Stop procrastinating, start doing
Some people are productivity machines. They smash through tasks everyday, ticking things off their list, batting away problems and issues as quick as they crop up.For others (me included), we don't seem to have enough time in the day. Even when we create to-do lists, they can quickly get out of hand and seem like insurmountable tasks. So what's the answer? What can we do to improve our productivity and start smashing out tasks day after day?
1. Plan in advancePlanning in itself can be time consuming, so prepare for your days the day before. Spend 30 minutes at the end of your work day or in the evening laying out what you need to do. Planning out what you need to-do ahead of time avoids the too familiar first part of the day being lost to finding out what you need to do. Set tasks with priority levels, an easy way to do this is with a task manager, there is plenty of software out there to choose from. You can allocate time to each task then, by estimating the amount of time each task will take you, so you don’t try to achieve tasks that take 12 hours into one 8 hour day or 4 hour morning.This would be a surefire way to fail. Make sure you're setting realistic, actionable goals with reasonable time limits.2. Screw your inboxIf something is really important, people will call you. Email is a non-urgent form of communication, so there's no reason you can't put it off for a couple of hours at least. The best thing to do is not even look at your email until 11am, avoiding any distractions or things that'll take you off task. I'd even recommend doing the same in the afternoon, after 1 hour in your emails between 11-12 you shouldn't need to revisit them until 4-5pm. In that hour you can plan any tasks that are in your inbox for the next day or later dependant on the priority of the task.I used to fin that my email would dominate my day, dictating my schedule and drag me from pillar to post through a minefield of uncompleted tasks. Ditch the email and focus on your to-do list, add tasks from your email to your to-do list as appropriate and stay out of your inbox as much as possible.
3. Pick a problem and dominate itYou always get that one task that you do not want to do, your absolutely dread the thought of it. Either because it's complex, tedious or simply a job you hate doing. As crazy as it sounds, that's the sucker you've got to jump into and wrestle with first.You're fresher and usually more motivated at the beginning of the day, not to mention you have more time at that point than any other point in the day. You should be able to progress through it faster and more effectively than later in the day. Plus, once it’s done, not only will you no longer have it hanging over you like a dark cloud, but It will give you a big boost to make an all out assault on the rest of your list.If the task is huge and absolutely terrifying then you need to break it down, right down. Create smaller tasks within the task (again most task manager software enable you to do this) which makes it less daunting. By ticking off these smaller tasks you'll be on a one way train to smashing that big ugly task you put off for so long.4. Unfinished businessYou're always going to have a few tasks you weren’t able to complete. If you played your cards right then these will be the lowest priority tasks. If you're honest with yourself and realise that you won’t necessarily get everything done, you won’t feel so bad if you're pushing a task to the next day.At the end of the day create a new list and ditch the old one. Move whatever you have to on to the next list or push it further back if you have to. You can use the day's events to guide your next list. Meaning if you underestimated the time each task would take, then you can adjust your future lists accordingly being more realistic.No matter how much you get done in a day don't kick yourself, instead, see it as an opportunity. You've set a milestone, now you can improve your process daily and become better and more productive day after day until you are one of those productivity machines we're all jealous of.
1. Plan in advancePlanning in itself can be time consuming, so prepare for your days the day before. Spend 30 minutes at the end of your work day or in the evening laying out what you need to do. Planning out what you need to-do ahead of time avoids the too familiar first part of the day being lost to finding out what you need to do. Set tasks with priority levels, an easy way to do this is with a task manager, there is plenty of software out there to choose from. You can allocate time to each task then, by estimating the amount of time each task will take you, so you don’t try to achieve tasks that take 12 hours into one 8 hour day or 4 hour morning.This would be a surefire way to fail. Make sure you're setting realistic, actionable goals with reasonable time limits.2. Screw your inboxIf something is really important, people will call you. Email is a non-urgent form of communication, so there's no reason you can't put it off for a couple of hours at least. The best thing to do is not even look at your email until 11am, avoiding any distractions or things that'll take you off task. I'd even recommend doing the same in the afternoon, after 1 hour in your emails between 11-12 you shouldn't need to revisit them until 4-5pm. In that hour you can plan any tasks that are in your inbox for the next day or later dependant on the priority of the task.I used to fin that my email would dominate my day, dictating my schedule and drag me from pillar to post through a minefield of uncompleted tasks. Ditch the email and focus on your to-do list, add tasks from your email to your to-do list as appropriate and stay out of your inbox as much as possible.3. Pick a problem and dominate itYou always get that one task that you do not want to do, your absolutely dread the thought of it. Either because it's complex, tedious or simply a job you hate doing. As crazy as it sounds, that's the sucker you've got to jump into and wrestle with first.You're fresher and usually more motivated at the beginning of the day, not to mention you have more time at that point than any other point in the day. You should be able to progress through it faster and more effectively than later in the day. Plus, once it’s done, not only will you no longer have it hanging over you like a dark cloud, but It will give you a big boost to make an all out assault on the rest of your list.If the task is huge and absolutely terrifying then you need to break it down, right down. Create smaller tasks within the task (again most task manager software enable you to do this) which makes it less daunting. By ticking off these smaller tasks you'll be on a one way train to smashing that big ugly task you put off for so long.4. Unfinished businessYou're always going to have a few tasks you weren’t able to complete. If you played your cards right then these will be the lowest priority tasks. If you're honest with yourself and realise that you won’t necessarily get everything done, you won’t feel so bad if you're pushing a task to the next day.At the end of the day create a new list and ditch the old one. Move whatever you have to on to the next list or push it further back if you have to. You can use the day's events to guide your next list. Meaning if you underestimated the time each task would take, then you can adjust your future lists accordingly being more realistic.No matter how much you get done in a day don't kick yourself, instead, see it as an opportunity. You've set a milestone, now you can improve your process daily and become better and more productive day after day until you are one of those productivity machines we're all jealous of.
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