lists! painfully simple but is one of the few things that work for me. GTD is too complex IMHO.

make a list of stuff to get done and prioritize. I found keeping it in digital form was good because it allowed me to make modifications as the day progressed and things moved up/down the ladder.

i was so good at procrastination i used to teach classes in it (but i would always show up late). jk

make lists and dont keep things on them for more than a day/week. keep them short - no longer than a page. use outlook if you have it and do the reminder thingy. if you have deadlines for things like RFI's that need to get answered in a week or whatever then put a colored followup flag on it and make a reminder.

you will wiggle into a system that works for you. sometimes i have to mute my phone and turn off my email so i can draft for a few hours. i work on 3 - 6 projects at a time in all phases

if you dont want to get disturbed or distracted by the little popup envelope saying you have mail, you can create "rules" in outlook where it will only alert you when certain people email, like clients, consultants and your manager.

make folders for email on different projects. binders for everything paper on projects, or use the office standard system.

when your plate gets too full tell your project manager and have them help you delegate. if you having trouble prioritizing because you have too much then give them your list and ask them to help you manage it...maybe they will take some away or spread it out and all of a sudden all the list got done in a day b/c you worked as a team...teamwork

those cheesy little 8.5"x11 baskets help. i have a stack for CA on each project and a box for each project of stuff that is done and not filed yet, and a box for stuff that is ready to be filed (outbox?). and i have little piles of shit to do...one side of my desk is stuff to do today and the other side is all my stuff to do. and i keep a big area on my desk clear of everything except what i am currently working on so i can FOCUS.

use a system for note taking - i like loose sheets so i can put them in piles and file them later. same for phone notes or use a sprial notebook.

headphones help keep people away so you can FOCUS.

the redline, highlight system works for lists too. you are
(probably) a visual person, so make it colored and diagrammatic

clear your desk at night so you come in and are ready to go instead of coming in and getting confused. mary kay did that every night and became one of the richest women in america.

time management (organization if you will) is big too. putting time in a pile helps keep your mind organized. instead of working on 2 projects in a day in a scattered way, TRY to do 4/4 hours or answer all emails at once, return all phone calls at once...or attack it one little task at a time...same problems and solutions apply. if you have questions, ask them all at once. tell people to do the same.

all of that is physical organization. the rest is mental and process organization. be responsible for you getting your shit done, not the shit you delegate. you are part of a team but you have to focus on your tasks first and foremost. dont get distracted, but if you do, center and refocus. it's one of the hardest things to do next to relaxing.

good luck. plan the work and work the plan.
good topic

dont feel bad

most people spend most of their day putting fires out and struggling to get therest of their work done...or rescheduling the work they didnt get done

sorry for such a long post by the way

agreed. all those ideas above would help. I would also suggest to cut down the number of meetings. they are killer. less talk more rock!

set strict time limits and agendas for all meetings. or schedule non-meeting days so you can get through work uninterrupted.

stop responding to posts. oh wait that's me.

Thanks alot, I start these things but never continue with them for long. I guess I need to turn into the grownup I never wanted to be.

http://lifehacker.com/software/time-management/time-management-for-creative-people-330588.php

this had some helpful tips as well.

I am the lead designer, but I have the hardest time delegating... Though I am one of the younger people on the team, I find that alot of people arent thorough with their work. Its been a common theme in our office...

ritalin or strettera work wonders for helping the disorganized aka adhd/add folks keep life under control and managed. if you've always been a procrastinator and have difficulty focusing, its worth getting diagnosed...

I use backpack from 37 signals. pages for individual projects, to do lists, file hosting, calender w/ reminders sent to cell phone, etc. $5 a month and worth 10 times that by far.

http://backpackit.com/


I'd love to try their basecamp app for project management, but the firm keeps saying no. also, I think even though it'd be great for me, the contractors and clients might hate adapting to a system that isn't 10 billion little email notes.

one thing that works for me - for items that do not require immediate attention is to complete certain tasks on certain days

example:
Thursday is RFI day
Friday is shop drawing day

Honestly, when I feel overwhelmed with 1000 things to do at once, I think about that white stripes song and try to "be like the squirrel".

Go get elephant and give "little acorns" a listen

my pocket pc helps me, i input all the crap i need to do and set reminders

lookin for job, funkitecture? You would be just the kind of PM I would want to hire.

Get Getting Things Done by David Allen - the exact remedy for your thread title... its good, seriously.

diabase, that's one more thing to add to the list...

thanks archie
your profile doesnt show your location but i am always keeping an eye out for a good opportunity ;)

the last thing i want to be right now is a PM, although i have been told that by a principal before. i cringe at the thought of being an 8 1/2x11 architect, but maybe i already am...

i hate being a paper chaser / consultant nagger / nit-picker / i-told-you-so-emailer but i am good at it for some untold reason. if i can keep drawing and do all that i would be happy

ugh, thanks to the office party, i won't be getting anything done the rest of the day.

i'm amazed i made it in by 8 and got everything done for my 9.30 meeting. who schedules a meeting the day after the office party?

How to get things done? Close Archinect.



