Maximize Your Productivity — handle your tasks one of 3 ways. Do it. Don’t do it. Time it.
Know which tasks fall in to which buckets and be aware of your personal pitfalls.
Discover how to MASTER your to-do list and tick of items fast by categorizing your tasks these 3 ways and being disciplined about how you handle each.
I created this graphic (yes, a little rough) to show you how I prioritize my tasks. I think about the importance and effectiveness. Importance is really driven by impact – how impactful is this to my business? Effectiveness is about whether or not I need to do the task well. Some tasks are more about efficiency (get it done fast) vs. effectiveness (get it done well). If I need brain power to complete something and my goal is to really do it well, then I put it higher on the effectiveness scale.
Productivity is all about working SMARTER which starts with deciding how to approach the different tasks on your list.
Don’t Do It
If it isn’t important and doesn’t require effort to do it better, try not to do it. Outsource or automate.
Speed & Systems
If it is important but not requiring effectiveness to be done better, then I just want to get it done as fast as possible. Here I focus on speed and systems and don’t get too caught up in the details.
Get Focused
Something that is important and I need to do well requires focus. I try to work on these things when I have time to eliminate distractions and really dig-in to my work. I want to be able to think for these tasks.
Set a Timer
This is maybe a little true for all tasks – Set a TIMER!!! It is SO EASY to waste a lot of time on things that just aren’t worth it. Why? We get caught up in details, we can’t make a decision, we can’t focus, we are distracted, we are perfectionists. For many tasks we can get 80% of the value in 20% of the effort. Don’t get sucked in. Focus on what matters and limit your time investment.
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