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Posts Tagged ‘ Time Management ’

The 7 Biggest and Boldest Time Management Lies We Tell Ourselves

business 300x243 The 7 Biggest and Boldest Time Management Lies We Tell Ourselves“Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose”Thomas Edison.

If lately you have been feeling stressed out and overwhelmed with how much you have to do, if you believe that you can be more productive or learn to manage yourself and your time more efficiently, if you have an incredibly busy week ahead of you – take a few minutes to read about the 7 Biggest and Boldest Time management Lies that are the main cause of our stress, burn out, and procrastination.

You might be surprised to catch yourself telling at least one of these lies before lunch time! icon smile The 7 Biggest and Boldest Time Management Lies We Tell Ourselves

1. I Can Do It All!

This is one of the most frequent lies I tell myself. And then some few hours later, I have to admit that I was wrong. There simply is not enough time to do everything we usually plan on doing. Nor is there the need to do all of it. Often we are the ones who willingly put too much on our plate and then stress out about it.

So next time the thought “I can do it all!” crosses your mind – take a few deep breaths, relax and remind yourself that effective time management is not about doing more in a shorter amount of time. It is about enjoying what you do and doing it well!

2. It will Only Take a Minute!

This is another frequent lie I am guilty of. It just seems easier to get small tasks off your hands first and then dedicate yourself fully to the priorities on your list. However, priorities are called this, because you should complete them “prior” to any other tasks.

Do not kid yourself with the idea that “This will just take one minute”. Nothing ever takes just a minute – and even if it does, any such interruption usually costs you anywhere from fifteen to thirty five minutes of your productive “flow” time.

3. If I only had more time…

We often rationalize that if we only had more time we would be able to accomplish more. But the truth is that we are not going to get more than 1440 minutes a day, regardless of what we do or do not do. And no Time Management System will help us accomplish this. What makes the difference is not how much time you have, but how you choose to spend it.

4. I can do it better/faster than anyone else!

I often catch myself with this white lie. In fact, it might not necessarily be a lie. You could do something better and faster than your colleagues, assistants and employees. But it does not mean that you have to do it. This is so important that I am going to repeat it once again. Doing something better and faster than other people DOES NOT mean you should do it!

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21 Keys to Energy Management to Boost Your Productivity and Life Satisfaction

energy1 300x201 21 Keys to Energy Management to Boost Your Productivity and Life SatisfactionTime management is a great theory. It helps us to get more organized, to set priorities, and to increase our productivity. Except for when it does not work…
I realized this yesterday, when I got home feeling exhausted after my 18-hour trip from Miami to Milan.
A cold shower, a nice breakfast and all the pep-talk about how much I needed to get done helped very little to overcome the sleepiness and lack of energy.
Two hours later I found myself mindlessly staring at the computer screen, without having the slightest desire to get any work done. And the monotonous sound of raindrops hitting the window and dark grey sky made me even sleepier.
When I finally took my eyes off the desktop and looked v e r y  s l o w l y at my do-to list for the day, the level of my enthusiasm and motivation dropped below zero. There was simply no way I could get it all done and no Time Management tips or tricks would have helped me to be more productive while I felt the way I felt.
Later thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that there is more to productivity than just managing 24 hours a day efficiently. Otherwise, we would all never feel overbooked, overwhelmed and underproductive. But the truth is that we do.
I believe that the main reason for this is that while we might be great at managing our time, we have not learned how to manage our levels of energy efficiently.
Here are 21 Keys to Energy management or the secrets of doing the right tasks at the right time:

1. Establish your “flow” times.

There is a certain time of day, when our energy and productivity is at its peak. I have noticed that I am most productive, focused and engaged in my work early in the morning and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. These are the times that I set aside for writing and brainstorming my ideas. Your “flow” time may be completely different from mine, but it is important that you learn it and organize tasks that you need to accomplish based on the level of energy that you have.

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Zen Productivity Principles to Regain Balance and Simplicity

zen productivity1 300x230 Zen Productivity Principles to Regain Balance and SimplicityWe live in a society built on efficiency and productivity. We stay busy, invent new time management strategies, and learn how to fill every second with some kind of activity so that we can “save” more time and fill it up with even more activities. But the question is – What’s the point?

What is the point of working hard and checking off all these numerous tasks on our to-do lists when we misbalance other areas of our life like health or relationships, for one single idea – the idea that we must be efficient. Efficient at what? Work? Relationships? Life?
My friend recently came back from his family trip to Europe. And when I asked him how did it go, his first response was, “Oh it was very productive! We saw everything that we had planned to see and I even met possible business partners for my new project!”
Am I the only one, who does not understand the concept of a “productive vacation”?  Vacations can be unforgettable, fun, great, amazing or terrible at worst, but not productive. Because if this is the case, a vacation loses its essence and becomes a business trip.
This got me thinking that maybe we have taken the productivity concept too far after all?
Maybe we need to take a little break from all the new fad time management strategies and turn to ancient knowledge for guidance?
Here is what ancient wisdom teaches us:

1. “What you are doing does not matter so much as what you are learning from doing it.” - Egyptian Proverb

Most of us are familiar with the concept of prioritizing – you should always start with the most important and urgent task on our to-do list, leaving less important ones for later. But what if we look at it from a different perspective and instead of concentrating our efforts on the tasks that are supposed to bring us maximum result in the short run; we make learning our priority?
When you evaluate any activity from “What can I learn?” perspective, you are continuously expanding your experience, improving your skills, as a result becoming more efficient.
Action step: Look at the tasks on your to-do list. Often the most beneficial activity is not the one that seems the most important or urgent. It is the one that you learn the most while doing it!

2. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

Our present is a direct result of choices and actions that we have made in the past. And most of those choices and actions are mainly influenced by our habits. It is no different with work. Each of us has developed our own rituals like checking emails, answering friends on facebook, looking for the latest updates on the soccer world cup or eating lunch at our desk.
What we do not realize is that we perfect what we repeatedly do. We become more efficient at answering emails, we learn to carry on conversations with 5 different friends on facebook, and we become much faster at searching for the latest news on-line.
Action step: Become aware of your work “rituals” during the day. What do you repeatedly do? What are you getting better at? And is it worth excelling at these tasks? Or maybe it would be better to invest your time in something else that has a greater impact on your career and professionalism?

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