Get UnStuck with Systems & Processes

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." - Michael Altshuler

I’m my own worst enemy, sometimes. I’ve had a history with committing to too many things and not giving my best to any one of them. That usually left me feeling horrible about myself and gave the impression that I wasn’t capable (or worse, that I didn’t care).

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is, multitasking typically involves engaging in two tasks or activities simultaneously. Most of the time, we pick activities that just are not meant to be multitasked. Or we just pile on way too much.

There’s immense value in going all-in. You can crush it when you focus on putting 100% into high-value tasks and commitments.

If you do make the same mistakes I’ve made, in taking on too much, here are some ways I’ve hacked my ways of working to get better results:

1) Unplug Everything.

In order to earn more time, I discovered and put to practice two completely different ideas:

• focus on getting the hard things done, first; and
• be obsessively disciplined against distractions.

Let's be real: most of us know what's important and let anything get in its' way. If it's something, we know is hard or going to be uncomfortable we avoid it. Not good!

So, what am I proposing: get that thing done, first. No excuses. Chances are better if you get in the basic and most important stuff done ASAP. Especially, before you get assaulted with the demands of the workday.

How to do this effectively: remove excuses and distractions:

• Turn off ringers, notifications, and anything that you know is bound to bring you into a loop of other activity.
• Delete apps and remove anything from your daily routine that is not there to prompt you or help you get what matters most done.
• Adopt tools, systems, people, and any other solution that will, in fact, help you get traction.
• And don't create an excuse or delay if it doesn't work get rid of it and try something else.

The enemy isn't time. The enemy is distraction.

2) Batch it up.

High-quality work is based on two factors: the time spent, and the level of focus maintained. A study reveals that “the average knowledge worker switches task every three minutes, and, once distracted, a worker can take nearly a half-hour to resume the original task”.

So, every time you attempt to multitask, you lose time. You lose even more time when you commit to things that don't necessarily need to get done, by you.

Protect the basics. Look at current priorities and make sure time is properly allocated for in your schedule. I do this by plotting 30-to-60-minute chunks of time on my calendar to allow for things like:

• Getting tasks done (I label these as "Task Time")
• Actions that are unplanned, and matter (I label these as "Decompress Time" which I typically use to make calls, meet with others, or run errands)
• Reserved time (I label these as "VIP Time" which get used for unexpected needs or more personal focus)

Of course, everyone's needs are different, so you need to figure out what works for you. Nonetheless, it's important to ADD time to get things that matter most driven forward, and REMOVE tasks and commitments that can be delegated, addressed later, or are not going to move the needle where it matters most.

3) Touch it once.

According to a study by Carleton University, people spend one-third of their time at the office – and half of the time they work at home – reading and answering emails. But 30% of that time, the emails are neither urgent nor important.

That's a whole lot of time. Imagine what we could do with that time if we earned it back and applied it to something else. Game-changing.

'Getting Things Done' is a productivity framework for organizing and tracking tasks and projects, developed by business productivity consultant and author David Allen. I've adopted this framework and have managed my email, and time, a whole lot better.

For me, it works because it is easy to adopt and forces fast decision making. Here is a quick way to get started:

• Make a commitment to only read a message once.
• Create the following folders to help you sort and decide: Inbox: the main mailbox where everything comes in for sorting Cabinet: the mailbox emails go to for reference (if needed) Trash: where emails go to get deleted
• If the email is not important and does not require action: send to Trash or Cabinet
• If the email comes in and requires you to take action: do the action, or schedule time to do it
• If the email come in and requires action (but not yours): send to someone for action.

Fact is, I've learned the hard way that being your own worst enemy often stems from overcommitting and attempting to multitask on tasks that simply aren't meant to be juggled simultaneously. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of believing that busyness equates to productivity, but the truth lies in going all-in on high-value tasks and commitments.

5 key strategies to overcome overwhelm.

We’ve started exploring?how to trim 10 hours off your workweek. Why? Because time matters to us (and the people around us, that matter most).

As of today, we’ve covered:

• Protect:?You can't grow without it and you can't afford to lose it. It’s important to take permission and protect it.
• Prime:?Health is a key factor in maximizing it. Which is why we need to make wise choices and prime your environment for success.
• Plan:?If you don't have a plan for your time, someone else is ready to plan it for you. Learn to plan in order to get ahead.
• Process:?Avoid the time wasters and time drainers. I learned to adopt systems and processes to maximize time.

Up next:

• Pass:?You can't commit to everything without compromise. Make sure to pass on what doesn't matter, most.

That's a wrap!

If you enjoyed this, I would appreciate if you considered reading or sharing one of the previous articles:

• Three Top Tips for Planning to Get Ahead
• 3 Ways to Prime Time for Smarter Success
• Protect Time to Get Ahead of the 80%

Rooting for ya!

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Edwin Almonte