Interviews taken for empathising with The two hour rule application users

I conducted 5 interviews asking people how they manage their time, how long they can focus for and discuss a scenario when they got late for something and why that happened.

The people I talked with were Yang, Shikha, Yugin, Ashwarya and Dominika.

Here is what I asked specifically.

  1. How are you with time management? Do you do anything special to manage time?
  2. How many things do you work on daily that requires your focus? Do you wish you could do more in your day?
  3. How long can you sustain focus for? Until you need a break from doing something that requires focus like work or creativity?
  4. Tell me one time when you got late for something. Why does that happen? How could you avoid being late that day?

Yang

How are you with time management? Do you do anything special to manage time?

I am not very good with time management. I am mostly late. I try to write my most important tasks on an Apple notes application but that's it.

How many things do you work on daily that requires your focus? Do you wish you could do more in your day?

I work on at least 5 things daily. My major tasks are working on class projects. Cooking and eating.

How long can you sustain focus for? Until you need a break from doing something that requires focus like work or creativity?

I can sustain focus for 6 hours. If I need to work on something that requires a lot of focus like for example a design project I tend to work for long hours and take a few minute breaks here and there but I usually work for 6 hours.

Tell me one time when you got late for something. Why did that happen? How could you avoid being late that day?

Ah, I am always late (haha). I was late this morning. So what happened was I woke up very late. I had class at 10 and I woke up at 9:45. I had to then get ready and eat breakfast. I got late because I slept late yesterday. Then my alarm didn't ring because my phone battery died.

Shikha

How are you with time management? Do you do anything special to manage time?

I am generally good with time management. If I have a class at 10 I tend to leave 30 minutes earlier to not be late. Unless I want to be late. Then it's a different story. Don't really do anything specific for time management. Pre planning can help with time management but it also depends on how important your task is.

How many things do you work on daily that requires your focus? Do you wish you could do more in your day?

I work on 5 things mostly? It's hard to number it. My major tasks are working on class projects. cooking and eating. Getting ready if I want to go out. Sometimes shopping.

How long can you sustain focus for? Until you need a break from doing something that requires focus like work or creativity?

I can sustain focus for 2 hours. I need a break afterwards. Sometimes it is less. For example if I am reading a book and you need a lot of mental energy to read. So my mind tends to wander off. However, if it's something really important like studying for an important exam then I can focus for a longer period of time.

Tell me one time when you got late for something. Why does that happen? How could you avoid being late that day?

On my 18th birthday I got late for my own birthday party that my friends organised. Few of my friends planned to watch a movie together on my birthday and party afterwards. The movie was to start at 130 pm. The day before, since it was my birthday night I was receiving a lot of calls from friends and family. I was on the phone talking with people until 5am. I went to sleep so late and for that reason I woke up at 1230pm. For some reason I did not hear my alarm ringing at all. I got ready as fast as I could. I left for the movie. However, because I was so worried and anxious that I was getting late for the movie I hopped on a wrong train which took me in the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. When I realised that was the case I almost lost my mind, feeling frustrated. My friends were constantly calling me to see where I was. I was an hour late to the movie. I could have avoided being late if I took the hangout more seriously. I would have woken up earlier but I think I wasn't treating being on time seriously (hehe).

Yugin

How are you with time management? Do you do anything special to manage time?

I am generally good with time management. I used to work as a project manager and got good with time management. I use a physical calendar to write my daily and upcoming tasks on it. This calendar helps me focus on what I want to do next.

How many things do you work on daily that require your focus? Do you wish you could do more in your day?

I can think of 8 things. My major tasks are working on class projects. cooking and eating. Class lectures. Getting ready.

How long can you sustain focus for? Until you need a break from doing something that requires focus like work or creativity?

I can sustain focus for 2 to 3 hours until I need a break.

Tell me one time when you got late for something. Why does that happen? How could you avoid being late that day?

This was 4 years ago, I freshly started working at this company. That day we had a very important meeting in the factory. All the important people from the company were to be present. This factory was quite far away from where I was staying so it took at least an hour to reach. Turns out I woke up late on the day of my meeting. Well it wasn't as late as you'd think. But since the travel distance was lengthy I was certain I was going to get late. I got ready as fast as I could. Skipped my breakfast. Hopped on the train. I was feeling really sweaty because I knew the vice president of the company was also going to be there. I was anxious and worried that I would love my job. I could have avoided being late by waking up earlier. Planning in advance how long it will take me to commute. How long it will take me to get ready and have breakfast. Most importantly I should have known to sleep early to wake up early because I slept quite late because I was working on the presentation for the meeting. That I think is the main reason I got late. One thing led to another and it all snowballed.

