Make the most of time...

I read this week that the hunt for parking in the centre of Belfast can consume up to 57 hours in the average person’s year and around £800 in fuel. Pre-Covid or not, that seems a bit excessive to me, but it does make you think about just how much of a working day or a week that you might be spending on tasks that really add nothing in terms of productivity.

Even the most organised among us can have our carefully planned day thrown out of whack by a multitude of random events.

Some of them will be unavoidable because you don’t control everything that goes on around you: deadlines may change, equipment will fail and peers will pop up with demands that you couldn’t have anticipated.

Other obstacles may be more personal, stemming perhaps from your own indecision, poor planning or lack of communication.

No matter your intention, you won’t be able to plan for all the things that creep into your life and steal your valuable time. So how do you keep your day on track and ensure that you aren’t still sitting in front of the laptop at 10pm tonight?

Well, in the spirit of efficiency, l can suggest five ‘quick fix’ tips which should help you dodge some of the most common productivity pitfalls.

·         Monkey Magic – A ‘Monkey’ isn’t a problem, it’s the next move in resolving a problem and you should be very careful around agreeing to carry anyone’s monkey. Whoever has the next move, has the monkey. So don’t be afraid to challenge others to bring solutions, not just problems; define the problem early and determine clearly who is ultimately responsible; if you do accept the monkey, make sure the monkey’s owner loops back regularly with updates and finally, make sure you keep your monkey population under control, they take time to feed!

·         Frogs on the menu – This is all about procrastination, the real thief of time. If you do the things you like first and put everything else off, you are creating ‘frogs’. A frog is a new task that you’re not sure about, a boring activity, a difficult decision or an awkward email that you have to send. The tip is, eat your frog early on because if you don’t, they get fatter and more unpalatable as the day goes on - and you’re still going to have to face them before you can ultimately move on.

·         No way José – It sounds obvious, but sometimes just saying ‘No’ is the best way to keep your day on track. If you say ‘Yes’ when you don’t really think that you should, you may end up cancelling at the last minute, arriving late or producing sub-standard work. So, if you’re turning someone down, be direct; remain calm and unemotional; don’t apologise for your decision and repeat your position several times if necessary. If you are saying ‘No’ to the boss, then explain what you’re currently working on and ask them to decide which task should be put on hold.

·         Clock watcher – Use the Pomodoro Technique to ensure the best use of your time. When you’ve chosen a task that you want to achieve, set a time for 25 minutes; work ‘til the timer rings and then take a five or 10-minute break (or Pomodoro). Repeat the process and every four Pomodoros, take a longer break. Your brain will use the longer break to assimilate new information and rest before the next round of Pomodoros. Using a technique like this should allow you to minimise the impact of interruptions to focus and flow.

·         Urgent and important – The art of prioritising is not about managing time, it’s about managing yourself so that you gain control of time and events in your life. The activities that you will do at work can be labelled either ‘urgent’ or ‘important’ Urgent activities insist on action; often they are pleasant, easy and fun to do but also, they are often unimportant. On the other hand, important activities contribute to your values and your high priority goals and we must seize the opportunity to be proactive and make things happen. If we are not clear about what is important and the results that we desire, then we’ll be easily diverted into responding to the urgent.

These few pointers are only the tip of the productivity iceberg. There is a lot more to this topic than can ever be covered in a brief blog post, but I honestly feel that any effort you can put into this will be repaid ten-fold, particularly now, when enforced remote working shines a new spotlight on many of us as individuals and our ability to manage our own time productively.

Motivational expert, Paul J. Meyer said that productivity is never an accident,

‘It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort.’

And that’s the point. Efficient, productive working is about more than ticking items on a ‘To Do’ list and effort spent now learning to be time-conscious will yield worthwhile dividends very quickly.

Ask yourself today, what do I need to stop doing? What do I need to start doing? And what do I need to continue doing?