Time Management: If you want something done, give it to a busy person

The psychology of being busy and tips and tools to juggle the chaos

I recently gave a presentation at the Women in Manufacturing 2019 SUMMIT in Denver, Colorado. Afterward, when I posted a photo on social media to thank friends and colleagues for coming, I received several comments and private messages asking me to give another presentation for those who missed it.

While I'm flattered everyone loves the topic and assumes I could provide them with useful info - I figured offering a LinkedIn article was more efficient. (#timemanagement - see what I did there?)

To start - let's talk about the psychology of being busy and how your brain processes the abundance of information it receives.

Cognitive Bias: When your brain says "Hold my beer and watch this"

Your brain is constantly looking for connections, patterns, and completion. We notice things that are already primed in memory or repeated often. Our brains boost the importance of things that are surprising or unusual - and we skip over the things that our brains expect.

This article by Buster Benson is a fantastic one - if you are a psychology nut like me and love all things that mention "cognitive bias," read this and save the link to reference later.

Cognitive bias isn't all bad. It helps us combat several problems:

• When we are given too much information,
• When we aren't given enough context in a situation,
• When we need to decide quickly, and
• When we have to determine whether or not to store a bit of information as a memory.

We encounter most - if not all - of these problems on a frequent basis. It's part of being a human.

The Zeigarnik Effect: Who needs sleep, anyway?

One of the most fascinating biases out there is the one deemed "The Zeigarnik Effect." This suggests that you are much more likely to remember uncompleted tasks than the one you have completed. You know that feeling you have after a stressful day that pulled you in 4000 different directions? When you know you did a lot of stuff, but you don't feel like you got anything done? Your brain is going a million miles an hour and you just feel disheveled?

The Zeigarnik Effect is one of the culprits causing your mind to race at 1:00am. It's the reason they say keep a notepad by your bedside table and not your phone. Your phone is too distracting and tempting if you pick it up to make a note. ("While I'm here, I'm just going to scroll through the infinite offerings of Instagram...") Before you know it, you've reached the end of the internet.

Pick up a notepad and pen, and jot down whatever just came to mind. By putting it to paper, you give your brain permission to not eat up space in your RAM, so-to-speak.

So, when you do finally complete that incomplete task... doesn't it feel GREAT to check it off your to-do list?

When you complete a task or project, your brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for generating feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, and happiness. This motivates you to continue completing tasks!

...but there's a problem.

This phenomenon gets you to focus on smaller and easier tasks.

*sigh*

Bite-sized projects: Make them manageable

What's the workaround? How do you fake out your brain and motivate yourself to tackle so many things going on at once - big and small?

Chop up your projects into bite-sized projects!

Since I'm in the aerospace industry, I give this example:

BIG PROJECT #1: Prepare for AS9100 Re-Cert Audit

Even if you aren't in the industry, that looks daunting, doesn't it? Don’t put this on your calendar! It's big! It’s vague! And your brain is not likely to motivate you to get this checked off if given the choice.

However, we can break this down into totally do-able projects.

SMALL PROJECT #1a: Re-Read AS9100 Quality Systems Manual

SMALL PROJECT #1b: Review last year's audit findings

SMALL PROJECT #1c: Plan catering for the auditing team

Still look like things your brain isn't motivated to do? We can fix that. Chances are, the busier you are, the smaller the bites you need to create. Of course, this sounds counterintuitive, doesn't it?

You may be saying: "Wait. So you're saying that I need to take the 3 big projects I have on my list for next week and break them down into 30 things?"

Yup. That's exactly what I'm saying.

Remember: Your brain will relish completing a small task and motivate you to tackle the next one. And the next. And then next.

SMALL PROJECT #1a1: Look for typos in AS9100 Quality Systems Manual

SMALL PROJECT #1a2: Correct outdated info in AS9100 Quality Systems Manual

SMALL PROJECT #1a3: Print and distribute updated AS9100 Quality Systems Manual

Much more clear-cut and specific, right? A bonus as a consequence: You're creating a plan to knock out the project.

Not to discourage you, but sunk cost fallacy is part of this concept. You are motivated to complete things that you've invested time and energy in - even when you shouldn't.

But let's think about this in a positive light, 'k?

Anxiety, Creativity, and CAKE

So, you've broken down projects and you are tackling them left and right - you're on a roll! You're no longer stressed out, right? You are making dents to your list!

When people are placed in situations where they lack time to complete a task, they grow anxious and become more likely to give in to their impulses. Yup - that's why we eat our feelings. Plenty of studies have been done to show that when put under a lot of stress, we are more likely to choose the cake over the salad.

Not that I can blame the person who picks a good piece of cake on a normal day.

I believe that there is more to this. I believe that there is a difference between the feeling of lack of time and lack of time management. If you have your stress organized, it does not own you.

Additionally, our brains work in 90-minute increments. A recharging break every so often is a good idea - and it's vital for productivity. Some studies have suggested that critical sections of the brain become active during downtime, allowing time for information to be synthesized and connections made. It's part of the argument that when children are constantly stimulated by iPads and TVs, they have less opportunity to allow their brains to develop and process properly.

