The Strategy of Task Management: Starting Early, Redundancy, and Reliability

Recently, I shared how to implement redundancy in note systems through folders, tags, links, note naming, timestamps, and other methods to improve system reliability and discover unexpected connections. In fact, the theme of this article—starting tasks early—is essentially redundancy manifested in the time dimension.

This article stems from my recent experience preparing and presenting a research topic for a seminar. While traveling and listening to music, I reflected on the entire process from accumulating ideas two months in advance to preparing the presentation a week before. This process perfectly illustrates the theme of this article—starting early. Therefore, I want to introduce this process and explain how to apply the strategy of starting early in task management.

In modern life, we often face various tasks and challenges. Whether it's work projects, meeting preparations, or daily chores, how to effectively manage these tasks has become an issue we must address. In this article, I want to share a task management strategy that I've found very effective in practice: starting early.

Practical Case of Starting Early

Recently, I had the opportunity to give a presentation at a seminar. The process from the initial idea to the final presentation lasted about two months. This process well demonstrates the application and value of the "starting early" strategy.

Initial Stage: The Birth of an Idea

About two months ago, during a group meeting, a colleague mentioned that a seminar in our field would be held in two months and suggested that someone from our group could present on FMU-based co-simulation. Considering the co-simulation framework I had developed during my doctoral studies, which applied FMU technology, I proposed sharing my experience. Of course, the underlying consideration was also that it would benefit my next career step; otherwise, given that I had five or six projects running simultaneously, I wouldn't have wanted to present at the seminar.

During the meeting itself, I recorded a simple presentation outline, including the main content and angles I wanted to cover. After the meeting, I organized this note slightly and created a reminder in my calendar to start preparing the presentation about a month before the presentation.

Middle Stage: Accumulation of Ideas

Over the next month, whether I remembered it myself or was reminded by colleagues, I would occasionally think about this upcoming task. About a month before the presentation, a colleague confirmed again whether I was willing to give the presentation; about two weeks before the presentation, the event organizers asked me to provide the title of my presentation.

These internal and external reminders triggered further thinking about the presentation content. At this stage, I created three more related notes: two about the presentation content itself, from different angles and emphases; one about preparation strategy, considering how to use AI to assist in retrieving materials and concept illustrations (although I later found this strategy impractical).

I used folders to roughly organize these notes, bringing them together to lay the foundation for the final preparation. Although these notes were all in outline form, they had different focuses, and merging them formed a relatively complete framework for the presentation content. During the idea accumulation process, I also used a tag system. When I thought of content that could be reused in the future, I would add corresponding tags. These tags might not be very important for the current presentation preparation but have reference value for solving related problems in the future.

I may introduce in the future what role folders play in the evolution and accumulation of ideas; of course, I've already introduced the application of folders, tags, and links in managing notes, but their application emphases and strategies at different stages of idea organization can actually be refined and differentiated.

Final Stage: Actual Execution

I started formally preparing the presentation a week before the presentation date. On the first day, I only completed two pages, far from enough for a 20-minute presentation. Although I already had many ideas and knew what to do and how to solve potential problems, the actual execution still required a lot of time and energy:

• Supplementing detailed content for each section

• Adjusting text and logical structure

• Adding and optimizing images

• Adjusting presentation format (I used LaTeX Beamer to prepare the presentation, which has a certain technical threshold; fortunately, I had many templates I had used before. Even so, I always encountered new problems that required time and energy to solve)

• Designing animation effects to aid presentation

• Rehearsing in advance to ensure smooth presentation

During this process, I generated many new ideas and notes, mainly about the details of presentation preparation. These ideas might have emerged during the presentation creation process or suddenly appeared in various scenarios such as during meals or on the way home. I would briefly record these ideas and then utilize them in subsequent presentation improvements.

I had also considered using AI's speech-to-text tools to convert speech to text during rehearsals; identify areas that weren't smooth and adjust them, then rehearse again; and finally put keywords in the presentation as prompts for the live presentation. In the end, due to time constraints, I didn't use this strategy.

I had originally wanted AI to help me complete several presentation pages, such as explaining concepts and expanding content, but later found the communication cost too high and abandoned this strategy. This also made me reflect: if AI can complete our work for us, then our jobs might be in danger; if AI cannot help us complete our work well, then why use AI?

