Effective Productivity Tricks
Words by Katherine Castillo Eustaquio
Published in Total Fitness Magazine November 2011 Issue
During one of our team meetings at the ad agency, our boss told us to visit this website called “The Ultimate Productivity Blog.” I was the only writer in our team so everyone cringed at the thought of having to read what could possibly be a long list of articles on productivity. But the website only had one page, one line, and one message: “You should be working.” Everyone had a good laugh. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
Most people put off doing things and then cram at the last minute. The trick to meeting deadlines with a sound mind is to increase your productivity. Despite the industry, here are some of effective techniques on how successful people do it:
Use the Pareto 80-20 law to prioritize.
The Pareto principle tells us that “80% of effects come from 20% of the causes.” Make a list of your deadlines and identify the ones (20%) that take up most (80%) of your time and work on them first. Of all the tricks I’ve read about prioritizing, this one takes the cake.
Keep an “advanced” time table.
I always set my watch 10-15 minutes early to keep me from being late for appointments. This sly maneuver can be used to deal with your deadlines in advanced. Create a time table for your must dos and set your delivery dates a day or several hours early to give you that grace period you need in case you’re pressed for time.
Learn to break down.
No, we don’t mean you. What we mean is break down a big, long-term project into chunks and arrange them by level of importance. By breaking down overwhelmingly big projects into smaller ones, you save yourself from a potential panic attack.
Focus. Do things just once.
When you start doing two things at once, you often end up finishing just one anyway and start all over again on the first one. Multitasking fail, right? So finish your tasks one a time. There are just some deadlines that multi-tasking can’t help you with.
Communicate clearly and ask for extensions.
Try not to bite off more than you can chew. In your list of projects, spot the ones whose deadlines can be extended and then negotiate. There’s nothing wrong in asking for more time if the project permits it rather than committing to a date you couldn’t meet in the first place.
Celebrate Small Victories
Meeting deadlines is physically and mentally exhausting but there’s also that sense of accomplishment that inspires you to do it all over again. Nurture that feel-good state of mind and celebrate small accomplishments as they come.
Published in Total Fitness Magazine November 2011 Issue
During one of our team meetings at the ad agency, our boss told us to visit this website called “The Ultimate Productivity Blog.” I was the only writer in our team so everyone cringed at the thought of having to read what could possibly be a long list of articles on productivity. But the website only had one page, one line, and one message: “You should be working.” Everyone had a good laugh. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
Most people put off doing things and then cram at the last minute. The trick to meeting deadlines with a sound mind is to increase your productivity. Despite the industry, here are some of effective techniques on how successful people do it:
Use the Pareto 80-20 law to prioritize.
The Pareto principle tells us that “80% of effects come from 20% of the causes.” Make a list of your deadlines and identify the ones (20%) that take up most (80%) of your time and work on them first. Of all the tricks I’ve read about prioritizing, this one takes the cake.
Keep an “advanced” time table.
I always set my watch 10-15 minutes early to keep me from being late for appointments. This sly maneuver can be used to deal with your deadlines in advanced. Create a time table for your must dos and set your delivery dates a day or several hours early to give you that grace period you need in case you’re pressed for time.
Learn to break down.
No, we don’t mean you. What we mean is break down a big, long-term project into chunks and arrange them by level of importance. By breaking down overwhelmingly big projects into smaller ones, you save yourself from a potential panic attack.
Focus. Do things just once.
When you start doing two things at once, you often end up finishing just one anyway and start all over again on the first one. Multitasking fail, right? So finish your tasks one a time. There are just some deadlines that multi-tasking can’t help you with.
Communicate clearly and ask for extensions.
Try not to bite off more than you can chew. In your list of projects, spot the ones whose deadlines can be extended and then negotiate. There’s nothing wrong in asking for more time if the project permits it rather than committing to a date you couldn’t meet in the first place.
Celebrate Small Victories
Meeting deadlines is physically and mentally exhausting but there’s also that sense of accomplishment that inspires you to do it all over again. Nurture that feel-good state of mind and celebrate small accomplishments as they come.
