How to Manage Your Time Better

How to manage your time more effectively (according to machines) - Brian Christian

Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management

This Is How Successful People Manage Their Time

Time Management-Prioritizing and Recording Tasks to Feel Productive and Accomplished

Introduction

In this article I will discuss a time management strategy and an accountability strategy that, when applied together, make sure that you finish your most important tasks for the day and leave you feeling a sense of accomplishment. I will first discuss what each of these strategies are, and then I will discuss the steps on how to put these strategies to work for you. Finally, I will suggest another time management strategy that I recommend you learn more about to save even more time and increase your sense of accomplishment even more.

Time Management Strategy

To manage your tasks efficiently, a proven time management strategy is making a to-do list, prioritizing your most important tasks to finish, and completing those tasks first. There is no rocket science to this strategy--all that it asks of you is to figure out exactly what tasks you need to get done. Then it asks you to number, rank, assign importance to those tasks.

Accountability Strategy

To increase your sense of accomplishment as you management your tasks, there is a simple accountability strategy you can use--recording your accomplished tasks. When you finish completing a task, no matter how big or small, you can write/record that you have finished it, giving you an instant sense of accomplishment and provides motivation to move on to successfully complete your next task.

How to Use These Together

Managing your time and increasing your sense of accomplishment is fairly simple once you follow these seven steps to implement both of these strategies together. First, you will use the time management strategy, and then, before moving on to accomplish your next task, you will complete the accountability strategy described above. Once finished with both, repeat the entire process to continue productively managing your time and feelings of accomplishment.

Step 1: Write Down Your Tasks to Be Completed--When using the prioritization strategy for time management it's important to know everything that you feel you need to accomplish before beginning to prioritize what tasks will make you feel most accomplished. To do this write down or type everything that you need to do to feel that you are done with your work for the day period delete be as specific as possible. Finally try to group tasks into tasks and sub-tasks.

Step 2: Prioritize Your Top Tasks--Once you have written all of the tasks you need to complete it's important to review your list closely to identify which three to five tasks to prioritize. An easy way to prioritize tasks is by asking yourself, "what would happen if I finish this task today?," and "what would happen if I did not finish this task today?" Whichever task has the most benefits to finishing and/or the most drawbacks to not finishing the task should be most highly prioritized.

Step 3: Choose the Correct Task to Actively Work On--Once you have prioritized your top tasks, choose the task that upon completion, will make you feel as though you were highly productive, and if possible, will make you feel accomplished for the day--even if you did not complete anything else. This is the first task you should attempt to complete.

Step 4: Complete the Task--Once you have prepared to complete your prioritized task, it is time to take action and actually complete your task. If you have trouble finishing the task in one sitting, try setting a timer for a certain period of time, taking a five-minute break when the timer goes off, and then refocusing on completing the task once your break is over.

Step 5: Taking Out Your Achievement Tracker--When you have fully completed the task at hand, it is time to take out your achievement tracker. You achievement tracker is simply a dated list of tasks and responsibilities that you have completed. Your tracker should be easily accessible, such as in a notebook or journal you keep in your work environment, or in a document that can be easily located and re-saved on your computer.

Step 6: Use Your Achievement Tracker--When you have your achievement tracker, you should write down the name and a short description of the task you just completed. A short description, particularly of more complex tasks, will make your achievement tracker more meaningful and motivating as you give yourself "extra credit" or a description, of what work and effort you had to put in just to accomplish completing that particular task.

Step 7: Repeat--When you finish with your task and updating your achievement tracker, you can now repeat this process--starting on the third step and working on your next most highly prioritized task.

By the way, if you would like to learn more about time management strategies, you can download my free "Batch Processing Toolkit" which includes an audio training on the time management strategy of batch processing as well as a batch processing infographic and checklist by clicking here: https://www.freedownload.greatworklifebalancehabits.com/batchprocessing.

My name is Jazmin Leon, and I am a certified master coach whose primary work involves guiding clients in how to build positive habits to increase their satisfaction with their ability to balance their professional and personal lives and learning how to develop the work life balance they deserve to live. I have a background in neuroscience and psychology, advanced educational learning techniques and instructional design, and have spent years studying how to effectively prevent and reduce burnout and increase work life balance among busy professionals.

