What Not-To-Do When Managing Your Time
Managing your day can be a chore when you overwhelm yourself with tasks
Schedules and tasks are often cruel mistresses, impeding progress if you cannot follow its guidelines on what you set for yourself. Personally, I fail at these spectacularly at least a few times a week despite feeling as if I’m a productivity guru at this point. No one is perfect. I’m not, the person next to you isn’t, so why expect yourself to be? The advice I give below is taken from the trash, painted over, and given to you as a form of ‘learn from my mistakes’ type deal.
We often sit down with task lists at the beginning of the day, written out the day before or the morning of, and ask ourselves what needs to be done that day. Writing these tasks is great, but what do you do when things get derailed, and then none of them gets done? Just move them to the next day and continue plodding along until they get done?
That’s where most people fail at planning and being productive. Task lists are just that. Tasks. They are mundane everyday chores that need to get done; that’s undeniable. And while these are important, they don’t always move you towards a greater goal.
Focusing on goals and the projects that need to happen to achieve them is usually your best bet, with those daily everyday tasks being set aside as chores rather than tasks that need to get done. You’ll get them done. They just may not be today while you focus on getting actual tasks done, moving you forward towards completing projects, which then complete goals.
What most people do is have a plan for huge goals that are unattainable without years of work. They don’t realize this at first, get frustrated, and often quit. Sitting down and planning out these goals are outstanding and well worth doing — until you realize they aren’t sustainable unless you’re a long-term planner and in it for the long haul. Success comes in breaking those down into projects over several quarters, which move you towards that goal, and then break those projects down into weekly or daily tasks.
Planning for smaller goals that you can attain in a quarter or two is what most people need to start with to get the hang of things. Say… improving your writing and the rate at which you write. Start with promising yourself to form a habit of writing every day for an hour or up to a certain word count. Make it a habit; make it a goal. I would break your project for this down into the following tasks.
- Find the time of day that works best for you, and follow that time frame as best as possible every day.
- Realistically set aside days of the week you can write and stick to them. Carve out the time to write; make this your quiet time with yourself.
- If you’re someone who likes music while writing, pick some music that best suits your style and have it ready. There are tons of ‘study with me’ videos on YouTube with music or even productivity timers to use on your phone or laptop that plays music.
- If silence is more your jam, pick a time during the day or space where you’ll have absolute silence.
- Write. Write your feelings, your fears, your emotions, your thoughts, your dreams, just write. Write until the well either runs dry, or you meet your goal for the day.
- Make a record of your progress so you can see how far you’ve come. Google sheets are great for this. I have a simple word count tracker I use every day to help me see the numbers.
While these may seem like common sense, sometimes people don’t always look at the basic steps that go into finding the time to write or do projects, or they find that they’re not ‘inspired’ at the time and don’t do it. Sitting down to write should be treated as a job and not a flight of fancy with the muse of creation whenever she strikes. The more you work that muscle, the easier it will become to sit down and start something.
Even if you don’t finish, leave off with a trailing thought, or if you don’t reach your tasks, you’ve completed some that were set forward in your goal to reach it. This is the same with anything in your daily life. Set those goals, break them down into projects, and then tasks, make sure they have purpose and movement forward.
Without that purpose and movement, some people often become rudderless and lost in a sea of not knowing what to do. Often finding themselves frustrated, they can’t seem to get anything accomplished. This is often helped by sitting down and having something as simple as a vision board at your fingertips.
That may sound silly to some people but honestly, try it. The worst that will happen is just that. You’ll feel silly, but at the same time, you may find something out about yourself as well in what your long-term goals are, how you think they should be broken down, and how you see your day-to-day a bit differently now that you have them in mind.
You can take control and make things easier by breaking down your dreams into achievable goals. Sit down and try it today, see where you go with it and how it affects your tasks and priorities. There will always be that task list that needs doing at home or work, but your task list for life and attaining your dreams won’t wait.