14 Time management
This chapter covers
- Why time management is essential for engineering managers
- Tips for better time management
- Tools for managing your time better
Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24-hour days.
Navigating back-to-back meetings and minimal breaks, especially in a remote work setting, makes finding time to cook a meal seem impossible. A glance at the calendar often reveals a packed day and a week devoid of personal work time. Despite your persevering until the day’s end, overlooked planning documents with urgent deadlines can cause stress. Hastily jotting down a list of numerous tasks for the next day adds to the pressure, leading to burnout and disruptions in regular office work.
Engineering managers (EMs) commonly face these kinds of predicaments when their time management falters. Juggling diverse responsibilities, from enhancing hiring standards to balancing on-call loads, EMs find themselves dealing with constant “context switches,” to use Paul Graham’s term (https://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html). Graham also points out the distinction between a manager’s schedule, involving simultaneous tasks and context switches, and a maker’s or engineer’s schedule, emphasizing deep work and focus blocks. His insights add to the recognition that EMs need to prioritize tasks and manage their time well to ensure constant progress.