD (Getting Things Done) terms, make sure you are allocating your time appropriately across ...
5
Estimating time is always tricky. I have about 20 years as a freelancer, and while I'm pretty good about time estimates, I come up completely wrong a couple times a year. I've noticed that I never estimate too MANY hours. When things go horribly wrong, it's always because I estimated too few. That's the first thing to keep in mind.
In your situation, I ...
5
The GTD book is both specific and emphatic that the only things that go on the calendar are actual appointments (at their assigned time) and tasks that have to be done on a specific day (which aren't given a time, just a day).
The first kind is pretty obvious, but an example for the second kind would be you have a deadline of Friday 5pm for finishing a ...
5
Pomodoro technique & breaking tasks down into to smaller subtasks helps me get through this type of work.
Tasks that leave me brain-dead, I leave for the afternoon instead of morning, so I can go home when I am finished. I also block them all into half of one day per week. Spreading them out into something like one hour a day usually doesn't work for ...
5
So this is interesting because you are coming at this from a very different perspective than most people who are interested in productivity (and you're a bit closer to my own way of doing things)
So when I was first trying to manage my todo list I had a pen and paper notebook - tasks got crossed out in pen and new ones were added at the bottom. You read ...
5
Trying to save some "rote" tasks for this time period can be a good strategy: you'd have to do them anyways at some point during the day, so might as well do them when you're not at your peak productivity.
What you have for lunch might be a factor as well; abstain from sugary drinks and high-carb food that might spike your blood sugar level and cause a ...
5
This question is pretty broad!! However, I do have some general actions/tips for you. I've used most of them and I sleep very well... not that I am super productive, haha...
Practice conscious living instead of just productive living:
In any case, you'll need to develop a conscious sense during the day. You may have achieved more than you think, and ...
5
I will block out time on my calendar each day for similar tasks. For example, in my practice I am not the best at returning calls, so I block out time day for making and returning calls. If you accept that everything on your calendar is an promise, either to yourself or someone else (in the case of an appointment), you might find it much easier to know out ...
4
While I'm not sure I can answer...since I'm not quite sure of the QUESTION, I'll tell you how I've handled similar circumstances. My biggest issue is that I want my list in ONE place, no matter where I go. However, sometimes I'll be on the road and out of internet/cell range for a week. Other times, I've got a phone that doesn't do websites well. Other ...
4
I think that you have already done the hard work here. You have identified that a problem exists and now the only thing that is left is for you to fix it.
This is not a productivity issue, but rather a priorities issue. You have to decide what your priority is at different times during the day and throughout the week and then make good decisions based off ...
4
I am happy with Remember The Milk. The Android and iPhone apps work offline and sync nicely when you're back in wifi range. The web interface works well for me on netbook, laptop, and desktop machines. And I use RTM as my primary list manager for GTD.
I might also be happy with using Evernote if I were to change my workflow a bit. Evernote doesn't ...
4
While to do lists have their place, there are some things which need to be more human, and one of these is your relationship.
It sounds like you and your husband have very different goals and while you may see your successes in your career, he may see you as failing in your relationship.
You need to look at how you can make all aspects of your life a ...
4
I have to say I have been using Streak: http://streak.com for tons of things now.
Although it may appear more focused towards Sales the whole Box and Pipeline idea it has is actually applicable to many things. For TODO's I just send myself emails and put them in a Box and then assign it to a Pipeline.
It actually sort of makes you Kanban-ish.
There is ...
4
I can think of two approaches. I strongly prefer the first one:
Approach #1 - make smaller tasks
Many tasks can be made smaller. Having one 8 hour task isn't terrible, but a lot of big tasks are going to get lost and impact your planning. I think doing your taxes is a great example of how to subdivide a task. For me, doing my taxes has the following ...
4
You match my cycle - I am most productive with analytic work early in the morning and late in the evening, but mid afternoon that part of my brain is at a low ebb. For me this isn't about motivation or willpower, just that I have discovered over time what I am good at at different times of day.
I discovered that that does seem to be a good time for me to ...
4
Here are some things you can do to change your routine immediately:
Fix your sleep schedule. Tonight. Go to bed around midnight and sleep for 7 to 8 hours (in 1.5 hour increments / sleep cycles). Do not sleep past 8 hours. Use sleep aids if you are unable to fall asleep (your body will not want to due to your internal clock).
Plan our your work load for ...
4
If I was a junior and realised I was in over my head, I would let my boss or team know as soon as possible. The longer you leave it, the longer they will think everything is fine and the bigger impact to them when they finally find out you haven't completed the task.
Even now, in pretty senior roles, I would still ask for clarification or help on a topic I ...
3
So, embarrassingly, and against a number of sources of advice, my next action list is sorted by the time that the task arrived in the box, newest tasks at the top, oldest at the bottom.
One of my ways of dealing with the inefficiencies that the sort-by-entry-time method causes is to make a rule that everyday I must do the oldest task in the list and I make ...
3
I can very much identify with this feeling. I love spending time with my girlfriend, but I sometimes have to forcefully push that anxiety of productivity loss to the side.
My solution has been around boundaries. Let's face it, you could try to work for 14-16 hours a day, but I'm assuming that you don't. Why? Well burnout for one. But in addition, at ...
3
I'd go with pomodoro technique as suggested by Dina. Yours seems more a problem of time and feeling management than one related to the difficulty of task. I tailored this approach for you. I think it's going to work!
First step:
Start a kitchen timer (25 minutes) and make suer you hear its ticking
On a sheet of paper create a LIST with all the mails you ...
3
Something that helped me a little while ago was to realise that there was no real relation between the dread of the task, and the effort required to do the task...
For example there have been tasks on my todo list that look like "email X about Y" that have sat there for nearly a week with me dreading them everyday. But it turns out that tasks like these ...
3
imho, any file manager which supports tags would work for you (any document would have one or more tags, allowing to attach this document to one or more tasks, contexts etc)
look at Tabbles (and alternatives)
3
Is there anything else, specifically, that are you looking for (for example, a timer or an alarm system that tells you what to do)? I think that there are existing softwares that cover you.
If you use Notepad++, the Explorer Plugin shows your filesystem. This gives you a filesystem view, so you can be organized by just following a good filesystem ...
3
Find articles that do something similar (it doesn't have to be the same) to what you are trying to achieve. The more you will read and educate yourself about the problem, the easier it will appear.
The fact that you find something difficult and resist working on it is common. The workaround is to make the problem easier by educating yourself. If the problem ...
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