To manage our time we must be first able to manage ourselves. Above all, that means not to confuse busyness with productivity. Highly productive people are less busy than those who feel overworked and overloaded. They know what to focus on. Likewise, you should not confuse urgent things with important things. Issues that arise suddenly, may not be priorities. So, how to focus exclusively on priorities and not to be busy because of less important things?
Remember the 80/20 rule
80% of the importance of what we do per day, is produces by only 20% of our activities. So, when we focus only on 20% of the most important tasks, we will end a day more productive and happier.
Use a good calendar
Ideally, have an entire page or screen for every day with free space for writing to each hour. To start, mark all the time periods when you have to be in a particular place (meetings, conferences, etc.). You can then plan the remaining time according to your priorities.
Maintain current list of priorities
For each day, prepare a list of tasks that you want to meet that day. Then mark the level od priority of the individual tasks e.g. as A (I must), B (I should), C (I could). Although you may have already heard this recommendation many times, did you really try it in practice? You might be surprised.
Focus on priorities
If you plan specific A tasks for a particulat time, you will meet perhaps only 20% of your list for a given day. But that will be 80% of the most important work. What you do not manage to finish the day, plan for a next day.
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