What is a time demand and why is it important to understand and use the concept? For further information on this topic (video, podcast and blog posts) visit http://www.2time-sys.com/big-ideas-time-demands/

1. What is a Time Demand?
Francis Wade
1

2. Do You Have a
Lot of Stuff To Do
Coming At You
Each Day?
Vacations to take
Email messages
Phone calls
Tweets
Facebook updates
Voicemail
Text messages
Instant messages
RSS feeds
Linkedin messages
Written notes to process
Feedback on prior work
Time to rest
Replies to requests
Kids’ activities
Newspapers to be read
Websites to browse
Meeting requests
New projects
Documents to be read
Calls to return
Files to be put away
Photographs to sort
Books to read
Channels to visit
Calls to make
Chores
2

3. Do You Expect It
to Stop? Ever?
Vacations to take
Email messages
Phone calls
Tweets
Facebook updates
Voicemail
Text messages
Instant messages
RSS feeds
Linkedin messages
Written notes to process
Feedback on prior work
Time to rest
Replies to requests
Kids’ activities
Newspapers to be read
Websites to browse
Meeting requests
New projects
Documents to be read
Calls to return
Files to be put away
Photographs to sort
Books to read
Channels to visit
Calls to make
Chores
3

4. Many People Are Resigned… to a
Permanent State of Overwhelm
4

5. Unfortunately… Getting Out of
Overwhelm Isn’t Easy
5

6. It Has Many Causes
and They Are Complex
6

7. In Other Words…
Forget About Finding a List of
5 Simple Tips or Tricks that
Will Solve Everything
7

8. Why Does This Complexity Exist?
Where Did It Come From?
How Can It Be Banished?
8

9. No-One Knows.
All We Know Is That
In Order To Handle Stuff, We Put in
Place Complex Habits
9

10. Too Complex to Be Banished in a
Single Slide Presentation
10

11. Different Question:
How Can Complexity Be Reduced
So That Something New Can
Emerge?
11

12. Here’s a Start
12

13. Consider… It’s Not Just “Stuff”
13

14. Instead, Underneath All That Stuff
is Something Called
a “Time Demand”
14

15. A “Time Demand” is an Individual
Commitment to Complete an Action
in the Future
15

16. A What?
16

17. Individual Commitment – In
Response to a Trigger, Your Mind
Responds by Making a Personal
Promise…
17

18. Complete an Action– a Promise
That Requires Future Time, in
which You’ll Undertake a Specific
Task
18

19. So What?
19

20. What We Call “Stuff” is a
Mixed-Up Blend of Triggers and
Time Demands
Stuff = Triggers + Time Demands
20

21. Triggers: Specific Events that
Prompt the Instantaneous Creation
of New Time Demands
21

22. Such As: Getting a Bill in the Mail,
Listening to a Podcast Filled with
Ideas, Attending a Meeting with our
Manager
22

23. When We Unravel “Stuff,”
We Start to See the World
Differently…
23

24. Some Facts About Time Demands
24

25. Time Demands Are
Created by You and I.
We Are Responsible for Each and
Every One.
But, Triggers Occur Naturally and
Can’t Be Stopped.
25

26. Time Demands are Discrete and
Finite in Number. They can be
Counted
26

27. Time Demands are Inescapable
27

28. Each Day, We Use Tools to Track
Time Demands: Personal Memory,
a To-Do list or a Schedule
28

29. We Hate It When Time Demands
Slip Through the Cracks
29

30. We Feel Anxious When We Believe
that We Might Fail to Complete
Important Time Demands
30

31. We Often Set Up Capture Points to
Collect Potential Time Demands
When We’re Not Available: a
Mailbox, Email Inbox, Voicemail
31

32. We Like to Complete Time
Demands. Doing So Brings a
Sense of Satisfaction
32

33. Incomplete Complete Time
Demands Prey On Our Minds
According to Researcher
M. Ziegarnik
33

34. Incomplete Complete Time
Demands Stop Preying On Our
Minds When We Store Them
Safely, According to Researchers
Masicampo and Baumeister
34

35. In the Moment Time Demands are
Created, We Often Tag Them –
Mentally or Otherwise
35

36. Potential Tags:
Start Time, Deadline, Duration,
Urgency, Importance, Resources or
Participants Required, Location /
Context, Emotional Payoff, plus
more.
36

37. While We Can’t Manage Time, We
Do Manage
Time Demands All Day Long
37

38. Sometimes in Life, the Number of
Time Demands We Must Manage
Overwhelms Our System
38

39. And We Need an Upgrade
39

40. But That’s Another Topic for
Another Day!
40

41. Thank You
Much more on time demands
http://www.2time-sys.com/big-ideas-time-demands/
41