Time management

One of the most challenging things to deal with in my work life is the number of things there are to do - from the mundane but important stuff to the meaty, interesting and fulfilling stuff. It can be a real challenge to make sure that I'm getting to do a bit of the interesting stuff regularly, and to not get swallowed up by the endless mundane but important stuff.

So, I've made myself a plan of how to manage my time each day and I thought I'd share it in case it's useful, as I know loads of people have similar time management issues!

Here are the principles I've set out for how to manage my time in the new year:

1. Each year/month/week/day - stand back for a bit at the start/end of previous one and set out a few big things I want to achieve in each - and amid all the detailed cack do them. 

2. Note these in diary. Note detailed action points as they come up on another piece of paper. 

3. Allocate good chunks of time each day to do priority tasks - and focus on them properly (get immersed) when you do them. Enjoy and focus on this meaty stuff whilst acknowledging you have to do the other stuff. 

4. Only 3 email review sessions a day (and tell others I'm doing this - if they need a quick reply, call me) 

5. Only 3 web browses a day (really important) - and only in spare time. 

6. Be disciplined (inc say no, don't do things immediately to please people or because they're easy - do them when they fit for you) and don't get distracted. Then your priorities will be clearer, work will be more enjoyable and you'll get more of the important stuff done. If a call comes in during your 'priority' time, answer it if you need to, but add more priority time at the end of the session to make it up. And allocate any action points to after your priority session if you can - only rarely will things be so urgent that they can't wait. 

7. Above all - stay calm and remember you're in control of all of this - it doesn't have to control you. 

Two days into the year and this arrangement seems to be working - we'll see how it's going in another month's time! Let me know how you get on with it if you try it!

The religion-shaped hole

I've just been to see AC Grayling talk about Humanism at the Lewes Speakers Festival. It's reminded me of a point I've been thinking about for a while. As religion becomes less of a central force in people's lives (in the UK at least) there is, for many people, a 'religion-shaped hole' in their lives. Not that they miss religion, but that, for many people there are very few other places in modern society where they can get opportunities to think about the meaning of their lives, their values or have the chance to reflect generally. As the founder of Life Squared I naturally think these things are very important, but so far nothing (apart from consumer capitalism) has really come in to fill this religion-shaped hole for most people, and I think the movement best suited to filling it it humanism. It is not yet however in a position where it can assume this position, as it is still on the defensive - seeking to argue against religion and protect the secular state from religious excess. It needs to move into a position where it is also taking a more constructive role - helping people to think about these bigger questions and supporting them in this journey - as there is a great need for this role now, and it would be of benefit to millions of people.

One planet living?

I'm in the process of writing a booklet for our forthcoming 'Story of Energy' project at Life Squared, and my suspicions are proving correct - it's almost impossible to find a simple description of what a real 1 planet lifestyle would look like for the ordinary individual. Fill in a footprint calculator (like Bioregional's) and even if you give answers that show the minimum level of impact, it still tells you you're using over 2 planets' resources. This may well be true (given the resource-hungry infrastructure around our lives) but even so, we need to know what a real one-planet lifestyle would look like. Otherwise how can anyone know what the green movement is aiming for? I get hugely frustrated with the good-intentioned but vague and fluffy resources and advice coming from even the biggest and best environmental organisations. Enjoinders to fly less and grow your own veg are fine, but until we build a more detailed and meaningful picture of what each person would need to do in order to live within their share of the planet, even the people with the best intentions are going to be living 2 planet lifestyles - and why bother doing this if you're not going to do it properly? It really is time to define our goals and vision better as a movement - even if the reality of what we're suggesting (a real one planet lifestyle) isn't palatable to some people. We need to get real. And this might even encourage people to take more action now while we can.

The value of reflection

Good to see this interesting post by Matthew Taylor, Director of the RSA, outlining the value of reflection in our rational decision making processes. One paragraph in particular caught my eye:

Instead of ‘nudging’, which seeks to change choice architecture (for example, putting healthier food more easily in reach than unhealthy in canteens), the RSA’s ‘steer’ approach aims to give people the understanding and tools they need to change their own behaviour.

This is exactly the approach we are pioneering in a range of areas of people's lives at Life Squared - from our consumption of resources to the way we approach our lives in the first place. We'll soon be applying these principles to another important topic, which I can't announce yet, but hopefully can in a couple of weeks!

For now though, check out Matthew's post as well as Jonathan Haidt's book he refers to, as his previous book 'The happiness hypothesis' was very good.

Ghastly xmas ads

It's bad form I'm sure to put a second consecutive post from the same person but Charlie Brooker does know how to skewer the shallowness and depressing nature of advertising with some humour - certainly better than me ranting angrily about it for several lines! Here is his article about the glut of 'emotional' xmas TV ads currently being chucked out by the large chains.

Check out Life Squared's free publication Xmas² for ideas on how to avoid too much commercial nonsense at Christmas.

Evil Weetabix

Great article by Charlie Brooker in today's Guardian about the repugnant practice of advertising to kids, and how consumerism is finding new ways to enter our lives.

How to change the world

This interesting article in the New York Times got me thinking again about something I'd been working on a few years ago - the question of how to we can gain the level of change needed to tackle big global issues like global warming and just what role we as individuals can play in this.

The article made me wonder whether we're getting it the wrong way round when we take things like the carbon footprint of the world and divide responsibility for it between individuals, as individuals are often not the agents whose actions and decisions will produce the level of change that is needed - it's companies, countries and other institutions and groups of people.

So, if we want to seek change on big issues, perhaps we need to redistribute the level of responsibility for these things - and assign more responsibility to those agents with the level of influence and power to make the big changes . This doesn't diminish our responsibility to live good lives as individuals - but simply rebalances the burden of responsibility for change to those agents that have the power to make it happen on a big scale.

This also affects the way we might go about seeking change in the world as individuals. It doesn't mean we should stop 'doing our bit' or stop leading planet-friendly and compassionate lives - as these are part of living in line with our everyday values as individuals, and this is a vital part of what it means to live a good, dignified, fulfilled human life. But what it does mean that if we're seriously looking to change the world as individuals we should be prioritising something else - and that is to do everything we can to influence the real agents for change on these issues.

So, if each of us is serious about getting a better world, let's separate the actions we can take to live in line with our values as individuals (like planet-friendly living) from the actions we can take to gain real change (like lobbying companies, voting, becoming politically active) - and then do both of these things.