Author: Francis Wade

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Giving the questions rather than the answers

One of the goals of the 2Time Management system is to once and for all separate the tons of advice with respect to time management and productivity thinking, and differentiate what is essential from what is merely useful.

The fact that there is precious little research on time management techniques is a travesty, and one of the results is that there seems to be no disciplined way to think about time management. At the moment, the different individuals that present their ideas on time management seem to be more interested in presenting what they think of as their “final solutions” rather than in understanding the underlying structure of all systems of personal productivity. Continue reading “Giving the questions rather than the answers”

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So little research

Why is there so very little research in personal productivity?

In designing the 2Time Management system, I have found that there is a severe lack of scholarship with respect to time management.

I can only think that this is because there is not a single, united field that clearly applies to the problem of managing time. What school or college should a graduate student apply to in order to pursue studies in this field? Continue reading “So little research”

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Capturing – Putting Items in Existence

One of the big problems that professionals have in learning how to improve their productivity is to discipline themselves to follow the simple principle of putting items in existence by making them tangible and visible.

Making something “tangible and visible” is the same as writing it down in a place from where it can be reliably retrieved when the item is needed. In other words, it means taking a Time Demand from one’s memory and writing it down, effectively outsourcing its storage from brain cells to paper. Continue reading “Capturing – Putting Items in Existence”

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On Being a Black Belt pt 2

Black Belts are the leaders in defining the 2Time Management system. In effect, they are the system’s innovators that together define and refine the core practices at the core of the system, and at the core of all time management systems.

They are forever researching, testing and trying new approaches as they are made public to see if there are any changes that needed to be made to the system.

Also, they define, and are responsible for, the training that people take to learn the 11 Components. Some may manage the movement of 2Time users from belt to belt, coaching them along the way in breaking new habits and forming new ones.

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On Buying the Latest Productivity Gadget

There is always a new gadget or system on the market that advertises itself as the latest solution to a professional’s time management needs.

How is a busy professional to adopt new technologies as they are invented, popularized and released? Should he or she simply buy each new gadget to test it out, and see what happens?

Unfortunately, this is what many have done, which explains the abundance of gadgets that have ended up in so many people’s drawers. From Filofaxes to PDAs to digital voice recorders to Treos to Blackberries – they all promised greater productivity.

However, a gadget that is used by a Novice, without any understanding of the underlying structure of a time management system, is only destined to fail. Continue reading “On Buying the Latest Productivity Gadget”

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The Game of 2Time

2Time is nothing more than a game.

From a certain perspective, it is a complex game in which a user is scoring themselves using the belt system, and attempting to improve their score over time by changing long-ingrained habits.

Users take the initial course and decide what level they are currently operating at, and which belt-level they belong to. They develop a plan before leaving the course with target dates for changing certain habits. Continue reading “The Game of 2Time”

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Time Demands

The basic element that every professional has to deal with is what we in the 2Time Management system call a Time Demand.

A Time Demand is born when someone decides to use some, as yet unspecified, amount of time to accomplish some task no matter how small. Most Time Demands are meant to be dealt with in the future, as it is usually impossible to drop everything to complete it immediately.

Time Demands include 2 parts, a prompt plus a commitment. Some examples include:

  • a request that someone else makes that we agree to fulfill
  • a decision to start exercising on Monday
  • a project that we are going to start working on next month
  • a bill that must be paid by check at the end of the month
  • a call to our mother tonight
  • time to rest, recover or recuperate
  • the time we spend in the car to get from Chaguanas to Port of Spain for a wedding
  • an email that needs to be returned
  • checking voice-mail
  • reading the newspaper in the morning

These all take time to be fulfilled, from short times to very long times.

Many professionals are stressed by the number and weight of the time demands that they have committed to fulfill. Continue reading “Time Demands”

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Some Great Tips

The thing about productivity tips is that many of them are interesting, but they don’t have the basic importance of the 11 Components. The Components are recognized in the 2Time Management system as “inescapable” realities of managing time demands in a busy world.

Having said that, tips are interesting insights that work for some people, but not others. There are several sites that describe some incredibly insightful tips, and these particular tips from the zenhabits author are good enough for me to want to try it. Continue reading “Some Great Tips”

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The Chaos of a Novice

If there is a friend you have who can be relied upon to ignore your emails, voice-mails and text messages, and to forget important commitments, then the chances are good that that person is a novice in the art and science of time management.

They may be quite well-intentioned, intelligent, willing to learn and sincerely apologetic, but the fact that they are a Novice has nothing to do with their mental frame of mind.

Instead, it has everything to do with how time demands flow, or do not flow through whatever system they are using. Their processes and habits are what make them a Novice, and nothing else. Continue reading “The Chaos of a Novice”

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Being Comfortable with Your Own System

It is a mistake for a user of a time management system at any level to be envious of other users.

The fact is, the design of a time management system is a personal matter, and the choice of how to operate each component is one that only the individual can make.

Unfortunately, many users will allow themselves to feel guilty that they are not operating as Black Belts – but this is not a useful way to use the 2Time Management system. This leads to resistance and self-blame, the very opposite of the goal they are trying to accomplish.

Success in 2Time starts with accepting and embracing the level at which a user finds himself, regardless of what that might be. Once they have fully embraced it, they can then implement the plan to move up one habit at a time, one belt at a time, taking care to practice the skills at the level they are at, while practicing the new skills they need to learn.