I always believe the fairest thing in the world is that 24 hours you have. No matter whether you were poor from or whether you were fortunately born in a wealthy family, that 24 hours is all you have.
That’s the fact. Now, the question is how are you going to make the most out of those 24 hours? Some may prefer to scarify their sleep (hence health) in order have more time for work, some would prefer to maximise the efficiency of the hours they spend on work; some manage to do both very well, and quite often those are the people who change the world.
I have been trying to increase my productivity lately. I have got David Allen’s GTD book in my shelf, and Steve Pavlina’s blog in my RSS reader. Those are good resources to learn about how to get things done more effectively. However I found the following aspects are key to deal with endless work that I actively or passively loaded on my shoulder.
Prioritisation
Again, there are only 24 hours but there are always work that need to be done. However there are some that can be done later rather than now. Prioritising important things first will allow you to use your time in a more valuable way. Always ask yourself these questions before you are going to start something – do I have to do this now? Can it be done in a few days or weeks time? What’s due tomorrow?
Allocation time during multitasking
My work requires a high level of multitasking skill (ok, nowadays which work doesn’t!). There are always several things going on at the same time. That’s in a micro scale. Looking at a broader picture, there are always things in progress in your personal life and professional life, and they have different deadlines. Therefore it’s crucial to allocate certain time to each projects, either work project such as presentation, or personal projects such as spending an hour doing your financial balance sheet. Need to make sure there are certain time block allocated to each project, rather than waiting for one to finish then start to work on the others.
Stay focused
Get a list to write down what exactly do you want to achieve? There are always something interesting to drag your attention away, especially when you open your inbox. I found pen and post-it notes are the best friends of keeping focus.
Reviewing
It’s like when you learn skiing, it’s not important to know how to move forward, but how to stop when you are needed. Life is always moving forward regardless you want it or not, but it’s crucial to stop when it’s necessary to look back in time, and see if you are on the right track. If not, adjust it! Again, stay focused.
Do you have any tips for improving productivity?
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I TOTALLY understand what you’re talking about! I have post it’s right next to me now!
Interesting books, I think I might look them up. Talk to you again soon!
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