Time management tips to increase your productivity - Part 2

In the previous part of this article, we talked about the concept of the most difficult and important task, techniques for effective time management, general time management skills, task lists, time management in the office and email, and how to manage time better.

In this part, we'll take a look at the 4 things we should avoid in time management, the technique of prioritizing in time management, and 4 time management tips to create a balance between your professional and personal life. Tune in with us.

Time management tips for things you should avoid

It's important to never trust in luck when planning a project. You can't rely on hope as a strategy. Remember Napoleon's words when asked if he believes in luck: "Yes, I believe in luck. I believe in bad luck as well, and I believe I will always have it, so I plan accordingly."

There are four major time management problems, each of which can be avoided with careful consideration before starting a new project:

1. Insufficient time allocation

Not allocating enough time to complete a job involving multiple tasks is the main reason for projects failure and steering the professional life of some people off track, because they hope for the best, they believe in luck, and they don't allocate enough time to complete each phase of the project, and as a result , the project fails.

2. Expecting the best

The second problem is to assume that everything will go as planned. Every failure stems from making false assumptions. So never assume that everything will be fine, but that you'll run into problems. Give yourself enough time and resources to solve these problems, and make sure to carry on with your project, and get it done on time.

3. Rushing to get things done

The third problem in time management is when you rush to complete the project due to running out of time or money, and end up making mistakes, and offering poor quality work, so you have to start over to catch up on your mistakes. The project may take less time if you get it done slowly and steadily, rather than having to rush to finish it at the last minute.

4. Trying to do several things at once

The fourth problem in project management is trying to do several things at once, so you end up doing nothing well. So either you take on a lot of responsibilities at once, or you take on a lot of responsibilities for others. In both cases, you miss out on different parts of the project and sometimes all your efforts go to waste. Therefore, work on your tasks one by one, and get each done well before moving on to the next.

Prioritization Technique in Time Management

The more time you invest in prioritizing before you start the task, the faster you can get the important things done. The more important and valuable the task is to you, the more motivated you'll be to beat procrastination and get to work.

"The first law of success is concentration - to bed all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor the left" - William Matthews.

Time management tool: The ABCDE method

The ABCDE method is a powerful prioritization technique that you can use every day. It 's easy and effective that it makes you one of the most competent and effective people in your field. The power of this method lies in its simplicity, and focus on what can be done.

Here's how it works: Start by listing everything you need to do the next day on a piece of paper. Once you have written a list of all the tasks you need to accomplish, start applying the ABCDE method by sorting them into:

1. “A” Tasks are most important

“A” Tasks are defined as being very important, or a task that could have serious consequences if you fail to do it, like losing an important client, or not finishing a report for your boss for an upcoming board meeting.

If you have more than one A task, you can prioritize those tasks by naming them A-1, A-2, and A-3 and so on, with A-1 being the largest and most important task.

2. “B” Tasks have secondary consequences

B is a task that you must do which has consequences, but it's the least important tasks in practical life. This means that someone might be unhappy or upset if you don't get it done, but it's not as important as the A task itself. For example, answering an unimportant message or checking your email are B tasks.

You should never do a B task when you have an unfinished A task, and you should never be distracted by a mediocre task when you have a high-importance task yet to be done.

3. "C" tasks have no consequences

C task is something that would be nice to get done, but there are no consequences at all if you don't. For instance, whether you call a friend, have coffee, have lunch with a coworker, or do some personal matters during business hours, it has absolutely no impact on your practical life.

You can never begin work on a C task if you have A or B tasks waiting to be done.

4. "D" Tasks for Delegation

D task is something you can delegate to someone else. You should delegate everything you can to other people, to buy you more time for A tasks that pretty much decide the entire course of your career.

5. "E" Tasks for elimination

E task is something you need to get rid of completely. You can only control your time if you stop doing things that are no longer necessary for you.

The key to successfully applying the ABCDE method is to discipline yourself now to start immediately on task A-1, keep working on it until you're done, and use your willpower to move forward on your most important task.

Spend your time doing high-value activities

Your ability to think through and analyze your to-do list to identify the A-1 task is the stepping stone to higher levels of achievement. It promotes self-esteem and pride. When you develop the habit of focusing on the most important tasks, you'll accomplish more than others around you.

