Time Management for Engineering Managers

Time management is a constant challenge for all engineering managers and tech leaders. Do you struggle to find time to do everything you need to do? Do you find yourself saying, "I'd love to talk, but I've got to run…" Then this book is for you!

It can feel that there's never enough time because the workload and expectations can both be high. How do other people do it? What are their secrets? How can you get the maximum benefits from minimum investments of time, and work smarter not harder?

This can be especially overwhelming for new managers. In this book, I share tons of actionable tips, tactics, and strategies to get things done based on over 90 interviews of engineering managers at https://managersclub.com, and my personal experience as an engineering leader.

Why Another Book On Time Management? While effective time management is essential for everybody, this book is about the time management techniques that specifically work for managers including software development managers, engineering managers, people managers, team leads, etc. Most of the literature about time management is not specific to managers and the unique aspects of their job. Many of the same things will apply to individual contributors, but not all.

TOPICS

• Why Another Book On Time Management?
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Why Time Management Is Hard for Engineering Managers
• Managers’ Schedules Are Different
  
• Being a Perfectionist / The Pareto Principle
  
• Multitasking
  
• Dealing with Interruptions
  
• Summary & Action Steps
  
• Chapter 3: Rethinking How Tools Help Us Through the Day
• Email
• Inbox Zero
• Filters and Rules
• Other thoughts on email
• Organize Your Calendar
• Effective Meetings
• Agendas
• Pre-reads
• Invite List
• Moderating
• Meeting Length
• No Screen Meetings
• Offline Meetings in Writing
• Start Times
• Ending Meetings
• No Meeting days
• Surveys
• Summary & Action Steps
• Chapter 4: Techniques To Plan the Day/Week/Month
• Personal Planning
• Eisenhower Matrix (Engineering Manager Version)
• To-Dos
• 3×5 cards
• To-Do list and GTD Apps
• Checklists
• Focus and Concentration
• Addressing Live Requests
• Personal Kanban Board
• Summary & Action Steps
• Chapter 5: Communicate More with Less
• Group Chat, e.g. Slack
• Smartphones & Other Devices
• Summary & Action Steps
• Chapter 6: Additional Tips To Help You Save Time
• How To Start (or Finish) the Day
• Exercise and Meditation
• Take Advantage of Commute Time
• Produce Content Faster
• Text Expanding & Auto-complete
• Templates
• Note Taking
• Blocking Distractions
• Be Flexible
• Other
• Chapter 7: Wrap up & Conclusion
• Contact Info
• Newsletter Sign-up