Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Once You Have Mastered Time, You Will Understand How True It Is That Most People Overestimate What They Can Accomplish In A Year – And Underestimate What They Can Achieve In A Decade! - Tony Robbins


One of the most popular questions I receive in my in-box is how I am able to balance my life. The truth is that I make lists for everything, and work on a very tight schedule. Everything from the time I wake up, to when I take my daily nap [I need my naps y'all] is mapped out in my daily to-do list. I find that I am less frazzled and able to accomplish a lot more when I have a daily agenda versus the days I just wing it. - Here is a short yet useful list of tips and tricks to help you better manage your time, ensuring that you get more done at the end of the day. 

The key is to work smarter, not harder

Make a list of your day-to-day activities: This can include anything from the exact time you wake up in the morning, to your noon call with your BFF, and even the time you spend surfing the internet. Making a list of your activities will help you delegate your time to tasks that are higher on the priority list, ensuring you are more productive during the day. It will also help give you a clearer picture of how much you are actually able to take on during each day. 

Cut out the fluff: Account for that 30 minutes - hour you may spend on social networking sites, blogs, talking on the phone, watching TV, anything that doesn't directly correlate to a goal. Once you have taken note of these activities, it is time to start prioritizing. 

List all daily tasks in order of importance: This will be the order in which you complete these activities each day! This structure will help you complete pressing tasks in a timely and efficient manner. 

Start each day with a "dreaded task": You will be amazed at how much better you feel after conquering high-priority tasks early on in the day.

Make each task time-specific & work on one task at a time: Some tasks can consume your whole day, so it is important to set time-lines and stick to them. It will help you work better, as you will stay motivated while you breeze through each task. >> For instance, you can set 30 minutes daily for answering emails, 1hr for internet research, 20 minutes for phone calls,  etc.

Invest in a day calendar or other time management tools: Use tools like Google Calendar, iCal, or even an old fashioned day journal to keep track of important appointments, to-do lists, outings, and future events you may need to prepare for. 
Stay away from these productivity killers: 
Multi-tasking: Give your full attention to one task at a time, you are less likely to make errors, and your stress level will be lower while working. Completing one task at a time also makes for better time management as it is easier to delegate feasible time-lines for single projects versus compound tasks.

Disorganization: Disorganization can cripple even your best efforts to stay on track. Make sure you have everything you need to complete your tasks before you begin.

Improper/unclear to-do lists: To-do lists should be as precise as possible so that you can assign feasible time-lines. Instead of saying "work on school project" for one hour, break the project down into sections as follows: 30 minutes for research, and 30 minutes for outlining structure of the paper. Remember to break larger projects down into smaller bite-size pieces for better results.

Other productivity killers:
Procrastination
Surfing the internet while working
Texting while working
Watching TV while working

Follow MTM on Twitter | Add MTM on Bloglovin'Like MTM on Facebook 

18 comments:

  1. It's ironic that you posted this just as I was telling a friend she could do more than she thought she could do in the hours of the day. It's all about organizing and having undivided attention to these tasks. I dont mean to go on (obviously you know what your talking about) but its the best feeling when you get ANY task completed. It's inspiration for the days events.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG ! i was waiting for you ! guess what am i doing?? lool, doing my daily planning on google agenda ! thaaaank you ! ! ! !

    ReplyDelete
  3. it is true to start off with a "dreaded" task and get that out the way, makes the day run so much more smoothly and you feel freer!

    Vonnie
    http://www.socialitedreams.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. YOUR THE BOMB!!! WILL APPLY THESE ASAP BECAUSE WITH THREE KIDS AND PLANNING ONE LOL AND A @ HOME BIZ AND A HUSBAND AND A MOUNTAIN OF LAUNDRY(BREATHE) LOL YEAH I NEED TO MAKE A DARN LIST OR ELSE NOTHING WILL GET DONE.

    THANKS GIRL I REALLY LOVE THE BLOG!

    ReplyDelete
  5. this is an excellent and very helpful post. people laugh at me because i write EVERYTHING down. i use palm and it has been a life saver! i only hope i can continue to use the same planner as technology changes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you SO much for this. I am the ultimate putter-offer. lol. I looked at my to-do list, that I made on 11/5/10, and I had only ONE thing crossed off. I'm behind in school work and everything is starting to catch up to me. I'm going to start getting strict with my task list ASAP.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your the woman does it all! This post is really helpful and right on time. Thanks Nikole!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You know, my friends consider me neurotic because I do all these things (or try to). They give me to do list stationary as gifts 'cause I'm so obsessive! Now I just need to conquer those productivity killers and I'm set!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Do you ever get a rush when you can cross something off your list? I am so type-A, so when I completely a task I absolutely have to cross it off. Its something about visually seeing that I have done something on my list. When those last few items are remaining, I am even more motivated to do them (esp the dreaded taks) because I get anxious to cross them off. Maybe I am just weird, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Social networking is the bane of productivity.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great suggestions! I agree creating a to-do list is the way to go...I would be lost without mine.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks. I was just saying the other day that I don't accomplish nearly as much as I could/should. Google Calendar has helped but apparently it's time to kick it into the next gear.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I feel like I have HORRIBLE time mgmt skills. I tend to make lists almost everyday to keep track of what needs to be done..but it seems I never complete EVERYTHING on the list. I like your tip about breaking projects up into smaller timed parts...I think that's just what I need! Thanks! -Naj

    ReplyDelete
  14. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I always wonder how much time surfing blogs really take away from my productivity. It doesn't help that I try to justify it though. :/ I really appreciate you posting this :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. "Cut out the fluff: Account for that 30 minutes - hour you may spend on social networking sites, blogs, talking on the phone, watching TV, anything that doesn't directly correlate to a goal"

    I've recently started doing that & it helps so much with time management. If you dont pay attention you can end up on social networking sites for HOURS! I limit fb to 15mins a day & blogging to an hour everday if I'm not writing something on it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh man! I'm convinced you were lead to write this so I would find it. Between blogging and working my 9 to 5. I am all scattered brain and can't complete anything. I find myself wasting 8 hours of my day on nothing. Thanks for this post because today I'm going to create a precise to do list and input all my events into my phone calendat.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I concur with everything you wrote here—great suggestions! My issue is that sometimes I get so geeked to meticulously priorities my to-do list that I use the list writing as an opportunity to procrastinate! Or sometimes I don't do that "dreaded" task first an I end up doing nothing on the list. :-/ But this was truly a great reminder. Can't wait to face the day :-)

    ~Courtney

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails