168. Time Management | 時間管理
– Musings of Dr. Jamie C. Hsu, 2.16.2025
In the Learning Circles I conducted, a common question is how to manage time or handle stress from time constraints. These are certainly universal issues faced by most achievers and ambitious leaders who want to get more done. And there are also numerous books, articles, and podcasts by experts to suggest various tools.
I would like to add my thoughts on the fundamental principles in effective time management:
Prioritize your vision and goals in life.
First thing first, we need to prioritize the big rocks (to-be) in our life, identify the pebbles (to-achieve), and then fill in the sands (daily to-do). They should be related and aligned. Do you want to be a caring parent, a valuable contributor at work, or an influencer in the community? How will that shape your calendar of events? (see Blog 2)
Conduct a thorough inventory of your time usage.
It is worthwhile to make an honest inventory of your time spent in a typical week or month. You may be surprised at how much time you spend on non-urgent and non-critical tasks due to requests from the boss, a nice friend, or even from your own habits. But you may not have paid enough attention on how these are related to your vision and goals in life. (see Blog 63)
One of the most time-consuming, non-value habits in the era of social media may be mindless streaming of various social postings. It could be following some influencers, group chats, hearsay gossip, TV soap operas, and even fake news. This kind of behavior can potentially numb your brain and cause what has been called ‘brain rot’.
Adjust your time allocation.
Once you compare your actual time allocation to your desired pattern, you can adjust it consciously. Fill your calendar first with events that are meaningful and essential, before you put in the nice-to-do tasks. It might be helpful to post your life vision and goals right on your desk so it can guide your daily and weekly schedule.
Do one thing more and one thing less.
Based on the importance to your vision and goals, you can begin to remove and add things on your to-do list. The sense of accomplishment and value creation will give you the feeling of being in control and not being time squeezed anymore.
時間管理 (2025/02/16)
–作者 許俊宸博士
-中譯 薛乃綺
在我主持的學習圈裡，常常聽到有人問我如何管理時間、或處理因時間限制而產生的壓力。這些問題確實是大多數渴望能有所成就、多做一些事的人、又或者是有抱負的領導者所共同面臨的課題。其實，市面上已經有不少專家寫的書、文章和部落客，介紹各種相關工具和方法。
我自己則是想分享一些我對有效時間管理的基本原則看法：
1. 優先考慮你的願景和人生目標
首先，我們需要先確定生活中最重要的大方向（比如說你想成為誰或達成什麼），再明確訂出中短期要完成的目標，最後才安排每天的待辦事項。這三者要彼此相關並保持一致。你是想成為一位充滿關愛的家長、一位對工作有貢獻的人，還是社區中的意見領袖呢？而這些選擇會怎樣影響你的行程安排呢？（可以參考 Blog 2）
2. 仔細盤點你的時間使用情形
花點時間誠實地自我檢視一週或一個月中，你到底把多少時間用在那些非緊要、非關鍵的事情上。你可能會驚訝地發現，許多時間都在應付老闆的要求、朋友的邀約，或是你習慣性的行為上，而這些事可能與你的願景和目標毫無關聯。（可以參考Blog 63）
在這個充斥著社群媒體的時代，無意識地瀏覽各種貼文、追蹤意見領袖、參加群組聊天、聽流言蜚語、看肥皂劇甚至假新聞，可能是最耗時又沒什麼價值的習慣之一。這種行為會讓你的大腦變得麻痹，長此以往甚至可能造成所謂的「腦爛(Brain-rot)[1]」。
3. 調整你的時間分配
當你把實際的時間分配和理想的狀態做比較後，就可以開始有意義地調整了。先把那些對你來說意義重大、且必不可少的活動填滿行事曆，再安排那些「想做但不一定急需做」的事。或許你可以把你的生活願景和目標貼在桌上，隨時提醒自己每天和每週的安排方向。
4. 力行「多做一件事」以及「少做一件事」
根據每件事對你願景和目標的重要性，開始調整你的待辦清單：增加那些有價值的事情，刪除那些耗費時間卻意義不大的事。這樣你會感受到更多成就感和自我價值，也會覺得自己更能掌控時間，而不是被時間牽著走。
[1] 《牛津字典》12月2日公布2024年度代表字「brain rot」，中文略可譯為「大腦腐蝕」或「腦爛」，意指接收太多瑣碎資訊而造成大腦吸收與思考能力下降。
