Re: how do you manage your project list
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 12:17:16 -0800
Message-ID: <CAKsxbLo1LbpjsH7utBTtaNnkbXkAJ3JzG-mbp3FHWGLgKXxPOg_at_mail.gmail.com>
Great feedback Jeremy.
What types of systems/tools/programs does everybody use to keep track for tasks/projects/todo's? Do you just use pen and paper, Outlook Calendar or Tasks, Flag email items,or something else or all of the above which gets chaotic
We use Axosoft at my company. The dba's are part of the programmer team so I have to use their tool. It's an alright system but I also find my self writing little to do's on paper throughout the week. Do you put everything little task into a system to keep track? That can get very tedious so I don't do it but probably should
On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 4:13 AM, Jeremy Schneider < jeremy.schneider_at_ardentperf.com> wrote:
> great list karl. i used rescuetime a long time ago and it's a great
> tool, but for the past few years i've been a bit more enthusiastic
> about toggl. it's definitely my new favorite for time tracking.
>
> however recently i had a few situations where there may have been
> sensitive information exposed in my task lists, so i went looking for
> a solution that didn't store the data in the cloud. found manictime
> and i absolutely love it so far! i don't use the auto-task tracking
> though, i generally work off tags only. it gives a much nicer
> interface than rescuetime or toggl to see what i was doing when i go a
> few hours without logging activities and i need to reverse engineer my
> time. :) only downside is that i would need to buy it for $67 in
> order to do everything that i do in toggl for free. also it only
> supports windows, and while i'm mainly working with windows right now
> i tend to use my linux desktop a lot too.
>
> i agree 200% about the need for (1) system and (2) instrumentation.
> although i would add a few additional notes...
>
> you've gotta have flexibility as months and years pass; the way you
> categorize things might change. and i've personally had general ups
> and downs in productivity influenced by things outside of work (like
> being up all night with a baby <g>). i'll have a months where i'm
> churning stuff out constantly and other months where i'm just trying
> to stay on task and not space out.
>
> so you need room to not take it too seriously at times. personally i
> really like having my instrumentation be for just me (not my manager
> or team)... it can work as a team tool but you really need to have a
> larger conversation about expectations because tracking can really add
> a lot of stress otherwise. nobody can sustain 100% efficiency for
> 100% of the time over years and years. but i love having a personal
> dashboard just so i can *know* how productive (or not) i have been
> over the past few days/weeks/months.
>
> anyway - this is a GREAT topic that i'm very interested in and pretty
> enthusiastic about!
>
> -Jeremy
> --
> http://about.me/jeremy_schneider
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 1:21 AM, Karl Arao <karlarao_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I would start with Tom Limoncelli's Time Management for System
> > Administrators, he's got a video presentation here
> > http://youtu.be/XMc7jw38Bxs?t=2m48s that became the foundation on how I
> > manage my tasks
> >
> > Personally I have Goal, Habit, Task, Time Trackers
> > And there are two parts to this: having a system that works for you and
> > being able to instrument that
> >
> > 1) you have to have a system on setting your goals and prioritizing your
> > tasks, and this one is a great response from quora
> >
> http://www.quora.com/Productivity/As-a-startup-CEO-what-is-your-favorite-productivity-hack/answer/Paul-A-Klipp?srid=n2Fg&share=1
> >
> > now I'm using mindmaps for goal setting and kanbanflow.com for task
> > management which I really like because you can specify swimlanes+colors
> > which makes it kind multidimensional than just a regular calendar
> > before I just use google calendar for tasks and "goals on track" for
> > goal/habit tracker but I unsubscribed and migrated the entire workflow to
> > mindmaps (I use freemind)
> >
> > 2) you have to have a way of instrumenting your time
> >
> > on my windows VM where I do all my work I have ManicTime installed and
> this
> > enables me to track everything I'm doing.. automatically without any user
> > input and it can auto tag applications let's say if I open putty the
> time I
> > spent on that app will be tagged as "Work", and I can see where my time
> went
> > just by graphing the data
> > https://www.evernote.com/l/ADBlN746vCxDXJykSPwZMT4TFUMQ6xT9oVw
> > on my mac I have this free version of RescueTime, I like the weekly
> > productivity percentage being emailed every week usually I'm about 68%
> per
> > week.. If I go below, that means I'm pretty lazy that week. Above that
> means
> > I was pretty busy
> > kanbanflow on the other hand forces you to input your tasks + the
> > corresponding time you spent on it. So what I would do is at the end of
> the
> > day I would export the data and graph it on my tableau dashboard. I just
> > need to open the dashboard I created and it will automatically read the
> new
> > file and it looks like this
> > https://www.evernote.com/l/ADD5nUeDwrZLpoc87uhpsqdKeHeNvvMPJcI on that
> link
> > you'll see the entire workflow I have for task management up to
> > visualization
> >
> > Some of these may not work for you, but at least you'll get the high
> level
> > idea. So a couple of years back early on my career I was learning and
> coming
> > up with my own systems and using these tools, through the years I'm also
> > improving and hacking it and up until now that helps me getting things
> done
> > (GTD) and motivated.
> >
> >
> >
> > -Karl
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 6:28 PM, Oscar Ofiana <oj.ofiana_at_gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Jeff,
> >>
> >> Have you checked out Randy Pausch's Time Management lecture? Some of the
> >> ideas presented in it can be a little too detailed and time-consuming,
> but
> >> the most helpful idea I picked up on was making the TODO quadrant,
> where you
> >> seperate and prioritize tasks into:
> >> 1 - Urgent and important
> >> 2 - Important but not urgent
> >> 3 - Urgent, not important
> >> 4 - Not urgent, not important.
> >>
> >> Just having this grid on a post-it or on a pin-up board by my monitor
> >> really helped to provide a general map of my tasks and what/when it
> needed
> >> to be done.
> >>
> >> Hth,
> >> Oscar
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 11:07 AM, Jeff C <backseatdba_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Fellow DBA's,
> >>> How do you manage your work load? I am not taking database work load
> but
> >>> your project list. I don't know about you but I have my projects that
> I
> >>> need to get done but I also constantly get interrupted by other
> developers
> >>> asking questions, needing help with a query performance, or they
> mention
> >>> some data they need from another database and I have to decided what
> is the
> >>> best way to approach it. I rarely get my projects worked on.
> >>> Do you have some system or tool you use to keep your head straight? I
> >>> used to be the multitasker master but after 10 years and the growth of
> our
> >>> environment, that is not easy anymore.
> >>>
> >>> Looking for any tips anybody might have.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Thank you
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Karl Arao
> > Blog: karlarao.wordpress.com
> > Wiki: karlarao.tiddlyspot.com
> > Twitter: _at_karlarao
>
-- http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-lReceived on Wed Dec 10 2014 - 21:17:16 CET