Summary of Starting Early Practice

One point that needs to be emphasized is that although the entire presentation preparation process lasted two months, which seems like a long cycle, during these two months, I was actually busy with other things most of the time. The time actually spent on presentation preparation was concentrated in the week before, when I focused on it. Looking at earlier time periods, it was mainly about sporadically accumulating some ideas and handling other tasks.

If we carefully analyze the time spent on the entire presentation preparation process, from collecting ideas to finalizing the presentation and rehearsing, it took about 22 hours. Of these, 2 hours were spent in the early stage recording about 5 notes, 3 of which were about presentation content, mainly prepared in outline form; there were also some notes about how to improve the presentation format, presentation, and other scattered content. Finally, a week in advance, about 17.5 hours were spent preparing the presentation, including refining the presentation outline based on earlier notes, supplementing content for each section, adding images and references, etc.

I also took some detours during the process. For example, the core part should have been introducing my own content, involving the application of FMU co-simulation in autonomous driving; but during the presentation preparation, I spent quite a lot of time looking for images for other less important sections. Fortunately, I realized this problem in time and quickly got back on track, otherwise it might have taken more time. In fact, if I hadn't taken this detour, the time to prepare the presentation might have been less; but similar detours seem unavoidable. Therefore, what's more important is: how to realize that you've taken a detour and quickly get back on track. The reason that prompted me to realize I was taking a detour was very simple: there wasn't much time left, and I still had many tasks to complete; this sense of urgency constantly reminded me that I needed to speed up.

After completing the presentation, I spent 2.5 hours rehearsing, including 1.5 hours writing a rough script for each page; the remaining 1 hour was spent rehearsing twice. Since it was a 20-minute presentation, I conducted 2 rehearsals: one the night before and another in the morning of the day. The final presentation went very smoothly.

Later, I discussed with colleagues why this presentation was very smooth, and another colleague mentioned that my presentation was quite pedagogical. Combined with my later reflection, I think the main reasons are as follows:

• First, I paid great attention to the logical structure of each partduring the presentation preparation. This meant that, to a certain extent, I had already thought about how to explain the content of each part during the preparation process.

• Second, I also added presentation animations to important slides. This way, during the presentation, I could remind myself how to introduce the content of each part; I could also progressively tell the audience what I wanted to talk about.

• Additionally, during rehearsals and the final presentation, I didn't look at the script I had prepared at all, but instead directly introduced the content of each part based on the animations and my feelings.

• Finally, during rehearsals and the final presentation, my focus was not on reciting the prepared script word for word; but rather on highlighting the logical structure and the key points we wanted to express, which might be more important than mechanically presenting pre-prepared content verbatim.

With the strategies above, I didn't feel nervous during the preparation and presentation, but rather relaxed. In fact, when I first started presenting, I even made a half-joking advertisement for myself, lightening the atmosphere; but I quickly transitioned to the topic without letting everyone dwell on the joke for too long, which might have deviated far from the main subject.

The Value and Challenges of Starting Early

The Essence of Starting Early

Starting early is essentially redundancy manifested in the time dimension. Just like the 130+ alarms I set, starting early provides us with buffer and adjustment space. For example, when I prepare to go out for exercise, I set an alarm 1 hour in advance; as the time approaches, I check traffic conditions and set more precise alarms to remind myself to leave.

Of course, the specific amount of advance time varies in different situations:

• For important presentations that require extensive preparation, I might start thinking about how to present 1-2 months in advance

• For long-distance travel or business trips, I might start thinking about what luggage to prepare 1-2 weeks or even longer in advance

• For complex project meetings, I might start preparing presentation 1 week in advance

• For short trips, I might consider the itinerary a few days in advance

• For flights, I would arrive at the airport 2-3 hours in advance

• For trains, I might arrive at the station 30-60 minutes in advance

• For important meetings, I might arrive 15-30 minutes in advance

• For buses, I might arrive at the stop 5-10 minutes in advance

These advance times are determined based on experience and risk assessment, considering possible delays, emergencies, and the consequences of missing them.

Facing Realistic Challenges

However, no matter how far in advance we start, we always face various challenges:

• Too many things: While preparing for the presentation, I also had four projects, writing articles, job hunting, and other matters. Job hunting itself is a complex matter that has lasted for more than two years, not just physically, but also psychologically and in many other aspects.

• Emergencies: Emergencies are the norm in modern life, such as urgent emails, temporary tasks, etc., which are all very normal.

• System limitations: Our time and energy are limited.

