My name is Rodger Constandse and I’ve spent the last several years figuring out how to be more productive and effective… and how to help other people do the same.
Over the years, I’ve read tens (maybe even hundreds) of books related to productivity, time management, goals and personal development. I’ve also listened to CDs, DVDs and attended several seminars.
I’ve personally tried many different tools, techniques and strategies. Along the way, I’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t work.
This week, I’m going to share with you some of the best insights, lessons, tips and tricks that I’ve learned to help you get organized, be more productive and make better use of your time.
In this article, I’m going to share three simple time management secrets that you can start using right away to help you get more done.
Secret # 1 – Work From A List
If there is one thing that virtually all time management experts agree on, it’s this: instead of jumping from task to task doing whatever grabs your attention next, develop the habit of working from a list.
There are two important reasons for this.
The first is that while your brain is really good at storing concepts and experiences and finding connections and relationships between them, it’s not very good at storing and recalling small little details that keep changing all the time.
That’s why it’s much better to write down your to-do’s and appointments than to try to use your head to keep track of them.
In fact, business coach Brian Tracy says that most people experience a big surge in productivity when they start planning their day and consistently working from a list.
The second reason is that it’s much easier to plan and prioritize when your tasks are out in front of you than when they are all up in your head. You can use your list to pick out the important, high-value tasks and decide which ones you are going to work on first.
Secret # 2 – Plan Your Week
Charles Bixton said,
You will never find time for anything.
If you want time, you must make it.
If you want to have time to do something important, you need to stop trying to find time for it and instead decide to MAKE time for it. Planning helps you do that. It helps you make time for the most important things in your life and your business.
It turns out that a week is a very natural period for effective planning. It’s short enough to allow you to make reasonable plans but it’s long enough to allow you to balance important long-term goals with more urgent short-term tasks.
Secret # 3 – Develop A “Productivity” Mindset
Busy and productive are not the same; in fact, they are two very different things. You can be busy all day long and not really get anything significant done.
Ultimately, the secret to time management is to focus on things that help you accomplish what truly matters to you.
Basketball coach John Wooden often told his players to never confuse activity with achievement. You can stay very active and busy doing things that are meaningless and don’t lead you to where you want to go.
To develop a “productivity” mindset, you need to start thinking in terms of outcomes and not just actions. Be clear about what you are ultimately trying to accomplish and recognize whether the actions you are taking are helping you get there or not.
If you really want to incorporate these time management secrets into your life and use them to help you get more done, then you need to turn them into lifelong habits.
One of the best ways to do that is to develop your own productivity system (a consistent way of getting things done that you use every day) and make these secrets a part of it.
If you want to learn more, you can check out my free ebook Get More Done In Less Time.
What are some of the best time management tips, tricks or habits that you’ve picked up over the years to help you get more done?
The prize for today’s best comment is a free copy of my Magic of Habit course.
Be sure to come back every day this week for chances to win more prizes!
I love the idea of creating a list, but it seems that I have lists all over the place and no central area to plan. I’m trying to find the best way to get all tasks organized so I can create my ‘A’ list and work off that. This sometimes gets difficult with problems that arise and need to have my attention shifted to that task. How do you organize a task list when you have scheduled tasks plus unforeseen tasks that pop up frequently?
Thanks for the classic time management advice: I like your emphasis on *making* time for key projects, and on Coach Wooden’s wise distinction between activity and achievement. I might add that a little self-awareness goes a long way toward boosting productivity, too (e.g., do you tend to be most energetic in the morning or afternoon?).
Also, I like to keep some small tasks and incremental project steps on my daily task list, too. These help me maintain momentum between meetings or larger projects, and they “rev me up” with a few quick wins when my energy dips throughout the day.
Looking forward to your guest posts this week.
The key for my productivity is using a list – A To-do List and a Master List. Your master list is where you brain dump everything. From your master list you sit w/your calendar and schedule a time to get them done.
My to-do list is just for daily tasks that I need to accomplish that day!
People try too hard to squeeze too much on their to-do list and then get frustrated when they don’t accomplish ALL of the tasks!
Kathy,
A couple of ideas… One is to separate projects & tasks, so you have separate lists for each. Your Master Project List gives you an idea of your projects or outcomes that you are working on, and the task list can focus on just the actions you need to take to move them forward.
I personally have a separate Task List for each project, so I know what tasks I need to do when I work on each of my projects.
Then I have a plan at the Project level (using my schedule). If something comes up, you have to move things around as needed, but having a plan helps you decide if the new thing is more important than what you had planned to do.
Another idea is to use a Master Task List to capture all the tasks that you need to do, and a Daily Task list to capture just the tasks you are focusing on today.
