4 Tips To Get More Done At Home

Read my first 2 articles in this #WorkFromHome series here and here.

We all are equally gifted with the same amount of this resource that is finite and non-renewable.

Once spent you cannot get it back again.

I’m talking about time. 

You want more time? Get better at managing it. 

I’m far from an expert at managing my own time. I fail many, many times over the course of a day.

Self-regulation is the only way we can manage this resource.

More vs Meaningful 

We all want to feel accomplished and productive in any given day.

In order to do that, we must first realise that the goal is not about getting more stuff done, but about getting meaningful stuff done. 

There are always time traps and pitfalls we fall into every time we try to get things done. I’ve identified 4 of them and suggest 4 ways we can manage our time better: 

DON'T TRY TO ACCOMPLISH TOO MUCH, INSTEAD... DO LESS BUT MEANINGFUL THINGS

Don’t we all want to do it all in life? The truth is most successful people accomplish more by doing less. But it’s not merely choosing to work less. Rather, it’s finding the few things that matter and checking it off. 

DON'T BE REACTIVE WITH BUSYWORK, INSTEAD... DO THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS FIRST

It feels good to have checked stuff off your todo list. But some of us struggle when the list just keeps getting longer. We become reactive instead of responsive. Don’t give in to busywork. Find your most important thing and get it done first. Usually the MIT is the hardest thing to do. Do it first, then work on other things on the list. 

DON'T LEAVE TASKS HALF DONE, INSTEAD... DO ONE TASK UNTIL COMPLETION

This is probably the most powerful trick there is. Instead of leaving tasks undone, I find it best to focus on one thing until its done. You can rely on methods like the pomodoro technique to help you do that. Work in short sprints and give yourself a time limit to get it done. 

DON'T PUT OFF WHAT MATTERS, INSTEAD... DO KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING

Sometimes when we run out of time, we compensate by dropping the ball in areas like family, health and spiritual life. That shows where our true priorities are. Here’s an alternative perspective. Think of your work as a rubber ball. If you drop it, it bounces back. Family, health and relationships are glass balls. If you drop them they break. Don’t neglect what truly matters in life. 

It’s okay to fall into these pitfalls sometimes. We all do. The aim is to climb back up and get back on track.