Scribd
Upload
260 views

Script

1. Do a time audit to understand where time is spent using a simple notecard system to track daily to-dos and additional tasks completed to see what is prioritized each day. 2. Create a daily schedule, scheduling every hour, including free time, to stay focused and accomplish goals by breaking them into small daily projects of no more than one hour. 3. Prioritize tasks by planning priorities in your calendar and delegate other tasks like scheduling to an assistant to boost productivity and reduce stress.

Uploaded by

Princess Fatima De Juan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
260 views

Script

1. Do a time audit to understand where time is spent using a simple notecard system to track daily to-dos and additional tasks completed to see what is prioritized each day. 2. Create a daily schedule, scheduling every hour, including free time, to stay focused and accomplish goals by breaking them into small daily projects of no more than one hour. 3. Prioritize tasks by planning priorities in your calendar and delegate other tasks like scheduling to an assistant to boost productivity and reduce stress.

Uploaded by

Princess Fatima De Juan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Effective time management tips

1. Do a time audit

To better spend your time, start by understanding where your time is spent. There are
great time management apps out there to track time, but in all honesty, I prefer to keep
it lightweight—Marc Andreessen's notecard system has always worked for me.

On a simple three-by-five notecard, keep track of your main to-dos for the day. On the
back of the card, you’re supposed to write things you got done that you didn't initially
plan to get done the night before—the workday always likes to sneak in plenty of extras.

By looking at your three-by-five card at the end of the day, you’ll see what you
prioritized (and if you got it done) and what work was added to your plate. Extra work is
fine, but if you’re not clearing off your main tasks day after day, something is wrong.

—Adam Rogers, Content Manager at Shopify

2. Create a daily schedule

For me, if it doesn't get scheduled it doesn't get done! So scheduling every hour of my
work day is critical to staying focused and productive. Even “free time” to pursue side
interests is put on the calendar.

If it doesn’t get scheduled, it doesn’t get done! I accomplish goals by breaking them
down into very small projects that I can achieve on a daily basis.

Each step should take no longer than one hour per day to accomplish. If I find it’s going
to take longer than an hour to do that step, I haven’t broken it down enough.

Even if I finish that day’s steps early, I keep myself from doing the next step. I know that
sounds counterintuitive, but doing so keeps me from getting burned out, and I’m more
motivated for the next day’s hour of work. This strategy also keeps me from getting a
step “half done,” which doesn’t feel as good as getting everything done that was
planned for that day.

daily schedule creator

Source: Asana

Managing my time means planning it in advance. The last 30 minutes of my day is


always set aside to schedule the following work day.

—Tim Bourquin, Entrepreneur

3. Prioritize and delegate

Know your personal and professional priorities and plan your priorities in your calendar.
Everything else needs to fit around them or be dropped.

prioritizing schedule

Source: Asana

Get a great assistant you can delegate scheduling and other routine activities to. This
person can be one of your biggest productivity boosters and stress reducers.

—Elizabeth Grace Saunders, Time Management Coach

4. Group related tasks together

Rather than starting at the top of your list and working your way down, take a few
minutes and review the entire list. Then batch similar tasks together. You may have
categories like phone calls, finances, networking, paperwork, or creative activities.
task grouping

Source: Asana

By grouping (or batching) activities together that are similar in nature, your brain does
not have to jump from one type of thinking to another. The transitions become
smoother. You gain momentum as you perform related tasks, and in some instances
actually speed up!

—Stephanie L.H. Calahan, founder of Calahan Solutions Inc.

5. Try not to multitask

These days, it seems like all of us have less time than we’d like to accomplish the things
we want to do. The internet and social media have sped up how you get your news,
how you stay in contact with people, and how you communicate with your customers. It
has also caused all of us to create some bad habits—one of which is multitasking.

multitasking

According to research done by the American Psychological Association, multitasking


doesn’t save you time. In fact, it clogs up your workflow, increases your stress levels,
and ends up hindering your overall functionality.

Stanford’s study reports that multitasking even affects your long-term and short-term
memory. Chronic everyday multitasking actually affects your ability to hold and use
information in your mind and your ability to retrieve information.

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin says, “All that switching across tasks comes with a
neurobiological cost. It depletes resources, so after an hour or two of attempting to
multitask, if we find that we’re tired and can’t focus, it’s because those very neuro
chemicals we needed to focus are now gone.”

6. Set time limits for tasks


Now take that project or that work product and break it down into smaller sub tasks and
set up some time tracking, or time-block how long it will take to do each of those tasks—
even if they’re five minutes apiece.

So actually scope out what you want to accomplish very, very clearly so that you know
when you’re actually done—when you’re successful—and you can check that off the list
and get that hit of dopamine that will keep you energized, motivated, and happy to
continue doing work.

Otherwise we have a tendency to wake up and jump into work without intentionality, and
then we work for hours and hours and hours without really feeling like we’ve
accomplished what we set out to accomplish.

—Dr. Sahar Yousef, cognitive neuroscientist

https://www.shopify.com/blog/120436229-time-management-tips

You might also like