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Do you have a lot of things to do and feel overwhelmed?
Having plenty of different tasks during the day and not knowing which one to tackle first can make you feel stressed. Your to-do list is probably getting bigger and bigger. Most people have trouble deciding which task is urgent and which ones you can finish later. There are some simple ways you can prioritize your assignments in the correct order. You will be more efficient and have extra free time.
URGENT AND IMPORTANT TASKS
Separate your tasks into an urgent and relevant category. Primary responsibilities require your attention right now, and you shouldn't postpone them. Those are all of the work deadlines you need to finish this week or month. Tasks that have closer deadlines, you should categorize as urgent.
Primary tasks are those that help us achieve our long-term goals. They impact our life but not at the exact moment. There are no set deadlines for those kinds of tasks which makes them feel less achievable.
WRITE A TO-DO LIST
Immediately after you remember the task you need to do, grab your planner or a simple piece of paper and write it down. It would be best for you to write your to-do list the night before. This will make you more productive on the day you need to tick off all the tasks.
Sit down and take a few moments to think about tomorrow. Check your calendar and planner to see if there are any deadlines marked on them. Write all of your tasks down before you start categorizing them.
WRITE DEADLINES
Now you have all of the tasks for the day in one place. Write a deadline date near each of them. Seeing a deadline date will make you aware of how much time you have for the task. Think about how many hours you will need to complete a single assignment.
Give yourself enough time as you never know what can come up. There is a method that recommends giving yourself less time than you think you should need. That will make you work harder and more efficiently on the task.
1-3-5 METHOD
The 1-3-5 method allows you to complete 1 urgent task, 3 not-so-important assignments, and 5 small tasks. The key to this productivity system is restricting your to-do list to only 9 tasks. 1-3-5 method helps you understand how to prioritize a few assignments. While for some 9 to-do tasks might seem like too much, others might find it too short. You will more likely finish the majority of these tasks.
Shortly you will get adapted to classifying your tasks according to how significant they are. Ticking off the tasks you finished will remind you of your improvement and keep you motivated. This method will not leave you drained because you can make it as adaptable as you want to.
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| Photo by STIL on Unsplash |
THE IVY LEE METHOD
The Ivy Lee method is 100 years old. This technique is known for helping to achieve top performance and productivity every day. Ivy Lee's scheme consists of 6 steps. You need to explicitly determine your goals in life, your profession, and other significant aspects of your life. At the end of the day, write down on your phone or a piece of paper, the 6 critical tasks you need to finish the following day.
Prioritize these 6 assignments on a scale of importance. Start every day with the most urgent task from the list and don't begin another assignment until you complete that one. Accomplish each task on the list from most significant to least relevant. In case you do not finish the task, move it to the next day's list. Replicate this process every day.
POMODORO TECHNIQUE
The Pomodoro Technique is a time supervision method. It encourages you to work smarter and not harder. First, you need to choose one task from your to-do list. Once you have decided on the task you want to tackle, set a timer for 25 minutes. For the next 25 minutes, work as focused as you can on that one assignment.
When 25 minutes pass, you can have a 5-minute break. You will repeat this process 3 more times. After 4 Pomodoro sessions, you can take a more extended break. While following this method, you will be able to finish the prioritized tasks sooner.
GET RID OF DISTRACTIONS
It may seem like there is never enough time to do everything we wish to accomplish. Distractions are ordinarily what keeps us away from achieving our goals. Constant Instagram and Facebook notifications are shifting our focus from the essential things to not-so-significant ones. Once you start scrolling through social media, you will lose a lot of valuable time. The time you could have used to get closer to your dreams.
Putting your phone in airplane mode or leaving it in another room is one of the best ways to get rid of any distractions. After you finish the task, allow yourself to scroll through Instagram. Check any notifications for a few minutes and then go back to work. Make sure that you don't accept any gathering invitations while you have things to do. Hanging out with your family and friends might feel more fun, but you must prioritize your obligations first.
STOP MULTITASKING
The majority of people think that multitasking makes them more efficient. It is perceived as something positive. The truth is that multitasking makes you do everything halfhearted. You are dividing your energy and concentration and not giving 100% to each task.
You may think that you are getting more things done while multitasking. You are only going back and forth between tasks and not finishing them on time. What you need is a more singular focus on any task. Not multitasking will positively affect every area of your life.
SUMMARY
- You have to decide what is most urgent to you.
- Work smarter and not harder.
- Say no to any distractions.
- Focus on one task at a time.
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