Those of us who work professionally in coaching know that one of the main issues clients bring up is lack of time. In fact, there is a specialty of the profession called Productivity coachcoaches specialized in productivity and time management, endorsed by ICF, International Coaching Federation.
So if you’re looking for ways to make the most of your time and be ultra-productive this year, it’s essential to manage time wisely and use effective productivity strategies.
Here are six tips that will help you maximize the organization and execution of your goals and tasks:
1) Find the organization system that best suits your personality
We are all overwhelmed by the number of applications and technological systems to organize time. However, for many people, regardless of age, it works very well to stick to some traditional methods, such as a paper planner, sticky notes with reminders, and working with check-off lists as commitments are completed.
The suggestion is that you do not let yourself be influenced by fashions or what others find: you can complement a manual system with technology, and not for that reason feel that you will be out of the loop.
Why does it happen that we are very interested in seeing and writing by hand what we have to do? Because the visual sense is by which, predominantly, human beings connect, and by the physiological effect that occurs when writing freehand. It is true that phrase that says “everything enters by sight”. For this reason, what we see gives us the feeling that it is more tangible, it sometimes catches our attention much more than a pop-up message that appears on your computer.
2) Avoid giving the power of your agenda to others
Another aspect that I often hear in executive coaching sessions is that the agenda began to be taken by others, instead of by the person himself. Thus, by sharing calendars and organization systems, many people schedule and even overlap activities.
The invitation is to take back control of your schedule, establish certain rules and procedures when you work as a team and someone interferes with your commitments.
And, very important, take breaks between meetings: no one can perform at their best by doing them one after the other. It takes between 20 and 30 minutes to disconnect, and resume the next meeting.
This famous technique can help you: “Pomodoro”. Yes, like the sauce. It is very simple:
Step 1: Using a kitchen timer (it doesn’t matter if it’s not shaped like a tomato), you set it to 25 minutes, in which you will work with full focus on a specific task. So, before the 25-minute session begins, you give yourself a specific task (just one) that you want to accomplish. For example, writing an article like this, reading a book, studying or drawing anything you can think of.
Do not do it with the cell phone timer, because what you are looking for is to disconnect from technology and stop being aware of warnings, messages and alarms for a while.
Step 2: Every 25 minutes you take a 5 minute break. You can do whatever you want except check email or any other form of communication.
Step 3: Then, you restart another 25-minute session; and at its end, you take another pause, and so on until you complete the cycle of the entire main task.
Step 4: Every four 25-minute sessions, you will add a longer break (from 15 to 30 minutes).
3) Review your to-do list every day, and reduce them to a minimum
Procrastination, which is postponing commitments and tasks, is one of the worst enemies of productivity. People procrastinate because they let themselves be, because they say they work better doing it under pressure at the last minute or simply because they are disorganized and distracted by any external stimulus.
The to-do list is a great way to review commitments. I suggest you classify them by important -those things that are totally relevant to moving forward-, and that you observe how you proceed in the face of emergencies -what breaks out from one moment to another-.
If you are working and you have accustomed others to everything being “urgent”, it is difficult to set priorities. Knowing how to do it masterfully is one of the best resources you can develop this year, as is delegating effectively.
This exercise will help you:
- Make a to-do list.
- Then, divide it into lists that are different, for example: work topics, personal topics. You have already distributed what is pending in two lists. I suggest that you open no more than 3 or 4 different lists.
- Sort by priority in each list.
- Delete, plan for later or delegate if you have someone, the 3 things you wrote under everything.
- Focus on solving the top 3 things on each list. “Only three things can be decided and resolved well per day,” says Bill Gates.
Once you complete the actions, cross them out, or mark them in the digital format you use. Why? Because you need to tell your brain’s reward center “I have done a very good job, this is finished.” If you don’t and keep producing like a machine, you don’t give yourself time for your brain to renew its energy and strength to continue.
4) Keep email up to date
The chaos that results from the simple fact of not knowing how to process the information that comes in by the tons all the time, both on the computer and on the cell phone, will only make you feel overwhelmed and overwhelmed.
The chaos that results from the simple fact of not knowing how to process the information that comes in by the tons all the time, both on the computer and on the cell phone, will only make you feel overwhelmed and overwhelmed.
All email programs have filters, reminders, antispam functions, and some even allow you to schedule emails to be sent later.
Perhaps it is time to review the hundreds or thousands of emails that you have without processing, declare them “complete” -for example, those from six months ago-. You can also make a backup or back-up if applicable, and that you classify to preserve, exclusively, the information that you know you might need later.
Having moments in the day specifically to answer emails, not copy everyone -only the essential people- and quickly process each email that arrives, is one of the great mental liberations that you will have.
5) Beware of multitasking
Two decades ago, the trend was established that high productivity was associated with doing many tasks at the same time and incidentally, being a bit obsessive.
Currently, neurosciences have discovered that having your mind divided by doing various brain processes at the same time does not give you effectiveness or quality. It is better to do the tasks one at a time, maintaining workflows with the necessary agility, than addressing all the issues at once.
If you don’t know how to manage your time or stop your anxiety about wanting to do everything at once, you can read books, take a course, watch videos, practice meditation or mindfulness, and also consider specialist productivity coaches.
Possibly what you visualize regarding your organization, perhaps it is the emergence of other types of topics that are below. For example, the desire for perfectionism, the gaze of others, or a feeling of feeling “less professional” if you do not do many things at the same time.
6) Plan the week, including your personal time
Finally, this tip may be the one that will really change your daily sequence. Use half an hour before starting your work days of the week, to plan the main lines of the most important and the commitments that you have already assumed.
I suggest that you keep free spaces to move forward with the operational, and, by the way, you will not see an agenda so overloaded with tasks.
Also, I recommend that you include all your personal spaces on the agenda: the gym, dinner, family time, your personal and professional development. The idea is that you avoid using it only for work, but also make commitments with you important. Thus, your life, your being and doing in the world will have more meaning.
By carrying out these six points you will begin to see how life begins to be more balanced and complete; in balance, and you will acquire a greater mastery to organize your time effectively.
Daniel Colombo Facilitator and Executive Master Coach specialized in senior management, professionals and teams; mentor and professional communicator; international speaker; author of 31 books. LinkedIn Top Voice Latin America. ICF certified; Certified Coach and Member of the John Maxwell Team.