Capture, Configure, Control
These are the three pillars of Cal Newport’s time management system. In this clip from episode 149 of his podcast, he goes into the system in detail.
"Capture" refers to recognizing that our brains aren't great at filtering and organizing thoughts. They’re quite good, on the contrary, at creating these thoughts. It behooves us to make space for the mystical act of creativity. "Configure" pertains to structuring the contents of one's plate, while "control" encompasses multi-scale planning, often spanning a lifetime, a year, the coming months, and the coming week.
This system has become second nature for me over the years. To some, it might seem excessive. I argue that it’s essential. Our brains haven't evolved to efficiently handle the abundance of obligations modern knowledge workers face. If life were as simple as "today, we hunt a buffalo to eat," then yes, a time-management system might not be necessary.
However, what happens when we have too much to do? One can thrive at time management, but if their time is constantly filled, how would they combat burnout?
Cal recently fielded some questions on his podcast that address the problem of overload. He must’ve gotten enough of these questions, because he has started to informally talk about a fourth pillar of time management - constrain. So, capture, configure, control, constrain. He loves alliterations.
"Constrain" involves limiting what enters your plate for management in the first place. This idea makes sense on paper, but is not trivial to implement in your working life. Cal's work philosophy is "do less, do better, know why," a perspective I've embraced. I try to focus on one, maybe two, cognitively demanding goals at any given time. The principle of constrain formalizes this philosophy.
You might wonder why there’s so much work in the first place, and that there are more fundamental, capitalistic issues at play. I agree. But let’s focus on what we can control. What often happens is that the modern knowledge worker gets work piled onto them, their bandwidth becomes increasingly worn down, and when their plate seems overloaded, they need a mental health break.
To constrain our plate would be to decide that instead of hitting 120% and feeling overwhelmed by an unreasonable workload for one person, we instead limit our plate to 80%. This way, even if our plate eventually gets filled to 100% in the worst case, we can still manage to do our job effectively. Constrain sometimes happens naturally; a good example being the shift in priorities when one has children. But is there a more intentional approach we can take?
Much easier said than done. Here are a few strategies I’ve thought about:
Institute “office hours”. Utilize this time to address minor queries. If a co-worker’s email ends with 'thoughts?' tell them to stop by during your regularly scheduled office hours. A five-minute in-person conversation could save ten emails. Note, this may be less feasible for junior members of the workforce.
Formalize your workload. Define your primary role and establish a limit on secondary tasks. Similarly, you can engage in an honest conversation with your boss about the ideal ratio between deep and shallow work. Quantify this ratio, and the next time you're asked to fulfill a collateral duty, make it clear that doing so could result in the compromising of your primary responsibilities.
Pad your meetings with time to process. Meetings can be exhausting. Schedule an additional 15-30 minutes after each one, making it impossible for anyone to schedule anything else during that time. At the very least, this enables you to make sense of what just happened and start or even complete action items. It's quite common for individuals who have many meetings to find themselves arriving at 3pm before they can truly start their 'work'.
It’s hard to constrain what’s on your plate. But being mindful about the fact that we even have plates is likely a good portion of the battle.