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November 14, 2006

Using time wisely

Here's a great story I wanted to share from a GTD'er who goes by the pen name Cynical Geek:

Using My Time Wisely

After you work for 20 attorneys, no matter how much you believed the standard before, you realize that time really is money. You begin to think about your own life and what your own time is worth. While I'm not able to bill for my time (I'm a salaried employee) I do think about my time in a different manner now. Since I began reading "Getting Things Done" by David Allen, my work habits have changed along with my life habits. I sat at the tire store yesterday waiting on four tires to be put on my car and I was actually being productive instead of watching the soap operas that were playing on the TV or thumbing through the crappy selection of magazines available for customers. I sat, with my see-thru document file (loaded with my folders for Read/Review, Action Support, To Home, To Office, and Data Entry) in my lap and spent 15 minutes being productive. You'd be amazed what you can do in 15 minutes when you take your work with you. Sure, I looked like a stuck up executive in a tire store, but if that's what it takes to get the job done then it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you look like, because I know that I'm just a person like everybody else, and most people that get to know me understand that I'm not pretentious.
So I move on with the GTD methodology at work and at home. It keeps me sane, and I feel more proactive than I have in years. I'm getting ready to have 40 more devices (Dictaphone no longer sells analog dictation devices, they're all digital) and a production server to manage/route those devices. Prior to GTD I would have freaked out, semi-contemplated quitting my job, asking for another full-time support person and complained to myself a lot. Now that I have discovered GTD, I just create another GTD Project in Microsoft Outlook and schedule some reminders. The use of technology is only going to increase at my job, and I'm ready.

Posted by Kelly at November 14, 2006 07:24 AM

Comments

Have you ever read The 4 Hour Work Week? He talks about figuring out what your time is worth to you. If the thing you need to do (like mow the lawn) is less than your hourly worth, then you should pay someone else to do it. This allows you to do activities at the level you are worth.

Posted by: Pen N Paper 777 at May 10, 2009 05:13 PM