A few weeks ago I talked about my method of making lists to drive productivity throughout the work day. You’ll notice that my lists don’t tend to include any sort of specific schedule, other than “today” or “this week.” One of the results of framing my work days around a to do list like this is that I tend not to pay a lot of attention to what time it is. The lists don’t say things like “1:00 - Write post on Seattle Bubble,” so I just tend to work my way through the list, getting things done in whatever order feels right.

This method works great to help me get things done, but it does lead to some complications. Many days I forget to stop for lunch until it’s late in the afternoon. Or when “quitting time” rolls around, I might be “in the zone” and totally unaware that it’s time to wrap things up for the day. This wasn’t much of an issue when I was in a workplace surrounded by coworkers, since there are unavoidable visual cues that indicate things like lunchtime or the end of the day. However, now that I’m at home working all by myself, its much easier to get lost in what I’m doing.

Yesterday I was having a conversation with my wife in which she explained her belief that if I’m not aware of the time, I must not be really on top of things. In fact, quite the contrary is true. Even though I have a digital clock sitting right under the monitor, when I’m on a roll and being really productive, I’m not bothering to look at the time.  To stop and consider what time it is would break my concentration and serve no real purpose.

This got me thinking about the different ways of structuring one’s days.  Obviously I’m a list person.  One alternative to lists would be to create a specific schedule.  I know that kind of structure works for some people, and when they follow a schedule they get the same feeling of accomplishment that I get from crossing things off my to-do list.

So my new theory is that there are two basic methods for generating productivity in a work day, whether you work for somebody else or at home:  Lists and schedules.  If you’ve tried one but haven’t found it to be a good motivator, try the other.  I’d suggest trying a method consistently for at least a week or two before deciding whether you’re a list or a schedule type of person.