Time It, Don’t Task It
Life is hectic. Many people make to-do lists to keep track of their tasks, but fail to finish them.
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Sound familiar?
While a to-do list can be productive if executed well, your list might be making you less productive. You might focus on doing all the little things first, or spend all day on one big task.
This leaves items on the list and unfinished tasks can stay on your mind, leaving you feeling stressed.
This is why you should turn into a time-based to-do list.
Here are a few steps to help you get started on your time-based list now:
Know The Value of Your Time Know how long it takes you to get certain tasks done, like washing the dishes or writing emails. This way, you can be realistic about how much time it takes for you to do something. You can start doing this immediately by keeping track of the time for the rest of the tasks you do today
Make an Ideal Day Scenario Think of how you want your day to go and what needs to be done. Also, remind yourself of your most productive time of the day. Now divide the day into sections and put every activity in a slot. This reflection will help you plan days in the future and get in tune with your rhythm
Schedule Everything Put everything you have to do this week in a calendar. Add due dates so you have an incentive. Now take a look. This is a visualization of how much you actually have to get done this week and shows spots where you can add in extra activities. The key component to add now is another column dedicated to how long you think the task will take. Next up is scheduling long term projects so you aren’t just aimlessly assigning tasks in order of urgency
Focus on The Time Revise a current to-do list by adding in times and priority levels to each item. Will this take twenty minutes, or an hour? Which tasks should you do in the morning while you are fresh and have energy? Adding the time frame portion is vital. For example, take “complete design project” and add “in two hours”. You might not finish in that time, but you will have put in two hours of solid work. Task-based lists often fail because we simplify the time needed to complete them
Break Down Projects into Time-Bound Tasks You have a huge project due and no idea how you’re going to get it done. Luckily for you, you can break it down into manageable chunks so it becomes more doable. By picking the project apart, you can figure out where the real effort needs to go and how much time you really need to spend on it