The concept of gathering all to-dos and having a dependable system to reduce stress is invaluable. Just this part alone has changed how I manage my tasks and helped me significantly increase my productivity.
Try the Eisenhower Matrix to organize your to-do list, and you will start working on your priorities. You will feel like you are gaining ground on what is most important for you.
We all procrastinate at one point or another. Getting work done effectively is a matter of setting up all your routines to ensure you are as productive as possible.
As managers, much of our daily work is problem-solving – going from one issue to the next and resolving each one. We need to approve transactions or discuss with others how to proceed with a question. This type of work requires being able to solve one task at a time and think on our feet. It may also require building consensus and teamwork. It is dynamic work and is full of activity.
There are other times, though, when we need to do a more intense kind of work. Sometimes we must do a deep-dive and research a new topic. We may have to think through an entrenched problem or start and engage with a challenging project that requires concentrated attention. Here, a different type of performance is necessary: one in which we take the time to immerse ourselves in an issue and think through it.
Your schedule is what determines what you will do daily. And your daily actions are the steps that will take you to achievement. Therefore, how well you set up your schedule will define how successful you are reaching all your goals, no matter what they are. What you seek to achieve may be professionally related, but it may also be about creating more time for yourself, your community, and your loved ones.
A well-designed schedule will establish where you will spend your time and will be the foundation for your results over time. Your schedule can be supportive if you design it to be so — otherwise, it can be part of the reason you are not where you strive to be.
Time is one of our most precious resources, and we often wish we had more. Often, it feels like it is slipping through our fingers like sand, and since we, unfortunately, cannot create more time, we instead must prioritize and focus on what matters most.
We each try to work as best as we can with the time we have. We all have our methods, which inevitably include schedules and building routines as well as hopefully, time off to rest and recharge. We may also try to be as productive as possible so that we do not waste any of it.
With everything that we balance regularly, it can often feel like time is moving too quickly. Like many other parents, I sometimes look at my daughters and cannot believe how fast they have grown. Time flew. All I can think about during those reflective moments is that I must make every minute count because time will not stop.
At the point when we are choosing how to spend our time, a million possibilities are available. The path is completely open because, at any given moment, we can choose anything. The catch is that once the choice is made, the moment is gone. The time has passed, and we can’t go back. The key is to choose wisely and to choose what matters the most.
When I was in graduate school, I put together my first real to-do list. It was not the type of to-do list where you write down all the assignments you have due in the next week or two. I had done plenty of those which included everything I had been procrastinating that needed to get done. This list was different. It didn’t just include projects for my classes but also personal items as well as commitments I had made in other activities.
As soon as I started writing everything down, I was astounded by how long it was. I hadn’t realized how much work I had been putting off or not even thinking about simply because I hadn’t written everything down. I learned a valuable lesson at that point – if there is even a slight hope that something will get done, I had to write it down first.
We juggle numerous tasks, day in and day out. The mountain of work can often seem to grow every day and the amount of work we need to do never seems to end. It is at times like these when it’s important to question the quality of the work we are doing. There are days when we may complete 20 different to-do list items, but what have we accomplished in the grander picture?
The to-do list is inevitable and quite powerful. It is the means through which our goals can become a reality, but it can also become a problem when it starts having a life of its own and controlling our lives. Instead, you can ask yourself the following questions at the beginning of each day:
What matters the most today?
What will have the greatest impact?
What is crucial today?
In a growing company, the amount of work is endless. Often there is work that has accumulated and needs to get done immediately. Other times, everything might be caught up and working well. Things can always be better, however, even when everything is up-to-date, and the sky is the limit to the many improvements that can be implemented within a company.
Any entrepreneur, business owner, and company leader knows how difficult it is to let go of work at the end of the day. Our thoughts and worries don’t just go away the minute we walk through the front door at home. With today’s ubiquitous technology, it is very easy for work to start seeping into our spaces outside of our work hours.