How to organize your day: techniques of productivity geniuses

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Time is a scarce and irreplaceable resource. Learn to use it wisely.

Benjamin Franklin Method

Benjamin Franklin was the son of a soap-maker, but thanks to self-organization and discipline, he succeeded in many areas: in politics, diplomacy, science, journalism. He is one of the founding fathers of the United States of America - he participated in the creation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the country.

Franklin's portrait is featured on the $ 100 bill, although he was never the president of the United States. He is credited with the authorship of such catch phrases as "Time is money" and "Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today."

Time really mattered to Franklin.

Do you love life? Then don't waste your time, for time is the fabric that makes up life. Benjamin Franklin

At the age of 20, Franklin developed a time management system for himself, which he used throughout his life. Contemporaries called it "Franklin's pyramid" (sometimes also called the "productivity pyramid" - productivity pyramid).

The pyramid is based on life values. These are moral guidelines for solving any problems. Franklin called them virtues.

For himself, he identified 13 virtues: abstinence, silence, love of order, decisiveness, thrift, hard work, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, calmness, chastity and meekness.

To work on himself every day, Franklin started a special notebook in which he took a page for each life principle. He lined each page into seven columns (days of the week). Then he drew 13 horizontal lines according to the number of virtues.

Thus, every day he focused on one of the virtues, and in the evenings in the squares he marked the mistakes made on the way to "moral perfection."

The next rung of Franklin's pyramid is a global goal. It is based on life principles and answers the question: "What do I want to achieve by the age of N?" A global goal for a doctor, for example, may be the desire to become a head of a department until the age of 35, and for a manager - to launch his own startup.

Benjamin Franklin is truly the forefather of to-do planning. He always adhered to the routine and wrote literally every step he took. Therefore, further in his pyramid are:

• master plan - step-by-step instructions for achieving a global goal;
• long-term plan - goals for the next 3-5 years;
• short-term plan - tasks for the next year and month;
• planning for the week and day.

All steps of the pyramid are located sequentially - each next one is based on the previous one.

Output

To organize your day according to the Franklin method, you need to determine the fundamental life principles, set a global goal and make a plan to achieve it.

For long-term and short-term planning, you can use one of the electronic tools or create a paper notebook and implement the "Quick Notes" system.

Stephen Covey Method

Stephen Covey is considered one of the followers of the Franklin system. He is an internationally renowned expert and coach in the field of management. Covey is a professional speaker and author of many books. One of them was included in Time magazine's list of the most influential business literature.

This is the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, ahead of its time. Covey wrote it in 1989, but it did not become a bestseller until it was reissued in 2004.

Covey's concept is based on a sequence of seven skills.

1. Sharpen the saw, that is, constantly improve yourself.
2. Achieve synergy, that is, strive for mutually beneficial interaction.
3. Be proactive.
4. Try to hear first, and only then - to be heard.
5. Start by imagining the end goal.
6. Think Win-Win.
7. Do first what needs to be done first.

The task allocation and prioritization matrix will help to implement the latter skill. Covey borrowed it from the 34th President of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower.

All tasks are divided into four groups:

1. Urgent and important (to be done as soon as possible);
2. Non-urgent important (strategic tasks with a distant deadline);
3. Urgent unimportant (you need to do it quickly, but you can postpone or not do it yourself);
4. Not urgent and unimportant (as a rule, such cases can be deleted or entrusted to third parties).

According to Covey, successful people rarely find themselves in time trouble, since they quickly deal with tasks from categories 1 and 3 and sacrifice things from square 4 without pity. At the same time, they devote 60–80% of their time and energy to solving problems from square 2, because they are the locomotive of progress.

Output

To be more effective, at the end or beginning of the day, write out and prioritize your tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix (or Covey Matrix, whichever you prefer). To do this, you can use the Eisenhower (iOS) or MyEffectivenessHabits (Android) app. Try to keep the proportion: 40% - important urgent matters, 60% - important non-urgent.

Tim Ferriss method

Timothy Ferriss is a popular productivity guru. Recordings of his public appearances collect millions of views, and the books are sold in the same huge circulation.

No wonder - who does not want to “work 4 hours a week, not hanging around in the office” from call to call, and at the same time live anywhere and get rich”? Ferriss's book of the same name has become number one on the bestseller lists of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

His method is based on two pillars:

1. Pareto's Law: 20% of the efforts give 80% of the result, and the remaining 80% of the efforts - only 20% of the result. This means focusing on the activities that really matter.
2. Parkinson's Law: Work fills all the time allotted to it. This means that the task must be allocated exactly as much as needed to complete it.

You don't need to lengthen your workday to get more done. On the contrary, shorten it, focus only on what is really important. Discard everything else, outsource or delegate.

Ferriss' approach follows the planning technique 1-3-5. Its essence is simple: one important thing is added to the to-do list, three medium ones and five small ones. Nine in total. They are a priori distributed by urgency, which helps to get rid of the feeling of an emergency.

Ferriss is an opponent of multitasking and information overload. When several things are done at the same time, attention is defocused. As a result, productivity does not increase, but decreases. The same is the case with the continuous absorption of information. Constant checking of mail, instant messengers and social networks only creates a false feeling, but does not bring it closer to the goal.

But stress, on the contrary, Ferriss considers our assistants.

