Time management for poker pros

Get disciplined and stop wasting time with this debut video and interview from mindset coach whys0serious.

Today we introduce a new coach to the English Poker School. whys0serious is popular mindset coach from our Polish community making his English language debut. 

After making one the best poker videos in a community contest he became a coach to our Polish players and has made 10 videos already. He has a degree in psychology and has been working in that area for six years. 

His first video is all about time management for poker pros. Given that many poker players come to the game so they never have to use an alarm clock again, this is an area where a lot of you may need improvement. 

In this video he covers:

• Defining your values
• Efficiency principles
• Things that steal your time
• The GTD method
• Further reading

Meet whys0serious

We shared a few words with our new mindset coach to learn more about why time management is important in poker.

Why do poker pros have to manage their time? Isn’t the whole point of poker the freedom of it?

whys0serious: Freedom in poker is based on the fact that I decide what I do and when. Poker give us a lot of opportunities but in return for playing. And we're not talking about a few hours a month here, it’s about few dozen or even more than a hundred hours sitting and playing. Sometimes it is difficult to know how to keep work & life balance. Time management is in fact set of principles and techniques that allow us to control this whole mess. We set priorities, appropriate time to play and rest. This lowers our level of stress and allows our mindset to work on a very high level. The comfort is that I am the person who manages this time and depending on my needs I can change the plans. In the long run, what determines success is self-discipline and good work ethics.

What benefits are there to having good time management in poker (other than getting to the tournament when it starts)?

whys0serious: Work-life balance which is very important. Grinding a lot can easily lead you to burnout syndrome or affect your quality of game. There are some work titans but most of us need rest to reach our A-game constantly. Time management helps you to realise your goals in more efficient ways. You set priorities, divide ‘big picture’ (your vision) in small steps and realise it step by step. You cannot achieve much by acting accidentally.

Does poker naturally attract people who are disorganised?

whys0serious: I think poker attracts people who are born to work for themselves. It is a big pleasure for them and they value freedom that comes from that they are 100% responsible for their success. It is very comfortable, but also very challenging.

Is being good at time management a natural trait or can you learn it?

whys0serious: Time management is a set of rules and techniques. You can learn all of it and implement. However, there are certain personality traits that are conducive to this - for example conscientiousness according to big five personality model. So it will be much easier for people with high self-discipline and self-control. But it doesn’t mean that when you’re the lazy-neurotic type you cannot learn to manage your time. You will just have to work a little bit harder.

What are the most common errors poker players make with time management?

whys0serious: Planning to much! I often recommend to players: set one, two priorities and realize them. It's funny when at the begging at every year you see how people post their goals on blogs etc. and most of them don't even realise 50% of it. It’s because they want to follow much more experienced guys. They perceive their self-organisation & good habits as a cause but in fact it’s often effect of hard work.

Thanks very much, we look forward to hearing more from you!