Types of tasks

In my work so far, there are typically a few type of tasks:

Analytics tasks (planning, architecture, setup, coding etc)

Writing (documentations, reflections)

Desktop research

Emails (replying, drafting new ones)

Ideations

Team huddles

External meetings with customers

Internal project meetings

Preparing decks and presentations

Organising materials

Admin

I think they can divided into four quadrants:

High amount of visible results, low value Emails (replying, drafting new ones) Organising materials	High amount of visible results, high value Analytics tasks (coding, planning) Writing Preparing decks and presentations Customer meetings
Low amount of visible results, low value Admin	Low amount of visible results, high value Desktop research Ideations, brainstorming Team huddles Internal project meetings

There’s a lot of unpack here, so one by one:

Visible results: a deck, an email, a document, a discussion with potential customers - tangible stuff
Value: high value means generating a good idea, building strong relationships with customers or fellow colleagues in the same or different team, getting a clearer idea of something that allows you to move forward from current status quo
A good day at work would be to spend most if not all of your time in Quadrant 1, generating both value and results
Quadrant 2 gives high value because these are the types of tasks that spark the team and yourself off towards a good week or month. These tasks generally give ideas and directions, and hence high value

As a morning person, my energy dwindle towards the end of the day, especially with a trough after lunch. Within this framework there must be a way to optimise my productivity in a work day.

Category: [Corporate rat race]

2017/02/12

2min read