"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." – Abraham Lincoln

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A couple of days ago a company called and asked for a „Time Management" training. The manager I was talking to explained quite vividly that they have a group of sales representatives that are always very busy, do not keep deadlines, procrastinate doing unfavorable tasks, so they have all sorts of problems related to self-organization and time management. She also told me that they had a training before, but it wasn't a big success, so in their despair to find a solution, she thought to give it another try...

This made me think, why is it that everybody knows the basic principles of time management and still they do not use them? I believe time management is more a psychological issue than a skills development one. So how can we hack our mind to achieve more with less effort?

This post is not about the Pareto Principle or the Eisenhower Matrix - everybody knows that setting priorities is important and we have to concentrate on what really matters. But sometimes we just cannot do it. Instead of running over the basics, I would like to give you 7 „hacks" to make more of your days. (7 is a magic number, so it should work...)

Rhythm

"The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results." (Tony Robbins)

Nature has a certain rhythm, for example, there are the four seasons of the year or the dark and the light periods within a day. We are also part of nature and as such we have „built-in" pace, this is the so-called chronotype. Are you an „owl" or a „lark"? Owls usually start slowly, hate getting up early in the morning and get to the peak of their attention, performance, energy levels and creativity by early or late afternoon. Larks, on the contrary, get up early and go to bed early. Their performance curve rises sharply in the morning and declines after midday.

Hack 1 – Know your performance curve. Try to find out when is your peak time during the day and try to schedule your most important tasks there. This is the part of the day when you are most effective, so use it for the most significant results!

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Procrastination

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." (Mother Teresa)

Procrastination is a quite common problem. Here is a cute video about it:

Source

The best tool against procrastination is „getting it done", but why don't we? In many cases, we have to solve boring or too difficult tasks or ones that we simply do not like. In these cases we behave as children: we want to get pleasure and avoid inconveniences. Children live in the present, they do not anticipate future problems, but we adults can. So dealing with procrastination, we have to „grow up" and face what we have in front of us. In order to deal with procrastination, you have to find the root cause of you delaying something.

Hack 2 – If the task is too big, and you feel you will never have time to do it, then try to break it into smaller pieces. Research shows that we are more keen to start smaller, meaningful units of work than big batches. There is a technique you can apply here, it is called the „Pomodoro" and it is all about breaking down huge tasks into smaller parts.

Here is a nice summary of it:

Source

Hack 3 – If the task is boring or something you hate, then, first of all, think about it, is it important to do (if not, then forget it)? What can you gain by doing it, what will be the positive outcome? What is the consequence of not doing it, what will you risk? Then you can either motivate yourself doing it by doing something you enjoy AFTER you have finished or you can try to delegate it to someone else.

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Meaningful breaks

"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." (Marthe Troly-Curtin)

We cannot concentrate for a long time, our brain also needs a rest. Even a short break (like 5 minutes) can help to reduce fatigue and raise your energy level. But a longer break can be even more productive. Paradoxically if you take 15 minutes off after working for 45-50 minutes, you can achieve more than working continuously. During an average workday it means 2 hours off and app. 5-6 hours working, but you will achieve more than working 7-8 hours in a row.

But what is a meaningful break? You are in the middle of putting together a report, you collected all your data and ready to put it all together, but before doing so, have a break. You open your e-mail box and scroll down to see what is waiting for you in your inbox... NO! A meaningful break means that you do something COMPLETELY different, something that turns your brain off, something that recharges your batteries!

Hack 4 – Do not be afraid to stand up from your table and have a walk, go to the cantine and drink a cup of coffee, listen to some music, take a short „power-nap" or do something completely different from what you have been doing before. A meaningful break should last for at least 10 minutes, and you should spend these minutes with an activity that is engaging enough to prevent your mind wandering back to the stuff you left on your table.

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Thinking ahead

"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." (Winston Churchill)

Sometimes we just spend so much time with worries and anticipating failure. Why don't you turn it into planning? Research says that we do not necessarily have to face stress to learn to cope with it, we can accommodate to stress by using our imagination, too. Our mind works from samples, so let's give it solutions instead of worries and useless crap that will increase our tension.

Hack 5 – Prepare for the pitfalls of your project or task at hand and try to find solutions or mitigating actions in advance. Imagine how you are going to act if something wrong happens.

Hack 6 – After listing the potential pitfalls, flip the coin and use your imagination to anticipate the positive results. Imagine that you are successful, that everything will go smoothly, that you will get the brightest results. Feel the pride and enjoy the positive outcome. This can give you a boost to concentrate on the task and be more effective.

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Beware of the monkeys

"Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning." –(Donald Rumsfeld)

According to Ken Blanchard, the next move in a task is a „monkey". Monkeys come in all sizes and shapes, from the tiny ones until huge gorillas. Until you are the one to make the next move, the monkey is on your back. When you ask someone else to do it, it will jump over to his shoulder. You should deal with your monkeys only because if you get monkeys from others, you cannot get your own stuff done. The aim of monkey management is to ensure that the right things get done at the right time by the right people.

Here is a summary of the principles of monkey management:

Source

Hack 7 – Make sure that you do your own stuff only, don't let others pass tasks (or parts of tasks) to you that belong to them, this way you can concentrate on the things that are important for you.

Well, I wish you more effective days and more enjoyment of your LIFE!

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References:

Ken Blanchard (1999): The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, Quill William Morrow, New York
Dan Pink (2018): When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Riverhead Books, New York
Francesco Cirillio (2013): The Pomodoro Technique, The Life-Changing Time-Management System, Virgin Books

Sources of pictures:

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