Application Story 14: Do You Need a Break and Organize Your Days Better?

In the search of work and life harmony, having to deal with our daily activities sometimes can become complicated or difficult. It is a matter of prioritizing and learning how to be more effective with that.
However, writing this down is easy than putting things into practice. So in this blog entry we will talk about that. I welcome you to comment and share your own experience. Thanks in advance!

First of all, let’s ask ourselves the following questions:

1. Do your days seem to be crazy busy and your to-do list filled up with an endless supply of tasks?

2. Is your calendar full and your work day a non-stop rush from one thing to another?
3. Do you feel overwhelm with having crazy days and no time to stop for a break?

Answer: If so, you may have too much on your plate. So write down this advice:

“It’s time to step back, take a few minutes, and pare down that to-do list to just the bare essentials”.

Next…Let’s do the following:Imagine, for a moment, that you have only a few things on your list for today. Imagine the peace that comes from that simple little fact. Now imagine your workday, a day of simplicity, of focus, of powerful accomplishments. Imagine that instead of doing 10 little things that don’t matter much, you do one thing that will really have an impact on your business, on who you are, on your future.

Do… Action Items: Let’s make it happen, and here are some tips to help us start organizing our days and feeling better with our daily routines:

1. Focus on your goals. To know what is essential, you must first know what you are trying to achieve. If you have no goals, you have no way of knowing if a task is essential for accomplishing those goals. Take a few minutes to review your goals (or write them for the first time). Where do you want to be in 10 years? What one big thing can you do to get there this year? What can you do in the next few months? And what can you do this week? By having these goals, you are providing yourself with a roadmap. Advice: Focus on just one goal at a time for now, until that is achieved, and then focus on the next.

2. Know your value. If you do not value yourself, you will not value your time. And then you will say yes to every request, and your to-do list will always be overflowing. Take a few minutes to think about your skills, and what you are worth. Think about how much you want your time to be worth. And now, don’t accept any work that is not worth your time and value.

3. Clear your mornings. Set aside a big block of time every morning to work on your starred tasks, the ones that really matter. This is the quiet time when you can be really productive. Once afternoon hits, things are likely to pick up, and your important tasks can be pushed back. Clear your calendar in the mornings, don’t schedule anything then, turn off your phone and email, clear off your desk, and see how much you can get done.

4. Choose three things. If your list has 20 things on it, just choose three for today. But you want to do five or seven? Be ruthless. Prioritize, and only choose three. Write those three on a separate piece of paper, and that’s your to-do list for today. Be sure that at least one of them leads to your short-term goal for this week. The other two should definitely be starred tasks, those really, really important ones.

5. Stop meetings. Meetings are almost always a waste of your time. If you control them, eliminate them. Have people report stuff through email. Collaborate using online tools. Or have one-on-one meetings, for 5-10 minutes each, if necessary, and batch them together in a one-hour chunk in the afternoon. If you don’t control them, show your boss why you shouldn’t be in a meeting, and how much you can accomplish if you didn’t have to go, make a pitch your boss can’t refuse.

6. Delegate. Take another look at your to-do list … is there stuff on there that you don’t need to be doing? Forward them on to someone else, either higher up on the food chain than you or lower, or at the same level. It doesn’t matter. As long as it’s not you. Know what needs to be done by you, and what doesn’t.

7. Default to no. Instead of taking on every request that comes your way, learn to say no. Only accept those tasks that really must be done by you, that are worth your time, and that will give you the most benefit in the long run. Say no to all the rest, as hard as that may be. Or delay tell them to ask you again next week. Often the request will go away.

8. Shunt tasks to a folder. Have other small tasks that you need to do today that aren’t on your three-task to-do list for today? Put those tasks in a separate folder, or on another list, and put it away in a drawer. Set aside an hour or so later in the day, and batch process those small tasks. Phone calls, quick emails, and paperwork, whatever you can do these all real fast, all at once. It’s better than scattering them throughout the day.

9. Single-task. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! When you’re going to focus on one of your three important tasks for today, really focus. Eliminate all distractions, including the Internet and email and phones and clutter on your desk. Don’t allow anything to interrupt. Same thing if you’re going to have a one-on-one meeting with someone (as mentioned above) or batch process your smaller tasks, do one at a time. Multi-tasking will just stress you out and make you less productive. Multi-tasking is really only effective on a larger scale,  doing multiple projects over the course of a month, say, instead of multiple tasks at once.

10. Set one time for email. This is probably the hardest task for most of us. Email is something we’re used to doing throughout the day. But really, for most people, email doesn’t need to be answered right away. Manage the expectations of those you communicate with, let them know that you only do email once a day, and they won’t expect an immediate answer. If this is impossible for you, at the very least, limit your email to chunks, instead of doing it throughout the day. Do it 2 or 3 times a day, or once an hour for 5 minutes, but not throughout the hour. And do not do it during your quiet time in the morning that’s for starred tasks only.

Final Reflection:Perhaps this list seems too much to try at once; so as we said before pick and choose what works for you the most. Try at list 3 things from the list, and start converting these things into a habit. It is not easy at first, but little by little, things can become easier when incorporating them in our daily routine.

What else could we do?

Remember: "Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold.  But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow".  ~Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You
Enjoy!