[spunker540]

I have zero techniques or schedules or habits for productivity. After reading this a part of me wonders if I should....but another part of me thinks that most people don't, and its only type A people who could respond to that question with anything other than "go with the flow".

[cpeterso]

I used to be an avid GTD follower (David Allen's "Getting Things Done"). The book was an epiphany for me, but the whole system can be overwhelming. I now just use three text files (for work-related planning) for a Kanban-like system:

  * work due today
  * work due this week
  * work due this month or later

Every Monday, I pull work from the monthly list to this week's list. Then every day I pull work from this week's list to today's list. This allows me to focus on today, confident that I am not missing something. I can then ignore anything that doesn't need to be done until later. This is the theory, at least. ;-)

[gadders]

This is pretty good if you want an actual personal Kanban board: http://greggigon.github.io/my-personal-kanban/

I use it for my to-dos at work.

[nextos]

I spent a lot of time thinking about kanbans, only to realise org-mode can be very easily turned into one.

And IMHO an outliner is much more flexible than a webapp.

[criddell]

I also read David Allen's book and the one thing that stuck with me and made a significant difference was his two minute rule. If a task will take only a couple of minutes, just do it.

[ams6110]

For me, I simply cannot do something like spend an hour on Monday morning to plan what I need to get done that week, because I simply do not know. I could plan what I think I need to get done, but I know that before noon it will all change so why bother?

I do know what my priorities are, and I work on them as time allows, but I cannot plan when things will get done.

[jldugger]

Time Management for System Adminstrators offers advice along the following lines (but it works for many technical support roles):

Find a like minded person and agree to a support shift: person A will handle interruptions in the morning so persona B can work on projects, then person B will handle interruptions in the second half of the shift so person A can work on their projects.

[reitanqild]

Written by Tom Limoncelli.

He and Christina Hogan has also written "The Practice of System and Network Administration" which deals with everything else schools didn't tell you about Systems Administration including chapters on hiring/firing, negotiations from both sides of the table and more ;-)

[CuriouslyC]

Generally I try to block my days off so the 4 hours before lunch are for going deep, and after lunch is for planning, interacting with coworkers and creative exploration. I like to create my "deep work" plan for the next day right before I leave, and make sure everything is organized so I can just sit down and focus when I arrive in the morning.

[CuriouslyC]

Would you want your builder to make you a house just "going by feel"? Or a surgeon to operate on you with the idea that "he's just going to poke around and play it by ear"?

When the stakes are high people think ahead, organize, and make plans. If you consider your career progression to be low stakes by all means don't plan.