Wednesday List. The Cavs and managing your schedule.

I’ve made it to Day Three. And while this is getting harder topic wise, I’m 25 days short of a habit. Maybe I’ll take Christmas off.

Maybe LeBron and the Cavs just need to chill. After last night’s surprising home loss to the Wizards, maybe this talk of banning hover boards and avoiding pre-game introductions should stop. Some of this need to align with an 82-game grind. Sure, the Warriors show no signs of slowing down. But the Cavs need to focus on themselves. This season’s legacy isn’t going to be built during the regular season. The Cavs do need to have the right habits and establish those behaviors early in the season. At times, they look almost bored. The NBA continues to get younger. The veterans are stepping up with bigger minutes contributions. The Cavs miss Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert. It showed last night. A bit more talent and experience would have forced John Wall and Bradley Beal to do more on both ends of the floor. The Cavs should be dictating tempo to opponents, not the other way around.

Combinatorics. Ever hear of it? Me either. It’s a school of mathematics used regularly in work and everyday life. Akin to probability, it’s the study of combinations of objects belonging to a constrained finite set. The term came up when looking at ways to optimize daily fantasy lineups. Coupled with probabilistic thinking, its seems like getting familiar with some of the math behind this would prove helpful.

Time management evokes passionate responses. In the workplace, it’s taboo akin to politics or religion. Nothing stokes intense personal feelings as how workers cope with getting through the work day. Stumbling into this article outlining the difference between a manager’s schedule and a maker’s schedule, I always wondered why striking a balance between productivity and communication seemed so conflicted. At its core is the problem with meetings for those tasked with producing work. “When you’re operating on the maker’s schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in.” This is so true. It’s remarkable how many workdays torpedo as a result of a single meeting. To cope with this, I’ve instituted what I call Makers Morning. I block off 9am-12pm of each day to make sure I focus my time on prioritizing output. And while I’m finding it difficult to always adhere to this schedule, I am getting a bit more done these days.