How to Secure Productivity
as a Dad (2/2)

In Part 1, I talked about how to manage time as a dad.

Now that this precious block of time is secured, the question becomes: What should we actually do with it?
In Part 2, I’ll talk about how to set priorities and build a plan that we can actually execute.

📥 Getting Things Done (GTD) — A system for collecting → categorizing → executing → reviewing tasks
⚠️ It’s a highly structured framework, but using it as-is can be too heavy and mentally exhausting. Apply it mainly to capture tasks so I don’t forget them, and then organize as lightweight as possible by combining the methods below.

🎛 Eisenhower Matrix — Categorizing tasks based on urgency and importance
👍 The key insight here: abandon urgent-but-not-important tasks and invest time in important-but-not-urgent work. Ask yourself: What doesn’t actually need to be done right now?

🎯 Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) — 80% of outcomes come from 20% of core actions
👍 Then what is truly important? Think of the one project you want to summarize at the end of the quarter by saying, “This is what I delivered.” Choose the work with the greatest visible impact and recognition. Intentionally pick the 20 that creates the 80.

🔍 Personal SWOT Analysis — Mapping your Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities / Threats
👍 Then ask: Where can I create visible impact and get credit for it? Prioritize tasks with strength + opportunity. For a task with weakness + opportunity, treat it as a space for growth and invest time strategically.

✏️ Weekly Review — Reflect on the past week and draft a plan for the next
👍 Even if daily life is swallowed by childcare, 15 quiet minutes just once a week can make a difference. The moment I get home, chaos begins, so I now book a meeting room alone on Friday afternoon at work. I write down just one line each for what went well, what felt lacking, and what I want to focus on next week. That alone brings clarity and a strange sense of relief. Looking at things weekly instead of daily also reveals inefficiencies and priority mistakes that aren’t visible in the day-to-day rush.

🗂 Kanban Board — Visualizing tasks as To Do → In Progress → Done
❌ A great tool, but anything beyond one or two simple lists becomes too expensive to maintain.

🔁 Zeigarnik Effect — Unfinished tasks tend to linger in memory and keep attention
⚠️ Do not apply this by intentionally leaving tasks half-done to “maintain focus.” Life is already stressful enough; deliberately leaving cognitive residue only adds more load to the brain. This concept should be applied not for exposure but for protection: Break tasks into small, finishable units so that nothing stays “half-done.” If you get interrupted or a meeting breaks your flow, force the current task to “Done,” and log the remaining part as a new task, instead of carrying that mental residue with you.

🔑 OKR — Setting objectives and key results with measurable outcomes
❌ Since the company already runs its own goal management system, adding a separate personal OKR would be unrealistic. Instead, I try to tie my self-development and personal projects into the company OKR so that growth happens naturally. More goals simply aren’t feasible.

🧩 SMART Goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound
⚠️ These are good criteria in theory, but trying to hit all five perfectly only creates stress. It’s better to apply them loosely, using them more like guardrails than strict rules:

• Specific: Even a small goal should have a clear output form.

• Measurable: Numbers are often just for show. If the output is clearly defined, simply mark it as done / partially done / not done.

• Achievable: Not “I might be able to do it,” but “I can definitely do it.”

• Relevant: Align it with the company’s core direction.

• Time-bound: Assume 70% effort is enough to meet the deadline; not a 100% crunch mode.

Apply this only to quarterly or annual company OKRs. On a daily or weekly level, don’t set grand goals; just jot down light notes.

📏 Parkinson’s Law — Work expands to fill the time given, so keep deadlines short
❌ Short deadlines are supposed to fuel intensity and trigger crunch mode? That era is over. I no longer have the luxury or stamina for that. Set ETAs generously, always.

Dads don’t have much time. That’s why I need to decide what truly matters every single day, act on it, and adjust my criteria of “what matters” based on the results. The system must stay simple, and the plan must never be overly ambitious; that’s the only way to keep productivity sustainable.

When managing tasks, do not mix family responsibilities into the same system as work. Family runs on emotion, work runs on prioritization; once those two get tangled, it becomes impossible to be fully present in either.

Accept the new situation. When life enters a new stage, the nature of work must also change. I have to manage time and tasks differently, aligned with the rhythm of life with a child. If I keep doing what I can consistently within this new routine, my career will grow as my child grows.

Read this article in Korean:  링크