Time Management

The Never-Ending Office vs. Remote Work Debate

November 22, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Don’t we love talking about it endlessly! The debate on the balance between office and remote work days continues, with a possible shift from the current two or three office days to four days in the office and one day working from home.

Remote work was vital for business continuity during the pandemic, but it has limitations. In-office work fosters collaboration, innovation, and spontaneous interactions that nurture a unified company culture. It also delineates work-life boundaries, improving well-being, focus, and discipline.

The question of whether more office time boosts productivity lingers. In a cohesive company culture, flexibility in office days is crucial, tailored to the unique needs of employees, culture, and clients. Rather than strict rules, workplaces need to focus on building team chemistry and accommodating diverse work styles, enhancing collaboration and talent optimization for productivity.

Idea for Impact: The office itself doesn’t possess magical productivity powers; it’s the quality of focused, distraction-free time that drives productivity.

How to (Finally!) Stop Procrastinating, Just Do It

October 2, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Go to the gym consistently and unfailingly, even if it’s just to walk on the treadmill for ten minutes.

Even if your legs are sore, just go.

Even if you’re not feeling it, just go.

Even if there’s that something else you’d rather be doing, just go.

Just go.

Because once you’re there at the gym, you usually will get into the mood to run or achieve something more substantial.

Just do it.

Compel yourself to do just a bit of what you’re struggling to do.

Just taking action, even if you don’t plan on achieving much, can usually help you get and stay motivated.

Inertia will give way to momentum.

Idea for Impact: The “Just Do It” attitude can help you surmount mental blocks. Folks who actually get things done work at whatever they are interested in, even when they don’t feel like doing it.

The #1 Warning Sign That You’re Burning Out at Work

July 21, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Burnout doesn’t happen just because you work too much. Instead, it’s investing emotionally and not getting an adequate emotional return on your investment.

The primary indicator that burnout is looming is when your patience wears thin. You’ll find yourself feeling cynical and irritable most of the time, resulting in frequent arguments or constant outbursts towards your loved ones, including colleagues and superiors.

Idea for Impact: If you feel depleted or exhausted, pace yourself and set clear boundaries. Think strategically not only about the work you enjoy but also about the life you want to lead.

How to Avoid the Sunday Night Blues

June 29, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

A proper Sunday isn’t complete unless you’ve expertly wasted every precious moment and then find yourself submerged in a sea of sorrow as that sinking feeling settles in your stomach, signaling the end of the glorious weekend.

The “Sunday-Night Blues” revolve around bidding farewell to the weekend and bracing yourself for yet another dreadful week ahead. It’s a baffling feeling when you can’t account for where the time went or what happened to all those noble intentions you had.

The tranquility of the weekend gives way to a somber mood, a sense of impending doom, and a restless night of sleep. It’s even hard to accept that the brief respite from the previous week’s work is ending.

Here’re some tips to help you ward off those Sunday-Night Blues. Spread out your chores and errands throughout the week, or better yet, tackle the tedious tasks early on—the earlier you deal with pain, the less painful it is. Tie up any loose or annoying ends on Friday, so you don’t have to give it a second thought over the weekend.

Take a few moments earlier during the weekend to plan and organize your upcoming week. This simple act will grant you greater control and preparedness, easing any anxiety or stress over the upcoming week.

Idea for Impact: Sunday evenings are meant to be cherished, not squandered in sorrow. With careful planning, a sprinkle of self-care, and a dash of positive thinking, you can transform those Sunday Night Blues into a delightful symphony of relaxation and anticipation for the week ahead.

The Bikeshedding Fallacy: Why Trivial Matters Eclipse the Important Ones

May 26, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

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.

A Tagline for Most Meetings: Much Said, Little Decided

April 22, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

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.

The Midday Check

April 19, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

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.

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.

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.

Three Rules That Will Decide If You Should Automate a Task

March 6, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

To check if a process or a workstream is a good candidate for being automated, see if it meets all three of these criteria:

The process must be a well-oiled machine. The requirements and outcomes are well established. Is the process stable enough to be automated?
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?
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.

How to … Make Work Less Boring

January 28, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

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.”

Time Management

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