8 things to learn to be more productive

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

Manage your time, highlight what's important, and don't strive for perfection.

Thomas Oppong, a popular blogger and entrepreneur, believes that being productive and being busy are not the same thing. He talks about what it would be nice to learn if you want to achieve your goals.

1. Prioritize

If you do not know where you are going, then you will definitely come to the wrong place.

Yogi Berra American baseball player, Major League player

To achieve something, you first need to understand what exactly you want. Successful and efficient people know what to do and when and what tools to use. This skill affects success both at work and in life in general.

To properly prioritize the tasks, identify the most important tasks, separate the urgent from the important ones, order them by importance, and add the estimated lead time for each. Put all of this on your to-do list while keeping it as short as possible. Call it your “success list”.

Why this is needed, explains Gary Keller, author of Start with the Essentials! 1 Surprisingly Simple Law of Phenomenal Success ":" Long hours spent on planned tasks, ending the day with a full trash can and a perfectly cleaned desktop do not add to your efficiency and have nothing to do with success. Instead of a to-do list, you want a success list based on striving for outstanding results.

To-do lists are usually very long; success lists are short. One pulls you in all directions; the other is in one definite. The first is a jumbled set of actions, and the second is a clear instruction. If the list is not based on success, you are unlikely to get what you want. If you write absolutely everything into it, then you will do everything in a row, except for what you really need."

2. Take notes

Don't rely too much on your memory: it will fail you at the most inopportune moment. Instead, always write everything down.

There are hundreds of note-taking options, from regular stickers to apps like Evernote, Any.do, and Wunderlist.

By capturing everything that needs to be done in a week, you will have a clearer idea of which tasks to start first. This will make it easier to prioritize.

3. Separate the urgent from the important

What seems urgent today may not be important tomorrow. Your job is to know what needs immediate response and what can be postponed. Then you will be able to pay more attention to each task and get things done faster.

To get a result, it is important not only to choose what to focus on, but also to understand what needs to be ignored.

Peter Bregman writer, personal development consultant

Set clear rules and boundaries so you don't burden yourself trying to please everyone. Free yourself from some of the obligations. For example, take your time with replies to emails, or ask someone to sort them out so you can focus on your tasks.

Delegate some of the work. This will reduce the workload and handle everything faster.

4. Focus on one thing

The ability to focus is an underrated skill. But single-tasking changes everything: it makes you stay focused on work and get it done faster.

If you purposefully deal with only one task, without distraction, the efficiency increases by 2-5 times.

You need to clearly prioritize and choose one task. This will help you achieve more in less time and with less stress.

5. Use the 80/20 principle

You've probably heard about the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. According to him, approximately 80% of the result depends on 20% of the action. So focus on just a few tasks that will benefit you the most.

Perhaps you want to do everything at once and just can't figure out what to do. Then take a moment and evaluate: what is important, what is urgent, what you can delegate, and what is generally a waste of energy.

To get more done in less time, track how much time you spend and what. Answer the following questions. What brought you closer to your goal? What was a waste of time? What could be delegated?

Pick 20% of your tasks that give 80% of the result and only do them. Delegate the rest or just delete them.

Use the rule of thumb. Each day, single out three main tasks and fully concentrate on completing them for a certain time.

6. Find free time and spend it wisely

Only you are responsible for your time. And only you can decide how much to devote to thinking, talking, acting and even entertainment that will bring you closer to success.

You cannot let other people determine your plans.

Warren Buffett investor and entrepreneur

If you need 20% of the effort to get 80% of the result, then imagine: you only need to spend 20% of your time on work. Therefore, protect it as your most valuable resource.

Ultra-productive people focus on making the most of every free minute. But owning your time doesn't just mean having a lot of it. You have to spend it efficiently and know exactly what you want to achieve.

Remember, if you don't prioritize your life, someone else will do it for you.

Greg McKeon psychologist, blogger, author of books on personal growth

Every challenge you set for yourself should be achievable, realistic and time-limited. The main thing: it should provide progress to your goals for the day, week or month. By clearly identifying your tasks, you will always know what to focus on as soon as you have a couple of free hours.

Analyze your time, and suddenly you have tons of free minutes to work on your life goals, relax and relieve stress, spend time with family and friends, read or play sports.

And that will be one of the most important things you can do.

7. Avoid perfectionism

Your work suffers from the constant pursuit of excellence. You are slow to complete some tasks, continually postpone others, and generally become less productive.

You are wasting valuable time and this annoys your boss. It is even worse if you are your own boss, because then the work may never be brought to the ideal.

Perfection may end up being your enemy. Often it’s just an illusion: you keep improving on something that’s already good.

Larry Kim Founder and CEO of MobileMonkey

By defeating perfectionism, you will finally stop marking time, being afraid of mistakes and delaying the completion of tasks. Failure will be the reason for growth, not fear. The work will go faster, and you will begin to do it more efficiently.

8. Analyze your efforts and results

Measure yourself not only by what you have achieved, but also by what you could have achieved if you had used the best working methods.

Check your progress constantly. Measure your costs and results carefully. Take the time to assess what's going on and figure out how to do even more useful things. Otherwise, it will go to waste - to actions that have little effect on your productivity.

The sad truth is this: we live in a world where a lot of insignificant things devour our time, but do not give great results. However, very few things are extremely valuable.

It is impossible to overestimate the degree of insignificance of anything.

John Maxwell writer, public speaker, leadership expert

Always write down where your time is spent and whether you are getting the expected results. This may seem like a pointless exercise at first. But soon you will see how valuable such data is, and start analyzing every week you have lived.