A Flexible Approach to Time Management

Thoughts for those whose life or personality makes planning a challenge.

I am, and expect to always be, a fan of planning ahead, focused work times, block scheduling, fake early deadlines, backwards planning, and all the other standard tools of efficiency and productivity. I think these tools help bring order to life, and order tends to promote both peace and progress.

But being open to different perspectives is an important part of growth. And what better time to grow a little than at the turn of the year. So, in honor of the newly minted 2025 A.D., I want to explore a more flexible kind of productivity.

The Unpredictable Life

I spent the end of the year in the country of Jordan, where my daughter and son-in-law live and work. The word my daughter uses to describe Jordan is “fluid.” For example, when I asked one restaurant owner about opening hours, she explained that the restaurant is always open, expect on Sundays and sometimes on Friday afternoons, or if they have something else they need to do. Similarly, my son-in-law told me that if we left home at 6:30 p.m., we would show up way too early for the 6:30 p.m. church service. Social life is fluid, too; a stranger noticed my daughter and I walking in the neighborhood with the kids and invited us over to have coffee and play with her grandchildren – right then. My daughter told me that the woman would have easily dropped whatever she was doing had we accepted the invitation.

Not only is the culture fluid, but my situation was as well. I was in Jordan to help after the birth of my daughter’s second child. So, I was kind of on call during the day for childcare, cooking, housework, and general support. The toddler might wake up from his nap in five minutes or he might sleep for another hour. The baby might need to be held, or maybe she would be eating. The laundry might be dry, or a cloudy day could delay the folding until tomorrow. Well-wishers might drop by anytime to see the baby, and they might stay 30 minutes or two hours. The parents might need a nap. The cat might cut her foot and necessitate a visit to the vet (followed by futile efforts to catch her and administer the prescribed injection). The groceries might drop on the way in the door, spraying coke from an exploded can all over the foyer.

At home, I live with a fairly low level of fluidity. I am in a life stage and situation that gives me a lot of control over my schedule. Of course, unexpected things come up. But usually it’s much more of a text-to-see-if-now-is-a-good-time-to-call or an I-can-meet-you-next-Thursday-at-3 p.m. kind of situation.

Many of the graduate students I work with have a lot of fluidity in their lives. Most of the time, I suggest troubleshooting that uncertainty and getting as much as possible under control. Today, just for a change, I want to consider a strategy for getting things done amidst the unpredictability. I’m going to focus specifically on getting reading, writing, and research done, but the system works equally well for things like laundry, watering the plants, and setting up appointments.

The Fluid To-Do List

The thing about uncertainty is that you never know when you might end up with a block of time to move ahead on your project. So, the goal of the fluid to-do list is to be prepared with items that will allow you to take advantage of whatever free time comes up.

It would work well to create this list on a page with five columns. Because we are being fluid (and because it makes the most sense to me), I will start with the second column, which should also be the one with the most space for writing. It isn’t super important which information goes in which column; organize in a way that makes sense to you.

Second Column: Tasks, not Times

Your day (and your list) will be organized by tasks that need to be done, not by times that you will do them. In the second column of the list, write in as much detail as possible all the tasks that you need to complete in the near future, like maybe the next week or two. The goal is to be able to look at the list and know exactly how to get started on each task. So, be specific as you name and describe each item.

Third Column: Order by Time Required

Sometimes you might know that you have a long stretch of time to work. Other times, you might know you only have 15 minutes. Still other times, you might not know how long you have before the next thing happens. That’s why your third column should have an estimate of the time it will take you do complete or do significant work on each task.

For example, maybe you think that editing a chapter of your dissertation will take three hours, but you could get good work done if you had 30 minutes. On the other hand, searching the library database for sources might take three hours, and it isn’t worth getting started if you can’t work for at least two. Sending an email to your advisor could be completed in 15 minutes. Having that information immediately available can help you quickly decide how to use your time.

Fourth Column: Order by Effort

We all feel variously motivated and productive depending on the time of day, the weather, and what else is going on in our lives. At the end of a tiring day, you might have energy for checking your reference list but not for drafting. Or you might feel like reading but not feel capable of analyzing data.

These realities make it important to indicate how much mental effort each task will take. Assign a “1” to tasks that you can do even if you are tired, a “3” to tasks that are going to take a lot of mental effort, and a “2” to those in between. Then you can choose what to tackle based on how you feel.

First and Fifth Column: Order by Priority

In the first column, write the due date for each task. This can be either the actual date by which it must be complete or a self-imposed deadline based on your project’s overall timeline. In the fifth column, give each task a number for priority level. “1” is for high priority, “2” for medium, and “3” for low. As much as possible, focus on high-priority items that fit your time and effort constraints. For more on priorities, check out this post.

Update Regularly

Of course, for this system to work, you will need to create the to-do list and update it regularly (probably daily, but at least weekly). That does require some uninterrupted time. So make the first item on your list “create to-do list,” and dedicate your first free time to that task.

Freedom and a Framework

Using the time, effort, and priority levels can help you best use whatever time you are able to work on your project in the midst of an unpredictable schedule. This system can also work for people who struggle with structure in general. A fluid to-do list allows the freedom to make choices in the moment, but it also helps ensure that those choices move you toward your goal.

Happy New Year! 

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