How Jeff Atwood works

Re:How Jeff Atwood works by columbo on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @05:10PM (#4638202)

> Whenever I make a todo list, I forget it and find it weeks later with some items completed and the rest have turned unimportant.

I think that's the big problem, your todo lists are too big and too long. Getting Things Done would be a good thing to research.

Here's an example. This Saturday I've got to wrap up a side project. I'm planning on making Saturday a "heavy burn" day, I've got a TON to do.

Saturday morning, from 7:30am - 8:00am I start planning (aka todo list). For the first half hour I'm going to casually wake up, sip coffee and write down everything I want to accomplish IN THAT DAY. It is going to look something like this:

      *  Complete Add/Remove Users
      *  Create permissions system
      *  Create groups-in-groups
      *  Complete external log-in
      *  Dinner w/wife
      *  Park w/daughter
      *  Read Robopocalypse, have beer, alone time
      *  Play with sprite map for game (fun-side-project)
      *  Final payment to credit card
      *  Call company about tree triming prices
      *  Talk to Frank about UI changes
      *  Call parents about Thanksgiving
      *  Dog needs to be walked

This todo list is useless after Saturday. It includes some things that are part of my larger goals (spending more time by myself without a computer and reading), some high priority items (do work) and some misc things that I know will probably interrupt my day (thanksgiving plans, dog walking). It also has rewards (Dinner w/wife and Park w/daughter). The end result is to shift this around so that I can spend more time doing the four things I WANT to do that day (park, dinner, dog, book) and as little time doing the rest.

So the first thing I'm probably going to do is re-organize this list and from 8:00-8:30 take care of all the 'under 15 minute tasks'

      *  Final payment to credit card
      *  Call company about tree triming prices
      *  Talk to Frank about UI changes
      *  Call parents about Thanksgiving

Boom. Now all my possible interruptions or 'things in the back of my mind' are done. Now I can lump together the big things.

First I do these three (from 9am-2pm)

      *  Complete Add/Remove Users
      *  Create permissions system
      *  Create groups-in-groups

Then I get to do these

      *  Park w/daughter
      *  Dog needs to be walked

Wohoo! I just gave myself a goal to reach by 2pm. After that I get this

      *  Complete external log-in
      *  Read Robopocalypse, have beer, alone time
      *  Dinner w/wife

And later that evening if I still feel up to it this

      *  Play with sprite map for game (fun-side-project)

Would I do this every day? No. However this is a great way for me to maximise the days that I plan to do a ton of work while still not feeling burnt out. It means I can say by Saturday evening that I 'spent time with my wife, daughter, dog' AND 'read a book by myself' AND 'got a shit-ton of work done'.

Of course. YMMV. I don't see the need to turn todo lists into a Tabs VS Spaces debate where one side is clearly in the wrong. That's what I feel Atwood is doing, and I don't agree with it.

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Re:How Jeff Atwood works by stephengillie on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @05:11PM (#4638207)

How long does all of that list management take on Saturday morning?

Edit: In your first hour, you spend 45 minutes writing and rewriting task lists, then spend 15 minutes doing the first tasks on your list? Instead of spending all of that time writing and rewriting the list, why not just do those first tasks? You wouldn't have needed to write and rewrite them.

I believe todo lists give a person the sensation of accomplishment without actually requiring anything get done. It's productivity porn at its worst.

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Re:How Jeff Atwood works by columbo on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @05:58PM (#4638419)

> 45 minutes writing and rewriting task lists, then spend 15 minutes ....

Meh. My post was a generalization and I don't see the benefit of spending too much time (ha) arguing over the high-level time slots I put on the EXAMPLE. Maybe it's 15 minutes, maybe it is 5 minutes... really that's not all that important.

For me they are quick to do and give me a set of goals and I finish my products faster because of it. At the same time I'm hitting my long term and family goals. It's a win for me.

They don't work for you. Don't use them.

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Re:How Jeff Atwood works by maaku on Friday October 12, 2012 @01:20AM (#4643911)

His times were examples, not generalizations, but you spend that time anyway no matter what method you choose, even if your choice is no method at all. Inevitably you will have to think about desired outcomes, next-actions to reach those goals, and priorities. Why not externalize that thinking so you only have to do it once, and batch process it for efficiency?

When you choose “no system”, you're simply deciding to keep those things to do in your head, mentally reiterate and evaluate those lists, and reprioritize them throughout the day. It's true whether you think about it in those terms or not. How that could possibly be more efficient than using an external system (pen and paper) to capture that work is beyond me.

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