Stay focused
Using a tool to help you organise may not be enough. Think about what might stop you from
completing your important tasks or activities so you can develop a plan to stop this from
happening. One of the common culprits is:
Procrastination
“Procrastination is the thief of time” Edward Young
Putting off a task that we find difficult or unpleasant is human nature. The key is to action
those tasks as quickly as possible. Don’t overthink them, just get on with them. Most of the
things that we worry about never actually happen.
Time drains
“One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time” Taiichi Ohno
Which tasks take up more time than you would like, yet add little value? If you can’t get rid
of these tasks, allocate a set time for them and stick to it.
Prioritise
In order to achieve your goals, you‘ll need to ensure you’re investing your time in activities
that actually add value and will move you towards your goals.
“Urgent” versus “important” activities
An important time management skill is distinguishing between tasks which are urgent and
tasks which are important.
1. An urgent task is one that has a close deadline, and failure to complete the task by the
deadline will cancel or reduce the benefit of doing it.
2. A task is important if doing it has a high benefit. Obviously, the higher the benefit, the
more important a task is.
Too often we find ourselves focusing on urgent, but often unimportant tasks. If something is
urgent, it tends to get done, but this sometimes means that the important tasks are
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