Time Management

[INsTeP]

Hello there! Its been sometime since I last posted. I come back here for potential answers to weigh and consider (like I always do).

Specific Question (tl,dr): How do you manage your time?
I go through periods of alternating obsession and disinterest in things which I recognize are important to me. In particular, this includes work and sport. When I get back to work again, there is a sense of frustration i.e. why the hell wasnt I doing this for the last month?

Long Incoherent Rant:
Q) Do all INTPs find structure suffocating? To have a time table you follow for every day seems impossible. Even planning the day at the beginning of the day is hard. I tried maintaining a bullet journal. Its been a month now since I picked it up.
Q)How much of this has to do with self-discipline and pain threshold? I find it pretty hard to do stuff that I dont really want to do.
Q)What does time mean to you? I used to see time as this infinite thing. On and off now, I see that I have limited time on this planet. And I think about what a pity it would be to not really push and see my limits, to not achieve my potential.
All of this also seems related to a certain sense of helplessless, that of weakening willpower because of lack of its exercise.
Q)What does it mean to be a doer first? Is there a balance between living in the present and planning for the future? If so how does one go about determining it for oneself, for it is a hugely personal thing.
Q) Is there always a tradeoff between long term payoff (in terms of achieving a goal) and enjoying the process of doing something (instant gratification)?

What has worked for you? What hasnt?

 

[Happy]

I'm not an INTP, but an ENTP, which is arguably worse when it comes to time management.

I've found much success using David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) system*. I use the system via the Todoist Premium** app suite and it's generally successful.

On top of this, I'm a believer that the best way to manage time is to aim to do less. Don't answer every email, don't show up to every meeting, etc. Fuck that. Instead, I prefer to use the 80/20 rule to prioritise the things that will give me the most bang for my buck. What 20% of tasks will give the greatest level of output and render most of the remaining 80% obsolete? Do those things.

*No, I'm not getting paid to say that, but I'd like to be.

**No, they don't pay me to spout praise for their software either, but they should. Until then, I'll just keep telling people how great their apps are... except for the windows 10 one which is a steaming pile of shit and I hate it with a passion, so I usually use the web app instead)

 

[INsTeP]

I remember trying GTD ages ago when I was a different person. May be I should give it another shot...
I havent thought about 80/20 and prioritizing all that much.

 

[EditorOne]

This might not help, but I've found I can control both procrastination and obsession by doing whatever feels right at the moment, but imposing a time limit. If I'm delaying a big long ugly thing, setting a limit of an hour or whatever makes it more palatable. If I'm obsessed with something, a limit keeps it from becoming a problem. I call the approach "slices,' and while I was working it did the trick. I can be a bit sloppy with it in retirement but I seem to stick to the pattern anyway.

I was in daily newspapers my whole life, so meeting deadlines became a good habit, bringing with it the prioritization already talked about when you are on deadline and must file a story whether you're still developing it or not. INTP analysis skills made it easy to single out what was important, interesting and salient to context in a heck of a hurry, which in turn strengthened the INTP preferences even further. I'm pretty much a functioning INTP, which I hope is differently from a functioning sociopath.....

 

[redbaron]

someone has already monetised my 80/20 method?

back to the drawing board, but at least it's good to know my initial idea was good and i could have made money from it

where's that thread about how we can't do anything original anymore because there's too many ppl and stuff? i wanna bump that thread

 

[washti]

Excel. One sheet - one project with numbered actionable steps.To do - red color. Done - green color. When step was unnessesary - purple color. Next to Action Steps - Timetable for project. Flexible, just dates. Calendars never really worked for me. Colors able me reflect what I did in last month(s) - that way I've feel of achievement.
I keep separate timetable for all pending projects to group actions in one day.

I find structure VERY suffocating. But when shit hit the fun (fear motivation) my Si take control and I'll plan in above manner and execute like robot. Although after two days of DOING I need at least three days of recovery.

I envy you for this obsession period, my outlook on life is constant ennui with tiny spark of initial exciment. Regrettably short lived.

What is your potential? Do you know? What if that feel of posible self-fulfilment was installed in you since child by society to use your body&mind as vehicle to serve for participants in capitalist(/OTHER) system?

Do you have interests worthy enough to pursue without need for that lovely image of clapping and approving people?

