Overview
I took about two hours to get through the materials and videos from the Time and habit management resources. I started with the videos to get me into the swing of things, then checked out the Fogg method, before working through the readings starting with meditation.
reflections on time and habit techniques
Which timebox and habits techniques did you try?
I have been meditating on and off for many years already, and did meditate this morning. I also swim about 2-3 times a week, and find that very meditative (and satisfying in many other ways). These, along with yoga at Dev Academy, are habits I'd like to keep regular over the coming four months.
I've also run a few sprint based projects, so have experienced using team sprint timeboxing. However I've not been very strong so far on timeboxing my own work and tasks. I have however been taking breaks between and during the work assignments, and allowing those breaks to be non-study/work time
What did you find interesting?
The idea of small steps on a journey of growth is a common theme in many of the articles. This was seen in the Fogg Method talk, where he points out small steps are easy to do, but they can build up our ability and our motivation over time.
In the Wikipedia article on Flow, I enjoyed discovering the Flow model's graph on mental state in terms of challenge level and skill level
I enjoyed the article on starting small, and the dangers of big.
But I think my favourite read was Seven counterintuitive ways to be insanely productive as it resonated with many of my own quirky ways.
What worked for you?
Meditation. Swimming. Yoga.
Small chunks, tasks, tick off via Waffle, and I guess that's what I did over the weekend, I grew my skill level in small chunks, overcoming challenges then having a break
Which will you experiment further with?
Timeboxing and Pomodoro style chunking of focused work, with breaks in between (perhaps 2 pushups followed by an "I'm awesome!")
And I'm trying to close all other browser tabs that aren't what I'm working on. That feels good.