Ashwarya

How are you with time management? Do you do anything special to manage time?

I am generally good with time management. Don't do anything specific for managing time at the moment.

How many things do you work on daily that require your focus? Do you wish you could do more in your day?

5 to 6 things. These days? not really.

How long can you sustain focus for? Until you need a break from doing something that requires focus like work or creativity?

2 hours is the max limit, but I can lose focus in 15 minutes if I have to.

Tell me one time when you got late for something. Why does that happen? How could you avoid being late that day?

I got late to my exam one time. So the story is that my exam was at 11 30. However, my boyfriend at that time also started his new job and he wanted to meet and have breakfast together and show me his office. So I woke up earlier that morning, and went to hangout with my boyfriend. One thing led to another and I spent more time with my boyfriend than I should have. When I left him, I got nervous that I might get late to the exam. I hopped on the train to get to my college. In the middle of the journey the train stops because of some technical problem. That takes 10 minutes to fix. I felt frustrated and angry. Finally the train starts again. Now I am certainly late. Next the campus of our college is very large. I am literally running to not be more late. Finally I arrive at the examination hall and start my exam. How could I avoid getting late? Well, I could have skipped meeting with my boyfriend, but I got late because the train was wrecked. Not in my control really.

Dominika

How are you with time management? Do you do anything special to manage time?

I am generally good with time management. I use this application called pantress which lets you focus on one thing. For time management I like to write my weekly plans in advance. For example what I have to do and where do I have to be. I am using Trello to manage tasks which is a great tool. It can be connected to google drive and you checklists and activities etc.

How many things do you work on daily that requires your focus? Do you wish you could do more in your day?

I work on so many things daily. Apart from regular activities like getting ready, cooking and eating and exercise I have to work on my client projects, master assertion, two course projects, also have to work for my society, I have to practice for my mandarin class, I am coordinating emails, I am in the middle of applying for graduate program, I have to get ready for an upcoming conference, and also I have half marathon coming up that I have to practice for. I am struggling, it's almost too much. It makes me very stressed. This is probably the reason I am having migraines these days (lol). Do I wish I could do more? Absolutely yes, I always feel I have less time to do anything really. I am kind of a work-a-holic so I always feel I need to do more. I am stressing over other things instead of focusing on one. When I am doing one thing, I am thinking about doing the other, which is the worst part.

How long can you sustain focus for? Until you need a break from doing something that requires focus like work or creativity?

Without a break? I think I can sustain focus for 2 hours. It depends on the task really, but I need a coffee after 2 hours for sure.

Tell me one time when you got late for something. Why does that happen? How could you avoid being late that day?

I am not usually late for anything unless I want to be. Infact, I got late (almost) for submitting my class assignment this one time. A few months ago I went home for some urgent reason for some days and came back to London. The journey back was a bit tiring so I slept for a very long time that day. When I woke up I realised there was a project to be submitted for a course in the university. Turns out the due date was on midnight the same day. I didn't finished the project obviously and it was a lengthy essay that we had to write. It had to be at least 4000 words. It was a business plan so I couldn't have written anything. So I got really nervous and anxious and I thought I literally needed a miracle to be able to submit this assignment on time. I wrote to my professor what happened and that I am sorry and I need more time to finish the project. Thankfully my professor replied that I don't have to worry about it and I can submit it the week after. Phew.

(can you tell a story where you actually physically got late?) I was also late to the morning class today. What happened was I had this really bad migraine headache in the morning. These days I am feeling really tired and exhausted and if you feel that way you tend to rest and sleep more. In the morning I assumed I had more time than I actually did. I woke up at 830 and left my bed at 9 and the class was at 10. Now I had 1 hour to be on time, but I had my friend's wallet that she left with me the day earlier. I had to return it too. So I started getting ready at 9 and made breakfast and spent too long in shower too long. That took almost half an hour. Guess what? I also missed my uni bus and I had to walk as well. So first I walked to my friends house and then to the class. It was a mess.

How could I avoid being late? Well it depends on the atmosphere of your meeting too. Sometimes you just don't care if you want to be late or not. In the university that I study in, getting late is not considered an offense. Thus you spend your time doing things you usually would not do if you don't want to get late. Ah, but to answer the question, I could have prepared my food yesterday in advance, maybe not feel so bad and take the shower for less time.