• Task changes: Canceling and postponing tasks is inevitable.

During the presentation preparation, I encountered multiple emergencies: an urgent meeting for one project and code problems for another project. These all required immediate attention, forcing me to adjust my original plans. Moreover, these emergencies might be unavoidable no matter how far in advance we plan. Therefore, our task management system needs to have fault tolerance and anti-interference capabilities.

More specifically, we can cancel or postpone some less important things. The reason is very simple: no matter how much we want to complete all tasks, we simply cannot do it; because there are too many things, and our time and energy are limited. And not all things need to be done, at least not immediately. Therefore, canceling and postponing those less important things is a reasonable thing to do. Conversely, we can focus on important tasks in our daily work and life, rather than trying to handle all tasks, because that is unrealistic and would only add unnecessary trouble. As for how we should manage numerous tasks, we can discuss that in the future.

Avoiding the Perfectionism Trap

During the presentation preparation, I once fell into the perfectionism trap of obsessing over details. I spent a lot of time searching for and editing some images to help explain certain concepts, but later realized that this wasn't the focus of this presentation. Fortunately, I reflected in time and realized this wasn't a wise approach.

I constantly reminded myself that time was running out, so when I got stuck at certain points, I could notice the problem in time. In fact, perfectionism itself is not the problem: if we have ample time and energy, and only this one thing to do, then pursuing perfection is fine. Who doesn't want to make a stunning presentation and receive good feedback? But the reality is that our time and energy are limited, and we have other tasks; therefore, obsessing over details will exhaust us and is not a sustainable strategy in the long run.

Later, I adjusted my presentation preparation strategy: first complete a version containing all major sections (background, methods, conclusions); not seeking perfection, but completeness. Then supplement content, optimize structure, and adjust order during rehearsals. This way, even if time runs out later, at least there's a usable version.

This strategy is also common in software development: first develop a minimum viable product (MVP), then gradually iterate and improve. This is more practical and effective than trying to develop a perfect product all at once.

Reflections on Reliability and Starting Early

The key issue has never been creating a system that is 100% perfect at all times, which seems difficult to achieve; or perhaps creating and maintaining such a system might consume enormous time and energy, even exceeding the tasks, projects, and goals the system is meant to serve.

The key issue is precisely to create a reliable system that can help you deal with emergencies and interference. If through relatively small efforts in normal times, we can improve the system's reliability and enhance its anti-interference ability, why not? System redundancy (time redundancy) and starting early help us build a reliable system to address various challenges in task management.

Let's illustrate with an example from control systems: Suppose our system currently outputs a constant signal of 1, but the system suddenly encounters interference from a pulse signal (a signal that changes suddenly for an instant). If our system can quickly return to its original stable state, we can say our system is relatively reliable because it can effectively resist external interference. A more difficult point is that external interference and emergencies are unpredictable and perhaps unavoidable, otherwise they wouldn't be called emergencies. A reliable system should be able to handle such disturbances well. Of course, this doesn't mean the system remains undisturbed when facing emergencies, which might also be unrealistic; our system will inevitably be disturbed to some extent. The key issue is how to quickly mitigate the impact of disturbances on our system. This is the essential goal pursued by a redundant, reliable system.

The above discussion might be too macro and theoretical. So, how should we understand and interpret this concept of reliability when applied to our task management system? We discussed earlier that in our work and life, we always encounter some emergencies, which might be unavoidable. Taking the presentation preparation as an example, I know it's important, and I really want to complete it. However, some urgent tasks will appear in our work and life, and there are other tasks in our system, which is reality. Therefore, by starting early to consider presentation preparation and rehearsal, we can better handle various emergencies, giving us enough time and energy to complete the presentation preparation and presentation itself.

The Effects of Starting Early

The Wisdom of Trade-offs

In the final stage of preparing for the presentation, I had to face a reality: There wasn't just the presentation preparation in my system, but other tasks as well. I had to make trade-offs, canceling or postponing some tasks.

Specifically, I canceled or postponed:

• A meeting for one project

• Revision work for an article

• The launch of a new project

This is completely reasonable because:

1. Our time and energy are limited, and we cannot complete all tasks

2. Different tasks have different importance and priorities

3. Even if canceling certain tasks might displease some people, it is unavoidable

Of course, canceling or postponing specific tasks might displease some people because our project partners or others will have expectations. But the problem is, if we don't make trade-offs and try to complete all tasks, the result might be that we become anxious and overly fatigued, which is detrimental to our physical and mental health in the long run; moreover, even then, we might not be able to guarantee that all tasks are completed well, ultimately leading to dissatisfaction from all parties, which is clearly a lose-lose situation.

