Inspired by the book, Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, I have used the idea of keeping a list of active and inactive projects. In the book, he suggests no more than ten active projects. For me, five works better. I even try to keep a project in each category of my life to be well-rounded.
- Health goals
- Professional goals
- Self-Improvement goals
- Relationship goals
- Household goals
I am also a big believer in “strategic underachievement” and for me, that is being bad at email, slack, and text messaging. As an example, I try to only check my email every other day. It has yet to cause me any problems. Taking about thirty minutes to sift, sort, and respond to correspondence is perfectly adequate. For another example, I will only open physical mail twice a month when I pay bills.
I do the best I can as a standard human to avoid interruptions or letting others dictate what is important to me, however, I will always give time to those people who are important to me. This includes my family, friends, and individuals who report to me at work.