Ever wonder why you have some of your most brilliant ideas in the shower? It's your downtime - and your brain is making connections and synthesizing the information you didn't even know it was working on.

Mind-blowing, huh?

Tips, Tools, and Technology

Now that you know how your brain functions - How can you use it to your advantage?

There are thousands of great tools out there. The trick is finding what works for you and develop a habit of using it.

Some tips to improve your productivity:

FOCUS: Are you working on a spreadsheet? Close Facebook. Preparing a presentation? Turn off Spotify. Not sure what it is you spend time on? Consider checking out any one of the apps out there that monitor your technology habits and in some cases send you alerts on how you used your time.

• RescueTime
• Offtime
• Moment
• Breakfree (now SPACE)
• Flipd
• Appdetox

And yes, I find it ironic that you came to an online article to read about getting away from online articles.

ENVIRONMENT: Are you comfortable in the space you spend the majority of your day? Hungry? Cold? Hot? Too noisy? Fix it. Then, you can be productive.

PREPARE: Do you have to be somewhere in 2 hours? Do you keep looking at the clock? Set an alarm to ping you when the time comes and don't waste the time you set aside simply preparing for something that was coming whether or not you were watching the clock for it.

EXPECTATIONS: It's 8:00am on a Saturday. What do you HOPE to get done today? What HAS to get done? What would be icing on the cake? Be realistic and find the sweet spot between pushing yourself to be better than you were yesterday and not beating yourself up if your goal isn't met.

DELEGATE: Whether it's at work or at home - others are jointly-responsible for the spaces they take up. I am slowly learning to practice what I preach and I recognize that this one is a tough one.

PASSION: You aren't going to LOVE everything about every day. But are you excited about what's to come?

Being self-aware and getting organized is key and brings us back to the psychology part of the article. If you get a handle on the items to be done, that's half the battle.

Here are some of the ways I stay organized:

Combine apps and clients

No, it's not always possible for everything, but if you find yourself checking your personal email address, and the family email address, and maybe another email address... have you considered using one email client and setting up an alias?

Use Google Calendar for everything. EVERYTHING.

It's color-coded. It's shareable. It references lists in other places. It is the engine to my day.

Any calendar is going to be as good as you make it out to be – and it will depend how often you look at it to decide how well it works for you.

Google Calendar is my main source of time management organization. It’s cloud-based, so it’s on my laptop, computer at home, computer at work, and cell phone.

Here’s a sneak peek of a typical week for me (scroll down a bit).

My husband and I share the regular blue. That’s all he sees off my calendar, because he has his own craziness. The yellow is work-specific for me. The lavender is just minor stuff for my own benefit that I've put on paper and need to remember to do, but things that I don’t feel guilty about moving or postponing if I want. Regardless – it’s on the calendar and my reminder is there. Sometimes those overlap because they’re more just standing reminders of a bigger project (tracking the arrival of birthday presents and reminding me to wrap them, for example).

The kelly green is finance-related. The dark blue is for the non-profit I run. The teal is for a committee I serve on. The orange is a year-long project of de-cluttering/minimizing one room in my house, per month. Bigger project, broken down. Get it?

The dark purple reminders in the AM are simple standing reminders to myself.

At a glance – I can see that my calendar is work-heavy the first half of the week. I have a little bit of a breather on Thursday, and I can also see that I’m making dinner at home most nights this week, so my husband I will have some time together.  

I recently read a wonderful book that reinforced my willingness to list even the simplest of things to do: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. Even if you already consider yourself organized, I challenge you to read this book and step it up a notch.

Develop an online filing system and think ahead

I'm not proud of this, but I do judge people who have disorganized email boxes and cloud storage. Google and Apple have made our lives so much easier - why fight it?

Embrace the Cloud and use something like Google Drive. I've never been a huge fan of DropBox, but that's an option if you aren't a Google or Apple fan.

Having your files organized by folders and synced across devices is a lifesaver. I've gone as far as to scan in my wallet contents (front and back of all cards), and save the .pdf in a password-secured folder in my cloud. If my purse is stolen or lost later - I can easily and quickly mitigate the risk of larger headaches later.

That took me 15 minutes to do and has the chance of saving me hours later.

If you have a notes app you like, great! If not, consider checking out Evernote, SimpleNote, BoxNotes, or Google Keep. The trick is incorporating it into your calendar in a way that works for you. It doesn't help you if you put things in notes that should be on your calendar, or if you find you're putting the same thing in multiple places.

Google Keep will even offer you two types of reminders: Time and location. So, you can tell it to remind you about the conference call at 2:00pm, and you can also tell it to remind you to mail your mom's birthday card when your phone detects that you've made it to your office.

Game-changer, huh?

Decide how you want to communicate

Oftentimes, someone else decides for us. Upcoming conference call that you suggested? Chances are, if you don't already have a preferred call-in method, you're relying someone else to chose for you.

