Mindset, methodology, techniques and tools to help you approach project and time management - whether you're a junior writer or a more seasoned one.

1. Time Management
for the Junior Writer and Beyond
Mark Medalle

2. About Me ● Technical Writer at Crunchyroll
● Former Trust & Safety, AV Quality Analyst
● Martial Arts, Tennis and E-Sports

3. Overview ❖ Mindset and Methodology
➢ Skills for the Junior
Writer
➢ Kaizen
➢ Agile
❖ Managing Time and Projects
➢ Managing Projects
➢ Managing Time
➢ Tools for Project and
Time Management

4. Section 1:
Mindset
and
Methodology
❖ Skills for the Junior Writer
❖ Kaizen
➢ PDCA Cycle
➢ Kaizen Cycle
➢ Kaizen in Technical Documentation
❖ Agile
➢ Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
➢ MVP in Technical Documentation

5. Skills for the Junior
Writer
Mindset and Methodology

6. Kaizen
❖ Methodology
❖ PDCA
❖ Kaizen and End-to-End
Documentation

7. What is Kaizen, anyway?

8. The PDCA Cycle
Kaizen

9. Kaizen in Technical
Documentation
Kaizen

10. Agile
❖ Methodology
❖ Minimum Viable
Product

11. Agile Methodology

12. Agile: Minimum Viable Product

13. Agile: Minimum Viable Product

14. Section 2:
Managing Projects
and Time
❖ Managing Projects
❖ Managing Time
❖ Time Management Tools

15. Documentation
Plans
● Outline + product requirements
● Define scope and timelines for
you AND your stakeholders
Managing Projects

16. Example Documentation Plan for Internal Documentation
● Objective
● New Features to be Documented
○ Subscriptions
■ Feature 1
○ Payments
■ Feature 2
● Questions the Document Aims to Answer
○ What does the user experience for Feature 1 look like?
■ I need to interview or follow up with the following SMEs: John Smith, …
● Proposed TOC
○ Overview
○ Subscriptions Features
● Timeline
○ Documentation Plan Review Date
○ Technical Review Date
○ Publishing Review Date
○ Final Draft Due Date
● Stakeholders

17. Writing and
Research in Parallel
Managing Projects
Some topics flow like car traffic, others like an uphill
cycle.

18. Managing Time
❖ Eisenhower Matrix
❖ Time Blocking
❖ Pomodoro

19. Eisenhower Matrix Arrange tasks into four quadrants:
● Urgent, Important
● Urgent, Not Important
● Not Urgent, Important
● Not Urgent, Not Important
Managing Time

20. Eisenhower Quadrants Exercise
● Urgent, Important
● Urgent, Not Important
● Not Urgent, Important
● Not Urgent, Not Important
● My new keyboard arrived
● Team reorganization and doc rework
● Doc 1 Technical Draft due tomorrow
● STC speech dry run next Tuesday
● Newsletter article due next Monday
● Doc 2 Final Draft due next Tuesday

22. Time Blocking
Any calendar works - physical or digital!
Managing Time

23. Pomodoro
Managing Time

24. Time Management Tools
❖ Workona
❖ StayFocusd
❖ Virtual Cottage

25. Time Management
Tools
Workona: Tab Manager Extension

26. StayFocusd: Site Blocker Extension
Time Management Tools

27. Virtual Cottage: Focus Aid

28. Closing Remarks

29. Thank you!