Fear is an indicator. Fear is our friend. At times he shows what not to do, but more often he shows what exactly is worth doing. Tim Ferriss

It should be noted that Tim Ferriss is not alone in striving for productivity by working less. Stever Robbins, author of The 9 Steps to Working Less and Getting More, suggests the “active days” method, where you assign yourself a “watchdog” on a specific day to track your progress.

Output

This method is for you if you can't follow a strict schedule and to-do lists don't work for you. Organize your day so that 20% of the time is occupied by the most difficult and important things. Let the rest take its course. In other words, if you need to hold a business meeting, then you need to choose the day, time, duration and strictly follow the schedule. The rest of the day can be devoted to any work in progress.

Gleb Arkhangelsky's method

Gleb Arkhangelsky is an expert in the field of time management, founder and head of the company of the same name. Its peculiarity is not in the creation of original developments, but in the fact that it sets out the methods of time management in a simple and accessible way, adapting them to domestic realities.

Arkhangelsky is the author of several popular business books: Job 2.0: Breakthrough to Free Time, Formula of Time, Time Drive and others.

The latter is the most popular. Time Drive explores the importance of planning, goal setting, and motivation, as well as powerful time management and anti-procrastination techniques.

• "Frogs". Everyone has boring tasks that are constantly put off for later. These unpleasant deeds accumulate and psychologically crush. But if you start every morning with "eating a frog," that is, first of all, perform some uninteresting task, and then move on to the rest, then gradually things will be put in order.
• "Anchors". These are material attachments (music, color, movement) associated with a certain emotional state. "Anchors" are necessary in order to tune in to the solution of a particular problem. For example, you can accustom yourself to work with mail to classical music, and whenever you are too lazy to unload inbox, you just need to turn on Mozart or Beethoven in order to catch the desired psychological wave.
• Elephant steak. The larger the task (to write a dissertation, learn a foreign language, and so on) and the tighter the deadline, the harder it is to get started. It is the scale that scares you: it is not clear where to start, whether you have enough strength. Such tasks are called "elephants". The only way to "eat an elephant" is to cook "steaks" out of it, that is, to break a big business into several small ones.

It is noteworthy that Gleb Arkhangelsky pays great attention not only to the rationalization of work processes, but also to rest (the full name of his bestseller is “Time Drive: How to Manage to Live and Work”). He is convinced that without good rest, which includes healthy sleep and physical activity, it is impossible to be productive.

Output

Plan your every day. Todoist, Wunderlist, TickTick and other similar programs and services will help you with this. Divide complex large-scale tasks into simple small ones. Do the most unpleasant work in the morning, so that in the remaining time you can do only what you like. Develop triggers to help you deal with laziness, and remember to include rest in your schedule.

Francesco Cirillo method

You may not be familiar with the name Francesco Cirillo, but you've probably heard of Pomodoro. Cirillo is the author of this famous time management technique. At one time, Francesco had problems with his studies: the young man could not concentrate in any way, he was distracted all the time. A simple kitchen timer in the form of a tomato came to the rescue.

The essence of the Pomodoro method is that the length of time allotted to work is "pomodoro". One tomato = 30 minutes (25 minutes for work and 5 for rest). We start the timer and work with maximum efficiency and minimum distraction for 25 minutes. The signal sounds - it's time for a five-minute break. Then we start the timer again.

Thus, productivity is measured by the number of "tomatoes" performed per day. The bigger, the better.

In order not to spend 25 minutes thinking of things for yourself, you need to make a list of tasks in advance. In it, you can also mark the number of whole "tomatoes" (a cross is put in front of the task) and distractions (an apostrophe is put). This allows you to determine how long it took to complete a task and how difficult it was.

The Pomodoro Method is affordable and flexible. If you want - keep a to-do-list on paper and measure 25-minute segments with a kitchen timer, or if you want - use special services and applications.

Windows	OS X and iOS	Android

According to Cirillo, the optimal duration of the "tomato" is 20–35 minutes. But, having mastered the technique, you can experiment and change the intervals for yourself.

You can get acquainted with Francesco Cirillo's method in detail.

Output

At the beginning of the day, make a to-do list and follow through with pomodoros. If within 25 minutes you are distracted, put the symbol 'next to the task. If the time has expired, but the task has not been completed yet, put + and dedicate the next "tomato" to it. During the five-minute break, completely switch from work to rest: walk, listen to music, drink coffee.

So, here are five basic time management systems with which you can organize your day. You can study them in more detail and become an apologist for one of the techniques, or you can develop your own by combining various techniques and techniques.

GTD - an alternative to time management

David Allen, the creator of the GTD methodology, is one of the most famous theorists of personal effectiveness. His book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, was voted Best Business Book of the Decade by Time magazine.

The term Getting Things Done is a buzzword, and many people mistakenly equate it with time management. But even Allen himself calls GTD "a technique for improving personal effectiveness."

Here is how Vyacheslav Sukhomlinov, an expert in this matter, explained the difference between time management and GTD.

Vyacheslav Sukhomlinov Executive Director of the restaurant holding. The GTD Practical Application Expert is not time management. Time management is impossible. Everybody has the same number of hours in a day. It is not the amount of time that matters, but what you fill it with. You need to be able to process large streams of incoming information, determine what actions are needed to achieve goals, and, of course, act. GTD is exactly about that. This is a certain way of thinking and living. And GTD is also about the state of flow and the reduction of psychological stress.

Are you ready to argue? Welcome to comments. What do you think is more about GTD - time management or personal efficiency? Also, tell us what techniques help you organize your day.