The main secret why time management does not take root in you

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

Have you tried to organize more than once, read books on time management? Do you quit and start again? This article is about the main problem that has been bothering you all this time. Defeating her is not difficult!

Have you tried to organize more than once, read books on time management? Do you quit and start again?

This article is about the main problem that has been bothering you all this time. It's easy to defeat her!

Time management rules

It sets you apart from your peers and competitors. Because there is sloppiness, routine and chaos all around. A person who makes friends with time management immediately fires like a cannon.

I know this from myself.

I see that my efficiency has increased by at least 10 times. And this is not an exaggeration.

For example, here's what I did in 5 months of 2014:

• I went to Thailand for 3 months with my wife and daughter.
• I read 31 books (I reviewed 13 of them).
• Wrote 84 articles (for my blog and for Lifehacker).
• Took 3 big interviews (Mann, Levitas, Tetervak).
• I have recorded a large video course on time management.
• Launched 2 other major projects.

I'm not bragging. I'm just amazed at my own productivity. And I have something to compare with …

When I look back at my life from 16 to 27 years old, I want to SPIT. It’s disgusting to realize how mediocre I was wasting my time. I read the same books a year on average … well … 5-6 …

Know comments.

But this is me … Why didn't YOU get it right?

Let's figure it out …

Is time management difficult?

Take a look, for example, David Allen's classic (brilliant) book GTD - GettingThingsDone. It is written in monstrous clerical language. For example, on page 34:

Provided that the first-priority action takes no more than two minutes, it should be performed as soon as you remove the corresponding item from the basket. If it takes thirty seconds to read the note, and then all you need to do is a quick positive / negative or other answer that needs to be pasted on the back and sent back, then it should be given immediately.

Even if the task is not a priority, tackle it immediately, if you intend to solve it at all. The reason the interval limit is two minutes is because it takes about as long to save and sort the document if you don't intend to end the problem right away: in other words, this length of the interval achieves the maximum pace of work.

Nothing needs to be tracked in the process of taking priority actions - they just need to be done. However, if you are doing something, and this is not the last action required to complete the project, you need to figure out what the next step is and evaluate it according to the same criterion. David Allen

This is how the whole book is written!

Anyone who starts learning the GTD system will go crazy! His brains will flow into the pages of this book!

This is a shame, because there is nothing difficult in time management. Nothing that a ninth grader wouldn't understand.

Yes, many leave already at this stage, but still this is not the main reason.

And the main reason is UNCOMFORTABLE

Inconvenient?

Yeah. That's all. You have not been able to conveniently set up your time management.

Lying on the couch and watching football is very convenient. All you need to do is go to the store for a beer, pick up the remote control and press a button. Very comfortably!

So, the first important thought: the time management system should be convenient.

Why can't you plan on paper?

Returning to David Allen and his GTD, we see how he suffers there, how he arranges cases into 42 daddies (30 days + 12 months), shoves them into some boxes, etc.

In the days when Allen was just starting to come up with his system, it really had to be so perverted. Unsurprisingly, time management was inconvenient.

Convenient system - what is it like?

• Visual.
• Fast.
• Automatic.
• All functions are available in a couple of clicks.

Now it's elementary, friends!

We have smartphones. We have computers. Simple, comfortable, yet powerful.

We have cloud technologies that allow you to have access to our projects, tasks, all-all information in a couple of taps.

I am outraged when modern young people, hung with the latest devices, take out a crumpled piece of paper, a pencil and begin to paint these lists.

This is ridiculous. And it's a shame.

It's a shame in front of the people who suffered with these daddies, stickers 30 years ago.

The second important thought: the planning system should be electronic.

I will give some more clarifying tips …

Tip # 1: Watch Out For Roughs

Convenience - 100%! In the event of the slightest roughness, the slightest inconvenience, you should immediately stop and think.

How to fix it? How do I set it up?

If you are uncomfortable entering tasks, you should think about how to simplify the task input (for example, I do this mainly from a dictaphone - it's more convenient for me).

If you cannot understand the essence of the task in 0.1 seconds, it means that you do not know how to clearly formulate tasks.

Etc…

Tip # 2: Watch Out for Disruptions

The task that you "seemed to" set disappeared? You should definitely get to the bottom of why this happened!

The planning system must be RELIABLE. So that you can completely trust her.

This is absolutely essential. If you don't trust your time management system, then you will never be able to relax. You will continue to keep everything in your head!

Tip # 3: Experiment

Your scheduler should LIKE EXTERNAL.

Give someone "cute" soft colors, plush buttons. And someone is closer to strict interfaces with right angles, classic, in the style of Windows 98 (yeah, that's what I am!).

Scheduler programs are now in bulk. Choose a program in which it would be PLEASANT for you to work.

And for this, there should not be on the screen …

…nothing extra

Tip # 4: lick your planner

The electronic planner can be customized and colored as your heart desires.

Major mistakes:

• Superfluous visual information.
• Unnecessary functions, buttons.
• The tasks are similar to each other.
• Colors and different fonts are not used for different types of tasks.
• Frequent actions are done in many clicks (hotkeys, gestures, etc. are not used).

In general, you get the idea - you need to GRIND the system until you lose your pulse.

Total

If you keep your diary through force, they say, you need to, Petya, pull yourself together, write things down - it just won't work. You will drop everything. Sooner or later.

Planning should be as easy as breathing or scratching your butt.

The main secret is CONVENIENCE.

A convenient system can only be digital. Electronic planners only!

Stop planning on paper!

Leave that to your grandmother.

Write in the comments

Why didn't time management take root in you? Was this due to inconvenience?