PAPERmaking! FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY Volume 5, Number 1, 2019
Of course, you can apply this to your daily life as well since it highlights the importance of planning and organization. 33. Follow your ultradian rhythms. Coined by psycho-physiologist Peretz Lavie, ultradian rhythms are simply the natural rhythms that the body cycles through every 90-120 minutes. It can get pretty complex, but the idea is that you should concentrate when your energy levels are highest, but to rest when you feel drained. 34. The “big rocks system.” Based on the principles outlined by Stephen R. Covey, author The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, this is where you sched ule time for your most important priorities first by imagining them as “big rocks” filling a bucket or jar. If you start with “big rocks,” and then put in sand or smaller rocks, all the gaps and cracks will get filled. 35. “No Meetings Wednesdays.” Companies like Facebook and Asana have a rule where there are no meetings on Wednesdays. Other companies have this rule for other days of the week, but the idea is the same. As opposed to wasting your time in a meeting, you can focus on important individual tasks. I've implemented this two days a week at my company Calendar. It works like a charm. We've seen an increase in code deployed and bugs by 14% since implementing this eight months ago. 36. The “anti to -do- list.” Instead of composing just a to-do list, create a to-done list where you write down everything you've already accomplished. It’s a powerful way to keep you motivated when you need a boost. 37. Sunday check-ins. There are some entrepreneurs and CEO’s who briefly check -in with their teams on Sunday's. This way everything is ready to go on Monday morning. If you’re a flying solo, you can schedule a Sunday check -in with yourself to make sure you have everything in-order for Monday and the rest of the week. We got this via Slack to make it easier for everyone and not be too formal. What brings this altogether is focus and attention. The following tips can be a big help. 38. Get you environment right. Work in an environment that has your auditory sweet spot (some prefer silence, others like background), organized, comfortable, free of distractions, and comfortable. Also make sure you have all the tools and resources readily available. And, paint your workplace a color that improves your productivity. 39. Turn off notifications. Turn off all notifications for email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels when eating that frog. 40. Plan for interruptions. Try all you might, there will occasionally be interruptions. Plan for these in advance by having some flexibility in your schedule so that you don’t get log jammed. 41. Shrink your mental deadlines. If you believe it’s going to take you an hour to do something, give yourself 40 minutes instead. By shrinking your mental deadline you’ll work faster, as well as improve your focus. 42. Make a procrastination list. This is a list of high- leverage activities that you can chip away at whenever you’re procrastinating or have down time. Examples include reading industry magazines, organizing folders, or reviewing your contact lists. 43. Create a stop doing list. This is a list of those bad habits that waste your time or hinder your productivity. Write these habits down so that you can develop a realistic plan to replace these bad habits with good habits.
Article 12 – Time Management
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