Time management and the Dude

[Bullett00th]

Hello, fellow dudes!

I wanted your advice on something.
So the company I'm working at has been growing recently, and things have been getting pretty tense. It's almost Nam out here and I'm finding it more and more dificult to do my duties in time, let alone present any plans for the upcoming month.

I've been told that it's a time management issue, but, while I do things slower, I manage to keep my cool and abide. I'm thinking about improving my time management, however with the neverending stream of work, is there a point? No matter how much I do, there will always be more to be done, with deadlines I often can't meet. It's like if the task isn't done, they're gonna kiiill the pooor woooman...



Anyways, what would you do in my place, or what DO you do? Gotta feed the monkey, but it keeps getting more and more hungry.

[cckeiser]

start a union.

[MindAbiding]

Hey Dude,

Sorry to hear about the situation at work. I agree with your cosmic analysis that there's always more to do, but also that monkey feeding is a consideration.

One dudely way to handle this might be to ask whether there are any small things you could adjust in your style that would move things along quicker (I'm always looking at different websites -this one included- watching performances on youtube, or fucking around on my phone-- things that I would cut out if I needed to move things along a little more quickly). Alternatively, you could ask how your peers meet their quotas and whether there is anything you could adopt from them?

I'm always a fan of small adjustments and try to stay away from total overhauls if at all possible.

Just my dudely opinion, man.

Hello, fellow dudes!

I wanted your advice on something.
So the company I'm working at has been growing recently, and things have been getting pretty tense. It's almost Nam out here and I'm finding it more and more dificult to do my duties in time, let alone present any plans for the upcoming month.

I've been told that it's a time management issue, but, while I do things slower, I manage to keep my cool and abide. I'm thinking about improving my time management, however with the neverending stream of work, is there a point? No matter how much I do, there will always be more to be done, with deadlines I often can't meet. It's like if the task isn't done, they're gonna kiiill the pooor woooman...



Anyways, what would you do in my place, or what DO you do? Gotta feed the monkey, but it keeps getting more and more hungry.

[Bullett00th]

Thanks for the advice, MindAbiding. Managing the small stuff is a good idea, but I have to admit I can't completely restrict myself from looking at a website here and there. after a 1-2 hour long task I always reward myself with 15 minutes of slacking

but it makes me more productive on my next task. If I just start working on it right away and go my whole day like that, it burns me out, man.

[MindAbiding]

Agreed, Dude. I do that, too (with maybe more frequency than once every 1-2 hours).

So, what gives, man? How are your peers getting so much done?

[meekon5]

to be honest this is probably the worst group of people to be asking about time management.

I typify the "What day is this?" ethos entirely.

[Bullett00th]

MindAbiding, I don't think they do. Everyone is in a panic state where there's a crapload of work.

Being a person who likes to take thing's easy, I'd rather learn a thing or two about time management than run around panicking like they do.
Seeing how things are going with this growth, I would have even considered leaving - but it's just a place with a lot of nice people. From your average office bob to the upper management - we get together very well.
And this is not something I can say about every job I've had.

meekon5, I'm from the very same category, which is why I came here to ask
your average worker will just... well, work more and harder. we slackers have been known to find the way

[MindAbiding]

That's perfect then, Dude. If nobody can fault you on what you're doing or not doing you don't need time management advice, you just need to let go of believing that what you're doing isn't enough, and abide. And you can smile knowing that your stress level is half (or less) that of your coworkers for the very same payoffs!

[Rev Paddy Cakes]

So the company I'm working at has been growing recently, and things have been getting pretty tense. It's almost Nam out here and I'm finding it more and more dificult to do my duties in time, let alone present any plans for the upcoming month.

I am just looking at what you said specifically about the company "growing recently." With any change there is going to be growing pains. It is probably one of those things that it feels like more work now, but it may not feel like that later. I am thinking about my own work history. Anytime I experienced something new I felt busier, more pressed for time, but as I got more comfortable with it, things started to slow down again and I was able to manage. An image keeps coming to me, of swimming back into shore when the water is rough. Sometimes you are being carried along without effort by a cresting wave, the next you are kicking madly against the undertow. But hopefully you are still making progress. I think we Dudes tend to look for those waves, or just stay away from the water in general and head to the bowling alley.

Are you getting comments about your work from others? I would think if you worked with good management, with good people, they would understand that everyone would be facing challenges with recent growth, and everyone needs time to digest it. Because if you aren't getting negative feedback, I would adopt the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality.
Just my opinion rambling on like a tumblin' tumble-weed.

[milnie]

If you've got a good team around you don't be afraid to speak about your worries. A good manager should be able to help you. If your the manager, try delegating a bit more to those you feel can take it. A problem shares dude ...

[Masked Dude]

Is it possible that each of you is doing the wrong work? For instance, let's say I'm really good at hammering in nails, but you're better at threading nuts & bolts. But if I'm doing bolts and you're doing nails, we're not doing our best.

If you're all doing the same thing, disregard that.