In Part 1 How To Be Effective Part 1 we looked at the importance of setting the objective. Now, in How To Be Effective Part 2 we need to consider one of the biggest problems of all, how to create and use time in order to be effective. This also leads us into what to prioritise.
Several previous blogs have considered “time management” techniques that really work. If you want to know about these then please have a look at the following:
The Simplest Time Management System Ever
You’re Not Short Of Time, Just Short Of Focus
It is however, very clear that if you do not enter each day with a brief set of goals for that day, organised in order of importance then there is no way you can actually be effective. Busy? Yes. Productive? Possibly. Efficient? Maybe, but effective? NO.
Things will come along that will try to blow you off course but you can deal with those using the techniques outlined above.
One of the most important things we have so far not discussed is “when are you at your most productive?” In The Pomodoro Technique – How A Tomato Can Make You More Effective we saw that dividing work into twenty to twenty five minute sections helps increase productivity dramatically but many studies have shown that even the best human can only be truly effective for a maximum of about four hours per day. The rest of the time we operate at below an optimal performance Why “Pulling An All Nighter Is Conning The Client”
Different people operate best at different times of day. Are you a lark or an owl? If you want to be effective then it is best to timetable your meaningful work into four hours based around your optimum time. Save the rest of the day for those meetings you must attend or relatively simple administration that you can’t delegate. Do priority work at optimum times. If you can work flexibly then this really helps. The standard nine to five day assumes we all have our optimum hours during that period. We all know people who are at their absolute best at ten o’clock at night and others who are a waste of space at three p.m. but brilliant at four thirty a.m. Effective organisations allow people to work when they work best.
In summary therefore please remember:
Time is the most valuable asset we all have – use it effectively to do the most important thing you could possibly be doing right now.
All time is not the same. Schedule your most important work for the times when you are at your most productive.
Make sure that you don’t spread yourself too thinly. Far better to do a couple of things well than many things averagely.
People who are effective and people who are a shambles have the same amount of time. It’s how they use it and when they use it that makes the difference.
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