Since moving to a fully remote working setup due to Covid-19, I realised how much time I wasted working in the office from 9-5. It probed me into rethinking my time usage patterns and habits.
One of the challenges is how much in-between times I let slip through. Meetings and Slack communications are the two biggest spenders of my work calendar. These are good for fulfilling my managerial responsibilities but not for research goals and technical advancement. It makes my role very similar to a university faculty member - many commitments (research, grading exams, writing papers, etc.) between the lectures and seminars. How do they manage their time effectively?
I employed the following exercises to better utilise the small parcels of time in between meetings:
- Estimate every task on my TODO list and set quick filters to find the items I can complete within X minutes with a single key press.
- Always take a book or have research articles to read on my phone when I am out. E.g. in a queue or waiting for someone
- Read user manuals for essential tools such as Emacs or cURL if I only have two minutes (instead of checking emails or reading Slack messages). It helps me to be more efficient with my tools and, therefore, more productive at work.