I almost didn’t buy Forster’s book, since so much of what passes for time management help is trite repackaging of old ideas. Getting Things Done truly changed my life. Adding Do It Tomorrow was like supercharging GTD.

I love email communication and my favorite part is how I can turn it off :)

Get a life and stop making a mountain out of a molehill.

The problem is that my entire job consists of interruptions and putting out fires. I went in on Sunday to work (which I frequently have to do) and had hopes of completing one (maybe two!) big tasks in five hours.

Instead there was an email that brought up a problem about a task I (thought) I had finished on Friday. So I spent the whole five hours working on that–which isn’t finished because I’m waiting for some copies to be delivered that I’ll then have to package and send out via Fedex.

Meanwhile the tasks I’d hope to do on Sunday remain undone.

Did I mention that all my work involves deadlines?

I agree with your point of view. I haven’t read the book, but based on the review, I think a good chunk of the focus is distinguishing real work as those things that will further your goals. So for instance, as an office worker I can put off a formal status report for months if I have the right set of excuses (more important tasks, sick, on travel, vacation, etc). I also know as a programmer that if there are tasks I put off long enough, they’ll eventually be obsolete, or the project will end. Whereas as a father, if my kids aren’t clean and fed I’m definitely not meeting my goals. Also I can put off laundry for a couple days, but it definitely becomes REAL WORK quickly. But as my kids grow up, I can certainly delegate picking up, bathing, etc.

I still see labor as real work, growing up we understood implicitly that you worked as hard as you could for as long as you could, because it wasn’t like putting stuff off today would make your life any easier tomorrow. If you bust your butt you might earn yourself some breathing room for a lazy afternoon, but if you just go at it halfheartedly you’d be stuck doing chores forever. I’d see that the same being a garbage man or a custodian(I have uncles that are both), you can’t delegate or delay doing the jobs that need done. Lightbulbs need changed, trash has to be hauled off.

Could you delegate those sorts of “real work”? I think in most cases you COULD, but it wouldn’t be cost effective to do so. Or there’s the risk it wouldn’t be done well. I think that’s where a homemaker really shines, my good friend is a mother of 3 small children and she’s amazingly efficient. Sure I could do her “work”, but it wouldn’t be up to her standards, and I’d spend a great deal more time and money than she ever would just trying to get to 50% of her level. She’s a master in that domain and I’m not even a padawan.

So I could see it both ways. In some cases delegating work is a form of management and personal efficiency, and an acknowledgement of self-importance (and possibly the uppity form of better than thou). In other cases, I’m really delegating work to an expert. I could install my windows, but I believe that the time I expend would be better spent doing something I’m good at or want to do and letting an expert handle the job. And I’m minimizing risk and cost, because I know I’ll drop them from the second story ;)

I acknowledge the point that their innovations and time saving ideas are great and rewarding for them. But to even imply that the vast majority of their work isn’t “real” is rather insulting. By saying that such work should be delegated to people with less expertise than his reader, so that his reader can focus on the “real work,” Forster, apparently, further contributes to the idea that all routine work is less important and less valuable. So everyone should try to fob off as much busy work as possible on someone with less expertise than themselves? I’m saying that honest labor IS valuable, whether society wants to confer that recognition or not. Efficiency and productivity are great, but let’s not idealize efficiency so much that we see the basic chores of our lives as demeaning.

I love the idea of the Current Initiative.

Always enjoy the book reviews here -thank you!

I think the best tip I got out that book was to be realistic about how much we can do and not over commit ourselves. Really simple, but made a big difference to me.

For example, I had all day to do this paper that’s due Tuesday – and I’m starting tonight. I could have a majority, if not all, of it today, but I didn’t feel like it.

Too much time can certainly be a bad thing.

I’m a SAHM and as I was reading this post, I realized that I should be applying these principles to my chores and goals for the kids and the house. Seeing as how there are daily, weekly, monthly and even seasonal chores that have to be done, I tend to view everything as an interruption to my regular day but I think if I changed my thinking to view most of it as “the work” and organized it accordingly, maybe I would get more done. Hmmm, food for thought!

Everyone has “busy work”, both working parents and stay-at-home parents. As a mom who works both outside the home and does all the homemaker tasks, I know that “Laundry, cooking, cleaning, yard work, bathing kids, and changing diapers” _are_ busy work.

My real work while wearing my homemaker hat includes creating “meals calendar” to make grocery lists and cooking chores more predictable and less time-consuming. My meals calendar advances my ability to be a better parent by letting me spend less time managing the cooking aspect of being a parent.

Likewise, making sure I spend some time every day finding ideas to teach thru play (crafts that use math, games that require letter recognition etc) are my real work as a parent. By comparison, laundry and cleaning is just busy work (except when I’m teaching my kids to do the chores with me!).

To my mind, the “real work” is the stuff that needs extra thought, focus or planning but really makes a difference and makes me a better parent.

I think you’re being massively defensive, Kate.

From my perspective, a stay-at-home parent is a person who has made the choice to effectively make a career out of parenting so they can do it with a high level of excellence. Thus, laundry, cooking, cleaning, bathing kids, or changing diapers are clear examples of “advancing your job” – it keeps your children healthy and happy, which is the real goal you are chasing, right?

So it sounds like Forster wouldn’t count anything done by a stay at home parent or a homemaker as “real work.” Laundry, cooking, cleaning, yard work, bathing kids, and changing diapers – those aren’t *real* work, just “busy work.” I’m sure he didn’t intend to be so slighting to the very serious labor contribution of homemakers and child rearers. But as none of the above tasks advances anyone’s career, that’s apparently how he sees it.

I’d like more details on your system.

I picked up a technique somewhere of making three columns: must, should, could, and then putting three items in each. At times it works really well, and other times my tasks just aren’t the right size to make it go, I’m either stuck on must #1, or finished all nine tasks in two hours. I also find that it only works for me on a daily basis, it’s busywork at best for planning beyond the next day. I’ve also tried to keep a backlog of ideas, todos etc, (the future list?), but I find it’s just exhausting to maintain, I’m adding 12 items for every 1 I knock out.