One of the big ideas we use here at 2Time Labs is that of Time Demands. Here’s a short video, a recent podcast and a series of posts that show how the idea has progressed over time. This is a great opportunity learn an important distinction that changes the way time management is understood.
If you’d like to explore the idea in the context of real life, see my book – Bill’s Im-Perfect Time Management Adventure – in which the discovery of this concept provides a crucial turning point in the entire story.
Update: June 2014. We have forged a new concept with respect to time demands that more accurately reflects the reality of what people do on a daily basis. Here’s Chapter 4 of my upcoming book – Perfect Time-Based Productivity – A Professional Approach.
Video
Podcast
Here’s the link to the podcast which runs for just under 26 minutes. It’s entitled Big Ideas! Time Demands vs. Stuff.
Blog Links
Tasks vs. Time Demands, Being a Victim vs. Responsible
New Thinking Around Time Demands
All About Time Demands and Other Guest Posts
A New Paradigm for Time Demands
Time Demand: A Confusing Definition Cleared Up
Time Demands: Time Management’s Widget
Slide Show
Infographic
Academic Research
There were a number of papers produced in the 2002-2005 time-frame from Xerox’s palo Alto Research Company. They were attempting to define better email processing software and appeared to realize that email messages weren’t important, but the tasks embedded in them were.
What a To-Do: Studies of Task Management Towards the Design of a Personal List Manager. Bellotti, Dala, Good, Flynn, Bobrow and Ducheneaut. 2004.
Quality Versus Quantity: E-Mail-Centric Task Management and Its Relation With Overload. Bellotti, Ducheneaut, Howard, Smith and Grinter. 2005
Taskmaster: recasting email as task management. Bellotti, Ducheneaut, Howard, Smith.