Minimalist Time Management: Keep Your Day Open

There are the super-organized among us — those who schedule every minute and stick to the plan to the letter — and then there’s the rest of us. We schedule a lot of plans, but our days don't usually resemble the plan very much.

That’s because things change, of course, and we have to be able to go with the flow. Time management, especially for the more fluid work arrangements of many freelancers, doesn’t have to be a rigid or time-consuming process.

For those who are overwhelmed by a schedule, and would like to take a more open approach, I suggest minimalist time management. Instead of allowing your life to be ruled by your calendar, let your life be ruled by the moment.

Here’s how:

1. Don’t schedule appointments. This will be a radical departure for many people, but it’s not a new idea and it’s worked for others. If someone requests an appointment, tell them that you don’t schedule appointments. Instead, ask them to call you a little before they’d like to meet to see if you can make it. If you’re free, take the meeting. I suggest keeping your meetings to a bare minimum if you want to get a lot of work done.

Now, there will be some things you’ll want to note on a calendar (I use Google Calendar, accessible from anywhere). These are events that you’d like to have on your calendar, but you don’t necessarily have to go to them. The calendar, then, serves as a way for you to see what your options are, but not as a tool to rule your life. I suggest not keeping too much on the calendar, though.

2. Know what you want to accomplish today. Have a short list of three things you’d really like to accomplish today. Your three most important things. You can have a short list of other small tasks you’d like to do in a batch (save them for later in the day), but the focus of your day should be the list of three important things. Let this list, and not your schedule, be the ruler of your day.

3. Focus on one thing at a time. To get your short list of three important tasks completed, you’ll need to focus on each one of those tasks in turn, and try to focus on them to completion. This will also be a radical departure for the multitasker in all of us. But single-tasking is not only more productive, it’s more relaxing as well.

It will take a little while for you to get used to single-tasking, if you are used to jumping from one thing to another and back. That’s OK. Just gently bring yourself back to your task, every time you feel yourself being pulled away. Keep at it and you’ll soon be knocking off your most important tasks easily.

4. Note tasks as they come up, to consider for later. As you’re working on your important tasks, and trying to focus, other ideas will come up, and other requests will come in. That’s normal, of course, but you can’t let those ideas and requests rule your life. Make a note of them on a sheet of paper or a small notebook (or wherever you write your list of 3 important tasks), and get back to the task you were working on. When you’re done with that task, you can take a look at your list to see what you should be working on next.

That’s it. Minimalist time management is keeping your day wide open, focusing on a small number of tasks you’d like to accomplish today, doing them one at a time, and prioritizing your tasks in the moment. For that, you only need a sheet of paper or a small notebook, and a calendar to put reminders of events that you can (but don’t need to) attend.

最省时管理法:让你一天随意

        参加 GTD小组 有奖翻译  

        我们身边总有某人管理能力超强——他们把每一分钟都列入计划，并逐条逐条的坚持计划。还有另外一些人，那就是我们了。我们做了一堆计划，但我们的生活总是套不上计划。

        当然，这是因为事情总在变化，而我们总得跟上这种变化。时间管理，尤其是那些自由工作者的工作流程安排，没必要成为一个既严格又耗时的过程。

         对于那些不好用时间表来框住的人来说，最好采取一种更机动的办法。我建议他们使用最省时管理法。与其用日历来支配你的生命，还不如让当下来规定你的生活。

         请照着下面的做：

        1、不要制定约会计划。制定约会计划对很多人来说是基本出发点，但这早不是个新主意了，而且它只对别人有效。如果有人想和你约一次会面，你就告诉他你从不定约会时间表。他们想会面之前给你打个电话就行，到时候再确定能否碰面。如果你有空，那就去见面。如果你有很多工作要做，我建议你尽量缩短约会的时间。

        现在，你会有些事想要标记在日历上（我用的是google日历，因为它随时随地都可用）。你会想要在日历上记下一些事，但是你没必要把这些事一一做到。日历，是用来告诉你可以有多少种选择，而不是当工具来牢牢限定你。不过，我还是要提醒你别往日历上记太多事。

        2、明确你今天想完成什么。用一张小单子记三件事，每条都是你当天想完成的事，最重要的事。你可以把其他想做的小任务记下来攒成一堆（留待以后一天完成），但你今天的核心目标就是记这三件事的小单子。让这张小单子，而不是时间表，成为你今天的准则。

        3、一次只干一件事。想要完成小单子上所有的事，你就得一个一个对付它们，并尽力全部完成。对我们所有这些有多个任务的人来说，这也是我们的一个基本出发点。单一作业不但可以更有效，还更能使人放松。

        如果你习惯于从一件事跳到另一件事，然后又跳回来，那你可能需要一段时间才能适应单一作业。这没有关系。只要每次你感到自己又不能集中注意力的时候，轻轻把自己带回到工作上就好。加油干别松劲，你很快就能轻轻松松击破那个最重要的任务。

        4、把突发事件记下来，稍后再考虑。在你努力集中注意力做着重要任务的时候，其他的点子会跑出来，其他的要求会冒出来。这是正常现象，但你不能让这些点子和要求主宰你的生活。把它们记在一张纸上或小本子上（或者是你记那三件事的任何其他地方），然后回到你正在做的事上。当你完成了任务，再回过头来看看单子，看看你接下来要做什么。

        仅此而已。最省时管理法能让你全天更随意，只盯着你今天必须做的那一小点任务，一次只做一件，并按任务的轻重缓急排好时间。这样，你只需要一张纸或一个小本子就行，日历只用来提醒你有那些事情可以做（但并不一定都得做）。