Calendar Management Details Chapter 1 – Shorten Free Time

Submitted by mauzenne on Mon, 11/05/2012 - 16:42.
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How to improve your effectiveness by eliminating long open periods from of your calendar.

Many managers we know (ourselves included) LIKE having longer unscheduled blocks of time on their calendars. This is antithetical to effectiveness. Let’s manage our calendars differently.


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mmartini's picture
Submitted by mmartini on Wed, 12/12/2012 - 17:10.

The calendar and creative thinking

Hi,

I recently listened to this podcast.  I had some trouble with the shorten free time concept, but couldn't put it into words.  Then, one of my favorite e-newsletters mentioned this column.  Bingo.  I get the MT point about efficiency, with my manager's hat on it is all good.  But I am not all manger all the time in my role, I need blocks of "maker" time, and as a manager should be careful how I yank around my maker directs.  I have seen how it can go very wrong.  Read on:

http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

"Each type of schedule works fine by itself. Problems arise when they meet. Since most powerful people operate on the manager's schedule, they're in a position to make everyone resonate at their frequency if they want to. But the smarter ones restrain themselves, if they know that some of the people working for them need long chunks of time to work in."

I have to give Jack Ganssle's "The Embedded Muse" newsletter credit for bringing this excellent article to my attention.

Marinna

mmartini's picture
Submitted by mmartini on Wed, 12/12/2012 - 17:19.

The calendar and creative thinking - more

And another good discussion on this topic thinking creatively with discipline can be found here:

http://99u.com/tips/6956/Getting-Creative-Things-Done-How-To-Fit-Hard-Th...

Marinna

raypeters's picture
Submitted by raypeters on Tue, 12/25/2012 - 05:45.

Good and Bad Stress

I remember the no-stress, eustress, distress concept from the US Army Officer Basic Course in 1989. When something is too hard for me, I don't do as well as when it is challenging. Yet, part of self development is to learning how to approach and handle "too hard" situations.