Not dead, just busy (April Micromanagement Recap)

[mousme]

Firefox has this nifty thing which allows you to "auto-fill" with previously-used subject lines. I'm slightly appalled at how many times this year I've titled a post with the words "not dead." I sense a theme.

I promised myself I would write a post about April Micromanagement, and so now I'm doing so. It won't be an in-depth analysis, because I don't feel that's necessary. However, I will post a list (in keeping with the spirit of Micromanagement Month) of things I learned during the process:

1- Making lists and keeping them in places I'll find them encourages me to get things done.

2- Posting public goals (or at least semi-public goals) encourages me to accomplish them.

3- I routinely underestimate the time it will take me to do certain things.

4- I need a lot more sleep than I think I do.

5- If I try to schedule things too tightly, Fate takes it as a personal challenge to mess up my plans.

6- The internet is a giant time-suck.


In general, I've learned that I don't need to micromanage my life quite as intensely as I was trying for. I sort of suspected that, but it was an interesting experiment. What I do need is to keep making lists, and to keep myself honest. If I let myself, I will completely stop doing anything except going to work and checking LJ, and then stuff gets out of hand.

So I shall continue posting cleaning goals on the appropriate forum. Making LJ posts with to-do lists actually takes up more time than I'm willing to give it. I have a notebook in which to make these lists, and thus I will no longer devote that much internet time to managing my life. I can easily spend several hours in front of the computer screen without getting anything accomplished if I'm not careful.

I'm not saying that I'm going to be avoiding the internet or spending much less time online than before. I don't think that a couple of hours in the morning is a terrible thing for me. I have very little contact with my friends as it is due to my job. That means that LJ is my main source of news and interaction. I see no reason to limit myself even more.

What I do have to limit is my tendency to sit and hit "refresh" every two minutes just in case someone has posted something. I can check my flist a couple of times a day, and the rest of the time I can do something productive with my time, like make a post, write a post for Skywatch, get up and do some cleaning, or do some writing.

And that's what I learned last month. :)

Comments

[sorceror.livejournal.com]

What I do have to limit is my tendency to sit and hit "refresh" every two minutes just in case someone has posted something.

Um... guilty here, too. ^_^

[tcaptain.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one doing it either!

I tend to constantly refresh in the afternoon when work gets boring.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

When it gets past midnight, I hit *refresh, refresh, refresh* to see if the West coasters r the Australians have posted. But that's between calls at work. I think you did April pretty damn well. Brava.

[rehenazelreyhan.livejournal.com]

You've set a really good example. I am sincerely impressed with what you've done!

It is good to hear that rumors of your untimely demise are entirely unfounded.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (http://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People/dp/0743269519/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9458111-9789733?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178660843&sr=8-1)? I suspect that certain of Covey's recommendations and ways of looking at situations would appeal to you, given what you've written.