In a world where nobody seems to have enough time to accomplish everything they want, the concept of time has become a very important commodity. However, the particularly unique thing about time, is that science and technology has yet to be hugely unsuccessful at creating anything artificial to its equivalent. Yes, smartphones may have been designed to make your life more convenient, but it is still up to you to put them to proper use in order to open up some of that time they can afford.
Basically what I am saying is: There are no shortcuts to cheating your health, success, and time management. However, there are seven tips that can help you get more done, waste less energy, and get ahead of the competition. All you have to do is find the time to learn how to put them into action. Here’s what you need to do.
1. Take Advantage of Your Daily Peak
The old saying used to go: The early bird catches the worm. However, it is also true that the afternoon hawk gets the prairie dog; the evening fish gets the fly, and the night owl gets the sleepy rodent. Not every person is their most productive in the morning. Only you know when your creativity is at its peak, so go ahead and utilize that time to work on your hardest tasks.
2. It is Quicker to Seek Forgiveness for Failure, Than Permission to Succeed
In a world of approval addiction, it is always more productive to do what needs done, rather than wait around for other people to give you their blessing and moral support. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” What are you waiting for; Just do it.
3. Procrastination is a Form of Job/Career Avoidance
Here is a little tip that your career counselor probably never thought to tell you. Procrastination is a passive-aggressive methodology of avoiding the things you most dislike to do. So, if you find yourself bulking at your current daily tasks, perhaps it is not the procrastination that is the problem, but rather the tasks being put before you. In other words, changing your job or career may be the most efficient way to re-light that fire under your rear end.
4. Choose Your Daily Breaks, Before They Choose You
People postpone a lot of good things, like eating healthy or exercising, simply because they are too busy. The truth is, if you don’t offer the body a salubrious break several times per day, it will scavenge its own time in the form of over-checking your e-mails, reading Google headlines, or shopping for deals on the web. You are not doing your productivity any favors by skipping breaks, because you need them to give your body a chance to re-energize itself for the tasks ahead.
5. Cease and Desist Order
Productive people are not quitters; It is just not how they do things. However, if you are experiencing a productivity block on a project, it is actually better to cease and desist, switch tasks, and come back to the original task when you’re ready. If you don’t police yourself this way, your entire day could be forced to a grinding halt, which is a double whammy against productivity.
6. Multitasking is An Unsung Hero
It has been suggested in studies that multitasking can be unproductive. This is because the constant stopping and starting takes time to reboot your mind to the new task at hand. However, if you are pressed to complete several non-creative, boring, and monotonous tasks, it can be to your advantage to juggle them back and forth until they’re finished.
7. Nix the Victory Lap At the End of Big Projects
After accomplishing a long and heavy task, it is tempting to take a victory lap in the form of several minutes of glorified time wasting to triple (and possibly even, quadruple) check your work. Learn to police yourself to recognize when a project is finished. This will avoid unnecessary scrutinizing, and allow you to move onto the next task and get more done.
To discover where your greatest faults lie, spend a day logging the hours you spend during a day, such as when you work, eat, sleep/nap, talk on the phone, read e-mails, Facebook, etc. Once you know where your time is going, you can put a plan together to use it more appropriately.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech
Eric has written for over a decade. Then one day he created Urbasm.com, a site for every guy.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech