27 Hour Days: Getting Things Done

I am a start-up co-founder of a company that is no longer a start-up but still carries on the start-up ethos. I probably wear more hats than the entire population of the great state of Texas.

My business card may say CTO, but I am part Salesman, Part Developer, Part Ops, part Sysadmin, part HR, part QA, part Sales, Part Social Media Manager, Part Marketeer, ad infinitum. No, not because I am a micromanager, but because in the spirit of succeed-fast, I will pitch in when and where I am needed

The complexity coefficient has increased “slightly” with a company spanning three continents and pandemic dictated remote work.

But, I have managed to squeeze out 27 hours from a 24 hour day without cloning myself.

How have I managed to do that? What works for me may not work for you. Caveat Emptor.

That being said, here are the “7 Habits of a Successful Cat Herder.”

Making a list and checking it twice

If you have to get something done, you need to know what you need to get done. When you have umpteen things to take care of, how would you remember what needs to be done? How can you ensure nothing slips through the cracks?

Lists. Make a list. Prioritize your tasks. And pick a realistic subset of tasks you can accomplish over a day. Nothing is more demoralizing than seeing how many unfinished tasks you have left at the end of the day. Be realistic. I also try to follow the simple 1–3–5 rule: I commit to accomplishing 1 major Task, 3 medium Tasks, and 5 small Tasks.

There are plenty of apps and tools you can use these days. You can use a low-tech method and use a paper calendar or a planner, or you can use the plethora of online tools available. I use Trello — as I will not get a sales commission from them, I will not hyperlink. Feel free to search. Trello is simple, intuitive, and meets what I need from a list manager. Find something that works for you.

Remembering to remember

You have a list. Now what? If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound? Follow-through is the most challenging part of having a list. Follow through. You have to train yourself to check and execute the tasks on our to-do list. It took me a couple of weeks to train myself. I now automatically check my lists at least three times a day.

The first thing I do, after having my coffee, of course, is to look at my to-dos to remind me of what needs to be done and plan my day around these tasks.

Later during the middle of the day, to see if I am on target and tell me to hustle. And finally, once more at the end of the day. I want to end the day feeling good about what I have accomplished or shame myself into completing more the next day. Believe me. It works. You are your own strongest critic and greatest motivator.

Pomodoro is not just a tomato

Having a list and looking at it is less than half the battle. You need to accomplish those tasks. How do you battle your urgest to procrastinate? How do you combat those pesky little distractions? Enter Francesco Cirillo. Cirillo developed the Pomodoro Technique in the late 80s when, as a university student, he was having a hard time focusing on his studies and complete his assignments. He wanted to force himself to focus uninterrupted for at least 10 minutes on his studies. He found a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, and the rest is history.

What is the Pomodoro Technique? The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. During these work intervals, you work uninterrupted. Yes, uninterrupted. No emails. No phones. No browsers. Shut out the world and focus. It takes time to train yourself, but you can.

The time instills a sense of urgency. You only have 25 minutes (or whatever you choose). It also helps you break out of your avoidance cycle. It’s only 25 minutes.

Trust me, it works. I wrote this article using this technique.

You’ve got mail and how to ignore it

Ah, yes. Distractions. I wrote about distractions earlier, and in this internet era, email is one of the most distracting of all interruptions. But, it needn’t. Where is it written that you must check your email every minute? Where is it written that you must respond to your email as soon as you get it? Will the world end if you don’t?

My work inbox today has 19,983 emails. None unread. None that I need to worry about not having responded. In one of these Pomodoro intervals during the day, I will quickly glance at the subjects and summary contents of the new emails since the last time I did this. Those emails that I need to respond to, I tag them with the label “Respond.” I have two other tags, “Keep” and “Keep Temp.” I label those emails with the information I need to retain but do not want to search in my now close to 20,000 emails with the “Keep” tag. I label those emails that have informational immediacy with the “Keep Temp” tag. What are “Keep Temp” emails? For example, my flight itinerary for my business trip next week will be in “Keep Temp.”

During fixed periods of the day, I will clear all the emails tagged “Respond.” I will respond as needed and untag them. An added advantage of taking time to respond later is I don’t end up with a knee-jerk response. At the end of the day, I will clean up “Keep Temp” as appropriate.

When the day is done, I will usually have 0 emails tagged “Respond.”

This could have been a meeting

This is the flip side to “this could have been an email.” Unless you are a Pulitzer prize-winning author or the email recipient can read minds, emails often fail to convey what you wanted to say. Instructions get missed or misunderstood. You then spend more time in back and forth email blasts where communication simulates two ships passing in the night. That is, communication is not happening. The more people you have in the email thread, the more time you spent making sure people understood you.

Call a meeting. Hash it out. Problem solved.

This could have been an email

This is the flip side to “this could have been a meeting?” No, you are not really getting gored on the horns of a dilemma.

The trick is to deliberate on your choices consciously. Do I need to call a meeting? Do I need to send an email? Do I pick up the phone? Or should I walk over and talk. I used to do a lot of the last, but the pandemic has made that a non-option..”

Say no

Learn to say no.

We all get excited by new opportunities or challenges. The possibilities are endless. But your time is finite. Don’t wind up with too many commitments.

I value my time. I have learned to say no.

I have said no to my boss.

I have said no to our investor,

I have said no to our clients.

They and I have all been the better for it.

Be lazy like me

I am the laziest person I know. My goal every day is to maximize my lazy period. How do I do that? By doing what I need to do as soon as I know I need to do it. I will not wait till the last moment to complete a task. If I finish early, I will have lazy hours to enjoy at the end of the week or month. If I wait till the due date, the task will hang around my head like the sword of Damocles, and I won’t enjoy the time I now have by putting things off.

There you have it.

That’s how I do it. Your mileage may vary.