Set a rule for yourself not to do something not on your list. If a new task or project comes up, write it on your list, and define its priority before you start working on it, because if you're reacting and responding to the constant demands on your time, you'll quickly lose grip on your day, and end up spending most of your time on low- or no-value activities.

So, go through your to-do list now, mark every task with either "A", "B", "C", "D" or "E". Set your most important job or project as "A-1", start working on it immediately, and discipline yourself to do nothing else until this task is complete, as it's one of the best time management tools you can use.

Time management behaviors are largely a matter of choice, because you choose to be efficient, or to be disorganized, to focus on tasks that have the highest value, or to spend your time on activities that won't bring much value to your life, you choose to be positive, or to be negative, and you're always free to choose the quality of your life.

The starting point to break past habits, and eliminate mental barriers to time management is to make a clear and unambiguous decision to manage your time efficiently. Your goal should be to manage your time efficiently, so that you impress people, and become a role model for work habits.

Time management to balance professional and personal life

Striking a balance between professional and personal life is crucial, and time management is a great way to achieve it.

Here are 4 tips for managing time to balance your professional and personal life.

1. Use positive affirmations

The first tip is to leverage the power of positive affirmations. Positivity can change your quality of life, and the first way to program your subconscious is “positive self-talk,” or by using positive affirmations as commands you transfer from your conscious mind to your subconscious. Either you say them out loud, or say them to yourself with passion and enthusiasm until the words reach your subconscious mind as commands.

Repeat these positive affirmations over and over: “I'm a great time manager”, “I make good use of my time”. Any positive command or positive affirmation you repeat over and over again with faith will eventually be accepted by your subconscious, and then you'll find that your behaviors will start to reflect your beliefs to improve the balance between professional and personal life and the quality of it.

2. Use visualization to influence your subconscious

The second way you can use it to program your subconscious is visualization. Mental images directly affect your subconscious. In self-image psychology, the person you visualize is the person you'll be through positive affirmations. So start viewing yourself as organized and effective at time management.

Think back to when you were doing your best, to a time when you were working efficiently and effectively and doing a tremendous amount of work. Then, re-visualize this image in your mind over and over.

3. Practice chilling and meditation

The third way to manage time is easy. First, sit or lie down in a quiet place where you can be completely alone in silence, then imagine yourself going through an important upcoming experience , such as a meeting, a presentation, negotiations, or even a date that will improve the balance between your professional and personal life and its quality.

When you sit or lie completely relaxed, imagine the upcoming event, and how it will work in all respects. Imagine yourself calm, positive, happy, and in complete control of the situation. Look at other people doing and saying exactly what you'd want them to do if the situation was perfect.

Here's another easy meditation technique to set your mind at peace:

1. Find a peaceful place, close your eyes, and focus on slowing your breathing.
2. Say a positive word or phrase.
3. Go into a state of peace.
4. Imagine yourself surrounded by a circle of light.
5. Imagine that you're good at time management:

The fourth method is to imagine that you're already good at time management. Let's say that you've been chosen for a role in a movie or play, in which you have to be a super organized person in all respects. During the day, imagine that you're an actor playing this person who's really great at managing time, and act as if you're already leveraging your time efficiently.

Suppose you're an expert in competence and time management. When you pretend to be good at time management, the actions that are directly under your control will instill these thoughts in your subconscious.

Time and again, people resolve to pay more attention to time management through focus, setting priorities, and overcoming procrastination. That is, they intend to get serious about time management at some point, but rarely stick to it.

Motivation to manage time

In order to build the habit of time management and organizational skills, you need to have a strong motivation from the benefits you'll enjoy when you apply the concept of time management in your life. That is, you have to want the results enough to break your old habits.

Therefore, everyone agrees that excellent time management is a desirable skill, but very few people are said to be organized and effective, because the way they think about time management is wrong.

To wrap it up

The secret is to plan and organize everything possible. So think ahead, plan for contingencies, prepare well, and focus on specific results. Only then can you be calm and spontaneous in your actions when the situation changes. The more organized you are in dealing with what you're in control of, the greater your freedom, flexibility and speed in making the necessary changes when the situation calls for it.