1. Prioritize

There is a very simple but effective way to categorize your tasks by urgency and importance. This is a scheme called the Eisenhower matrix. It was invented by Dwight Eisenhower, an American president, a US Army general and just a very productive person.

I have two types of cases: urgent and important. The important are rarely urgent, and the urgent are rarely important.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

There are four sections in the Eisenhower matrix. The horizontal axis shows the urgency of the matter, and the vertical axis shows the importance. The matrix makes it easy to place all your tasks into categories: “Urgent and Unimportant”, “Urgent but Unimportant”, “Important and Non-Urgent”, or “Urgent and Important”.

Try to prioritize the Eisenhower matrix and you’ll be amazed how much time you spend on urgent but not so important things. For example, endless messages from colleagues or phone calls that only distract you from urgent tasks.

Spend your time doing the right thing. If there is something important and urgent, do it right away. Plan important but not urgent tasks, estimate the approximate time to complete them, and decide when to do them. Unimportant but urgent matters can be delegated to someone else. Postpone non-urgent and unimportant tasks until later or discard them altogether.

2. Make time for Deep Work

Venture capitalist Sam Altman once said, “Digital Distraction is one of the biggest psychological problems of our time.” Just think: we check our smartphones 50 times a day on average. And, according to scientist and writer Cal Newport, this significantly impairs our ability to think clearly and be creative.

In his book “Getting to work headlong. Success Patterns from an IT Specialist”, he introduces the concept of “Deep Work”. This type of work involves full concentration and immersion in a specific task. No distractions — maximum effort and concentration. This is the only way you will be able to perform really complex tasks with the right level of quality.

Newport cites as an example a tactic used by his colleague Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He devotes the fall semester to teaching and the spring and summer to research, and he never confuses the two tasks. During intensive research, the professor completely isolates himself so that students do not disturb him.

It is likely that you will not be able to go the same way and hide from sources of irritation for several months. Don’t despair: you don’t have to dive into “deep work” for a whole semester. Newport suggests creating your own schedule based on your personal preferences.

Decide when you feel most alert and energized, and get the hardest work done right when you turn off your smartphone and stop checking your email. For example, Newport himself starts working early in the morning but never does so after 5:30 p.m.

3. Estimate meeting times

Paul Graham, co-founder of startup incubator Y Combinator, says there are two types of work schedules: a “manager” schedule and a “creator” schedule.

The first option is for organizers and managers. In their opinion, working time is easy to manage. You need to divide the day into hour intervals. And when a new task comes up, you just spend a couple of hours on it, tagging it in the organizer. Thus, if a “manager” needs to schedule a time for a business meeting or brainstorming session, he looks at his calendar, finds an unoccupied hour and gathers his colleagues.

But for the “creators” such meetings, even those planned in advance, are a disaster. After all, creative people, programmers, writers or artists don’t share their schedules as “managers”. They usually have to use at least half a day to complete tasks, and in one hour they only warm up at best. And when, in the midst of their work, “creators” have to have fun and meet with colleagues, they fall out of their rhythm and then it is very difficult for them to return to the task.

The “manager” schedule and the “creator” schedule work great on their own. But when they cross paths, problems begin.

Paul Graham

Therefore, if you are a manager, ask your employees in advance when it is better to organize joint meetings so as not to take people away from work at the most inopportune moments.

4. Control your energy consumption

Tony Schwartz and Jim Loher in their book Life at Full Power! they say that the main resource for a productive employee is not time, but energy. You can spend a whole day doing a difficult task, but if you lack physical and mental strength, you will stagnate and will not do anything useful. But when you have enough inner energy, you can sort out a difficult task in a couple of hours, and devote the rest of the day to something simpler.

Schwartz and Loer identify four types of energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. And if you miss any of them, your productivity will drop.

Physical energy directly affects your ability to respond to your surroundings and make good decisions. The lack of this resource is associated with poor nutrition, lack of sleep and fatigue.

Emotional energy affects your ability to properly manage your emotions in stressful situations.

Mental energy allows you to focus on one task without getting distracted. A person with a large amount of it can concentrate even in a stressful situation, when everyone around him strives to distract him.

Spiritual energy allows you to see a goal in your activities to keep you motivated. It fuels enthusiasm, perseverance, and commitment.

To keep all four indicators up to par, eat right, get enough sleep, and exercise (exercise stimulates brain activity). And use simple tricks to replenish energy.

Life is not a marathon. Life is a series of sprints.

Tony Schwartz

A good way to alternate between full immersion work and a short break is the Pomodoro technique, which fits perfectly with Cal Newport’s Deep Work concept. The principle is simple: we measure 25 minutes with a timer and do one important task all this time without distractions. Then a break for 5 minutes. During this time, we are replenishing our energy. After that, we repeat the cycle four more times and take a long break for 20 minutes.

5. Eat frogs for breakfast

It has ever happened to everyone: you come across a task that needs to be completed, but you really don’t want to do it. You start putting it off, and as the deadline approaches, it looms more and more over you, distracting you from other things and making you worry again.

Popular writer Brian Tracy calls such tasks “frogs.” And he recommends not putting them off until later, but doing them as early as possible.

If you eat a frog in the morning, the rest of the day is going to be wonderful, because the worst is over for now.

Mark Twain

Once you’ve got rid of a difficult task, you’ll feel satisfied, get a boost of positive energy for the rest of the day, and be able to move on to the next items on your list with a clear conscience.

Source: https://lifehacker.ru/organizovat-rabochij-den-legko/

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