Yes, that’s right, Time Management is an outright lie. So, if you really want to improve your productivity then you should stop worrying about time and start working on good working practices.
In this short video you’ll discover a few simple techniques that will give you more focus and improve your productivity.
The key thing to take into account is that you simply can’t manage time. You can only manage yourself and certain aspects of your working environment. After all, we all get the same deal with time: 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds a minute.
So if you want to get more done with the time available, you’re the thing that needs work. You need to work on you.
So, what can you realistically do to improve your productivity? After all, the only thing you can truly manage is YOU!
Well, here’s the good news: with some simple (but not easy) techniques you can begin to manage your own working habits to give you a better chance of improved productivity.
And, here’s the not-so-good news: you’re going to have to change the way you think and work if you want to improve your productivity and really get stuff done.
So, idea number one:
Manage your working environment
This one is really simple and here are the things to work on:
- Clear your workspace so it’s nice and tidy
This will cut the physical distraction of mess. Yes you might say “but I know where everything is” but I can assure you that a messy working environment usually means messy working habits. - Switch off your phone
Unless you’re in the emergency services you have no real excuse for being glued to your phone. If you want to focus get into the habit of switching off your phone while you’re doing that task. - Do just one thing at a time
Listen to this episode of the podcast to get more on this : Give up multi-tasking if you want to get stuff done - Switch off notifications
Yes, switch off email, social media, calendar and anything that pushes notifications your way. You’re not doing this permanently, only while you need to focus.
If you combine all of these things then you will improve your productivity almost immediately and the results will surprise you.
Here’s the difficult bit
You didn’t think it was going to be a walk in the park, did you?
The key thing about all of these things is that they will involve some effort from you.
You have to play your part.
And, I’ll be honest with you, it’s not easy at times.
You see, putting these together will involve some will-power on your part.
If you’re addicted to the notifications on your phone from all the social media then it’s going to be hard to give that up, even if it’s just for a short time.
You will need to resist the temptation to check your email.
Switching off your phone for a while will feel odd and maybe uncomfortable.
But, overall, when you start making this happen you will be surprised at how much more you get done.
And if you start to get more done the feeling of overwhelm and ‘not enough hours in the day’ will start to fade a bit.
So, get started and I promise you’ll get results.
Want more on getting stuff done? Check out:
A quick outsourcing and delegation skills lesson for the self-employed (podcast)