Week 11: Mastering your Time

Sharing my top 3 time saving techniques - tried, tested, refined....

Being a part-time founder can be a blessing or a curse. Whilst it keeps you excited about solving different problems at work and with your business, it can be a real drain on your time if you don’t manage it well.

Many people have asked me how I balance a full-time, demanding consulting job with growing Inspirele. The methods I use are always a work in progress, but I have found them to be very helpful, especially when I have a laundry list of things to complete. Here’s a sneak peek of my top 3 techniques for optimising time. Hope it’s helpful for those of you looking to make the most of your 24 hours in a day.

Method #1: The MoSCoW

A prioritisation method developed by Dai Clegg for rapid app development, the MoSCoW has been used extensively since for software and product development.

• MUST HAVE (M): Critical, has to be done - if even one of this is missed out, the project can be considered a failure

  [Think of it as characteristics you absolutely must have in a Minimum Viable Product i.e. MVP]

• SHOULD HAVE (S): Important in the long run, but not required to be fully present now to meet the delivery requirements

• COULD HAVE (C): Desired characteristics/tasks that can improve your overall experience, with a small additional investment of time and resources beyond what you currently have

• WON’T HAVE (W): Least critical, lowest payback or not appropriate to be pursued at this time. Better to delay for later.

In using this method, developers start by trying to deliver all the Must Have, Should Have and Could Have requirements, but they will remove the Could, then Should requirements if it becomes difficult to meet the delivery timeline.

When it comes to managing daily/weekly time, start by listing all the things you need to do, and then ask yourself the BIG question:

“What does a good outcome for this day/week look like?”

Once you know that, it is much easier to group your tasks into the MoSCow categories above and work your way down the prioritised list.

Method #2: Eat the Frog

Best for: When you have an important but un-inspiring / challenging task to do

Many of us are most productive in the mornings (if this doesn’t apply to you, use this method for the time that works best for you). But we often use this time to do simpler, smaller tasks e.g. read emails, scroll through social media, read the news.

Actually, this is the best time to “eat the frog” i.e. focus your energy on the biggest task you have for the day. This could be preparing for the big presentation you have or writing your business plan. Your best spurt of creativity happens in the morning, so use it wisely for tasks that need your undivided attention.

“How do I pick my frogs?” you may ask…well, identify tasks that are important, beneficial, but also prime candidates for being put off for later because you are feeling nervous/uninspired by it.

Method #3: Sequence tasks using Pickle Jar Theory

Best for: When you have a long list of to-dos with a mix of complexity

Source: Quidlo

As illustrated above, the Pickle Jar theory states that there are 3 types of tasks - rocks (the important, big tasks), pebbles (simpler, less important tasks), and sand (small tasks that can be easily done/delayed).

The best way to sequence these tasks is the following:

• Morning: Rock 1 (often the Frog) —> Pebble 1 —> Sand 1

• Afternoon: Rock 2 —> Pebble 2 —> Sand 2

• Evening: Rock 3 —> Pebble 3 —> Sand 3

A mix of rock, pebbles, and sand helps optimise your energy while still completing the most important tasks first in every sub-section of the day. This is a great way to remind yourself that at the end of the day, it’s not about how many tasks you’ve completed but what you actually did

Prompt for the week

If these methods speak to you, try one or all of them out this week. It can be applied for your to-do lists or for prioritising features in a product you’re developing for your business/work.

Have fun experimenting, and do let us know in the comments how you did :)

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**Note to our readers**

For the remainder of this year, the Inspirele newsletter will be moving to a bi-weekly schedule i.e. once every 2 weeks as we spend more time developing the Inspirele platform, which we’re excited to share with you later this year. Stay tuned for more updates on this!

And if you have any input/feedback on what you’d like to see on this platform, please reach out to us at nareens@inspirele.com.

Till we meet again in 2 weeks,

-Nareen