Time Management
I like to tinker with software, and I have used and experimented with GTD in the following:
- idoit
- any.do
- wunderlist
These three are good tools that support multi-platform synchronization (Mac, iOS, Windows, Android). Each has its own characteristics, and regardless of ranking, you can try them out and choose your favorite.
However, while using these tools, you will find that you still cannot complete your plans. Items that were supposed to be in the “Today” project are still there a week later.
It’s similar to knowing that we have a tendency to procrastinate, and we may get angry at ourselves for it, but we still tend to leave it until the last moment. Seasoned smokers certainly know that smoking is harmful to their health, yet they still smoke after meals.
Therefore, even with the best software, if we don’t reflect on ourselves, we cannot prevent the consumption of time.
How to Prevent “Wasted Time”
First of all, let me declare that time is equal, and there is no such thing as “wasted” time. I just want to express that at the end of a day, your actions may have been different from what you expected, and you wonder “how did another day pass by?”
In the book “One Strange Life,” the author describes someone named Liubi, who has a unique way of perceiving time and uses a method of time statistics. It is said that this person has an inherent way of observing time.
In this TED video, Philippe Simard discusses a healthy concept of time, which I believe is in the same vein.
Perceiving time passing like Liubi, down to the minute, I think it might not be that difficult (for example, using a regular screen every day doesn’t give you much feeling, but when you switch to a Retina screen and then go back, it suddenly becomes different. Maybe it’s because you notice those details). Being accurate within ten minutes or half an hour is always achievable.
Therefore, I suggest spending at least a month, or at least a week, without planning anything, and writing down honestly where your time goes in half-hour increments. Accumulate this raw data and see how you usually spend your days.
You may discover that you spend time on things like checking Weibo, browsing the internet, and so on. With this data, the next time you engage in these activities, you will be more aware.
How to Make Good Use of Google Calendar
I have been using Google Calendar for two years. It started with me marking interview times with various companies, and then I began recording other things as well. Later, I came across the book “One Strange Life” and discovered that my habits aligned with those of the experts, which made me very happy.
(Phew, I’m tired. I’ll continue writing later.)
Even though I have been recording things all along, I haven’t really summarized them until a few days ago when I read this book.
I haven’t finished reading it yet, but I have gained a lot from it. My notes are here.
(The author seems to have covered everything, from finding one’s own interests to achieving dreams. You don’t have to read my response, but I highly recommend reading that book.)
In the book, the author adds colors to the calendar:
- Black: Career and achievements
- Red: Family and social interactions
- Yellow: Health
- Blue: Meaning and value of life
At that moment, I was enlightened and immediately tried marking my calendar with these colors for a few weeks.
Sure enough, from then on, just by taking a quick glance every night and every weekend, I could roughly understand how my time was spent in various aspects.
Before, when I used to look at events one by one, I couldn’t figure out what I had done.
I think many people hesitate to summarize and organize because there is too much complexity. Their minds become a tangled mess, and they feel that organizing will take too much time without a good framework to simplify things. That’s probably why they are so keen on seeking software (tools).
Next, let’s talk about Google Tasks.
This thing seems to be just a list that can be hierarchical.
I use it to record some things I need to do recently. When adding an event, it’s convenient to copy and paste (is this what Google intended? Oops).
Mind Maps
Mindjet is mentioned above, and it is widely used, so I’ll skip that.
Next, I would like to mention another type of mind map that I accidentally came across on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A platform): When the protagonist in a television show organizes clues, he connects pinned materials on the wall with lines and finds intersection points. What method is that?
TheBrain, a genius tool!
Gantt Charts
The advantage of Gantt charts is that you can clearly see your progress, especially when you have several projects going at the same time.
At that time, I was desperately looking for good software (I didn’t use Ganttproject because its interface was too ugly, -_-|||). Later, I discovered that Mindjet supports Gantt charts, but the operation is not very convenient.
OmniPlan on Mac is good, but it’s a paid tool.
However!! However!! When I saw our project manager use Excel as a Gantt chart (each cell represents a day, and you can even annotate it with colors), I was amazed!!
Others
There are also things like morning journals, Evernote, and the urgent-important matrix, but I’ll talk about them another time.
Here’s my personal value ranking:
- Freedom to love
- Health
- Economic independence
- Ideals
I have been using Google Calendar for almost two years, and I don’t remember how I started. It’s hinted at in “One Strange Life,” but it was just simple recording.
This book added colors to my calendar, which made my eyes sparkle. So I immediately tried marking it in Google.
- Black: Career and achievements
- Red: Family and social interactions
- Yellow: Health
- Blue: Meaning and value of life
The calendar, which used to be monotonous, suddenly became colorful and vibrant.
As described in the book:
The brush of life is always in your hands. Whether you add more black, blue, or red completely depends on your personal decision. I believe that as long as you create this painting according to your own inner desires, it will be your greatest masterpiece in your heart.
Next, it’s like the “how to find your dreams” method on Renren (a Chinese social media platform).
Our society is constantly changing, and the boundaries between truth and falsehood become increasingly blurred due to the excessive dissemination of information. People’s psychological uneasiness is increasing, and their self-awareness is becoming stronger. Gradually, people’s attention has shifted from focusing on others to introspection, both at the level of consciousness and morality. People’s pursuit at the level of consciousness is changing more urgently than at any other time in history.
When a person doubts the meaning and value of their life, they are sick.
—Sigmund Freud
Unlike utopian fantasies, envisioning the future is a strategic behavior of humanity. It includes courage, strength, and a determined resolve to put ideals into practice.
—Roman Herzog, former President of Germany
The most luxurious enjoyment for a person is not needing an alarm clock because they are the master of their own time.
It is human nature to create trouble for oneself, even if there are no actual problems; we still find something to worry about.
If you feel like you have no time, it means you need to take a break.
Only you can force yourself to accept unpleasant things.
This thing is like kung fu. When you reach the master level, a slight movement can hurt others.
For example, I have a classmate who uses 3M sticky notes as notes (later I saw in the book “Unfilter Yourself” that they said not to exceed three sticky notes at a time, and after completing one, you tear it off the screen).
Of course, when we weren’t as advanced, we had a great software that enhanced our abilities.
Most importantly, don’t forget the original purpose of GTD while using these tools. Develop your own management system.
Translated by gpt-3.5-turbo