Conversely, through trade-offs, we can at least ensure that important matters are properly handled, so that even if we cannot ensure that all participants win, at least some participants are satisfied, avoiding a lose-lose situation. This might be a more realistic and sustainable strategy.

Furthermore, we choose to cancel or postpone some tasks not because of laziness, but simply because there are too many things, and our time and energy are limited. Out of practical considerations, we must make trade-off decisions. This is merely a compromise strategy necessitated by reality.

The final point I want to emphasize is that it is precisely because we set advance times for multiple tasks that we are able to postpone some tasks. Suppose we hadn't set reasonable advance times for multiple tasks, then in the last week, we might feel very stressed because we must complete multiple important tasks. This means we might have to work overtime and still might not be able to complete them, creating an awkward and embarrassing situation. It is precisely because we set reasonable advance times for multiple tasks that we are able to postpone specific tasks. This is also the important role that starting early plays in multi-task management.

The Final Balance

On the morning of the day before the presentation, I completed the first version of the presentation (although it still lacked the conclusion section). After that, because I had to travel, and there were other things to handle before departure, I had to temporarily stop the task of improving the presentation and send the current version to colleagues for feedback.

Although I temporarily paused the presentation improvement task at that time, I had thought of backup plans earlier and on the way:

• I could continue improving the presentation on the train

• I could return to the hotel early after dinner with colleagues that evening to continue improving

• I could get up early the next morning to continue improving

• If I still couldn't complete it in the morning, I could cancel attending part of the morning seminars to continue improving, as my presentation was in the afternoon

As you can see, even if I hadn't completed the presentation preparation the morning before, or even if I hadn't rehearsed it once, I still had multiple backup plans to ensure that I could successfully refine and rehearse the presentation.

The subsequent presentation improvement and rehearsal also proceeded roughly according to the above plan. I spent half an hour on the train supplementing the final conclusion section and writing scripts for some presentation pages. After arriving at the destination, I had dinner with colleagues (which was a pleasant experience, fortunately I didn't cancel it); then returned to the hotel after ten o'clock to continue improving the presentation, completing all scripts and rehearsing once by around midnight. The next morning, I had planned to get up earlier to rehearse several more times, but I was too tired to get up earlier 😂. Of course, the more essential reason might be that, subconsciously, I felt that although I had only rehearsed once yesterday, it went quite smoothly, so there shouldn't be a big problem. Therefore, I only spent half an hour in the morning rehearsing once. After that, it was breakfast, packing luggage, checking out, attending seminars, and giving my own presentation. It was an experience that exceeded expectations, both in terms of efficiency and effect.

Of course, the time reserved for rehearsing the presentation here is determined based on past experience. For a 20-minute presentation, two to three hours of rehearsal time is usually sufficient for me. Therefore, the time reserved in the above plan for rehearsing the presentation is adequate. Even if the final presentation isn't perfect, that's okay; because as mentioned earlier, what's important is the logical structure and expressing ideas, not reciting a pre-prepared script word for word.

Specific Strategies for Starting Early

Based on my experience, here are some specific suggestions for implementing the "starting early" strategy:

1. Establish a Task Awareness System

We can combine multiple methods to establish a multi-layered task management system:

• Use calendars, reminders, to-do lists, and other tools to manage tasks

• Review and update task lists as needed

• Set reminder lead times, creating redundancy in the time dimension and improving reliability

I use a hybrid system: calendar for recording events that must occur on specific dates or times, such as meetings, courses, and travel; reminder tools for setting lead times, thus bringing redundancy in the time dimension; note-taking applications for recording ideas and task execution details. These tools work together to ensure I don't miss important tasks.

2. Prepare in Stages

We can focus on different aspects of tasks at different stages:

• Initial stage: Record basic ideas and frameworks

• Middle stage: Accumulate ideas, refine plans

• Final stage: Actual execution, adjust details

This staged approach allows us to think about problems at different times with different precision and from different angles, both avoiding getting bogged down in details too early and ensuring adequate preparation for final execution.

