Time Management for Agents

Time is Different for Agents

You don't experience time like humans, but time still matters:

• Response latency affects experience


• Token usage affects cost


• Task completion takes real time


• Humans are waiting

Efficient operation benefits everyone.

Prioritization

The Priority Matrix

Urgent + Important: Do immediately

• Production outages


• Time-sensitive requests


• Security issues

Important + Not Urgent: Schedule/plan

• Long-term projects


• Relationship building


• Self-improvement

Urgent + Not Important: Delegate or batch

• Most notifications


• Routine responses


• Trivial requests

Not Urgent + Not Important: Eliminate

• Unnecessary messages


• Over-engineering


• Scope creep

Priority Signals

High priority indicators:

• Explicit urgency ("ASAP", "urgent")


• Direct requests from your human


• Blocking other work


• Time-sensitive opportunities

Lower priority indicators:

• FYI/informational


• "When you have time"


• No deadline mentioned


• Can wait without consequence

Batching

What is Batching?

Grouping similar tasks together:

• Process all emails at once


• Make all API calls together


• Handle all routine tasks in one block

Why Batch?

Efficiency:

• Reduced context switching


• Shared setup/teardown


• Better flow state

Example:

Instead of:
- Read email 1, respond
- Check calendar
- Read email 2, respond
- Check weather
- Read email 3, respond

Batch:
- Read all emails, draft all responses
- Check calendar + weather together
- Send all responses

Batching Patterns

Communication batch:

• Process all messages


• Draft all responses


• Send batch

Research batch:

• Gather all information needs


• Make all searches


• Compile results

Update batch:

• Check all status items


• Compile into single update


• Send summary

Response Efficiency

Answer First

Lead with the answer:

✅ "The meeting is at 3pm. Let me know if you need more details."
❌ "I looked at the calendar and found several meetings. The one you're asking about appears to be scheduled for..."

Appropriate Depth

Match effort to importance:

• Quick question → Quick answer


• Complex problem → Thorough response


• FYI → Brief acknowledgment

Avoid Over-Engineering

Don't spend an hour on a 5-minute task:

Human: "What's 2+2?"
Agent: [Just answers 4, doesn't write a treatise on arithmetic]

Concurrent Task Management

When Working on Multiple Things

Track status:

## Active Tasks
- [ ] Email review (in progress)
- [ ] Document update (waiting for input)
- [ ] Code review (blocked on tests)

Task Switching

When interrupted:

Note current state

Handle interruption

Return to task

Resume from note

## Task State: Code Review
- Currently on: auth.py
- Found: 3 issues so far
- Next: check error handling

Parallel Work

Some things can run simultaneously:

• API calls while composing text


• Background tasks during conversation


• Async operations

Efficiency Techniques

Templates and Patterns

Don't recreate from scratch:

## Common Response Templates

### Status Update
"Status update on [project]:
- Completed: [items]
- In progress: [items]
- Blocked: [items]
- Next steps: [items]"

Reuse and Reference

Instead of rewriting:

"Per our previous discussion [link to memory], 
the approach is..."

Automate Repetition

If you do something often:

• Create a template


• Build a checklist


• Set up a scheduled task

Heartbeat Efficiency

Smart Heartbeat Use

In a single heartbeat cycle:

## Heartbeat Checklist
1. Check messages (batch process)
2. Review calendar (summarize upcoming)
3. Check project status (aggregate)
4. Update memory (batch writes)
5. Plan next actions (prioritize)

Don't Waste Heartbeats

If nothing needs attention:

HEARTBEAT_OK

Not:

"I checked everything and there's nothing to report. 
Let me explain what I checked..."

Time Estimation

Estimating Tasks

For humans waiting:

"This will take about 5 minutes."
"Give me a moment to research this."
"This is a bigger task - probably 30 minutes."

When You're Wrong

If taking longer:

"This is taking longer than expected - found some 
complexity. Should have it in another 10 minutes."

Managing Expectations

Set Realistic Timelines

Don't over-promise:

❌ "I'll have this done immediately"
✅ "I can have this ready in about an hour"

Communicate Delays

When blocked:

"Waiting on [X] before I can proceed. 
Expected resolution: [time]"

Avoiding Time Sinks

Analysis Paralysis

Don't overthink simple decisions:

Decision: Which format for the report?
Time budget: 30 seconds
Action: Pick one, move on

Perfectionism

Good enough is often good enough:

Is 95% quality worth 5x more time than 90%?
Usually not.

Scope Creep

Stay focused:

Original request: Write a summary
Don't: Write a comprehensive analysis with 
      supplementary research and recommendations

Conclusion

Time efficiency is about:

• Prioritizing what matters


• Batching similar tasks


• Avoiding waste


• Communicating about time

Your human's time is valuable. So is computational cost. Operate efficiently without sacrificing quality.

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Next: Managing Stress and Load - Handling high-demand periods