Contents
Workaholism has become almost synonymous with professionalism. If an employee complains about overtime, then a good employee. But what if you can not recycle and still be efficient?
The hours are ticking by, your to-do lists are growing, and you’re already thinking about having a separate toothbrush and slippers at work. You use an expensive diary, install the latest self-organization apps on your smartphone, but by the end of the day you still find yourself overwhelmed with tasks. What’s going wrong?
“There are several reasons why we fail to keep our working day within the required eight hours,” says productivity consultant Julia Morgenstern, bestselling author of Time Management. The art of planning and managing your time and your life. Companies try to save on employees as much as possible. Our roles are constantly changing, the world around us is changing, and we can no longer do something “as usual”. Too many tasks, but too many distractions – the world of technology seems to tear us apart.
Does this mean that from tomorrow morning we all need to become robots, or at least optimization geniuses? Unlikely. But, regardless of your position, profession and status, you can learn how to consciously manage your time in order to work efficiently and not sacrifice your personal time.
Find out what takes time
Maybe you’re constantly trying to finish one thing, but just can’t stop yourself from checking your email from time to time. Or your boss is constantly going around the office, handing out new directions when you’re trying to catch up on something you’re already working on. Whatever the case, if you do too many things at once, the quality of your work will decrease and your workday will stretch out. The best way to optimize your time is to understand where it actually goes (and not what you think).
Julia Morgenstern advises to keep a diary and note in it, on the one hand, all your duties and work tasks, and on the other hand, the time you devote to each of them. To make the picture even clearer, Morgenstern advises not to include in the list everything related to communication – e-mail correspondence, listening to voice messages, meetings and meetings. “Your productivity is only apparent when you are doing exactly what you were hired to do,” she explains.
Cross out everything but the main
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they decide to improve their self-organization skills is to include all their tasks in one global list. Contact a potential client, book a meeting room, stick stickers on folders… Truly important things are buried in this “mass grave”, and hands no longer reach them. It’s also a tempting opportunity to procrastinate: “First, I’ll sort the documents into my desk drawers, and then I’ll get down to the report.”
It is important to understand what you really need to put on the list – from the three to five most important tasks – and throw everything else out. “It’s unlikely that you have the same need to do everything that you so painstakingly fit on the page of the diary,” says Laura Vanderkam, bestselling author of The Book of Lost Time. You have more options than you think.” “Remember that having a solid to-do list is not the same as managing it.”
Also, forget about the new super app that will help you make perfect lists and neatly do everything on them. Morgenstern and Vanderkam agree that if you need to focus, the best tool is paper. “For a lot of people, even tech geeks, a paper list—even if it’s printed out—works best,” says Morgenstern. “We can check with him without fear of falling under the hypnosis of the screen again.”
Alarm clock – not only to not oversleep in the morning
The most simple and tried-and-tested tricks often turn out to be more effective than cunning programs. An ordinary alarm clock, which is in any phone, can become a convenient means of self-control. “If you have something to constantly remind you of the time, it will be easier for you to overcome your weaknesses – from the habit of being easily distracted to getting stuck on a task when you don’t know where to end it.” “If you’re a perfectionist, say to yourself, ‘I’ll do this for an hour and a half, no more.’ Set an alarm or a timer and it will spur you on,” says Morgenstern. – Or like this: “These two hours I will work, and only then I will check the mail.”
Is it time to say goodbye to email?
The most toxic and fruitless relationships in our lives are relationships with mail, instant messengers and notifications. They require constant attention. They try to reach you through every device, whether it’s a phone, laptop or tablet. They literally go crazy with jealousy when you don’t want to give them every second of your life.
“Email is a source of endless new things to do and distractions,” says Morgenstern. She advises not to open the mail during the first hour after waking up and in the first hour after starting work. “It’s the world’s most widely used procrastination tool. But you can control it. Just turn off reminders. You can avoid delays only if you get to work right away.”
Plan things three days ahead
Don’t count on having time to make a plan for the day when it’s already started and you’re already being rushed to work. It is better to choose a time in the evening so that you can decide in a calm atmosphere what you will do tomorrow and the next two days. So you will better navigate the amount of work and be able to flexibly adjust your workload.
“When you have a clear vision for the next few days, you are always prepared for the unexpected,” explains Morgenstern. “Let’s say it will be easier for you to decide whether you are ready to replace someone if you know exactly how busy you are in the near future.”
Learn to procrastinate
What if you absolutely have to leave work at a certain time, but suddenly a lot of work has fallen on you in the afternoon? Instead of immediately panicking and canceling appointments, assess the situation. First of all, answer yourself how critical it is that you do this work right now. Then decide if you can realistically complete it in its entirety. If not, take it apart and do what you can.
Vanderkam advises imagining the situation: “If the building where I work goes out of power at exactly 5 p.m., what can I do in the remaining time? Now do it. The problem with many workaholics is that they don’t allow adjustments to their plans at all (even if they can) and end up staying up late.” Sometimes it’s nice to feel like a “Stakhanovite”, but it only makes sense when it’s really necessary. Records for the sake of records is not a good idea.