time-management on S Anand

Halving a deadline costs 1.4% of marks each time

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 06:30:45 +0000

Does it make a difference if you submit early vs submit late? Here’s some empirical data.

About ~1,000 students at IIT Madras took 3 online quizzes (GA1, GA2, GA3) in the last few weeks. The deadlines were all at midnight (India) on different days. Here’s when they submitted their final answers:

There was a spurt of submissions at the last minute.
~1 out of 8 students submit with < 10 minutes remaining.
Most students submitted ~4 hours before the deadline.
In fact, 3 out of 4 students submit on the same day as the deadline.
A fair number of students submitted the previous day/night.
1 out of 6 are diligent and submit a day early.

But does submitting late help, since you get more time? Apparently not.

On average, every time the deadline is halved, the score drops by 1.4%.

For example, on average:

Submitting 1 minute before scores 1.4% less than submitting 2 minutes before
Submitting 2 minutes before scores 1.4% less than submitting 4 minutes before
Submitting 4 minutes before scores 1.4% less than submitting 8 minutes before
… etc.

This means that submitting early morning instead of midnight could give you a 15% advantage.

Of course, this might be confusing cause and effect. Maybe students who do well submit early, and those who struggle submit late.

But is there a merit in faking it till you make it? Perhaps by pretending your deadline is a day early, to get the best of both worlds? Something to think about…

Increasing calendar effectiveness by 2X

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 08:01:20 +0000

I took a 2022 goal to be 10X more effective. In Jan, I managed 2X. Here’s how.

What is effectiveness?

I don’t know. I’m figuring it out.

But to start off, I measured the number of people my actions directly impact. For example:

Discussing my Tools in Data Science Course or writing a blog post impacts ~500 people.
Mailing all Gramener employees impacts ~200 people.
Shopping with my wife impacts 2 people – her and me (in very different ways).

Clearly, the impact is not equal. But it’s a start.

How to measure it?

Since Dec 1, I categorized all my Outlook calendar entries into one of these categories:

Red is “low reach”. Green is “high reach”. This is what 6-10 Dec 2021 looked like:

I continued this for 8 weeks.

Did effectiveness increase?

In Week 1, I reached 30 people on average. This was the control week.

In Weeks 2-3, the reach increased from 30 to 77. In Weeks 4-8, it settled at 64.

So, yes, effectiveness increased. in Jan 2022, I reached twice as many people per week as when I started off.

I didn’t measure quality/impact. One-on-one coaching has more impact than a lecture. Reach is just a crude first approximation for effectiveness.

How did this happen?

What gets measured, improves. I’d categorize each entry on my calendar. This enabled 3 things:

I’d try to remove low-reach (<50 reach - red) items. This reduced rom 45 to 29 hours a week.
I’d try to add high-reach (>= 50 reach - green) items. This increased from 12 to 18 hours a week.

So, I now have 10 more hours of “me time” every week, while I still reach 2X as many people.

What next?

I’m exploring better measures of effectiveness. I believe:

Effectiveness is goal alignment. It’s personal, and purely a function of your priorities.
Effectiveness is multipled by assets. Actions that create assets improve effectiveness.

Once I discover a robust measure, I will to re-categorize my calendar and re-run this experiment.

If you use a measure of effectiveness of impact, please let me know – I’d love to learn from that.

Comments

My Year in 2022 - S Anand 31 Dec 2022 8:42 am (pingback): […] 10X more effective. I improved my calendar effectiveness 2X in Jan. But I realized this is actually efficiency. Not effectiveness. Maybe effectiveness […]

Happiness generator

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 05:28:58 +0000

In my current thrust towards greater management responsibilities, I have discovered a mechanism for generating happiness.

I set up meetings on important topics. That makes me happy – I’m driving something useful.

Often, the meeting gets cancelled. That makes me happy – I’ve more free time.

It’s the perfect perpetual motion machine.

Comments

Vasant 10 May 2016 11:58 pm: Ha ha! Love it.
Madan 30 Mar 2019 9:00 pm: Often, the meeting gets cancelled. That makes me happy — I’ve more free time. What a positive thinking Sir Jee !!
vikram 5 May 2016 6:04 pm: i am a non tamil .i have a piece of music and i want to know which song is it exactly.This was briefly played in the movie madras cafe starring john abraham.can u just help me wih that song . Kindly ping me to my mail i ll share that piece with you
udayamoorthy v 23 May 2016 12:34 pm: That’s Great Idea. Kind of Win Win Situation. Happy to see you in the blog after a long time. I used to view your older posts regularly . All are great. Thanks Regards Uday
Chirag 25 Sep 2017 9:03 pm: Haha ! Thats clever :)

Time management

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Some years ago, a friend asked me to write about how I manage my time. It seemed to him I was doing a good job of it, given that I had time to pursue my interests.

