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Tag: time management (Page 3 of 4)

Upgrading your reading skills

25/08/2016 /

Time constraints are constantly limiting our ability and efficiency in reading books and, above all, retaining what we have read in the long run.

Upgrading our reading skills would certainly help us in optimizing the time and effort we put into it, bringing positive benefits in our daily life and work.

In this article from blinkist.com, Caitlin Schiller lists 6 science based tips aimed at improving our reading method:

  1. Find a personal angle
  2. Get a bird’s eye view
  3. Drum up curiosity
  4. Create your own structure
  5. Record key insights
  6. Review your notes

Click here to read the full article.

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Image source: Pixabay – CC0 Public Domain

The musicianʼs relationship to time

11/08/2016 /

In his book “Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life“, the great music educator Wynton Marsalis explains how swinging can alter how we experience change.
The musicianʼs relationship to time can be of ultimate assistance to us in:

1) adjusting to changes without losing your equilibrium;
2) mastering moments of crisis with clear thinking;
3) living in the moment and accepting reality instead of trying to force everyone to do things your way;
4) concentrating on a collective goal even when your conception of the collective doesnʼt dominate;
5) knowing how and when to expend your individual energy.

Wynton Marsalis, “Moving to higher ground: How jazz can change your life”

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Image source: Flickr – music2020 – (CC BY 2.0

4 Reasons Why You Should Leave Work On Time

11/02/2016 /

According to The Australia Institute‘s recent research, when employees do not leave work on time, the number of negative impacts associated far outweighs the number of positive impacts. Current working arrangements negatively impact on a range of personal situations. Whether you’re an employee or a manager, the following four reasons should further convince you to leave work on time:

1. Increased mental health;
2. Greater Productivity;
3. Positive personal relationships;
4. Improved physical health.

Read more here.

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Image source: Julliengordon

 

How Good is Your Time Management?

21/01/2016 /

Many factors influence our ability to effectively manage time and reach our goals. A quick test on Mind Tools can show you where you can do better. Of course, the ability to prioritize and schedule is fundamental, but the most interesting part is dealing with the unexpected: interruptions.

How can you navigate through phone calls, emails, requests from colleagues, even problems with your car, all at once and without any warning? “Expect the unexpected” is no satisfactory answer: you have to manage it.

Like a firefighter, we should be available, aware of priorities and capable of understanding others’ needs.

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Image: Flickr – Heather Paul (CC BY-ND 2.0)

 

 

 

8 Tips for effective scheduling

19/11/2015 /

In our daily routine we are unceasingly exposed to facts and events that can easily draw our attention away from tasks which are essential for being efficient and fully productive at work.

Effective scheduling can help us prioritizing and preventing unfruitful struggles to cope with the demands placed upon us.

Geoffrey Whiteway on Coaching Positive Performance lists eight tips that – if daily implemented – can help us scheduling:

  1. Plan the night before: making plan the night before, will ensure you less anxiety and better night sleep.
  2. Select 1 key task: identify the most important task for each day and get that task completed.
  3. Key task first: Life is unpredictable and if somethings happens that plays havoc with your plans, getting the most important task done first will increase the probability for your day to still be effective.
  4. Context based lists: If you have more than 20 tasks to be completed, make a list and put specific tasks under headings based on the situation you find yourself in, or the resources available to you at the time.
  5. No agenda, no meeting. Avoid meetings which do not have a clear agenda, as they tend to be just “talking shops”.
  6. Establish rituals. Routines allow you to get important, repeated tasks completed with maximum efficiency and minimum thought.
  7. Only time specific tasks go in your calendar. Tasks without a deadline risk being continuously put off.
  8. Projects vs. tasks A task is something which needs to get done but has not been done yet. A project is something which needs to be done, but has not been done yet and will take more one task to get done. There is real benefit in thinking this way and breaking each project down into tasks.

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Image source: Flickr – photosteve101

Struggling with deadlines? Write down a to-do-list!

24/09/2015 /

A simple but effective solution to flying deadlines could be writing down a to-do list: chunking your daily tasks into easy to digest, bite-size pieces could actually revolutionize your working strategies improving your overall performance. This article by Vanessa Loder provides you with five tips to make your to-do-list even more helpful:

1.Keep it simple.

2.Write your to-do-list the night before.

3.Tackle the first item on your list first thing in the morning when you are fresh.

4. If you have a hard time limiting your to-do-list to a maximum of three items write a mind dump.

5. Sometimes small is big. Be strategic about your energy.

To-Do List

Image source: Flickr, Jayel Aheram CC BY 2.0

 

7 steps to improve your time management

23/07/2015 /

Although there is no one size that fits all solution, Carthage Buckley, on Coaching Positive Performance,  lists 7 steps that can help each of us improving our time management and the quality of our results.

1. Become aware : if you want to create real and last change you need to understand exactly where your time is going

2. Analyse your data: collect the time and the percentage of time spent on each activity and consider the results, are you happy about that?

3. Identify tasks which are not necessary: very often a task is being performed for no other reason than it has always been done

4. Identify the tasks that can be automated

5. Identify the tasks that can be delegated or outsourced: if you work alone and you have nobody to delegate to, consider the possibility of outsourcing

6. Make gradual changes: Pick 2-3 small changes that can have a positive impact on your time management

7. Right task, right time: examine your energy levels and make the best use of them. Assign your most important tasks to periods of highest energy

For more: How to improve your time management quickly

Time management

Salvador Dalì – The persistence of memory, 1931

 

 

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