HTH
Roger, I have been reading your posts for well over a year and have tried to implement some of your ideas. 2 things that have worked well for me are scheduling my return phone calls and also scheduling when I return emails. The little email beeps signaling new one are enticing, luring one to take a peek, but are time-wasters if you keep checking and mailing back whenever you hear the beep. The same with the red light on my voicemail. I have three separate times to make my returns and that has really helped keep me from whittling away precious minutes.
I do a list and prioritize for each day, but herein lies the rub. I am a middle school counselor. Now if you know anything about the twightlight zone of homo sapien development and the happenings of a middle school, you know that crises and drama are the order of the day. Sometimes days can go by and my ever-expanding to-do list gets buried beneath the detritus of drama! I have become somewhat adept at multi-tasking only to be told – there is no such thing and if you try, you really aren’t accomplishing anything. Is there any hope for those of us in the trenches who subject to the vagaries of others’ time?
“Things To Do…..”
I have a list of things to do;
I’m trying to keep it to a few.
I use a list ’cause I have a belief:
To write things down is quite a relief!
You may think I’m a crazy, old codger,
But, I’m just doing what I learned from Roger.
When they’re on a list you can organize,
It’s much easier to prioritize.
“How does one do that?”, you may ask….
I pick out my most important task,
I assign to it the number one
I number them all until the list is done.
‘First things first’ are the things that matter,
They’re not handed out on a silver platter;
I won’t waste my week on some idle chatter,
Or be left in the box as the on-deck batter.
I try to do more now in much less time;
Or my life will pass with no reason or rhyme.
If I follow the tips from Mr. Constandze,
I’ll have time left over to go to the Dance!
Marc Barry Greenstein
For me, i am project/task loaded and time poor.
Even making time to make time can be a chore.
With the tools and methods that Rodger has out forward,
its now or never to put them into practice,
One step at a time, work on a method for a week or a month, until its almost second nature, then tackle the next challenge.
If your anything like me, i love challenges which is why i take on so much, and changing your productivity habits is one of the biggest battles you will face, and the rewards are endless. Imagine more time to do more of those other goals. Spend time with the family, complete that personal project, time to exercise.
Rodgers methods, helps your clear your mind so you can operate better. FOCUS, reduce/eliminate procrastination and identify and clear out the clutter in your daily life.
Start small and build, Rome wasnt built in a day.
Habits dont change overnight, but it will happen, when you have a road map, a plan to move forward in the right direction.
Two ways I organize my email:
1. Every day on my list is “15 min Outlook” I set my timer for 15 minutes and just go through what’s in my In Box and my folders. This helps me keep it clean and prevents me from missing things that I might just glance over
2. When I’m not WORKING on my email, I shut it down so that I’m not distracted when the bell rings every time a new email comes in. This helps me stay on task and focused on what I’m doing.
Hi Kat,
When your job or work environment requires you to be available to “put out fires” whenever they happen, that can certainly complicate things a bit.
In that case, you need to be even MORE ruthless about which projects and tasks get your time and attention. As I’ll mention in a future article, you are never going to be able to get EVERYTHING done… so you really need to focus on the most important things first.
Another idea is to try to find pockets of uninterrupted time… try keeping a log for a few days and see if you can spot any patterns in the chaos. Are early mornings better than mid-morning? Can you focus your first hour or two on your MOST important projects?
The idea is to find a few hours during the day when you can work in a more structured way focusing on your most important projects, and then use a more flexible unstructured approach the rest of the time (knowing that it’s just the nature of your job to have to work this way).
At the same time, you may be able to find ways to proactively reduce some of the interruptions and “fires” that you keep having to deal with.
It’s hard to say without knowing more about your specific situation, but maybe you can have an FAQ page answering common questions, or something like that that deflects or reduces some of the most common interruptions you’re dealing with.
Thanks for the great question!
Hi Robin,
Thanks for the great tips. Turning OFF your email is a great solution (just remove the temptation to check it).
Another option is to turn off the feature that checks for new email automatically… then you manually get to choose when you check email, which is what you are essentially doing by turning off your email client
Thank you, everyone, for your excellent comments! You make it very difficult for me to choose the best one, but since that’s my job this week, I pick Ken Moir.
Ken made two excellent suggestions:
1) Be aware your own energy cycles so you can schedule your work accordingly. (I wrote an article about this a few years ago.)
2) Include small tasks on your daily to-do list so you can remain productive between larger ones and increase your sense of accomplishment.
Ken is the lucky winner of Rodger’s Magic of Habit course. Congratulations, Ken!
Don’t forget that prizes are available every day this week, so keep on commenting for more chances to win!