The Guilt Meter

Over the past few months I have realised that I perform in relation to my 'guilt meter'. This is a meter that fills and empties within my own conscious according to my work to play ratio. Even if there are no approaching deadlines I feel guilty for not doing any work but the opposite is also true, if I have been doing a lot of work I feel the need to reward myself with some play time. Everyone works in different ways but I have carried through a mentality that was introduced to me in primary school and I find that this method helps me balance my time well. Problems only start to occur when my perception of my workload is skewed or when nearing a deadline.

A fantastic resource that was recommended to me is a talk by Randy Pausch on time management. The talk is particularly poignant as at that time he was diagnosed with cancer and did not have long to live. He recommends some amazing little tips and tricks to save yourself endless amounts of time. One of the tips I will be using is taking off the alert noise for incoming email, this avoids interruptions and means you only check email when you have time. The talk is just over an hour long, it could be said that this is counter intuitive but it is an enjoyable lecture and you will gain far more time by investing a little.