3. Set Reasonable Buffer Times

We should set reasonable lead times based on the importance and complexity of tasks, as mentioned earlier. Obviously, different tasks vary in importance and complexity. Therefore, it is reasonable to set different lead times for them. After all, we cannot set the same lead time for all tasks. For example, for a very simple task, setting a lead time of one month would only add unnecessary burden; conversely, for a very complex task, if we only allow one or two days, considering there are other tasks as well, it is clearly unrealistic.

Taking the presentation preparation process as an example, we can see that the entire process took 20 hours, and mainly in the last week. Additionally, considering that not every hour of our working time is 100% efficient, we can roughly estimate that the presentation preparation work takes about a week. So, how far in advance should we start thinking about presentation preparation?

Based on my past experience with similar presentation preparations, personally, I think at least two weeks to a month in advance would be more appropriate. Fundamentally, if we formally think about and push forward presentation preparation work a month in advance, we would realize that this task is actually quite complex, as it includes many tasks such as organizing notes, refining outlines, supplementing content, collecting and improving images, adjusting structure, rehearsing, and more. In fact, for each part, we can continue to break it down into more detailed tasks; at its core, preparing a presentation is essentially a project with multiple steps, not just a simple and abstract task as it might appear. Once we realize this, our subconscious will remind us that we should arrange and push this matter forward as soon as possible. In this case, even if there are other important and urgent tasks and projects in our system, we can arrange, postpone, or handle them, thereby reserving enough buffer time for all important and complex tasks and projects in the entire system.

Of course, if we set too early a lead time for presentation preparation, such as starting to prepare it two months in advance, I don't think this is always a good idea, and there might be several reasons for this. First, although we can set a two-month lead time, we know in our hearts that this activity will only begin in two months, and there is no need to start preparing the presentation now. Second, there may be other more important and urgent matters in the system that need to be addressed; therefore, from an overall perspective, perhaps we should prioritize handling other matters at present, rather than starting to prepare the PPT now. The result of this might be: repeatedly postponing the reminder to prepare the presentation two months in advance, for example, postponing it by one week each time; ultimately continuously delaying, but not actually pushing this matter forward. However, each decision to postpone task execution consumes our willpower; and our willpower could otherwise be used to deal with more important and complex matters. Therefore, setting too large a lead time is not always a good choice.

As for how to set reasonable lead times and buffer times, unfortunately, I cannot provide a simple formula, for a simple reason: each of us faces different work and life situations, and our past experiences are also different. The tasks we face are obviously different; moreover, even when facing the same task, the time and energy we need to spend are different. However, we can consider the following strategies to help determine appropriate lead times. First, we can consider factors such as current available time, task complexity, time and energy consumption, and so on. Second, as we accumulate experience, we will become increasingly better at judging approximately how long certain types of tasks take to complete, and we will become more proficient. Finally, we don't need to set very precise lead times, and we may not be able to do so; the lead time here is just a rough estimate, such as one week, two weeks, three weeks, one month, two months, etc. If our system requires us to estimate lead times precisely, it suggests that the system itself may have room for optimization, because precise estimation itself is difficult or even unachievable.

4. Accept Imperfection

We should accept a fact: imperfection may be the norm. So, we need to:

• Recognize that perfection is impossible

• Set "good enough" standards

• Find a balance between completeness and perfection

This point is particularly important because perfectionism is often a major cause of procrastination and anxiety. By accepting imperfection, we can more easily start and complete tasks.

5. Learn to Make Trade-offs

We need to learn to make trade-offs:

• Clarify task priorities

• Be brave enough to say "no" or postpone low-priority tasks

• Accept the necessity and reasonableness of trade-offs

In modern life, tasks are constantly emerging, and if we don't learn to make trade-offs, we can easily be overwhelmed by endless to-do items. By clarifying priorities, we can ensure that the most important things are properly handled.

Conclusions

Starting early is not just about beginning a task earlier; it's about creating redundancy in the time dimension to improve the reliability of our task management system. By starting early, we give ourselves buffer time to handle unexpected situations, make necessary adjustments, and ensure the quality of our work.

In a world full of uncertainties and competing priorities, the strategy of starting early provides a practical approach to managing tasks effectively. It allows us to be more flexible, less stressed, and ultimately more successful in achieving our goals.

Remember, the goal is not to create a perfect system, but a reliable one that can withstand disturbances and help us navigate the complexities of modern life. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article, you can build such a system for yourself and experience the benefits of starting early in your own task management.

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