If you’re already on a deadline, set up mini-deadlines for components of the task. Try to be strict with yourself as it is easy to break self-created deadlines. Put your deadline up against an appointment you can’t miss or just set an egg timer.
For example, if you’re trying to finish up a presentation for tomorrow morning and the power goes out, recruit someone to help you practice the Q&A session that follows until power is restored. Or even use it to make a lame joke the next day about how a competitor tried to sabotage your clearly blackout-proof presentation.
Think about what has worked when you’ve been productive in the past. Did your college finals studying go better when you holed up in a silent corner of the library or when your room-mates were playing video games three feet away?
Expect to need such breaks and factor them into your schedule. This way you won’t feel like you’re wasting time while you’re, well, wasting time (but in a positive way).
Jot down your scattered ideas in a notepad (or your preferred more technologically advanced device) at the end of the day or when you’re feeling mentally overloaded. Don’t worry about connecting all the dots right now. This is another form of brainstorming; get the ideas out, figure out what works, what doesn’t, and how they connect later.
Consider whether you would ask someone else to accomplish as much as you’re attempting. If you would feel bad asking someone else to do that much, you’re probably asking too much of yourself. At the end of the day, write down a list of all that you did accomplish. It might surprise you, and it will give you something else to look at other than that lengthy to-do list you started with that morning.
Focus on your results, not on the time it takes to get there. [6] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Business Review Online and print journal covering topics related to business management practices Go to source After all, we’re usually judged on results. We don’t care how long it took the baker to make our wedding cake or what methods he used; we just want it to look and taste great.
The Eisenhower Box breaks tasks into four categories: Important and Urgent (do those now); Important but Not Urgent (decide when you want to do those later); Not Important but Urgent (delegate those to others); Not Important and Not Urgent (delete those from your list). [7] X Research source Of course, not everyone has the same ability to delegate tasks as does a general or President, but such tasks can also be opportunities for collaborative work. Know your strengths, and the strengths of those around you.
