A few years ago, I did a very simple exercise that I recommend everyone try at some point during the year: it was Friday, and I wrote down every phone call I’d received that week, both on my landline and my mobile.
Then I analyzed them one by one (at least the ones I could remember) and discovered something that gave me a lot to think about:
- Most of the calls interrupted me while I was deeply focused on something.
- Many of them didn’t help me complete a task I was responsible for; instead, they called on me to handle tasks that others were responsible for.
- Another group could have been replaced by a simple email that I could have chosen to read at a more suitable time that same day.
- Only a few were genuinely important (to me).
- Not one was so absolutely critical and urgent that I had to deal with it at that exact moment.
I wonder whether that’s productivity or simply a waste of time. In some ways, I’ve spent the time since those conclusions improving many aspects of my day-to-day life.
Back then, it wasn’t unusual for me to reach the evening feeling like I had no idea where the day had gone. So I decided to tackle the problem at its root by avoiding as many pointless calls and emails as possible, even if that earned me a reputation as an obsessive, dull, or boring person. My goal was to do my job, get the most personal and professional value out of my company, and get home early…
Working well and producing quality work means working productively. That’s why I consider the misuse of mobile phones a major time killer. After that week when I realized how others were abusing my time whenever it suited them rather than me, and how most calls concerned things outside my responsibility, I took steps that I’ve more or less managed to maintain ever since.
I apologize to anyone who takes this personally, but focusing on a task that requires deep concentration, making decisions that could have future consequences (building up technical debt or underestimating the effort for a new project, for example), and doing the best we can with the resources and skills we have all require us to minimize these interruptions. One interruption is normal; several in an hour reveal a complete lack of control over how we work. If we can’t prevent these constant interruptions, we may even suffer tremendous anxiety and stress. A suitable work environment isn’t just a matter of hygiene, good equipment, and so on; it also means having enough peace and quiet to concentrate on our tasks.
There’s a world of difference between spending two hours on a very specific task with your mind completely absorbed in the work and doing it while your focus is broken every fifteen minutes by a new message, a few pop-up chat windows, or several calls to your mobile. It’s absurd to think they’re the same. If they happen regularly, all those interruptions and that lack of focus eventually drive us to work badly and unproductively.
I don’t believe in multitasking. More than a myth, it’s a way of showing how busy we are (whether or not we’re producing results). If we try to do two tasks at once, we’ll take more than twice as long as if we did one and then the other.
Poor time management lies behind the failure of many software projects. It makes things even worse when, as is usually the case, the project has been priced according to estimated working hours.
The effects of working in a scattered way while writing code can be disastrous: code quality depends directly on our ability to focus all our creativity on it. If we end up paying for these interruptions or this unproductive way of working with extra time, the first thing we’ll sacrifice is those twenty- or thirty-minute sessions for refactoring or improving some aspect of the solution.
The most productive companies aren’t those where employees spend the most hours each day. They’re:
- The ones that plan the most—and plan best.
- The ones with clearly defined roles, both on paper and in practice.
- The ones that value time and good organization as tools for achieving results.
- The ones that make sure people know what they need to do over the coming weeks.
I remember several occasions when a problem came up and a colleague would tell me, “Don’t worry, I’ll fix it right now.” Then, after playing the hero of the moment, they’d pull out their mobile phone and call someone to ask about the issue… In this respect, people who overuse their phones are probably among the least valuable contributors in a company, since they seem to depend on others the most to solve their own problems. Some people fill their work calendars with endless meetings as their regular way of working (no comment), then spend the rest of their time glued to their phones…
If you’re a freelancer, you’ve probably realized that, to some extent, what you’re selling is hours of work: if you can get more done in the same amount of time, you’ll increase your earnings.
Maybe people will call me obsessive, but what I always try to encourage, both in myself and in the team I lead, is doing most tasks in a calm environment with as few interruptions as possible. That maximizes productivity.
Not long ago, my wife stopped by the office where I work and said something like, “This place looks like a monastery.” I replied, “Thanks, that’s what I’m going for.”…
Perhaps half-baked, ignorant managers like to see people looking extremely busy, with phones ringing constantly, inboxes full of urgent matters, and—if possible—staying at the office until eight in the evening. I’m afraid this outdated culture of presenteeism is on its way out.
Professional managers try to make sure the team they manage finishes the workday with the job done on time, without stress, and to the highest possible standard. Yes, it’s possible—and even desirable. The subtle, hard-to-see difference is nothing more than proper planning and time management.
If people were hired for results rather than time, wouldn’t many leave the office earlier? I hope the day comes when this is the case, when what matters most isn’t the time spent in an office but the measurable results of what we do there.
Excessive mobile phone use is just one detail. The day is full of similar details and moments that subtly chip away at our productivity—in other words, they throw our available time in the trash. That’s the same as throwing away part of our lives, which is even more depressing (what do we have, if not time?).
When you think about it, time is the only resource we truly have. If we use it well, we’ll achieve more and better results.
We have to keep time vampires at bay. We have to stop our mobile phones from ringing at any moment and pulling us out of the deep focus we’re working in. If you can’t concentrate during your workday, then you and your company have a serious problem.
Always, always, absolutely always, the people who are most successful with their projects are the ones who manage their time best. It’s as simple as that.
Time management has become a profession in its own right for some people, including Berto Pena and his wonderful website. In this free ebook, which the author generously makes available, he describes the seven time thieves—including our wonderful smartphone, of course.