 

[Intolerable]

I echo what Washti said. If software development had anything meaningful for me it was tasking out my daily stories to smaller chunks.

You'd be surprised at how much of your procrastination is down to just not seeing a straight line to your goals. Breaking down a long term goal to daily goals is a great first step to destroying procrastination.

 

[Happy]

I just want to highlight this point:

Effectiveness > efficiency

 

[INsTeP]

Thank you all for your input. I am back to work again and hopefully will be back in obsession mode soon. (In my current circumstances, its better to be there than not).
In the long term, I will have to sit and figure out what idea works for me...

Excel. One sheet - one project with numbered actionable steps.To do - red color. Done - green color. When step was unnessesary - purple color. Next to Action Steps - Timetable for project. Flexible, just dates. Calendars never really worked for me. Colors able me reflect what I did in last month(s) - that way I've feel of achievement.
I keep separate timetable for all pending projects to group actions in one day.

I find structure VERY suffocating. But when shit hit the fun (fear motivation) my Si take control and I'll plan in above manner and execute like robot. Although after two days of DOING I need at least three days of recovery.

I envy you for this obsession period, my outlook on life is constant ennui with tiny spark of initial exciment. Regrettably short lived.

What is your potential? Do you know? What if that feel of posible self-fulfilment was installed in you since child by society to use your body&mind as vehicle to serve for participants in capitalist(/OTHER) system?

Do you have interests worthy enough to pursue without need for that lovely image of clapping and approving people?

I do logic and computer science.
What is my potential? I have no idea, but I feel like I cant really grasp it because it is enormous.
I have interests that I think are worth pursuing for the world i.e. the world will be better off because some human is pursuing it. At the same time, I understand that one needs access to resources to have maximum impact. And this involves getting people to clap for you, regardless of whether they understand what it is that you are doing or what is really going on in the subject.

 

[washti]

Nightmerish jesus christ. Its neverending story. I think its great time to
exterminate a bit. Virus of all that "we improve world" people, beacuse "we have interests and potential" replicates too fast. Srsly like. Give me a fucking break. Like. Could you kindly reconsider?

 

[INsTeP]

Sadly all of humanity seems to be afflicted with one of two viri: "we can improve world" and "fake humility". Looks like I belong to the group with the first

 

[Ex-User (14663)]

I have consistently said "fuck you" to any sort of circumstances that imposes structure on my time. In high school, I was notorious for bing late to school every single day. In university I almost never attended anything that had a schedule. And showing up to work at 9 AM every day? Fuhgetaboutit.

The more you can predict what your day will look like, the more dead you are.

 

[Grayman]

I generally manage disinterest by quickly filling it with another obsession in a different topic. Usually i need to recover a day or two due to the lack of sleep and food. I also have to clean up and shave, cut my nails and take a really long shower due to a decreased hygiene during the month to two month long obsession. I generally transition from clean cut Intj type to homeless looking person and back again.

Age has slowed me down a little and made things more manageable. I can no longer burn the candle from both ends like I used to without facing severe physical consequences.

 

[Intolerable]

I generally manage disinterest by quickly filling it with another obsession in a different topic. Usually i need to recover a day or two due to the lack of sleep and food. I also have to clean up and shave, cut my nails and take a really long shower due to a decreased hygiene during the month to two month long obsession. I generally transition from clean cut Intj type to homeless looking person and back again.

Age has slowed me down a little and made things more manageable. I can no longer burn the candle from both ends like I used to without facing severe physical consequences.

The fastest way to fail at life is to accept too many burdens. People just don't know how to say no for their own good. It's one of the first things I'd correct regardless of age.

You're not alone about being "in the zone" at times though. All of us here are probably that way. After the INTP obsession passes hygiene gets attention.

 

[sushi]

working half a day is long enough, if you do more, remember to take a break later.

 

[Ex-User (8886)]

Specific Question (tl,dr): How do you manage your time?

very well, never late, I always know how much time an activity require and what I need to do now, and what I can do later (after deadline).

What has worked for you? What hasnt?

I noticed that I have bad time management in new activities (when I move to a new city I'm always late or too early because I need to figure out how many time everything takes, then I just follow autopilot).
Usually when I feel anxiety it's time to start doing something.

what hasn't?
definitely plans, timetables and all that J's stuff