It’s something I tried to do consciously. Every few years, I used to go down the route of “time management”. I’d read stuff and try it out.

But over time, I’ve come to believe that “time” is not really “manageable”. Think about it: are most of your actions planned? Me, I just react out of habit, no matter how well planned I try to be. What I do is largely driven by what I’m in the habit of doing.

Not that time management advice is useless, but you’ll end up not following most of it. You act on a fraction of what you read. A fraction of that turns into a habit. That’s still useful. But the point is, rather than pick up 10 tips on time management, it’s more useful to pick one or two pieces of advice that you like, and are likely to act on. (You won’t do things you don’t like anyway.)

So time management is about acquiring habits that save time (and is not about reading tips that are tough to habitualise).

That begs an obvious question and a subtle one. The obvious one is what habits save time? The subtle one is why save time?

Why save time?

You’ve probably heard the phrase “time is money”. For a while, I took that statement literally. I tried to act by assigning monetary value to my time, and by doing the most profitable thing.

I was making Rs 10,000 a month at that time. That’s about Rs 50 an hour. So I figured I wouldn’t do anything that earned me less than Rs 50 an hour outside of work. I mean, if I’m making Rs 50 an hour at work, why should I make any less outside?

One small hitch. I wasn’t making any money outside of work. In fact, I was spending money. So unless I took up a night job, or started freelancing, that rule of thumb was useless. (Besides, I didn’t want to spend time outside of work working. I wanted to have fun. Watch movies, for instance.)

So I needed a different way of handling this. If I spend 3 hours at a movie for Rs 60, that could be a benchmark. If something’s more expensive than Rs 20/hour, I’d rather watch a movie. If it’s less expensive, I’d do that. Take books, for instance. A typical novel would cost Rs 180 and I’d finish it in 12 hours. At Rs 15 / hour it’s a more economical way of spending time.

Except that it doesn’t quite work that way. How much fun I had, had nothing to do with how much I paid for it.

Frankly, in daily life, I don’t think you can treat the phrase “time is money” literally. Time has nothing to do with money.

Time is like money in a different way, though. By itself, it isn’t worth much. Think about it. What can you do with money? Buy stuff you like. And if you can’t, it’s useless.

If all you need is onion soup, why throw it out for sesterii?

Time’s like that. What can you do with time? Do stuff you like. And if you can’t, it’s useless.

There are usually two reasons people want to manage time. One is where they don’t enjoy something, and would rather spend as little time at it as possible. But look, if you don’t enjoy that stuff, time management isn’t your problem. You need to get out of your job or whatever. Managing time more efficiently is simply going to let you efficiently waste your time. (Though in the short run, that’s probably the best you can do – efficiently get rid of nuisances. I’ll talk about that shortly.)

The other reason is where they have too many (enjoyable) things to do, and can’t do all of them. But hey, if you have too much enjoyable stuff, you don’t have a problem! In a way, this is like wanting to buy many things and not having enough money. With money, you can earn more or wish for less. With time, you just have to wish for less. (Living longer may not be a practical option.) Just pick anything you like to do. Don’t regret the stuff you can’t. You only have 24 hours, and you’re among the lucky few who can fill it with things you enjoy.

So, I’m effectively saying, there’s no point trying to do things more efficiently in the long run. Picking what you do is more important than doing it efficiently. (That roughly correlates to the third habit in Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits: Put First Things First. It’s the key to time management.)

So, how do you pick what to do? You’d probably want to pick something that you like, or something that’s good for you.

But it’s tricky to predict what you like.

We don’t know what we want. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that – we just don’t know what we’d like to do.
Too much of anything… I love watching movies, but I’ve never managed to watch more than 4 a day. I’ve tried breaking that record many times. Just doesn’t work. At the end of the 4th movie, I’m sick and my bum is sore. Do I prefer movies to cleaning up? Usually. But by the end of the 4th, I’d rather clean up.
Preferences are not consistent. I prefer a 7 megapixel camera to a 2 megapixel one. I prefer a cheaper camera to a more expensive one. So between a $100 2MP camera and a $200 7MP camera, I’m just making a wild guess.
Preferences are not static. If I’m tired, I’d rather watch a movie I’ve seen before. If not, I’ll experiment with an art film. There’s no telling beforehand what my mood is going to be at any point.

