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Time Management

The Bikeshedding Fallacy: Why Trivial Matters Eclipse the Important Ones

May 26, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The Bikeshedding Fallacy: Why Trivial Matters Eclipse the Important Ones Parkinson’s Law of Triviality, also known as the Bikeshedding Effect, is a mental model that underscores the inclination to place undue emphasis on a simple or easily comprehensible matter while ignoring more significant ones.

The term “bikeshedding” originated from a book by C. Northcote Parkinson (who gave us Parkinson’s Law.) To illustrate the idea of bikeshedding, Parkinson evokes a situation where a cross-disciplinary committee discusses the design of a nuclear power plant. Most of the members have a limited understanding of nuclear reactor design. Consequently, they will likely rely on the experts’ opinions on these critical matters.

However, when the discussion turns to a relatively simple topic like a humble bike storage shed for employees, everyone feels the need to contribute. This is attributable to the people’s desire to be recognized as valuable contributors and showcase their competence by providing their thoughts on something everyone can understand. As a result, the committee spends a disproportionate amount of time deliberating on trivial matters like the shed’s building material or paint color while turning its back on critical issues such as how to foolproof the fuel control system.

In essence, Parkinson’s Law of Triviality highlights the human tendency to focus on easy-to-understand matters, even if they are less important, because individuals feel more confident and productive doing them.

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Filed Under: Leading Teams, Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Biases, Decision-Making, Meetings, Procrastination, Psychology, Teams, Thought Process, Time Management

A Tagline for Most Meetings: Much Said, Little Decided

April 22, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Plan a better meeting for Better Decisions A one-hour meeting with eight people is an 8-hour meeting.

It’s ludicrous that a $5KK expense budget requires a tiresome justification and sign-off by senior executives, but gathering a bunch of well-paid professionals to dawdle away for a few hours and burn the same money in low-value interactions is totally unchecked. Besides, no one seems satisfied with the quality of the output of these ‘decision meetings,’ let alone committed to following through.

Idea for Impact: Want a better decision? Plan a better meeting! Treat time spent in meetings consciously by emphasizing decision-making over information-sharing.

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  1. How to … Deal with Meetings That Get Derailed
  2. At the End of Every Meeting, Grade It
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  4. Don’t Let the Latecomers Ruin Your Meeting
  5. Lessons from the Japanese Decision-Making Process

Filed Under: Effective Communication, Leading Teams Tagged With: Assertiveness, Efficiency, Meetings, Teams, Time Management

The Midday Check

April 19, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The Midday Check to Maximize Your Productivity Do a midday review daily to determine how you’re progressing on the day’s goals.

Consider whether you’ve been scurrying from one project to another, constantly hustling to meet deadlines, or feeling like you haven’t accomplished much up to that point. Filter out low-value tasks and ruthlessly make time for what’s still important in the day. Set time limits for tasks—there’s no driving force better than a challenging deadline.

If you’re often derailed by side issues or significant changes that set your days askew, use this midday check to find extra time in your day merely by reprioritizing and reorganizing how you’ll approach the tasks that fall within your responsibility.

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Filed Under: Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Discipline, Efficiency, Getting Things Done, Procrastination, Task Management, Time Management

Avoid Being Money-Rich and Time-Poor: Summary of Ashley Whillans’s Time Smart

April 13, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Stress and life dissatisfaction are often caused by being chronically “time poor”—having too many things to do and not enough time to do them. We equate time poverty with success and pay the physical and emotional price of rushing around.

'Time Smart' by Ashley Whillans (ISBN 1633698351) Harvard academic Ashley Whillans’s Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life (2020) shows that people with more free time are happier, healthier, and more productive than people who work all the time and make more money.

The effects and costs of time poverty are so stark that researchers now compare it to a famine—a severe, drastic shortage of time affecting all of society—that carries many of the attendant negative consequences that a natural disaster produces. … No matter our age, education, or income, we share the same reality: none of us knows how much time we have left. One day, time runs out and tomorrow never comes. … Chasing money is valuable to a point, but it’s an infinite errand. You can always try to get more—and research shows people do that, no matter how much money they have already. Given how precious time is, we should put it first.

Idea for Impact: Develop a time-centric mindset and work fewer hours if necessary. Consider time as currency and become more purposeful, dodging mindless tasks and unfulfilling chores. Ask how much time you will give up for more money or productivity. Money is a powerful tool that can buy you time and amplify your freedom to pursue your values and priorities.

