The day is coming to an end, and you understand that again you didn’t manage to do half of what you wanted to do? Why is it so? Perhaps you are approaching task scheduling the wrong way. Here are a few techniques to help you turn your to-do list into an easy-to-follow action plan.
Individual approach is one of the five main trends of recent years. So says an expert in trend research agency TrendWatching. However, time management is still dominated by standard recommendations.
Personal effectiveness author Brian Tracy states, “If you do what other successful people do, you will end up with the same results they have.” However, this approach to planning often only leads to frustration and fatigue.
There is an alternative way to make a list of tasks – taking into account your personal qualities, abilities and preferences. Here are a few of those techniques.
Mixed planning
German time management expert Kordula Nussbaum suggests first determining whether a job is amenable to planning. This is necessary in order to choose the method that suits you for compiling a list of tasks for the day.
Answer two questions.
1. How schedulable is your work?
- Good for planning.
- Rarely or not at all amenable to planning.
2. How do you plan?
- I love to plan and stick to my to-do list.
- I don’t like to plan and prefer spontaneity.
If you answered yes to both questions, you are an organized person and your work requires a clear plan of action.
If you answered no to both questions, you are creative and love spontaneity. You suit a job in which tasks often change throughout the day.
If you answered “no” to one of the questions and “yes” to the other, you may be in trouble. Work that is difficult to plan becomes a source of endless stress for an organized person. Creative, spontaneous people cannot always improvise when working with orders, clients, deadlines.
How to apply?
If your activities do not match your attitude towards planning, use the mixed method, it combines a rigid and flexible approach. Its main principle is the division of tasks into two types.
List 2-3 tasks that you need to complete by a certain date on your to-do list. Fix an exact time frame to work on them and don’t forget to add a reserve for unforeseen situations.
Write down all other tasks on a flexible list. Proceed to them after the completion of cases for which a deadline has been determined. They can be combined with other things, finished in the evening or rescheduled for another day.
Active time of day
In 1975, neuroscientists Olov Ostberg and Jim Horn for the first time scientifically proved that the chronotypes “owl” and “lark” really exist and manifest themselves regardless of the desire of a person. A year later, they released a 19-question questionnaire that helps identify personal periods of high activity. Answer three questions from this questionnaire:
1. What time do you wake up in the middle of your vacation, when you have already rested?
2. When do you like to go to bed if you don’t have to go anywhere in the morning?
3. Imagine choosing when to come to work. What time would you like to start?
If your answers indicate that you prefer to start your day no earlier than 11 am and go to bed after midnight, you are a night owl.
If you voluntarily wake up around 6-7 in the morning vigorous and active and dream of going to bed at 9-10 in the evening, you are a “lark”.
How to apply?
Plan important things for periods of your high activity. In larks, the first peak of activity begins at 8-9 in the morning and ends by 12-13 in the afternoon. The second, shorter one is from 16:00 to 18:00.
Owls have three activity peaks – from 13:00 to 14:00, from 18:00 to 20:00, and from 23:00 to 1:00. Owls are most efficient in the evening.
It is better for larks to do the most important and difficult task in the morning. It is better for owls to start the day with unimportant and non-urgent things, and plan important things for the first peak of activity – one in the afternoon.
Decision making speed
Some can choose a suitable dress in 5 minutes and buy a ticket abroad for tomorrow. Others, on the contrary, hesitate, it is difficult for them to make a choice and make even simple decisions. What type of people are you? Answer five questions:
1. Do you know exactly what you will be doing this coming weekend or holiday?
2. Do you easily adapt to new circumstances?
3. Do unexpected guests confuse you?
4. Do you put everything aside for the sake of your favorite activity?
5. Do you often take risks?
If you answered “yes” to at least 3 questions, you make decisions easily and quickly.
If you answered “no” to at least 3 questions, you need time to make decisions.
How to apply?
Daniel Kahneman, an American psychologist and creator of behavioral economics, in his book Think Slow, Decide Fast, distinguishes two decision-making systems.
The first is fast and automatic, acting at the level of reflexes. It turns on, for example, when you are asked how much “2 + 2” will be, and you say “Four” without hesitation.
The second system is responsible for careful, calculated and conscious decisions. It comes into play when you perform complex actions.
To properly manage your time, adequately assess the complexity of tasks.
How to distribute work among subordinates? Which platform to choose for a webinar? These decisions are complex. If you tend to decide quickly, stop and think. Such tasks must be treated carefully and every step should be planned.
What to cook for dinner? Call the client today or tomorrow? Don’t waste brain power thinking about simple solutions. It is better to accept them as quickly as possible and move on to more important matters.
Setting priorities in tasks
Understanding your personal preferences will help you deal with one of the most common hurdles in planning—picking a few of the most important tasks off your to-do list.
For this purpose, the Agile Results method is suitable – a system of personal effectiveness, which was created by Microsoft manager JD Meyer. What should be done?
1. At the beginning of the year, choose 3 big goals for the year.
2. At the beginning of the month – 3 tasks for the month.
3. At the beginning of the week – 3 tasks for the week.
4. At the beginning of the day – 3 tasks for the day.
How to apply?
When planning your daily tasks, refer to the goals and objectives for the year, month and week. This will help you to move towards their implementation on a daily basis.
It is not necessary to include only work plans in the goals for the year – they can be related to creativity, self-development, family, and so on. Thus, this method will cover all areas of life.
There are many other personal factors that you can rely on when planning. The value of an individual approach is that you do not have to look for the only right way. You can combine all the described methods or create your own, which will be the most suitable for you. This will turn your daily to-do list into a manageable action plan and help you reach your goals.