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How To Multiply Your Time | Rory Vaden | TEDxDouglasville

Productivity - How to Be Productive at Work Daily

Introduction

In this article, I will be discuss simple steps to take action on each day at work to accomplish more in less time. By following these steps, you will learn how to be productive at work on a daily basis.

Benefits of Increasing Productivity

Learning how to be more productive, especially at work, typically results in you increasing the efficiency with which you complete your tasks. Completing more work in less time has many benefits from the obvious benefit of freeing up more of your time for non-work related tasks, increasing your motivation to continue to be productive, increasing your sense of accomplishment and reducing your overall stress levels.

Then of course, there are the positive work benefits that come from increasing your productivity--especially on a daily basis. By being able to complete more work in less time with the high level of quality that you typically complete your work-related tasks, you are literally achieving more at work. Achieving more at work usually earns you benefits that will likely impact your life, and your work life balance, positively.

How to be Productive at Work Daily

There is no one set of strategies or steps to becoming "productive," and what leads to success for one person may be a disastrous strategy for another person to try to follow. As a result, I encourage you to test out each of the steps below, and decide for yourself which of the steps will be effective at increasing your productivity at work, and that are therefore worth the effort to put into action, and continue using, until you see positive results. These positive results likely will not happen after just one attempt, rather try each step out for at least a week before making a final decision on whether that particular strategy is personally beneficial for you to pursue.

Step 1: Tie Rewarding Tasks for Finishing Work Tasks: To increase your productivity daily at work, you can tie enjoying a rewarding task with accomplishing a less rewarding and/or necessary work-related task.

For example, you can delay enjoying a rewarding task, such as having your first cup of coffee or tea, until after you complete one work-related task. Or, you can delay checking any social media until you've completed three work-related tasks.

Step 2: Shift Your "Productivity" Schedule: Everyone experiences a natural lull in energy at some throughout the day. If you are working outside of the home, in a 9-5 or similar job, that lull in energy typically (but not always) comes during the late afternoon.

Shift your work schedule by one hour so that you are leaving work, or at least not attempting to be highly productive, by 4:00 p.m. or whenever your energy lull happens to be. This will ensure that you have more energy to be productive during work hours that you decide will be productive, and reduces your stress levels by not creating unrealistic expectations of what you should accomplish right before the 5:00 p.m. end of day hits.

Step 3: Snacking to Keep Your Energy and Productivity Up: Continuing with the idea that people naturally have more energy to be highly productive at certain times of day, you should also be aware of how the food you eat can positively increase the energy you have and can help you to be more productive.

Foods, typically fruit such as apples, oranges, and bananas, or other foods like honey and agave, are high in both fructose and sucrose. These are two sugars that serve different energy purposes in your body, one giving you a short term energy boost while the other gives you energy over a longer period of time. In either case, by snacking puposefully, you can help make sure that you have the stamina to finish your work day strong and with the high level of productivity you started your day with.

Step 4: Start and End Your Day With Special Tasks: For most people, the most challenging part of experiencing consistently high levels of productivity is finding the motivation to just start working. To help with this problem, try giving yourself select tasks to work on to start and end your day.

To begin your day successfully and to quickly achieve productivity in your day, the first task you should try to accomplish is something fairly short, simple and/or enjoyable to complete. This will ensure that you finish your first task of the day, and that you are left with positive feelings of motivation and accomplishment from doing so.

To end your day, and prepare for the next day, leave work when you are only halfway done with a particular task that can be completed the next day without having a negative impact on your work. Most people feel uncomfortable with "unfinished" work, and this sense of not finishing your work and the discomfort that comes with it will provide a reliable source of motivation to start your work immediately the next day to be able to get to and complete your previous day's unfinished task.

By the way, if you would like to learn more about productivity strategies, you can download my free audio training "How to Create Your Productive Work Environment" by clicking here: https://www.freedownload.greatworklifebalancehabits.com/productiveenvironment.

My name is Jazmin Leon, and I am a certified master coach whose primary work involves guiding clients in how to build positive habits to increase their satisfaction with their ability to balance their professional and personal lives and learning how to develop the work life balance they deserve to live. I have a background in neuroscience and psychology, advanced educational learning techniques and instructional design, and have spent years studying how to effectively prevent and reduce burnout and increase work life balance among busy professionals.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jazmin_Leon/2699211

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