It’s just as tricky to figure out what’s good for us. We have no clue what will happen tomorrow. We have no clue what consequences our actions will have. (Read The Black Swan to get a flavour of that.) So we’re really guessing and groping – though sometimes with a lot of confidence.

On the whole, it’s difficult to figure out what to pick. So what do you do?

This is completely outside the realm of time management. This is about choice. I have a few (bad) habits that guide me.

Follow your moods
Work less
Procrastinate

Those are my principles. (But like Groucho Marx, I do have others.)

Follow your moods

There are times when people do certain things better. I’ve heard some people study best early in the morning. Others study best late at night. I don’t know if there’s any physiological benefit one way or the other, but even if it’s psychological, it makes a huge difference to study when you think you’ll learn better.

Sometimes I’m in a mood to write articles. When I do, the article usually writes itself. If not, I could spend days at it without any progress.

If there’s any reality to this, then the best thing to do is to do what you feel like doing. You’ll naturally accomplish this faster. That’s typically what I do when I’m given any work. I usually wait until I just feel like it. Then it’s usually a matter of a few hours before the job is done. Sometimes the mood doesn’t quite arrive before the deadline, in which case there’s always inspiration.

Seriously: do what you feel like doing the most at the moment. That’s a great way of becoming more efficient.

In fact, I would go as far as saying, mood management is more important than time management. Moods are more precious than time. If you’re in a mood to call people, pick up the phone and talk to folks you’ve been out of touch with. That mood is rarer than the time to make calls. (At least for me, the reason I am not in touch is because I’m not in a mood – not because I don’t have time.)

Optimise that mood. Do what you’re in a mood for. And when your mood changes, go with the flow. Do a lot more of what you feel like doing. You’ll do more (which is probably good), and of what you like (which is certainly good).

Work less

I’ve talked about this in Less is more. At the end of the day, 90% of the stuff you do is useless. So why do it? Just focus on the 10%.

Procrastinate

I can’t put this better than Paul Graham’s article on procrastination.

Good procrastination is avoiding errands to do real work.

You won’t know what the important 10% until much later, so you may as well wait to find out if it’s important, and then do things.

So what am I saying?

Time management is about habits, not tips
Picking what you do is more important than doing it efficiently
But it’s difficult to figure out what to pick
So avoid doing stuff until you know it’s worth doing
Work when you’re in the mood – it’s faster that way

Think about it.

Comments

Chandoo 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: Wow.. this is so well written. You are bang on when you said Time management is a meaningless phrase. How often we get in to to the trap of doing more and end up not having good time at all. come to think of it, “not having good time / fun in what we are doing” is one of the reasons why we (couple of frens and me) started a web company. I think in the long run what matters most is how you have spent your time than how you have saved it…
Gagan 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: Amazingly written and immensely practical. I seriously find your tips more useful and implementable than some of the few self-help books that I have read. There you have it, maybe something you would want to do after you hang up your boots. You have one reader already. :) Cheers.
deepan 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: Time has become so important to manage ever since the onset of the Industrial revolution.We are so used to a mechanical life defined by time that The world seems to stop if we loose sense of time. These days Timeliness is more important than Timely. The book i read recently “About time : speed, society, people and the environment / edited by Tim Aldrich"Sheffield : Greenleaf , 2005 discusses various issues abt time in vivid detail -was intersting one aswell. Timely inspiration for me; to diligently work on my thesis. regards
Binny V A 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: I got five words for you - Interest Based Priority Arrangement System.
Shreyas 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: Fantastic article, Anand! I completely agree with you when you say - “(At least for me, the reason I am not in touch is because I’m not in a mood – not because I don’t have time.)” This always happen to me and I wonder as if it’s some kind of a monthly inventory-cleaning of backlog calls. But, then I realize that’s the mood I am in and that’s what I should follow, instead of being guilty about not managing “properly”! Lot of fodder for thought here. Thanks!
Vasant 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: Hilarious, I particularly liked the mood bit. What if I’m never in the mood to work ? :D
edgar dantas 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: hey nice post really enjoyed it really good blog really appreciate it. with regards edgar dantas www.gadgetworld.co.in
jake 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: my man, stud article. well thought out, and well presented. i have often realized that while most of the things that I have to do pile up, i often do my best work, and do it fast and neat, when I feel like doing it. unfortunately though, this happens when the mood kicks in. and like the last panel of the calvin comic you left out says, this mood is ’last minute panic’. sigh.
bala 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: Some resemblance to the ideas proposed by Dan Gilbert. Very clear, nice train of thought!
THAKUR JUBEN M 31 Mar 2008 12:00 pm: HEY THE NOTES WERE REALLY COOL AND I REALLY LIKED IT AND THE TOPIC IS REALLY INTERESTING………

