At Invillia, every Wednesday at noon, we stop for an hour to nourish ourselves with the tips, how-tos, good practices and trends selected by our specialists in Product, Agile, Back and Front, Mobile, Quality, Security and Data. A vital exchange of experiences for those who love the new. And essential for innovation to never stop. If technology is in the blood. We make sure to keep it circulating more and more_
IN THE VEIN_ Improving the quality of life and productivity by using the time to your advantage_
5-minute read
In today’s article, we summarize the main learnings from the time management edition. An enriching panel with contributions from several key areas of Invillia_ People & Talent, Product, Agility and Tech: Sérgio Caliani, Leila Pitta, Rafael de Oliveira, Aline Fernandes, Isabel Coutinho and Jean Scapim.
What is time management?
Time is one of the most important assets in our life. Seeking a balance between personal issues and productivity at work represents the greatest challenge in its management. Doing the activities in a healthy, organized, planned and mainly conscientious way. Knowing what you need to accomplish during the day when you wake up in the morning and dealing with unforeseen situations.
What techniques can be used?
There are several techniques for effective time management, but the important thing is that each person follows the one(s) that best suits their routine, their profile and their context. We bring three, with special emphasis on one :-)_
The GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology is based on taking your to-do list out of your head and organizing it into a schedule. It’s a way to stop worrying about the number of things to do and focus on executing them.
The Pomodoro method uses a stopwatch to divide work into 25-minute periods separated by brief breaks, based on the idea that frequent breaks increase mental alertness.
The Eisenhower matrix makes it easy to prioritize tasks according to their degree of urgency and importance, working as a filter for the week. What do I need to accomplish now to ensure the value expected from me? What can I schedule for later? What can I ask for help? What can I solve later? In a very simple way, it distributes the tasks and limits the focus for better time management.
This is Sérgio’s favorite technique: “I’ve used GTD a lot, Pomodoro disciplines me, but Eisenhower’s matrix makes me not just look at me. Also consider the people who are interacting with me, the entire ecosystem. How do I treat someone who is eager to solve a particular issue? It’s an opportunity to see the purpose. Is it creating a product? Deliver an MVP? It allows extrapolating the sides. It’s not just internalizing tasks. It’s not just my opinion of what’s urgent and important. It has to do with what’s behind it. Helping with decision and argumentation. And then I can even say ‘no’. Because a well said ‘no’ is better than a bad said ‘yes’.”
How do we keep activities that are regular healthy?
It will depend on how each person works. The time that yields more in different activities, both personal and professional. It’s important to know yourself, figure out the best way to do what has to be done, and respect your limits. Even when you don’t like a certain task, you have to deal with it and avoid procrastination, establish a sustainable rhythm, find tricks and focus time periods, leave reminders, use tools that help and maintain motivation.
According to Jean “What is periodical goes hand in hand with planning. From the moment you have a set of tasks to perform and don’t organize yourself, you lock in and ask what to do with all that. You need to define the cadence, put it in a well-structured plan, prepare and not leave it to the last moment.”
What is a priority?
There is no priority when everything is a priority and what is a priority for some may not be a priority for others. That’s why communication is critical. Concentrate on what needs to be delivered and go on dealing with what, however, appears. Separating what is priority one, two, three… And here we come back to the purpose. Something can pass ahead, but the main thing is still there, to be relevant and to need to be fulfilled. It is essential not to “fight” with priorities.
Knowing how to say no
When and how to say ‘no’? As human beings, it is often a costly sensation, the possibility of frustrating those who care about us and who we care about. But it has to be seen as natural. As part of routine and time management. The important thing is to justify and bring solutions.
“You don’t say ‘no’ to someone, you say ‘no’ to a certain activity that is being requested. And if you say ‘no’, it’s because you have another priority at that time. But you can propose alternatives. Suggest another person help or a longer deadline. Time management is all about productivity and productivity is about being present. If you can’t do it, it’s better to say ‘no’ or try to reschedule than to have your head elsewhere”, highlights Isabel.
Saying ‘no’ with context is also related to CNV or Non-Violent Communication. Demonstrating empathy, indicating new possibilities and creating connections with people who can add. On the other hand, it has to be transparent. The lack of clarity jeopardizes the time and expectations of those who wait for an answer.
For Leila, “Not knowing how to say ‘no’ ends up leading to an accumulation of activities beyond what the person has the ability to perform within that day or week and this can have a huge impact on the balance between work and personal and emotional issues. Having to go out later, not paying attention to the family, not taking care of one’s health, not having the other activities that are important for mental health. This will affect productivity and it’s a snowball.”
How many times have you arrived at the end of the day and found that everything you planned failed to execute? Some ‘no’ should have been said. There’s that feeling that you’re helping everyone, but you haven’t helped yourself. You have to use this thermometer, this self-reflection in order to improve.
Knowing what can be delegated
What can we delegate in our daily lives to even help us say this ‘no’?
“We can and must delegate activities. Looking at them and thinking about what is possible to share and discuss with someone who eventually has more experience and knowledge on the subject and a little more time. The attention we must have is how we do it. If we’re just letting go or we’re also following. Delegating is not just passing it on, leaving it to someone else”, emphasizes Rafael.
And Aline complements, “Delegating is the hardest thing. In fact, when you delegate you want things done your way. And you have to trust. To bond with the person. Giving directions and insights, sharing what is expected in terms of the final result and how to get there. And follow along, at first a little more closely and then go up the field of vision. Never forgetting that delegating is also developing.”
Basically, to delegate is to generate a safe environment in an act of faith. Faith that comes from the confidence that things will happen, that you’ve empowered, led the way, aligned expectations.
This is what we encourage at Invillia so that our talents manage their time in the best possible way, always with closeness, mentoring, practices and tools that streamline and facilitate the process. So they can innovate while feeling empowered, engaged and happy_ It’s our Global Growth Framework in action_
Do you want to be part of this world? If you value innovating from anywhere and work-life balance, and want to grow side by side with global game-changers, visit_
https://invillia.com/hellostrangers/
Originally published at https://insights.invillia.com on January 3, 2022.
