Time & productivity

Since ancient times, people were interested in measuring time.

From measuring time using the movement of the Sun, Moon or stars, to mechanical clocks or atomic ones that we find today, measuring time was always a challenge. If you would like to read about the history of time, read an article here.

Measuring time, means to be part of a standardized system through which you can organize your daily activity. At least, this is the initial purpose. How do we see time today? Usually, through expressions like“time flies”, “run out of time”, “time stopped”.

When do you think that time passes more quickly?

A.When you are involved in a creative activity, correlated with you passion and way of being?

B.When you need to finish a report that you started recently, instead of planning it since a month ago?

Most likely, your answer will be A.

Today, when technology helps us but also requires your attention, spending your time in an efficient way is a great challenge.

But, if you are the type of person that works at many things in the same time, checking your email and Facebook account every 5 minutes, you might find out at the end of the day, that “time passed” and you’re not even close to your daily goals.

So, what could you do?

First of all: pay attention to time allocation on daily activities.

In my previous article, I wrote about the time management matrix. If you allocate more time on important goals, which are not urgent, you could finish them and have extra time to review them. Thus, your level of stress will be lower. Usually, we might overestimate or underestimate the time needed for a task (most common could be the time needed to arrive to a meeting venue). What does this thing produce? A chain reaction for all your other activities and a sense of urgency which will create more stress.

Second: paying attention to time management

After you planned your agenda, tracking your activities is a good way to see what you actually accomplished. Don’t forget that any mistake could be a lesson, which could mean that if you overestimated the time needed to finish a report, next time you might allocate extra hours for unpredictable things that could appear on working on a report.

Finally, to be efficient you should create a better time and productivity relationship.

Below, you can find an exercise proposed by Robin Sharma. I not only did the exercise, but I use it regularly to increase my productivity.

This is a simple and easy exercise in 2 steps:

1.Think of a major professional goal that you would like to accomplish in the next 3 months

2.For the next 90 days, use the first 90 minutes of your working day (the moment you start your professional activity) to focus on the activities related to your goal. Don’t open your email (for any urgency you will be contacted) and the Facebook and LinkedIn account could wait (updates will still be there on your timeline).

After 90 minutes, you will accomplish important things for your goal and you will have the rest of the day for other activities, emails and meetings. Think about your goal today and start the exercise tomorrow!

Don’t forget that any idea remains an idea without massive ACTION!

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Want to be more productive?

Join The Productivity Club or enroll to my coaching plans at Coach.me

You might be interested in the article Important or urgent? More productive through simple planning
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