Full Circle Part 2/12: Time Management & Productivity
Let's be honest: you probably checked your phone while opening this. Maybe you even have a tab open right now with that one YouTube video you're definitely going to watch “just for five minutes”. We get it.
With the first week of classes out of the way, it’s time to set habits and routines that will (hopefully) last you through the rest of the semester. Being able to effectively balance work with what genuinely brings you joy is tantamount to your success. Each time you walk into the library, you should know what you’d like to accomplish - unfortunately this isn’t always the case. How then, can you increase your efficiency?
Our goal is to equip you with the means, methods, and mindset to manage everything on your plate. In this issue, we’re diving into time management and productivity.
Your time is the most valuable thing you possess - and thanks to modern innovation, you have more control over it than any generation before you. Think about how easy it is for you to do basic chores that historically took numerous active hours out of your day.
Doing laundry? Click a button and move on. Need to vacuum? Let a high-tech, robotic disk handle it. Dirty car? Drive through a futuristic tunnel and emerge spotless.
The Industrial Revolution and a myriad of innovations since have made it easier for you to manage your time and become more productive. While the Industrial Revolution enhanced mechanical efficiency, behavioral science soon after revealed how similar principles could improve human performance.
Operant conditioning is a learning process you've likely experienced without realizing it. American psychologist B.F. Skinner discovered this theory during his research with rats and pigeons, noticing that animals would repeat behaviors that led to rewards, and avoid those that led to punishment. He tested this by placing animals in a special chamber (now known as a Skinner box) where they learned to press levers for food, and eventually, the animals would deliberately perform actions to receive rewards. You can see examples of this reward-based learning all around you - especially among students.
Once in the library I saw a student putting M&Ms on the top of the next page of their textbook to reward them for making it to the next page. Other students, seemingly instinctively, treat themselves to a drink at the bar after a hard day’s work.
If you’ve ever used Microsoft’s To-Do software, you’ll certainly recognize the pleasant sounding chime that plays when you check off a task. For you, this could be as simple as writing out a to-do list on paper and rewarding yourself with each checkmark. Time management can be as straightforward as conditioning yourself to appreciate these small victories.
A book often mentioned around the discussion of time management is Atomic Habits by James Clear, which sells itself as “a comprehensive, practical guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day.”
This isn’t a book review, but I figured it was worth mentioning for one simple reason: Even James Clear's Atomic Habits, despite selling over 20 million copies and becoming a #1 New York Times bestseller, hasn't worked for everyone. Why? The most sophisticated productivity tools and proven psychological principles are only effective when adapted to your individual needs and patterns.
From operant conditioning to Atomic Habits, productivity tools and methods have evolved since the Industrial Revolution to help optimize time management. With millions of articles across the web promising simple tricks to increase your productivity, here are some tried-and-true methods to make small changes across your busy schedule:
The Two-Minute Rule - Most famously associated with David Allen’s 2001 book Getting Things Done, the two-minute rule simply outlines “If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it’s defined.” I, personally, would take it as far as five.
Pomodoro Method - This method, developed by Francesco Cirillo is built around breaking your studies into pomodori, or 25-minute blocks. Each pomodoro is followed by a five minute break, looped four in a row before a longer break. It takes advantage of the brain’s attention cycle and decision fatigue to trick your brain into focusing on that pomodoro.
Asana - Asana is to time management as Notion is to note taking. Founded in 2008, it allows you to take lists a step further by creating projects for different courses, importing due dates, and attaching relevant documents. It allows you to integrate extensions and other tools like the aforementioned Pomodoro Method to designate itself as your one-stop to-do shop.
Calendaring - This is quite literally the foundation of effective time management. While it is a basic step, keeping all of your priorities aligned in one place is crucial. There are hundreds of different options like Google Calendar or Outlook; all are fairly similar in function, so take your choice.
When coming up with the list of topics for this newsletter, Time Management & Productivity was one of the first ones we thought of. It logically made sense to discuss setting habits at the beginning of the semester, but selfishly we were excited about getting started on it. As far as both of our recommendations go…
Jon: I live by my Google Calendar. I try not to get lost in the chaos of different tools for each aspect of time management, but also don’t commit to anything as complicated as Asana that will allow me to procrastinate real work just to make it look nice. When I’m at the library everything in my pockets comes out, watch comes off, and I minimize reasons to leave my seat. As opposed to incentivizing myself to do work, I make it difficult to not do it.
Sam: I’m a huge fan of iOS15's Focus Mode, which lets you create custom Do Not Disturb profiles that activate based on location. I created one that automatically switches to a school-specific Focus when I reach the library or my classes, filtering out distractions and helping me stay focused. It's been a game-changer for keeping me productive without having to remember to manually switch modes.
The way you manage your time is a reflection of the way you manage yourself. It will affect the way people perceive you, and frankly, the way you perceive yourself. Anthony Bourdain put it best in his interview with Fast Company:
I'm a list maker. I'm relentlessly, pathologically punctual. I think that comes from all those years as a chef, and more importantly as a cook. If you showed up late as a cook, you're letting your people down in a very tangible way. Somebody else has to physically do the work, do the setup - or you lose the shift or get fired.
As a chef, cooks who showed up late, who were disorganized, who couldn't keep a lot of stuff going on in their heads, they failed. And when they failed, we all went down with them. So I am relentlessly - and possibly even unhealthily - anal-retentive, obsessive compulsive.
When I'm cooking, I'm cleaning up after myself constantly. I keep things organized. I write lists. I keep my schedule up to date. I am never late, and as part of that, if I say to you "I'm gonna meet you tomorrow at 12 minutes after 5 to see John Wick 7," I will be there at 5:02, hanging out across the street discreetly observing to see what time you show up. And I'll be making some very important decisions based on your arrival time.
That’s it for Part 2! Once again we’d love to hear what you loved, what you didn’t, and anything you think we missed. Meet us here at the same time next Monday for Part 3 where we’ll dive into the hottest topic of the decade, Artificial Intelligence.
We wanted to leave a couple of articles, videos, and books we found along the way if you’re interested in checking them out:
TED’s 18-minute rule [article]
Atomic Habits TLDR [article/book]
Getting Things Done [book]
This is wonderful. Keep it up!