The document outlines a comprehensive framework for effective time and task management, detailing five stages of maturity from clearing one's mind to taking a long-term view on productivity. It emphasizes the importance of prioritization, automation, delegation, and effective communication to enhance efficiency and minimize time wasters. Additionally, it provides practical tips for managing emails, meetings, and personal task lists to optimize overall performance.

1. Time Management?

2. time management + task management =
doing the right things at the right time.

3. time management = overhead A, which
needs to save >A

4. this isn’t a “learn how to fish”
presentation. it’s force feeding the fish
into your mouth.

5. ● ABW: always be working
● letting other people control your work queue
● multiple task lists
● noise, think-time overhead when you have time
● overemphasizing impact of external events
your enemies

6. stages of time management maturity
● stage 1: clear your mind
● stage 2: plan your day
● stage 3: control time killers
● stage 4: automate and delegate
● stage 5: taking a long term view

7. stage 1: clear your mind
● single task list
● fully comprehensive
● ruthless prioritization
● filter out what you can’t do right now
● explicit “will not do” list

8. stage 2: plan your day & week
there are only 3 priorities: “gotta get done today”,
“gotta get done this week” and the rest
the role of the to-do list: your anchor to safety
“will do” contracts
prioritizing delegation & external commitments
genetics

9. stage 3: control time killers
● email —> tasks
● communication “contracts”
● meta-entrepreneurship & meta-work
● impact-driven behavior

10. stage 4: automate and delegate
● transparency → efficiency. communication & tasks
● key question is “what” to automate
● automation requires detailing the process
● find the time hogs (bang for buck), automate, automate,
automate
● delegation == automation. sending a task to someone
better than you (time, money, quality) in doing it
● key challenge for delegation is trust in delivery & quality

11. ● don’t lose sight of the bigger picture: responsibilities and goals
● always be optimizing
stage 5: taking a long term view
productivity as product
● what are the KPIs you are trying to maximize?
● different times require different KPIs
● using growth techniques
● observation: there is “tech debt” for productivity as well

12. Down to earth

13. tasks
● a task is a single physical unit of work
● It should be listed in a single task list
● everything must be on it. yes, personal & professional too.
● priorities? useless. today, this week, rest. stack rank within category.
● due dates are only for due dates
● task assigning: social norms. queues and ownerships are better than direct
assignment. transparent.
● honor contracts and contracts will be honored.
● more than one channel (email, slack) or list (salesforce, trello, asana,
whatever)? sync with zapier.

15. email → task workflow
email is the worst form of a task list. requires re-thinking, re-figuring out, re-
prioritizing. it’s shit. funnel:
● is this in the “not going to do” list? should this be done at all?
● under 2 minutes? do immediately —> can derive email reading time. email-
zero is achievable!
● write the task in the next physical action required title, with self contained
description, even if for you.
● can be delegated? “waiting on” with due date.
● can’t be done yet? “tickler” with due date.
● tag tasks: time requirements, context when it can be done
● archive. do not read an email twice.

16. automation
what to automate?
decision fatigue and the 7 slots
base automation building block: step-by-step process
instantiate, log task durations --> what to automate.
tools
small coding job? codersclan
physical? fiverr & taskrabbit
research? askwonder.com
many small human tasks? crunchable.io

17. What should we automate?

18. meetings
no agenda & goals? don’t agree for a meeting
● finish the meeting by reviewing the goals
no summary? don’t agree to future meetings
try out: worklife.com
too much external scheduling? scheduleonce.com
recurring meetings are a bad thing
meeting duration & social norms
makers vs. managers schedule. best as a company policy.

19. email / communications
● a good email is a unsent one. each should be the last.
● low context is your friend, wait time is the devil.
● slack? notifications and casual conversations are bad
● more than 3 back-and-forth? walk to, or call
● no “honorary cc”, bcc are evil: trust is important

20. email tips & tricks
● turn off notifications for non-priority emails. YES.
● “priority inbox” isn’t intelligent, but you are!
● filter: mark important convos you started/replied
● too many emails? try out sanebox.com
● limit email reading to 3-4 low energy times a day
● how? publish times & urgent communications channels

21. goals & responsibilities:
intentionally lightweight in this presentation
● the notion of “someday”
● what do you own?
● quarterly matrix

23. Habits

24. Weekly
Beginning of week
● start afresh: remove all “this week” tasks
● write what would make you feel successful
if you finish by end of week.
● review the quarterly plan, add tasks if
needed
● look at time available, try to put ~ that
amount of tasks
● I generally think that a task in a physical
granularity should take ~ 15 minutes.
End of week
● review what’s left.
● why were these left?
● any learnings?
● automation opportunities?

25. Daily
start and during the day:
● goal: feel good with what you achieve, be
ready for next day.
● first email read. see if there are tasks that
are too urgent not to do.
● optional: print today on paper, grouped
according to contexts
● during the day: look at the filtered list
according to context, time availability
● notebook + pen
end of day:
● “should i have taken this meeting?”, if not
“why did i? how could i have not taken it?"
● “3 good things that happened today”: train
the feel good muscle.
“3 things to improve”: how?
plan tomorrow.
take the “this week” list, move according to
daily capacity to today.
prioritize order of tasks: so the must-get-done
are first.
communicate status of external contracts

26. what to watch out for
● the "trough of sorrow" of task management
● habits take a while to form.

27. Worry not if you can’t get everything done. Each
of these stages has immediate value.
In diving, you learn about CPR. Best advice I ever got: “Even
if you get it 25% right, you might just save a fellow diver”

28. recommended reading

29. Tips & Tricks Addendum
● Stop printing & signing PDF files. Use Adobe Acrobat “Fill & Sign” function
● Don’t waste time doing research. Use askwonder.com
● Use assistant based Clara or ScheduleOnce to schedule meetings