Free up your time to do the things that truly make you feel Alive.
Everyone’s role nowadays demands getting more and more things done in less and less time. The tricky thing about time is that regardless of what you do or who you are or where you are, time remains the same – you’ll get 24 hours per day, and the manner it’s given to you is absolutely non negotiable. So while it’s impossible to manage time, you have full control over how exactly you manage your Self so that you leverage your resources in the time available to produce the greatest returns.
Here are some of the most important tricks and techniques I’ve learned so far for managing your Self to MASSIVELY increase your productivity and efficiency, freeing up more of your time to spend on the things that truly matter to you. If you are genuinely seeking a higher and better quality of life, these are the top habits you must definitely master:
Self-Management Tip #1: Start at the End.
In the classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Beginning with the end in mind means that before you bark up a tree, make sure you are in the right forest first. Or before you climb that ladder, make sure the ladder is leaning on the right wall!
In other words, before you do anything, ask yourself first what the end result or outcome that you are striving for. Have that vision and hold it in your mind, and work your way backwards. Don’t go from A to Z – instead, ask yourself what has to happen before you can get to Z! Then it’ll be easier to figure out the what and how of Y, and of X, and of W… and so on.
This method helps you craft a more sturdy strategy and action plan, and prevents wasted time and efforts. You’ll also find that a little bit of thinking and planning will save you from the hassles of committing preventable mistakes, many of which are usually time-consuming and costly (emotionally and financially speaking).
Before you ask if you’re doing things right, first ask yourself if you’re doing the right things.
The key is to not mistake efficiency with effectiveness. Just because you are getting a lot of things done doesn’t automatically mean your accomplishments are of high value. If you are focusing on doing the wrong things, the end result will surely disappoint you.
If you know where you want to go, you'll easily find your way.
Self-Management Tip #2: Swallow That Frog
In his book Eat That Frog!
The idea is to eat your biggest and ugliest frog first thing in the day so that you can get it out of the way as soon as possible. When you procrastinate, effectively what you are doing is spending a bigger part of your day watching the frog burping and jumping around (which is not nice at all). The more you leave it, the bigger and uglier the frog will get, so swallow it first before you even begin to do anything else.
When you eat your biggest frogs first as a habit, you will find that because you have accomplished the most difficult task of your day, you get to perceive all the other tasks after that as so much easier, and you’ll breeze through them. Because the biggest frog is out of the way, you’ll feel more relaxed, more self-confident, and therefore more productive for the rest of the day.
I’ve learned a similar principle from Stephen Covey
Which Quadrant Do You Spend Most of Your Time In?
As you can see in the illustration above,
- Quadrant 1 activities are Important AND Urgent – (important tasks with looming deadlines)
- Quadrant 2 activities are Important and NOT Urgent – (Tasks that may not be urgent, but dramatically increases the quality of your life if you do them consistently)
- Quadrant 3 activities are NOT Important but Urgent – (these may be urgent tasks, but their impact is almost negligible even if you don’t do them)
- Quadrant 4 activities are NOT Important and NOT Urgent – (You shouldn’t even be thinking of these)
Put simply, minimize spending time doing Quadrant 1 and 3 activities; Don’t even bother with Quadrant 4, and focus most of your time doing Quadrant 2 tasks. When you spend more time on Quadrant 2, you prevent many problems from happening in the first place.
The key is to not confuse urgency with importance. Just because something is urgent doesn’t mean it’s worthy of your time. Focus your time and energy on the things that are most important to you, or those that will increase the quality of your life the most.
Self-Management Tip #3: Follow the 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 Rule states that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results. For example, 80 percent of your profits will come from 20 percent of your customers. 20 percent of your tasks will produce 80 percent of your results.
The gist of the 80/20 is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters. Of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results, so identify and focus on those things. When your time and resources are severely limited, remind yourself of the 20 percent you need to focus on. If something in the plan has to be postponed or scrapped, if something isn’t going to get done, make sure it’s not part of that vital 20 percent.
Focus your resources on the top tasks that will make the most difference to you, to your business and to your life.
