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Posts from the ‘Time Tools’ Category

Dec 16

Daily Dose 57: Multitasking and Dovetailing

Years ago, multitasking–doing several tasks at once–received positive press. Organized people deftly performed two, three, and four things simultaneously. Having such employees meant increased productivity and profit margins.

Recent studies dampened the enthusiasm. Turns out, once put to the test, these organizers did not attend as well as they thought to their various assignments. Concentrating on one task, then moving to another, (i.e. changing focus) brought better results. The subjects believed they performed well, but the hard cold facts disproved their impressions of their performances. Read more

Dec 13

Daily Dose 54: Bits and Bites

Sweet Bites

In our house bits and bites happened two ways: for the children it meant an occasional weekly cycle of receiving treat tidbits for very distinct, specific practicing, chore, or school tasks. They might get one M & M for practicing a scale once. Five times, five M & Ms. Another day might be one goldfish cracker for playing four measures of a song. Or maybe they would get a  slice of a snack cake for doing a math problem or reciting one verse. These were not big rewards, just a little fun way to spark up the practicing, school work, or chores once in awhile. In our low budget atmosphere it made bags of M & Ms, and boxes of Little Debbie cakes go a long way! Read more

Dec 11

Daily Dose 52: Diminishing Returns

If a little is good, more must be better. If a little plant food generates bursts of colorful blooms, wouldn’t more make even more blooms even bigger? If I can get so much done in a concentrated ten minute cleaning session, think what I could do in an hour. Yes, think about it. The results might surprise you. At what point does too much plant food begin to burn the roots, decreasing the size and health of the blooms? Take pictures after a ten minute session and an one hour session. Is there a noticeable difference in final outcome? Not likely. The increased effort probably went to less visible projects (think washing walls: lots of intense labor, but very little increase in the “tidy look” department). Welcome to the world of diminishing returns. Read more

Dec 10

Daily Dose 51: Evaluations

Evaluating what we do as home executives is a best practice. We are accountable to the Lord, and the home is still very much a private institution. We don’t clock in and out (well, we do clock in, but are never clocked out), we don’t submit quarterly reports to anyone, and we don’t document how we spent our day. Read more

Dec 8

Daily Dose 49: FAQs for Writing Systems

What are the basic rules for a writing system?

Start Early. Start Simple. Be Professional. Be Permanent. Get a paper punch. Create elegant solutions, don’t acquire elegant gadgets.

Simple because you won’t consistently use an unwieldy system. Professional because you might lose, or need to redo notes and plans if a stop gap solution drifts into permanence. More importantly, your information will be in a more ready-to-share form. Permanent, because you want any weeding through plans to be intentional, not accidental. You need a paper punch to make it simple to add other printed materials to your notebook. . .maybe even as early as tomorrow. Read more

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