How a person of moods can plan their time and stay productive

In the era of the cult of productivity and self-development, even children know that in order to achieve goals, you need to be able to plan and allocate time. Sounds great, but for someone who considers himself hopelessly disorganized, it is not at all suitable. We figure out how to act for those who are not friends with time management.

1. Track your mood

If it is constantly changing, it would be nice to understand how often it happens. You can keep a diary - on paper or in an app - and briefly write down how you feel, what emotions you are, and what you think about several times a day. This practice will help you understand biorhythms and mood phases and identify patterns: when you are at a peak of productivity, and when, on the contrary, a breakdown.

All this data can be collected in a kind of performance schedule and assign tasks, focusing on it. To compile it, apps with mood diaries and statistics tracking will come in handy. For example, such:

In addition, it is worth remembering that frequent mood swings, spontaneity, sensitivity, craving for switching tasks and attention is not a pathology or a vice. In the wake of Jung's typology, people with this set of qualities are called irrational.

But there are no diagnoses of irrationality, spontaneity, or inconsistency.

As there are no right and wrong personality types. But there are features that should be taken into account so that they not only do not interfere, but also help to achieve the set goals.

2. Give up hard planning

The most famous time management systems are designed for rational people. The Eisenhower Matrix, Time Drive by Gleb Arkhangelsky, planning by the Benjamin Franklin method and others. All of them involve the binding of tasks to a specific time, scrupulous timing, division of cases into many categories - for example, by spheres of life or into important-urgent ones.

But it is often difficult and boring for a person of mood to follow a predetermined routine. As well as a rigid planning system that requires a lot of time and perseverance. Therefore, it is better for spontaneous people to move away from classical time management and choose more flexible and creative methods with which they will be comfortable - for example, the system of Yana Frank or Donald Rosa.

Of course, there are things that you can't get out of: children, bosses and collectors usually don't ask what feet we got up on and what we want to do. Therefore, now we are talking about those tasks for which we ourselves choose the time and priority: personal projects, freelancing, creativity.

3. Create a place of chaos

This technique is also called Autofocus. It helps tame the clutter of thoughts and does not require a lot of time, tools and effort. Take a regular notebook (or open your notes on your phone) and write down all the tasks without dividing them into categories - in the order in which they come to mind. You will most likely end up with an impressive multi-page list. It is better to highlight tasks with a deadline immediately with a bright marker or set reminders for them on the phone.

And then, when all the hard and obligatory tasks have already been solved, open this "notebook of chaos" and select those cases to which the soul is at the moment. Completed tasks must be crossed out. Mark the pages with all the items crossed out with a cross.

All things need to be put on the list - even the smallest ones and those that we usually don't think of as things. For example, "dust off" or "think about a project."

And you can also write down ideas and thoughts there and then transfer them once a week to a separate notebook - so they will not be forgotten and not lost.

You should always keep the "Notebook of Chaos" close at hand so that you do not have to dig into a heap of notebooks, notes and documents. And as soon as a new idea or task looms in your thoughts, immediately write it down. It might be more convenient for visuals to turn this list into a mind map.

For irrational people who prefer to use gadgets rather than paper, it is better to abandon tricky planners: such applications themselves take a lot of time. Instead, you can use simple notes like Google Keep or, for example, the cute (and free!) ToRound scheduler.

Each task in it is indicated by a circle, and the larger it is, the more important it is. When the task is completed, the ball rolls down and disappears. The impending crunch will also not go unnoticed: the balls are getting too crowded on the screen.

4. Eat elephants

In classical time management, there are still tricks that a person of mood can successfully use. For example, in the book "Time Drive" Gleb Arkhangelsky suggests eating elephants. That is, breaking one big and scary project into many small pieces and solving (“eating”) them one by one.

So you will not have the feeling that an insurmountable mountain of affairs has grown in front of you, and large-scale projects will not demotivate you.

For example, if you want to write an article, you can add the following points to the to-do list: make a plan, write the first part (second, third), pick up links and examples, edit and format the text, and so on.

5. Create a to-do list for a bad mood

Everyone has periods when the mood is at zero or even lower and there is no strength for any big tasks. And then a list of simple things will help out. For example, there is neither motivation nor energy for creative projects, but it is quite possible to turn on an interesting audiobook and sort out clothes in the closet. Dopamine is released after every little accomplishment, like washing dishes or sorted family photos. And, promising joy and satisfaction, it motivates us to new exploits.

If you don't want anything at all and there is such an opportunity, it is better to rest. And in order not to allow yourself to hang in the phone instead of a good rest, you can use various tools: for example, services that track how much time you spend on certain sites and applications, and block access to these energy eaters.

6. Switch

Doing the same thing for hours on end can be boring and tiring. Especially a person of mood. In order not to get bored, you can alternate between different things. Jana Frank in the book "Muse and the Beast" suggests this method: 45 minutes of intellectual work and 15 minutes of routine (household chores, physical work - everything that does not require mental exertion).

If it is too difficult to maintain concentration for 45 minutes, you can use the Pomodoro technique and independently set the work and rest times in the timer. The classic "tomato" lasts 30 minutes: 25 minutes - work, 5 - break. After every third "eaten tomato" there is a long break - 15 minutes.

For example, spend 25 minutes doing a report, work correspondence, posts on social networks, and then spend 5-10 minutes watering flowers, dusting a bookshelf, stretching or having a snack. Pomodoro Timers can be downloaded to your phone or installed as a browser extension.

Marinara: Pomodoro® Assistant Website

7. Keep your goals in mind and your tools at your fingertips

Irrational people are chaotic people, they always need to check if the course has gone astray, if they are doing something that takes them away from the goal. You can make something like a wish card and attach pictures that are associated with the goal above the desktop. Or order a mug with an inspirational quote.

In addition, you should always keep your work tool - laptop, tablet, notebook - close at hand.

Let all the necessary gadgets, pieces of paper, notes, notebooks lie in one place so that you do not have to look for them: searching can knock down the working mood. But if things are in order, you can at any time collect a "hiking set" and go to work in a cafe or park.

8. Create a trophy folder

We rarely praise ourselves, but we are always happy to devalue our own achievements and tell ourselves and those around us that this is not so cool: just think, what a trifle, and in general, you have nothing to do with it, it’s itself. Do not do like this.

Praising yourself is very important. To learn how to do this, try keeping a success diary where you will write down all your accomplishments, even the smallest ones. Or select a special "trophy folder" and put in it any confirmation of your own success. Customer reviews, articles, interviews and media mentions, commendations, awards, awards and so on.

Some of them can even be put on a shelf, hung over a table or anywhere else where the eye falls. For someone who lives with the feeling that he is a great fellow and does a lot of interesting and good things, it is much easier to remain motivated and efficient.