Delegate the rest (the bottom 80 percent), and learn how to say NO to things that don’t qualify as part of the vital 20 percent.
The 80/20 Principle
Self-Management Tip #4: Leverage, Leverage, Leverage!
A few months ago, I was listening to a teleseminar hosted by Rich Schefren where he asked the top internet entrepreneurs a single question: “What’s the biggest barrier did you have in your business that once you overcame it, you were then able to produce the greatest results from your efforts?”
About 80% of all the 12 guests answered that they produced the best results in both the personal and business aspects of their lives when they realized that they didn’t have to do every thing, and started delegating work to other people.
In his book, The 4-Hour Work Week
Another way of leveraging is to focus on your strengths. I have seen many small businesspeople try to get a job done by themselves even though they have absolutely no clue how to do it, in an effort to save some money. While you may get away with it on your personal life, business matters aren’t as forgiving. Focus on doing the things that you are good at, and hire someone else to do the things you suck at.
It’s all about leveraging your time and resources so that you can get more while putting in less, and freeing the rest of your time and energy on the things that truly matter to you.
Self-Management Tip #5: Focus on Doing One Thing At A Time.
Perhaps the most common blunder we commit in an effort to be more productive is Multi-tasking. The thing is, Scientists have proven that we can’t fully do several tasks at once – but what we can do is switch from one task to another in rapid succession. Scientists have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking.
A cover story in Time Magazine stated:
“Decades of research (not to mention common sense) indicate that the quality of one’s output and depth of thought deteriorate as one attends to ever more tasks.”
Another research about multi-tasking concludes that:
Doing more than one task at a time, especially more than one complex task, takes a toll on productivity. Multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error. David Meyer PhD has said that even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time.
The negative effects of multi-tasking is not just about doing a lower-quality work, however. There’s a dangerous side to multi-tasking as well. When doing complex tasks and tasks that could potentially cause harm if you momentarily lose your attention (like driving or crossing the road), multi-tasking poses great risk.
Doing one thing at a time gives you the capacity to do that task really well and yes, in less time. So don’t get fooled into thinking that you are being more productive when you’re multi-tasking, because you’re not. Do one thing and one thing only at any given time so that your attention and energy is laser-like, enabling you to do more in less time. Learn from this multi-tasking Zen Monk.
Self-Management Tip #6: Systematize and Organize
Michael E. Gerber
A great way to get organized is to use tools and resources that cut your work time by a fraction, such as the clever applications listed here.
Self-Management Tip # 7: Take Clean Breaks!
Take Time to Recharge Yourself.
I was once hired to coach a small telesales team. Like in most workplaces, the environment was very much high pressure, and productivity was measured in terms of the number of calls each staff made per day. So most of the staff, in an attempt to make as many calls as possible, spent their break time by working. When I suggested a no-working-during-break-times guideline, the collective amount of sales made rose and continued to improve. One member of staff, who refused to stop working during her lunch period because of her lagging sales results, became depressed and ill, and was off work for a long time.
Contrary to popular belief, taking some time out may actually increase your productivity. By ‘breaks’ I don’t mean just any breaks, but clean breaks.
Most people’s idea of relaxation these days involves toxic and harmful activities like:
- Drinking excessive amounts of coffee, energy drinks or soft drinks.
- Consuming high amounts of snacks rich in refined sugar, preservatives, artificial ingredients and trans fats.
- Smoking cigarettes.
- Doing activities that add even more mental and emotional noise like watching senseless TV shows, listening to disturbing news, and gossipping.
The essence of taking clean breaks is to recharge you – i.e., get some more energy to get you going again. So make sure you do things that actually energizes you, instead of things that drain you of even more energy! Instead of the above, do the following:
- Snack on something that will energize you without some bad consequences like raw fruits, fruit juices or smoothies, or some nuts and seeds.
- Step away from your desk and get out of your workplace.
- Relax and de-stress. Stretch, take a 15-minute walk, go out for a run, laugh, meditate.
The point is to do something that energizes and recharges you without detoxifying your mind or body.
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