Productivity and time management
January 11, 2008 – 10:41 pmDo you have a problem with productivity and time management?
Are you like me and sometimes struggle with doing all those little jobs you think about during the day, and then forget about them or put them off until some time later? It might be something like:
- writing an item on your shopping list
- completing one or more tasks
- making a phone call
- jotting down an idea for a story or article for your blog
- setting a reminder for a future event.
Whatever the “thing”, if it is not dealt with in a timely manner, you risk losing the thought (story or article) or forgetting the matter until it becomes a real issue (phone call, reminder) or missing out on an opportunity to succeed.
I have discovered that getting something done when it needs to be done is a sure-fire way of improving my state of mind and it sure leads to a more relaxed lifestyle.
Procrastination and Opportunity
Okay, so how exactly do you improve productivity and better manage your time? Simple, get it done when it needs to be done. As I have experienced it, there are two dimensions to this. Procrastination and opportunity. Your experiences may be different, but if I can help you in any way, then I have accomplished what I set out to do in this post.
Procrastination is what gets in the way most times so I will show you how I deal with that first. Without going into all the technicalities, procrastination is simply putting off something till later.
My solution to procrastination
I am working on overcoming procrastination by seeing it for what it is in each case. Procrastination for me is often linked to a fear of what might be said, what might happen or what someone might think of me. It is sometimes related to my need to always do my very best in everything I do, perfectionism, which is related to a fear of failure. Other times it seems to be this irrational concept that a task is too big or will take too long or some other “too”.
As you may have experienced, once you do get around to doing something you have been putting off till later, all of the fears and “too”s seem irrelevant. So, I have started to capture that feeling that comes after having completed a task. Depending on the magnitude of the “deferred” task, that feeling I experience after having finally completed it, is often a mixture of emotions and sensations including:
- success
- relief
- lower stress levels
- “on a high”
- “at last, it’s done!”
- a desire to celebrate
- sharing the success story with others
The winning formula for me that seems to be working right now goes like this. When I feel that procrastination is rearing its ugly head, I concentrate on seeing the job done and experiencing that feeling. More and more I have been just hopping to it and getting stuff done. It might sound pretty lame, it might just be another angle on “positive thinking” but it is working for me. I hope it can help you.
Now, onto opportunity
Opportunity is related to my priorities in life. I may have just remembered the need to make an important phone call, but if I just sat down to dinner with my family, it is not going to end well to interrupt that family time to make the call. When I just can’t get away from my current task, for whatever reason, that is the time to seize the opportunity to write down a reminder.
So if you just can’t drop what you are doing right then, that’s where to use a notepad and pen. If you don’t have one, get a small notepad that will fit into a pocket or purse and carry it and a pen with you as often as you can remember to take them along. When a thought occurs, whether it is an otherwise forgotten task that needs your attention or a brilliant idea that just popped into your head, WRITE IT DOWN there and then. You can get on with whatever you are doing at the time, but at least you have captured that prompting for your further attention when time permits.
I hope that is of some help to someone.
Brendan Brewster.
