If I may suggest, stop using the expression
"Time Management!""Why?"Because it can not be done, time simply happens, without your permission, or mine.
What we can do is to sort out what we intend to do with our time.
Which includes, by design, simultaneously sorting out what we will NOT be doing at the same time.
I think it was Mr S. Covey who used the
"Urgent and Important" activity sorting model.
Personally, I am quite fond of a daily up-on-the-wall simple chart (
"Yes, I am older than time!").
And as the real-world unveils itself to you during the work day/week, it is not at all unheard of for 'urgent' to
become 'important,' and 'important' to become 'urgent.'
'Keystone' to this effort remains communication, coordination and cooperation.
p.s. Also, lose the fantasy of 'multitasking' which you eventually learn means you will have to do at least some tasks over at least twice!
Of course, I may be dead-nuts wrong!
Cheers,
Bill
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William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
Buffalo, N.Y.
"It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-03-2019 14:26
From: Alexander McCaskill
Subject: Best Practices for Time Management and Personal Organization
We hired a new drafting technician at the beginning of the year and he does very well with working multiple projects with concurrent deadlines. I have been using his (non-digital) method of prioritization and work tracking on my engineering projects with good success for a few months now. Here's how it works:
- Along the bottom edge of my monitor, I keep one post-it note for each project I am working on. Each post-it has a list of the key tasks (one or two words each) for the project. The post-its are ordered in priority from left to right, and can be rearranged as needed. I add new tasks to the respective post-it and cross off tasks as they are completed and replace post-its when all tasks are completed.
- The other piece that makes the system work well from an organization standpoint is to reserve a shelf in your cube to store documents for active projects. I use post-its with the project name written in sharpie to organize the space on this shelf. In this way, I can keep key project documents (soil profiles, relevant plan sheets, etc.) close at hand without cluttering up my desk with information that is important, but not relevant to my current project.
- At the end of the day, especially on a Friday or before leaving for vacation (or work travel), I typically leave a note to myself on the first thing or two that needs to be done when I come back to the office.
I personally prefer to track my tasks independent of any digital platform. One less program to open, one less thing to take up screen space on your multiple monitors that are already filled with project-critical analysis programs, CADD workspaces, cloud storage repositories, project document PDFs, etc.
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Alexander McCaskill A.M.ASCE
HNTB
Geotechnical Engineer
Kansas City MO
Original Message:
Sent: 05-01-2019 16:43
From: Luis Duque
Subject: Best Practices for Time Management and Personal Organization
We all know engineers are great with numbers and solving problems on the fly, but I have recently noticed that we struggle when it comes to manage our own time and organizing our thoughts.
I want to start some discussion on how YOU go about managing your time and organizing your "to-do's" or documents you work on.
I am just a few years out of college and have quickly realized how important it is to keep an engineering journal to keep my thoughts and pieces of information straight, especially when working on multiple projects at the same time. I just use a simple Google doc where I am able to reference relevant links, documents, and emails directly on the document.
In terms of time management, I use a Google sheet to keep track or hours worked on projects and keep track of my budget to meet the target design fee for the project. This also allows me to keep track of my work pipeline to ensure I am on track and not going to miss any deadlines.
What are ways you or your company manage time, organize work, and execute to ensure an efficient project?
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Luis Duque EIT,A.M.ASCE
Structural Engineer
Broomfield CO
<maskemail>luis@...</maskemail>
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