It seemed as if the last year only had five months.
The sense that time is shooting past may be a sign of age, but it may be something deeper and more ingrained.
Perhaps we should merge months and conduct our planning around a five-month schedule to reflect psychological reality.
Seriously.
[Photo by Nathan Dumlao at Unsplash]
7 comments:
Michael, what would this look like? I guess I'm confused
Time is all we have. We should pay attention to it use it wisely and not let anything mush it together to make it feel shorter.
What I am pondering is how we consider the amount of time we have in the course of a year. Bear with me, because I have no conclusion at this stage, but the idea that time flies - at least to me - implies that we have tended to overestimate the amount of time we have and thus procrastinate, only to be surprised when weeks shoot past.
I agree with Parkinson's Law that work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to it, e.g., if you give yourself four months to complete a project, it will take four months and if you give only two months, it will take two months. Why? Because the time allotted affects the way you work.
[You can see similar issues with the way people almost automatically book meetings for 30 or 60 minutes on their calendars as opposed to a more realistic and often shorter estimate.]
I don't mean to squeeze the allotted time to make it feel shorter, but to adopt a strategy in which, by reducing the expected amount of time on projects, I actually get more done.
No answers yet, but that's what I'm considering. A way to systematically apply Parkinson's Law. I'm sure that others have done it, but I'm working on my own schedule to make it more effective, not simply to make it feel shorter. It will give me a greater sensitivity to time while being more productive.
Your comments are appreciated. I hope this makes sense.
Michael
So, you're looking for a more efficient way to work in order to get more work(projects) done. How do time estimates currently get assigned? Based on similar projects done in the past? Are the projects paid for by the amount of time or a flat rate? Are you working solo or part of a team? Do different subjects/topics/concerns take different amounts of time? Is shortening the estimated time for completion forcing you to work faster longer days? What happens if there is a glitch that comes up and adds to the time needed?
Good grief. You know I am all about Pondering.......but this looks like I might have gotten a tiny bit carried away. Sorry.
All good questions. I recall working with a group of fire chiefs on a special project and one of them observed, "It's good we don't have a big budget or else we would waste a lot of time on studies."
Each question raises additional questions. Clients usually hate paying by the hour because they risk the possibility that the other side will drag out the project. They prefer a flat rate where the other side takes the risk that the project may take longer than estimated.
In many cases, I've noticed that the client actually would have paid less with an hourly rate because a flat rate tends to inflate the overall fee in order to handle the unexpected.
Life is complicated but I'm going to ponder some more on a better time investment (not management) system.
Michael
All of this is fascinating, yet I am still a little stuck on how your idea could translate into what I do. I teach 7th grade Math at a private school in Austin. Maybe this idea can't be feasibly workable in my situation. But it is a thought-provoking idea nevertheless.
You're in a more structured environment than the standard office worker. It may be doable with specific projects than with your overall work. A key factor is the element of control that you can exert. Often, there are items that are beyond our control, and which heavily depend upon the cooperation and involvement of others.
Michael
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