From: mbarker@MIT.EDU
To: ilead@MIT.EDU
Subject: Putting First Things First
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 1996 12:34:47 EST

[Some of my thoughts about a topic I think we're all interested in.]

Too many jobs to do, too little time to do them in, and not enough
resources to begin to think about doing them all--how does a person or a
group decide what to do?

First, there are at least three kinds of work that may be involved. 

There are the routine jobs--the everyday things that must be done simply
to keep operating.  On a personal level, we all know that we have to
eat, sleep, and do the other minimum daily requirements.  Every
organization has some routine jobs which must be done just to keep the
organization healthy.  (Perhaps we would use the terms Service and
Support for some of these jobs.)

Then there are expected changes--the classic opportunities where change
has been predicted and we have scheduled time and resources to respond
to it.  The normal development projects and other adjustments to change
are part of these jobs.  I think this is largely what people mean by
proactive work--looking ahead, analyzing changes that are coming, and
doing something to take advantage of them.  (Largely Discovery and
Delivery)

Along with the routine and the anticipated changes come unexpected
problems.  Bugs, crises, "the moment of truth," big trouble and other
messes that weren't seen in advance, weren't believed possible in
advance, or no one bothered to think about ahead of time--these all fit
into this category of the reactive "times that try us."  For all the
fuming and fussing about ways to avoid these, they also have a certain
attractiveness for many people.  There is a liking for the "position of
power" usually granted to the "man in charge" during these crises. 
There is an adrenaline rush to knowing that "we made it" through the
crunch.  And so on...(Not really included, since processes are not
usually designed for crises, but for continuing states).

I think one part of prioritizing is realizing that routine work must be
done and providing adequate methods of doing that work with the minimum
effort.  Expected changes and the projects to take advantage of them
often consist largely of developing new routines--or modifying the old
ones to deal with the new circumstances.  Unexpected changes--while
there really is no way to anticipate what will come up, we can develop
routines or procedures to let us quickly deal with most new crises,
often by looking at the ways we deal with current problems and guessing
that future crises are likely to be fairly similar.

I.e., we can take the high-effort unexpected changes and minimize them,
shifting some into the area of expected changes; convert most of the
medium-effort expected changes into routine work; and make sure that
routine work takes a minimum of effort.

But, even then, we're likely to find that there is just too much to do. 
How do we decide what to do first?

Second, then, I think there are two large factors that we should look at
in trying to decide what to do first.  They seem almost too obvious to
mention, but I think the payoff--what's important--is one major measure,
while the necessary timing is the other measure.

The payoff--what's important--should be considered in several ways.  You
want it to be personally rewarding, and you want it to be important to
the group.  There is a range of ways that something can be rewarding,
from the simple physical payoff (I'm hungry--so the first thing is to
eat!), to safety/security, love and belonging, esteem, self-control,
understanding, or artistic needs.  In most cases, though, the
determination can be fairly simple--which one seems more important to
you?

The other large factor is timing.  Work takes time, and allowing
sufficient time before a deadline is something that we all had to learn
in college, and probably have had to relearn repeatedly over the years. 
There are some refinements, like breaking the job into several smaller
tasks and considering the time and sequence necessary for each of those
tasks, but the basic effort is simply to estimate how long the work will
take to do, when it's needed, and then simply make sure that you start
the work early enough to get it done in time.

The classic approach to scheduling has been to think about the work
involved, estimate approximately how long it would take, add some
padding, and then declare a deadline at that point.  Timeboxing, as I
understand it, basically turns this process around, starting with
declaring the deadline, then calculating the time available, and
finally determining what can be done within those constraints.  One
approach assumes that the work is the constraining factor and
calculates the timing from the work, while the other assumes that the
timing is the constraining factor and calculates the work possible
from the timing.

However, both approaches result in measures of the time to do the work
and a deadline, which can be used in scheduling the work.

I.e., the time required to do each piece and the deadline for completing
it provide you with the latest possible time to start it.  But if you
have three papers due the same day, and they each take one day to
write--you have to start writing one of those papers three days before
the deadline.

I think these two--what's important, and what does a time schedule look
like--actually provide most of the important tools to handle making
decisions about what to do first.  It's important to leave flexibility
in this process, because there are unexpected challenges, sicknesses,
and other adjustments that need to be made all the time.

So, in summary, let me recommend:

1.  Make a list of todo items.  Make it publicly visible, and revise it
as things are completed and other new items are added.

2.  Put it in order based on the payoffs expected--what's important--and
inherent timing/sequencing/scheduling requirements.

3.  Delegate and ask other people for help.  Whenever someone else does
something for you, you have just gained that much more time for things
on your personal list!

4.  Stay focused.  One of my own best ways to waste time is
"thrashing"--I should work on this, but what's this help zephyr, and
have I checked my mail recently, and...three hours later, I realize that
I still haven't finished writing the fifteen minute email message I
needed to send.

5.  Adjust to your personal productive times.  If you really feel ready
to roll through those personnel reports, you probably should go ahead
and do it.  But if you are dragging and uninspired, you may want to set
aside the creative work and do some filing or something else.

6.  Learn to say "No."  Every time management, prioritization, etc.
guide mentions that learning to say no is crucial.  Somewhere along the
way, you have to work out a good approach to saying "no" and practice
it.

7.  Keep your balance.  You have to do some things for yourself--you
have to relax, you have to eat and exercise, you have to keep your
health in physical, mental, and social ways.