You can use Facetime, Skype, Google Hangouts, Google Docs, LogMeIn/GoToMeeting, Join.me, Fleep, Slack, HipChat, Zoom...

The possibilities are endless. Have an account ready to go with a couple of these in advance, and then you will be more flexible (and ready) should the need arise.

Diversify. Not everyone has an iPhone, so Facetime isn't always best. Not everyone is a Google nut, so maybe Join.me is the better option.

Beef up your email

My email is on steroids. Yes, I have a great filing/archiving system that works for me, but I've also found some wonderful extensions that make me even more efficient.

First off, if the email is in my inbox, it means I have yet to close the loop. Maybe it's there as a reminder for me to respond, maybe it's there because it has information on how to access the campus of a manufacturing tour I'm visiting on Wednesday and I want it to be readily available on my phone.

Secondly, I love Boomerang. Among other things, it will allow you to pause your inbox to allow you to get caught up with what exists there to begin with, schedule emails to send later, and remind you when others haven't responded to your emails.

It's nice to be able to compose emails at 11:00pm and have them scheduled to mail at 9:00am the next morning. It's not only courteous to the recipient, but it's an added bonus that if they happen to reply minutes after 11:00pm, you're not tempted to reply. #NoSleepTilEver

Boomerang isn't just for Gmail users, but here's how to check it out.

Another way to get a handle on your email? Unsubscribe from all 74,546 mailing lists that you've found your way onto.

Or, look at signing up with Unroll.me

Using Unroll.me, you can instantly see a list of all the mailing lists you subscribe to. From there, you can choose one of three options: Unsubscribe, keep in your inbox, or "Roll Up" into a single email you get once a day. It's like an RSS feed for junk mail. Let's face it - you feel guilty about unsubscribing from your kid's high school's mailing list (he's 24 now, so you really should move on) and you kinda want to see when Bath and Body Works is having their semi-annual sale, so combining everything into a single glance-worthy email is perfect.

The service is FREE and will even tell you when it detects additional subscriptions, prompting you to decide if you want to roll those up, too.

Social Media Guru

Turn off social media notifications on your phone. Just trust me on this. Really. You won't miss anything, I promise.

Are you in charge of a company's social media page? Look into Hootsuite or check to see if the specific social media site has the ability to schedule posts ahead of time (like Facebook). For just a small amount of time invested on the front end, you can plan your marketing efforts and be done for the month. It's like the Crock-Pot of the interwebs: Set it and forget it.

Have you explored the "Find Nearby" offerings of LinkedIn? Check it out here. It's like a real-time version of a business card exchange! (embarrassingly enough, it didn't cooperate with me during my WiM presentation, but it has worked in the past and is a pretty cool feature)

Expect the best, plan for the worst

Maybe it's the fact that I live with an IT/Security guru, but I have backed up and secured every bit that matters to me in my technology life.

Some of my favorite apps, extensions, and programs out there:

• Password Managers are lifesavers and timesavers! Lastpass - a password manager that stores encrypted passwords (cloud/online-based) or KeePass Password Safe - a password manager, open-source (not cloud/online-based) are great options.
• Google Authenticator and Duo - both MFA apps that help secure access to important stuff like email and social media sites.
• Don't assume that Google and Apple have you covered when it comes to backups! What happens if you can't access iCloud or Google Drive? Check out CrashPlan (more geared for small businesses than personal), iDrive, or Backblaze. I've used all of them at one point or another and they served their purpose perfectly. Expect to pay for something of substance - but then use it! I have a calendar reminder once a month to verify that my backup has run. Test it occasionally so you know how to restore a file.
• Set up an emergency backup. If you don't already, share your password with a spouse, parent, or sibling. If something happens to you, you'd likely want them to have access to the 235,902 photos you took together, right? (I've been known to need my husband to log-in for me to reset my password because I didn't remember my password. I'm not proud of it, and hey, I'm good at a lot of things, but remembering passwords just isn't one of them.)

Still want more tips? Man, you're a glutton for punishment.

Have you set Google Alerts yet? Google will basically monitor the internet for you and when it detects names, terms, and topics arise that you're interested in, it'll send you an email with the link. If you have a unique name, it's good to set an alert with that name. (Who doesn't want to know when they're in the news?!)

Have you bought a pair of blue light blocking glasses yet? If you spend a lot of time in front of the computer, you need 'em. Aren't sure if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer? If you've gotten this far in this article, you do.

Too much exposure to blue light messes with the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep cycles. Additionally, some studies suggest that blue light could cause macular degeneration.

So, to summarize:

1. Understand how your brain processes information.
2. Prioritize your responsibilities, needs, and passions.
3. Explore and embrace technology that helps you be the most effective and efficient YOU.

I could go on and on and much more in detail about some of these topics, but in the interest of time management, I'll call this a wrap.

Allison Giddens helps to run an aerospace machine shop, leads a non-profit organization, is active as a board member on three boards, volunteers for several organizations, is a wife, sister, and daughter, travels, and has a social life. She considers time management one of her strongest abilities.