Keep A Light Schedule For Productivity
June 22 by Craig Childs | Work
Actually, Marc Andreessen at pmarca.com suggests that eliminating your commitment to scheduling all together is the key.
This idea comes from a wonderful book called A Perfect Mess, which explains how not keeping a schedule has been key to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success as a movie star, politician, and businessman over the last 20 years.
Want to meet with Arnold? Sure, drop on by. He’ll see you if he can. But you might want to call first. Sorry, he doesn’t schedule appointments in advance.
As a result, for 20 years he has been free to work on whatever is most important in his life at any time.
Those of you in California may recall how, once Arnold decided to run for Governor, he went into a blaze of action and activity that resulted in a landslide victory. The book attributes this in part to the fact that his schedule was completely clear and he could spend all day, every day on his new political career, without having to worry about distractions or commitments.
It’s a simple, and interesting, concept that I wonder how well would actually work in business. It definitely depends on the kind of work you do, but can it cross over to non-home-officers?
Will professionals accept the fact that you don’t keep a schedule? The key may be to just lighten up on scheduling and let your work flow take over. When you must make appointments, make them; but don’t set times when you don’t really have to.
Do you schedule everything or keep a tight balance?
The Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity – [Pmarca]
Yes it is possible with some discipline. Business meetings, both scheduled and impromptu, are a fact of life. Take charge and you can take advantage of them.
I schedule all my meetings first thing in the morning. Sometimes I will schedule all meetings on one day. I also let everyone know that start/end times are rules, not suggestions.
To make sure I keep my remaining schedule to myself, I create a “working, do not disturb” calendar entry that spans full afternoons.
At an old(er) job, I held office hours where any person can schedule a meeting.
[...] Keep A Light Schedule For Productivity – lifehack.org Actually, Marc Andreessen at pmarca.com suggests that eliminating your commitment to scheduling all together is the key. (tags: productivity) [...]
But wouldn’t that just cause procrastination? Especially if you’re not that busy anyway.
I have started this method after reading “4-hour work week”. Indeed, I find myself spending much more time on things that matter. Like reading this blog :)
The idea is too black-and-white. What I do is lock a small portion of the day (usually after lunch 1:30-3:00pm) to schedule any appointments and meetings. Three things can happen:
- If there is no need for a meeting, I get the time to focus on my queued work instead.
- If there is a meeting need, there’s a slot to put it in.
- If there are too many meetings, “slotting” forces me to limit my time and not let meetings overrun into the rest of the day.
It’s an intriguing idea, but I think possible for certain people – such as governors, etc.
[...] from lifehack.org: “This idea comes from a wonderful book called A Perfect Mess, which explains how not keeping [...]
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