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  5. How to Keep Your Brain Fresh and Creative

Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Balance, Discipline, Happiness, Procrastination, Time Management, Work-Life

Three Rules That Will Decide If You Should Automate a Task

March 6, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

Three Rules That Will Decide If You Should Automate a Task To check if a process or a workstream is a good candidate for being automated, see if it meets all three of these criteria:

  1. The process must be a well-oiled machine. The requirements and outcomes are well established. Is the process stable enough to be automated?
  2. The process doesn’t need someone to engage with it each time. It doesn’t need manual intervention, oversight, excessive customization, or finesse. It runs in the backdrop; it’s boring and doesn’t require ‘higher-order’ thinking. Are there decision points within the process that require human intervention?
  3. The process is time-consuming. By automating it, will you save at least 4x what you’ll invest in automating it?

If the manual process is broken or doesn’t exist, then automating it before it’s a “well-oiled machine” may lead to mistakes and unnecessary rework. Establish success with the manual workflow before attempting to automate it.

Idea for Impact: Picking which processes to automate isn’t easy; yet, the closer you observe the workflow deeply, the sooner you can understand both the happy path to automation and the exceptions.

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Filed Under: Mental Models, Project Management, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Artists, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Mental Models, Problem Solving, Productivity, Thinking Tools, Time Management

How to … Make Work Less Boring

January 28, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

How to ... Make Work Less Boring Time passes faster when you divide a big chunk into lots of smaller chunks. So, if you’re on an inescapably boring path, break it into units. And, for each dreaded task, ask yourself, “What’s the most fun way I could do this?” Work at a coffee shop? Listen to your favorite music? Reward yourself upon its completion?

As Mary Poppins pleaded, “In every task that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job’s a game.”

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Filed Under: Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Discipline, Lifehacks, Motivation, Procrastination, Stress, Time Management

How to … Deal with Meetings That Get Derailed

January 26, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

How to ... Deal with Meetings That Get Derailed Refuse meetings that swallow up your time with little benefit. Unproductive talk and time tend to fill the space at protracted meetings.

Cut the meetings you have in half. Cut the time of the meetings that remain in half. Then cut the number of attendees in half.

Show up only if you’re required—not just to be seen, and be prepared with your contribution.

Anecdote: When Andy Grove was CEO at Intel, every new employee, from a production worker to an executive, was required to take the company’s course on effective meetings, often taught by the acclaimed CEO himself. Grove believed good meetings were of such consequence to Intel that it was worth his time to train all employees.

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  5. Lessons from the Japanese Decision-Making Process

Filed Under: Effective Communication, Leading Teams Tagged With: Efficiency, Meetings, Teams, Time Management

How to … Rethink Work-Life Balance

January 24, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Work-Life Balance is Defining Success for Yourself A successful corporate life demands high-level performance for sustained periods. Success doesn’t come without a price. It’s a price that those who advance to the heights of the corporate world are prepared to pay, especially if they care much about what they do. They understand that some pursuits are demanding and require a 100% commitment. They get fulfillment from going to work, as others get from spending some time on sports and hobbies.

When it’s harder than ever to separate work and play, contentment comes not so much from ‘balance’ but from defining success for yourself and setting and living your priorities. Everyone has a value system, but not everyone purposefully prioritizes things that have to be at the forefront.

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Filed Under: Living the Good Life Tagged With: Assertiveness, Balance, Happiness, Time Management, Work-Life

How to … Incorporate Exercise into Your Daily Life

December 23, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

How to ... Incorporate Exercise into Your Daily Life An “exercise snack” is a short bite of physical activity you can do anywhere, anytime. You don’t even need to change your clothes. Try ten push-ups, stair climbing, brisk walking, or jogging around the block.

Exercise snacking increases the physical activity in your day and breaks up sedentary time, which is increasingly linked to chronic health risks.

It may not seem like much, but several scientific studies show that interleaving brief fitness routines a few times into your day not only encourages your body to feel better, but also contributes to meaningful gains in fitness and overall health. It improves your mood, stimulates creativity, and enhances focus, making it an all-around win for your health and productivity. Best of all, exercise snacking removes the pressure of committing to a long, once-a-day sweaty session.

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Filed Under: Health and Well-being, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Balance, Discipline, Getting Things Done, Motivation, Time Management, Wellbeing

How to … Quit Something You Love But Isn’t Working

December 21, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Quitting Something You Love But Isn't Working Quitting something you no longer care about is more straightforward than something you’re spirited about but isn’t working.

To avoid quitting a passion too soon or too late, a basic rule of thumb is to give up when the outcomes aren’t improving, even after ample effort to turn things around.

That is to say, when things get difficult in school, business, relationships, or a project, increase your efforts and get help to improve it. If the results are still unacceptable after an adequate interval of much effort, maybe it’s time to throw in the towel on that course of action or rightsize your expectations, if not abandon the pursuit altogether.

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Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Assertiveness, Balance, Discipline, Negotiation, Time Management, Wisdom

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!