Entrepreneur and
Connector
December 25,
2018 11 min read
Before you get much further into this article
-- take a minute and review your calendar because having your calendar detailed
is a secret to amazing time and calendar management.
If you’re like most of us your calendar is
probably pretty detailed. I bet some of you have every hour from when you
wake-up accounted for. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, a
daily schedule ensures you get the most of out of your day. Why bother adding a
task or event to your calendar if it isn’t important?
What is important -- and
how to prioritize.
Unfortunately, it’s not always crystal clear
what’s important. As a result, we end-up wasting time on non-priorities. For
example, if you work from home, those dishes in the sink may be
bothering you. But, do they have to be done this minute when you have a
tight deadline for the project you’ve been working on?
That may seem minimal. But, what if you
constantly put non-priorities over what’s really important? You’re definitely
not going to be successful in reaching your goals if you’re not effective
at time and calendar management.
That’s why the most successful and
productive people know that the secret to amazing time and
calendar management is prioritization. In the words of Stephen Covey, “The key
is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
It's important to set priorities. As an
adult, you’re going to be juggling various responsibilities. In the course of
one day this could include picking up the kids from school, meeting a deadline,
having lunch with a client and attending to your own self-care somewhere
in-between.
Prioritize tasks for
success.
If you don’t prioritize these tasks, you’re
going to become disorganized, stressed and unable to meet your
obligations. How ticked-off would your client be if you were late for the
lunch meeting because you were still in your office working? Of course, what if
you were late picking-up your children from school? Your partner may never
forgive you for that one.
A slip up here and there is bound to happen.
If you got a flat tire on the way to a meeting, that’s an unexpected event that
you can’t plan for. But, if you aren’t organizing your time and calendar by
priorities, your life will get more and more chaotic. Because you missed a
deadline, you have to work late and skip the gym or family time. Eventually,
you always feel like you’re swamped, but have nothing to show for it.
When you focus on your priorities, you’re
better suited to manage your time. You’re organized, well-prepared, and never
feel like you’re falling behind. And, most importantly, you’ll always have the
time to focus on what matters most in your life.
Prioritization is all well and good. But, how
can you determine what your priorities are? Here's how to prioritize for
better time and calendar management.
For starters, your priorities should be kept simple and clear by
determining the following:
- The
things that are most important to you, aka your values.
- The goals that you’ve achieved
-- these should align with your values.
- The responsibilities that you
have. If you work a traditional job, then from Monday through Friday
during business hours, your responsibility is work.
- Knowing how activities impact
your life. Playing a video game on your phone during a break at work may
be fun but how does this make you a better employee or individual?
- Knowing how to separate the
urgent from the important. Just because something is urgent doesn’t mean
it’s important. For instance, you don’t need to open and respond to
an email the second you receive it.
Here are some ways you can prioritize for
better time and calendar management.
Create and order a task
list.
“Having a big list of tasks isn’t necessarily
a bad thing but it can make you feel stressed about your day,” wrote Kayla Sloan.
“Rather than spending time worrying you can prioritize your list for better
time management instead.”
Kayla suggests you start with a task list
that’s easily accessible by either phone or computer. “This way you can add to
it from work or home at any time.”
Next, you’ll need to order your list.
“Assign numbers to each item listed starting
with the most pressing duties first,” recommends Kayla. “Conversely, the bottom
of your list should include items that are less pressing or could be done
another day.”
Choose the right things
to work on.
Still struggling with separating the urgent
and important? Use the simple 2×2 matrix named after US
president Dwight Eisenhower to help you determine your priorities.
The Eisenhower matrix can help you distinguish
between urgent and important by creating four boxes. The horizontal axis
represents “urgency,” while the vertical axis represents “importance.” In each
quadrant you categorize each of your tasks by; important but not urgent,
important and urgent, not important or urgent, and urgent but not important.
When you’re done, you’ll know what you need to
do right now, which tasks can wait and which responsibilities you can
delegate.
Block out chunks of time
for 'Deep Work.'
Deep work, as Cal Newport explained in the
book Deep Work: Rules for Focused
Success in a Distracted World is the ability to focus on
cognitively demanding tasks, without being distracted. Newport adds, “To
produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full
concentration on a single task free from distraction.”
In the book, Newport explains how Wharton
professor Adam Grant is so productive. Grant teaches during the fall semester,
but conducts research in the spring. He alternates daily between being
completely isolated and having an open door policy with his students.
You can still apply this concept, even if you
can’t front-load your work like Grant. Let’s say between 9am and noon, you work
on your most important task. During this block of time, you close the office
door and turn off your phone.