That's right, just close it.



What, are you still here? You heard me.



See that little 'x' in the corner up there. Hit it.

agreed
archinect at lunch only

another thing is to come in early and get stuff done before the herd. now i understand why those guys come in at 5:30 am, 6, 7...
they get a ton of stuff done before everyone else comes in and bugs them. and if they need to stay late to get stuff done they stay until 5

i come in at 8 cause i am used to it and everyone else comes in at 9 and that hour is priceless for me

thanks for the link to the article...proves that surfing archinect can pay off, after all

archinect on weekends or afterwork ONLY... unless u dont have CPU at home then lunch only ..i see too many of my coworkers come in and be screwin around with Archinect Myspace and Facebook ..

Lists are huge for me, colors for orginization are pretty big too

When I started creating lists I really became goal oriented and alot of times I woudnt leave the office untill everything for that day got done. This gives me a real sense of satisifaction when i leave the office too.

If thursdays are RFI days and Fridays are shop drawing days... What days are pizza and cocktail days? That's no fun! What about 'Hawaiian shirt day?'

I don't have time to do anything but work from work. I don't know how any of you folks can make time to post from work!

I concur with coming in early. One of the latest helpful boosts in productivity came when I placed myself on the earlier AM hours. Not only does it help to get more things done, I can catch more contractors and inspectors before I/they leave their office/homes for the field. Fewer VM's means more productivity and less chance of something getting lost playing phone tag later in the day. (Less traffic in the earlier commute was a big plus also)

I already place all jobs into binders, have a pretty rigid military-esque organization system. There is absolutely no paperwork on my desk at the end of my day and everything gets filed appropriately. If you ghosted me for a day, you'd think I had OCD because I'm just that organized. (I wash my hands with warm water frequently because the weather is cold and I hate the feeling of cold clammy hands)

I think that as project managers, one of the big issues we have with our organization is that we keep much of it in our heads. (Thus, forgetting everything!) Even with a proprietary list and not an office standard method of project management, how can I know the who/what/where/when of the project? How can I make myself just as efficient as I am now (or more so) while making my projects such that any other project manager or principal can pick up the project, spend a few minutes looking at it, then running with it as if I weren't blown to smithereens five minutes earlier while looking at archinect in a cafe. (not on work time!)

Would it be too odd to say it might help to have more of a rigid standardized list of things to get done on a project?

Of course there is the double oxymoron of having the Rigid Flexible standardized Unique list system.
Rigid, because it adheres to an office standard of sorts.
Flexible, because all projects (and requirements) are unique in their own rites.

What do you guys think? Have I been drinking too much eggnog?

nice one...the thread must have worked. everyone is quietly getting stuff done

This thread is so lip-smacking delicious. A few random thoughts:

First of all: thank you to the others who share the sentiment that Archinect is not meant for the workplace. Sure, it's quieter here during the evenings, but it sure helps not to have this distraction during the day.

I agree with those who recommended Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. I'm reading it now, and it has already helped me. I'm not sure if I'll implement the full, complex strategy; however, there are valuable lessons in the book that are simple to use.

For instance, Allen describes emptying your inbox on a regular basis. I've found there is nothing more calming than seeing a blank email inbox (or even seeing the "bottom" of the list) - even if there are gobs of semi-sorted emails in another folder. I keep a master list of things I need to do; when an actionable email comes in, I transfer the action to my master list, then file the email away. The beauty is knowing that I can trust my master list for all of the things I need to remember.

mkokimoto makes a good point about PM's keeping too much information in their heads. One of my mentors encourages us to get as much as possible out of our heads and into a trusted list or spreadsheet. This also makes it easier to others to take over the project if necessary, as mkokimoto describes.

To address work arrival times: I usually get to the office around 9 am (okay, sometimes a little later), but I often stay well past 6. This gives the GC's two hours before I arrive to fill my inbox and voicemail with questions; when I get into the office, I systematically respond, clear my inbox, then begin the day.

I feel that I can better respond to a question when I know it's coming (i.e. I'm less efficient when I'm put on the spot for an answer). If I get a phone message that says "I'm calling to ask you about the CMU wall in Room 999 of Project X, please call me back," I can pull out the appropriate drawings and refresh myself on the design objectives. This is much better than getting a voicemail stating, "I have a question. Please call me back."

Finally, a former PM had the attitude that, "Whatever I don't get done today, I can always do tomorrow." It bothered me to no end, especially when I needed him to do things TODAY.

wow, these are all good suggestions. i have a few of my own however. i implemented office hours at work; especially helpful in CA. i told my collegues, co-workers, contractor, consultants that from 8-12 i will answer the phone and be available by email. from 1-5 is my work time. sometimes you need a large continuous block of time to complete a task. since everyone had the same expectation, other implemented it as well and we became more productive because we weren't constantly interrupted.

to comment on funkitecture's first email regarding the plate becoming too full. . . i would suggest asking for help BEFORE it becomes full, when you can see it coming otherwise you're in damage control mode plus it takes time for senior staff to find you help depending on who's available.

i can't stress enough about making lists. VERY helpful for me.