The best time to buy everything

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:00:00 +0000

The best time to buy everything: when to buy air tickets, get great deals on electronics, and so on.

Why you too should cancel cable

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Why you too should cancel cable.

Americans have more leisure time than before

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Americans have more leisure time than before.

But why do Americans feel so harried? Weirdly, prosperity may be to blame in two ways. First, thanks to rising real incomes, an American’s time is worth more now. A walk in the park is more expensive than it used to be. (When people complain to him about being too busy, Mr Hamermesh tells them that their real problem is too much money.)

The qualified Yes

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 12:00:00 +0000

The qualified Yes. Somewhere between saying “no” to a new project or taking on something in an open-ended type of way, be clear from the start on what you can commit in concrete terms.

So, what used to be “Sure, I’ll do your web site” is now more often “Sure, I’ll give you 10 hours and 3 calls over the next month to use however you want.” If nothing else, it helps everyone understand that time is a precious commodity, but it also gets me out of being the de facto manager for every aspect of a project I touch.

Are the free Mac Minis for real

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Are the free Mac Minis for real? Hardy tries to get one – and succeeds. But… is it worth it? Pretty good economic analysis.

How to read when time is short

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 12:00:00 +0000

How to read when time is short. Read the “How To Find The Essential 20%” section carefully. Another interesting post from Bert on How to Learn More With No Extra Effort uses the principle in the post below to suggest we take a lot of breaks while learning.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht i cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht i was rdanieg. the phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mind is amazanig. aoccdrnig to a rscheearch taem at cmabrigde uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. the rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. amazanig huh? yaeh and yuo awlyas thohgut slpeling was ipmorantt.

Comments

Dhar 14 Nov 2005 9:18 am: Check out Google Analytics
Jayant 14 Nov 2005 10:00 am: And just hope the client does not know the remaining 80% or isn
Raj 15 Nov 2005 8:16 pm: what is the run?
Anonymous 16 Nov 2005 5:14 pm: i am confused with your email id is it s-anand@yahoo.com or s_anand@yahoo.com ?
S Anand 16 Nov 2005 6:50 pm: root underscore node at yahoo dot com, actually.
leke 17 Nov 2005 11:43 am: why can
S Anand 17 Nov 2005 3:34 pm: Sorry, apostrophes were causing problems in the comments. I’ve fixed them.
Sri 13 Dec 2005 11:00 am: This is interesting: http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/~mattd/Cmabrigde/

email analysis

Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Marc Eisenstadt has analysed 15 years of email.

… it is trivially easy to get to 2.5 hours per workday assuming a fairly ruthless, ‘one-touch’, knee-jerk email interaction regime. And worse if you deviate from the regime.

Then there are other sources of workflow: blogs, aggregator summaries, phone calls (rare, but I still allow one or two), cell-phone, text message, instant messaging (my buddy list is very large, and most of them are work-related).

Interesting that Knuth opted out of email in 1990.

Comments

Aditya Chaturvedi 16 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Interesting Analysis
m1108739289513 16 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: See this dilbert on email and its sequel next day
S Anand 16 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: After reading this article, I turned off my e-mail alert. It is amazing how much distraction it reduces.

ADD

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Are computers increasing or hampering productivity? This article at NY Times talks about the increasing levels of distraction PCs drive us to, with e-mail, Internet, games, music, photos, movies, books, chat, … It’s a form of ADD: attention deficiency syndrome. Harvard Business Review has an article titled Why Smart People Underperform (Jan 2005: subscription required) talks about its impact in the business world.

Jugglezine

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 12:00:00 +0000

Jugglezine: How to find the time to do anything (not everything!)

On a purely practical level, however, the reason we can’t find time for that one thing we’ve always wanted to do is that we don’t set aside time for it.

Logging how much time things take for two weeks will transform you, because if you know and acknowledge in advance how long something will take, then you can make wise decisions about where to spend your time