Further adventures in SMS
In my ongoing efforts to figure out how people are managing their time, projects, hobbies, necessities, and other things that need doing in our precious little days, I've been chatting.
And because I am who I am, I ended up sketchnoting two conversations and drawing a quick comic featuring advice from a friend. In Intimations, Zadie Smith writes that "writing means being overheard." You get to overhear and look sneak a peek into what my friends and colleagues have told me.
(To overhear and look over my shoulder at my recent struggles with managing my shit, here’s an earlier newsletter and comic.)
Tinkering with my SMS
As I've turned these conversations over in my mind, there are a few things I'm curious about applying: truly studying how I spend my time, Chloe's accountability check-in, and Moriah's anti-to do list stance.
CRAFT Research Group Conversation
The timing thing
Having a clear sense of how long things actually take is something I've struggled with since student days. I skew towards optimism, which has often had my utter the phrase, "I just have to _____". Just have to go from essay outline to well-structured, clearly-argued essay. Just have to transform a mess of bullet points and string of quotations into analysis. Just have to get from these pencil sketches to the final artwork.
But a whole world exists in the canyon between the plan and the product. And while the best parts of making things are the surprises that appear when traversing that space, it would be quite nice to have a more precise sense of how long things really, truly take.
I've got the Toggl app running while I write this. Time study findings, tbd.
Post-PhD Power Hour Conversation
Accountability & community
My friend and colleague Chloe's shit management technique genuinely piqued my interest. Once a week for the past few years, she has met briefly with a friend to check-in on their to do lists. The to do lists live in a shared google doc, a living record of the week in and week out stuff of living lives filled with multiple creative and academic projects unfolding at different time scales.
The thing that appeals about Chloe's doc-and-meeting practice is how unscalable and personal it is. The two of them know one another and, by extension, the contexts of their work and lives. The accountability that the meetings offer isn't just Chloe waiting for a report on what her friend managed to get done (though it must extra satisfying to celebrate checking things off with a personal cheering squad!). The meetings are also a moment to ask "is this really a reasonable list for this week?"
The thing that appeals about Chloe's doc-and-meeting practice is how unscalable and personal it is. The two of them know one another and, by extension, the contexts of their work and lives. The accountability that the meetings offer isn't just Chloe waiting for a report on what her friend managed to get done (though it must extra satisfying to celebrate checking things off with a personal cheering squad!). The meetings are also a moment to ask "is this really a reasonable list for this week?"
As a longtime fan and facilitator of writing groups, I am primed to be into Chloe's technique. It feeds two birds with one seed in a satisfying way: the need for making a plan to get shit done and the need to be in community with others in the struggle.
Plus, an extra check-in with a friend? The best!
Ditch the to do list
When I published my first shit management comic and asked for advice, my friend Moriah emailed me back right away. It is not a surprise that she would have clear ideas at the ready: Moriah is an accountability coach, project manager, and very smart at figuring out effective ways to get shit done.
She had some great tips, including: another shout out to time tracking, establishing routines, energy tracking, and using a timer. She also included advice she flagged as possibly controversial: ditch the to do list.
To do lists, Moriah notes, don't actually consider how much time a task will take. By adding tasks directly to your calendar in blocks of the time you estimate the task will take, you can see where and how shit is actually getting done. She says this approach is extra powerful when you are using information you've gathered from tracking your time and your energy.
I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the over-filled index card to do list that lives on my desk (or the graveyard of outdated cards piled up in various corners of my studio). But I desperately busy times might call for bold experiments!
Shit management, overheard
I'm working behind the scenes on more comics like the one about Moriah for my SMS comic series. If you don't mind someone nosy (me) asking you questions about how you manage your time and work and life, let's chat.
If you're interested in sharing your shit management system (or SMS woes), send me an email. I'd love to include your experience.
P.S. Do you know someone who might enjoy this blend of drawing and writing? Maybe someone who could use a little jolt of visual joy? I'd love if you invited them to join my newsletter.
