Productivity and Performance 2 (Productivity Techniques)
In the previous post we spoken about three very important elements when it comes to developing productivity. Do you remember them?
• Identify
the most profitable OBJECTIVES or goals for our human or professional
development.
• Prioritize
TASKS related to those objectives or goals.
• Learn to
properly manage the limited TIME and ENERGY that you have.
So far we have mostly talked about point 1, with the
exercise “The wheel of life” ( Did you do it? If not, spend some time on it! ).
Today we are going to focus on the other two points. So… let's see how to make
better use of time.
I. GTD: Getting Things Done
This system devised by David Allen is based on the principle
that our memory is not the best organizational system. Therefore, it proposes
to compile several task lists and "empty" them into different
"external buckets" such as: Agendas, paper task list, email, google
calendar, time management apps ... Then we will undertake its Processing and
finally its Revision.
The system is therefore based on:
1 COLLECT
Let's not get complicated. If you are more traditional,
writing down all the tasks you have to do at the end of the day or at the
beginning of the week is one way to collect. You can also use email or
applications such as Asana , but if you are trying to collect, any system is
good if it suits you.
If you can already establish a hierarchy of priorities in
your registry system (see the point “Prioritize and you will conquer”), much
better.
2. PROCESS
Allen argues that "any task that can be done in less
than 2 minutes must be done immediately."
For the elements of the cube that require actions, there are
different options, you can perform the action (always if it takes less than 2
minutes), delegate them appropriately, or postpone them.
Those elements that do not require an action can: archive
them for reference, discard them if they do not proceed or leave them in
quarantine if at that moment you cannot undertake them.
You should also keep fashionable mind that you should not
process more than one item at a time and that you should not return the items
to the bucket until they have been processed.
3. ORGANIZE
Tasks can be divided into:
- Upcoming actions . It is the most immediate thing to do of
a task, the first steps you must take to do anything. They can be equivalent to
"URGENT"
- Projects : When something takes us more than two or three
actions, we call it projects. Projects must be reviewed to see if we carry out
actions every day aimed at achieving them.
A project can have “IMPORTANT” tasks, but not urgent ones.
- On hold : Something that we have delegated or entrusted to
a third party. Many Important Non-Urgent tasks are ideal for delegating.
- Maybe / Someday : Actions that you want to take but right
now are not possible. They can be not important or urgent or, directly,
unfeasible.
4. REVIEW
If you don't check your task storage systems daily, this
system is useless. For the most urgent tasks, or Upcoming Actions, the review
should be daily. For projects, it can be weekly, to check if we are taking steps
to fulfill them or not. And finally you will have to do a monthly general
review to see if what you are carrying out is aligned with your objectives.
5. DO
Any productivity technique shouldn't take you any longer than it takes to do the tasks themselves. The objective is that you can do more and better, not that you complicate yourself unnecessarily.
II. PRIORITIZE AND YOU WILL OVERCOME
GTD does not give as much importance to establishing
priorities as to getting the list of tasks out of your head and organizing
them, therefore we must resort to other methods for this. A simple system of
labeling pending tasks is as follows:
1. Urgent and
Important
2. Urgent,
but not Important
3. Important,
but not Urgent
4. Neither
Important nor Urgent.
Logically to make this list you must be clear about what is
Urgent and Important, for which you will have done the work proposed in the
previous post. When collecting your pending tasks, you can already label them
in one of these four categories.
Another simpler system is the one developed by Jay Shirley,
creator of The Daily Practice application , which is based on determining only
3 main tasks for each day. Shirley realized that endless to-do lists are not
operational on a day-to-day basis, so she proposes to focus on 3 each morning,
each of a kind, based on the I Need / Should / Want scheme.
• I need : A
web designer must present a website on which he has worked to a client, which
is already ready, but not published. You need to do a final review of your
website and publish it, before meeting with your clients.
• It should
: It is a task that contributes to a long-term goal (one of the goals that we
have defined with the Wheel of Life exercise). For example, a computer
programmer has set a goal of mastering English in one year and for this he has
proposed to dedicate an hour each day. I should spend an hour on English.
• I want :
It is an activity that you really want and want to do. For example, an employee
wants to decorate his workplace and even put some plants. So you decide that
that day you want to decorate your workplace.
At the end of the day, of course, you have to review how you
have done with those three goals.
III. ORGANIZE YOUR TIME
We are going now with techniques to make better use of time,
especially a couple of principles that you must be very clear in order not to
avoid wasting it excessively (because, make no mistake, we all lose a little).
The first is Parkinson's Law : "Work expands to fill
the time available for its completion."
It mostly means that if you have a lot of time to do a task, you will end up doing it in that time. Therefore, having strict schedules to perform each task will help you be more productive. Establishing at the beginning of the day a schedule of what you are going to do at each moment of the day is extremely useful, and the I need / want / should technique also ensures that, at least those three things, you are going to do them every day. Of course, you should leave plenty of time for tasks because there are always unforeseen events. Google Calendar can help you in this task.
The second principle that you must be clear about is that
multitasking does not exist for humans , or it is overrated. Human attention
cannot be divided, unless you perform tasks that are not of the same nature
(such as running and talking). Therefore, multitasking is an illusion. The
pomodoro time management system divides time into units of about 30 minutes (“
pomodoros ”, named after the tomato-shaped timer used by its creator Francesco
Cirillo). In 25 minutes you complete a task, resting the other 5. Every four “
pomodoros ” (2 hours) you rest for about 15 minutes. This simple method values concentration
and gives its moment to rest.
Focus booster is an submission that helps you use this
method.
And with this we drink stretched the end. It is clear that
with two publications we are not going to solve your life, but we do hope we
have given you some clues on how to better focus and organize your daily tasks.
Good luck and get on with it!
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