Time Hacks for Work

TIME HACKING
How to be more productive
and optimize your time at work
@edolopez
June 17th, 2014@icalialabs
Tuesday, June 17, 14

TIME is the most valuable asset we have
We cannot restore it or buy it

There’s always time.
Time is priorities.
Wants vs. Needs (Priorities)

TIME IS ABOUT MANAGEMENT

TIME IS ABOUT MANAGEMENT
HACKING

THE RIGHT WAY TO MANAGE
(HACK) IT IS WITH:
Techniques,
Tools, and
A personal system

1.TECHNIQUES

1.TECHNIQUES
A technique is a procedure that can be used
many times to take advantage of time in a wise way

1. USE POMODORO
- Total focus on a speciﬁc activity for 25 minutes.
- Don’t get distracted with anything else.
- Short or long breaks between to distract and retake
momentum

2.TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF DEAD TIMES
- A brief moment when you can talk about a pending topic
without scheduling.
- During the typical walk to the corner store, the restaurant,
etc.

3. SET SPECIFIC TIMES TO
CHECK EMAIL
- Biggest time-sucks known to modern man is checking and
responding to email
- Email takes up 28% of the average worker’s day
- An email comes in and suddenly you’re giving your best hours
to someone else’s goals, not yours.
- Email can turn you into a jerk.
- Email can be more addictive than alcohol and tobacco.
... just set speciﬁc times for it!

4. OPTIMIZE THE MOMENT
ON THE BATHROOM
-You know you can do a lot...

5. HAVE A MORNING
PLANNING MOMENT
- Deﬁne your to-do’s of the day.
- Enjoy the daily standup meeting.
- Read the news and blogs.
- Manage your mood!

6. OPTIMIZE TIME FOR
MEETINGS AND SESSIOS
- Have an agenda.
- Have time constrains and a facilitator.
- Consider a goal and what you want to get from the session

7. PROMOTE NO
DISTRACTORS
- Special signals, such as heaphones to say you are busy.
- Put the do-not-disturb mode in your phone (plane mode)
- Turn off alerts and banners on Desktop.
- Return calls later.
- People working from home can be understandable.

2.TOOLS
Tools are going to be the instrument to manage
and asses any activity in terms of time

Prioritization and organization
Time Tracking
Mail management
Physical tools
2.TOOLS
Tools can be classiﬁed in:

a) Prioritization and Organization
Mindmestier for Mind Mapping - http://www.mindmeister.com/

Trello as a Kanban board - http://www.trello.com

Evernote or Hackpad for personal notes and TO-DOs

Evernote or Hackpad for personal notes and TO-DOs
* Even Basecamp or Google App for
Business can be used
for reminders and personal notes

Tomighty.org app for pomodoros

Tomighty.org app for pomodoros
... picture doesn’t make sense,
but was tasty and I was hungry

b) Time Hacking
RescueTime.com to monitor all your

Toggl.com to contextualize your spent time

Timelyapp.com and getHarvest.com are other options

Timelyapp.com and getHarvest.com are other options
... if you have the money.

c) Mail Management
Boomearng for Gmail to schedule an email to be
sent later. Easy email reminders.

Inbox pause for Gmail to stop in certain time span
arrival emails

d) Physical Tools
A more personal need.
If you need big monitors, to have good quality
headphones or any other device, it is more a
personal way of be productive.

d) Physical Tools
A more personal need.
If you need big monitors, to have good quality
headphones or any other device, it is more a
personal way of be productive.
Discover yourself!

3.A PERSONAL SYSTEM

3.A PERSONAL SYSTEM
A combination of both techniques and tools
depending on the scenarios of your daily work

A personal system means to have a strict routine
and procedures.
Depends on daily work activities, how your system is
going to be set.
You can have multiple scenarios, for different days or
situations.
3.A PERSONAL SYSTEM

EXAMPLE OF
PERSONAL SYSTEM
Set your mood and visualize your tasks for the day.
Plan your day the night before, or during the morning.
Start with your mind map or kanban, what am I going
to do today?
Daily standup to start your project prioritization.
Use pomodoro for every activity; no more than 25
minutes.Take little breaks to distract your mind.

Don’t schedule meetings after certain hour.“Tuesdays
are for project clients”.
Track with context every activity. At the end of the
week you will see when you are more productive and
doing what.
“12pm and 6pm are email hours”.
Meal time is always at certain time.

CONCLUSIONS

Use techniques, tools and combine them
to deﬁne a personal system to manage better
your time.
Stick to a routine!
Start with short tasks to get the ball rolling. Stop
multitasking, it merely kills your focus.

We’re always more focused and productive with
limited time. Set deadlines for everything,
don’t let the work get indeﬁnitely.
More work doesn’t mean productivity. Use
constrains as opportunities.
Reminder apps for everything, don’t trust
your brain.

This is for your life and for the
people who care about you
Girl/Boy-friend.
Colleagues.
Family.
Friends.
Customers.

THANKS!
CEO - @edolopez
June 17th, 2014@icalialabs

REFERENCES
Quora:“As a startup CEO, what is your favorite productivity hack?”. http://
www.quora.com/Productivity/As-a-startup-CEO-what-is-your-favorite-productivity-
hack
Forbes: 7 Productivity Hacks that succesful people use everyday. http://
www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/01/08/7-productivity-hacks-that-successful-
people-use-every-day/
Your most valuable asset is time. http://www.inc.com/robert-kaplan/robert-kaplan-
your-most-valuable-asset-is-time.html
Martin Fowler Blog: How to leverage a Daily Standup Meeting. http://
martinfowler.com/articles/itsNotJustStandingUp.html

Quora:Ways to increase productivity as a web developer. http://www.quora.com/
What-are-the-best-ways-to-increase-productivity-as-a-web-developer-programmer
Quora:What does it feel like to be a CEO of a startup. http://www.quora.com/
Startups/What-does-it-feel-like-to-be-the-CEO-of-a-start-up
Business Insider: 6 Things the most productive people do every day. http://
www.businessinsider.com/6-things-the-most-productive-people-do-every-day-2014-6?
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