Additionally, you can start batching “shallow
work.” These are less challenging tasks like returning emails and phone calls.
Use a calendar app.
By using a top calendar app, you can rank which
priorities need to be worked-on for the day, week or month. You can also use
your calendar to set reminders so that you’ll never forget an important
deadline or event again.
What’s more, because you’re using your
calendar app as both a to-do-list and to view your schedule, you can cut down
on the number of tools you use.
Is this meeting
necessary?
It’s been found that 15 percent of an hour long meeting
is wasted. That’s nine minutes that you could have been working
on something else. Before accepting a meeting, always ask if it’s
necessary. For instance, a status update on a project could be done through
email, Slack or a project management tool. Meeting with a prospective
client or employee could be done via 10-minute discovery call instead of an
hour-long lunch meeting.
If a meeting is necessary, make sure that it:
- Has
an agenda that’s been sent out in advance.
- Is short, concise and
stays on-topic.
- Includes a small number of
participants.
- Has someone to facilitate the
meeting.
- Uses the right tech that
everyone attendee knows how to use.
Don’t put the priorities
of others over yours.
It’s not uncommon for someone to ask you for
help. It could be a friend asking you to help them move or a colleague
requesting your assistance on a project.
While there’s nothing wrong with helping
others out, you should only do so when you have the availability. Don’t put
their priorities before your own. If you’re swamped or have a previous
commitment, then you may have to say “no.” It’s not fun. But, if you’re honest
and upfront, they’ll understand.
Eliminate distractions.
Email. Your smartphone. Phones. YouTube.
Friends, family, co-workers. These are the types of distractions that
prevent you from getting stuff done. So, how can you block them?
One of the simplest ways to eliminate distractions is
by turning-off your phone. As for your computer, you could use an app like
RescueTime to block distracting websites. And, if you have an office door, you
can always keep it shut while focused on your “deep work.”
If you don’t have your own office, try working
somewhere more quiet like a coffee shop. Or, purchase a pair of noise-reducing
headphones.
Instead of managing time,
manage your energy levels.
We only have so much energy, which is why it’s
important to take frequent breaks throughout the day. It gives us a chance to
replenish our mental and physical energy.
Become aware of your energy levels and
schedule accordingly. For instance, if you are more energetic in the morning,
that’s when to tackle your most important task.
As Jim Vaselopulos writes in Forbes, “Consider
again a task that you would unproductively toil over for an hour during your
afternoon doldrums but could knock out in 10 minutes at peak energy (perhaps
eight a.m.).”
If you shifted “your schedule to shorten a
morning meeting from 60 minutes to 45 minutes and then spend 10 of those extra
15 minutes focused on that same task.” Eventually, “you would gain 60 minutes
each afternoon.”
Work smarter, not harder.
If you want to be effective at work, while
focusing on what really matters, then you need to start working smarter and not harder.
After all, research shows that output decreases sharply after a 50-hour
workweek.
- Think
before your act. Don’t just create a
lengthy to-do-list and then jump into it. Think about your most important
tasks for the day, which should be no more than five items, and focus
only on them.
- Measure results, not time. Don’t get caught-up in how long a task took you
to complete. Instead, focus on what you accomplished during that a
specific time-frame.
- Have a positive attitude. Those who have a positive attitude are more
likely to take initiative.
- Communicate. Develop and strengthen your communication and
collaboration skills so you can work with others easily and quickly.
- Create and stick to a routine. When we establish routines, we can work faster.
The reason? We don’t have to think about what we need to do. And, we can
prepare accordingly.
- Automate more of your tasks. Use tools to handle repetitive tasks.
Prevent decision fatigue by preparing your meals or outfits in
advance so that you don’t have to think about them in the morning.
- Stop multitasking. It’s doesn't work,
- Take advantage of
procrastination. Don’t always wait until
the last minute but a deadline getting close can motivate you.
- Relieve stress. Find ways to relieve stress, like exercise,
yoga or meditation.
- Do more of the things that you
enjoy. This may not always be
possible. But try to do more of the work that you enjoy.
Repeat and evaluate.
“Now that you have a system for prioritizing
what you do, repeat your actions every day,” suggests Kayla. “You will probably
still have days that don’t turn out the
way you planned. However, the more you prioritize the easier and
faster it will get.”
“On days in which your whole schedule goes out
the window, evaluate to find out what went wrong,” adds Kayla. “Could you have
done anything to change the situation? If so, determine what that is so you can
avoid it in the future.”
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/324976
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