Of course we don't want to waste time. But we can get into habits that, without our even realizing it, can steal this precious commodity. Here are 3 concepts to keep in mind that should go a long way to helping us get the most out of the time in the day.
Stop Those Phone and Email Interruptions:
For many of us, the phone rings and we, like robots, rush to answer it. These habits are usually established in us as kids and, for most people, continue on into their adult years. Compared to the phone, email is relatively new. But email, too, can become something we feel compelled to handle immediately. For, perhaps, most people the phone ringers remain on and email notification alarms continue to beep as the emails are checked every 5 to 10 minutes. Both of these, the the ringing phone as well as the constantly chiming email notification sound, can be very distracting and can essentially stop our production.
The problem with phone calls and with emails that are being constantly monitored is that they intrude into our lives without regard to what we are doing. If we saw another person who did this to us, who came interrupting us regardless of what we were doing, we would think they were being rude and, perhaps, believe them to be almost psychotic.
Most experts, and most people who get a lot done, agree that it is best to control phone calls and emails and to handle them at times of our own convenience. While this may not always be possible, an attempt to put some sort of control these factors can be very beneficial. One way to do this is to designate certain times of the day to handle phone calls as well as emails.
There are many workable ways of doing this, each of us will find our own. One successful method is to not check the email, even for the 1st time during the day, until after lunch. While some want to check it in the morning, the truth is that this can often derail our daily planning activities and cause us to divert our attention off the things that matter. This can kill momentum.
A key suggestion is to turn off the ringer of the phone, if you are answering it yourself, and turn off the notification alarm of your email client. Regarding emails, it is also best to shut down the automatic checking of emails and to control that operation manually.
Regarding the phone, often a source of new clients, we may feel compelled to answer it whenever it rings. But this will undoubtedly cut into our production time if we are producers. If we are salespeople, perhaps that is a different story but those of us who are wearing both sales and production hats have to put some type of control into it. One way to handle this is to designate periods where the ringer is off or the secretary answers the phone or leave a message on the automatic answering system or with the secretary that calls will be returned at a specific time. That way the callers will know and can rely upon a return call it a specific time. Promises need to be kept, of course.
Regardless of how you handle your email or your phones, you will definitely find putting control into these factors will raise your own standards of efficiency and productivity.
Perfectionism:
A successful life requires action. Work has to get done. We need to look at action and regard it as what it actually is. It consists of 3 steps; start, change and stop. A cycle of action, in order to be successful and to be under control, needs to contain all 3 of those elements.
Trying to be perfect is one of the false standards that many of us try to achieve in our activities. Perhaps one's ideas of perfection come from the time they were criticized as children. The key problem of trying to be perfect is that it sticks us in a cycle of action and we never are able to stop it. Since perfection is actually impossible, in order to hit the stop button on any cycle of action we must abandon the idea of trying to be perfect.
There's nothing wrong with doing things well, but doing things well, doing things the best we can, is really the only realistic standard by which we can successfully operate. If we find were having a hard time turning products out, getting things done, perhaps a closer look might indicate that we are attempting to be perfect. If we find ourselves attempting to achieve this standard, perhaps we need to define what that standard actually is, in true hard facts. This clarification could help straighten out what standards we should actually consider as our goal.
No doubt, we should do the best we can. But leave that idea of perfection to the less productive.
Multitasking Is a Myth:
With today's many amazing tools and communication deices we are capable of having almost countless numbers of things coming at us at any given time. We can keep many screens open on our computers, be listening to talk radio or running the television while we work, and, basically, find ourselves doing, or attempting to do, many things at one time.
There are folks that have Facebook going all the time on their computers. Some have Twitter going. Some are checking their email constantly and trying to read it handle other people's communications on other people's schedules rather than on their own. It's easy, after a day of an immense amount of activity, to look back and see that really nothing of importance really got done.
Multitasking is actually a myth. While we may see certain professionals operating as though they are multitasking - say a pilot for instance - a close look will find that, in reality, they are only doing one thing - even though it may be broken down into many different activities. They become so good at it, just like we are usually good at walking or getting around. It may appear to be multitasking to an outsider been, in reality, it is only one thing.
Productivity requires the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. We do one thing, complete it, then do the next thing, etc. If we do that, we actually get things done - efficiently.
Efficiency is not something that we look to achieve for its own sake. It is simply an indicator as to how much we are getting out of a fixed commodity. Since time, essentially, is a fixed commodity the more we can get done during certain periods the more efficient life will be. Keep the three above points in mind can go a long ways to making our lives more efficient and productive.
Stop Those Phone and Email Interruptions:
For many of us, the phone rings and we, like robots, rush to answer it. These habits are usually established in us as kids and, for most people, continue on into their adult years. Compared to the phone, email is relatively new. But email, too, can become something we feel compelled to handle immediately. For, perhaps, most people the phone ringers remain on and email notification alarms continue to beep as the emails are checked every 5 to 10 minutes. Both of these, the the ringing phone as well as the constantly chiming email notification sound, can be very distracting and can essentially stop our production.
The problem with phone calls and with emails that are being constantly monitored is that they intrude into our lives without regard to what we are doing. If we saw another person who did this to us, who came interrupting us regardless of what we were doing, we would think they were being rude and, perhaps, believe them to be almost psychotic.
Most experts, and most people who get a lot done, agree that it is best to control phone calls and emails and to handle them at times of our own convenience. While this may not always be possible, an attempt to put some sort of control these factors can be very beneficial. One way to do this is to designate certain times of the day to handle phone calls as well as emails.
There are many workable ways of doing this, each of us will find our own. One successful method is to not check the email, even for the 1st time during the day, until after lunch. While some want to check it in the morning, the truth is that this can often derail our daily planning activities and cause us to divert our attention off the things that matter. This can kill momentum.
A key suggestion is to turn off the ringer of the phone, if you are answering it yourself, and turn off the notification alarm of your email client. Regarding emails, it is also best to shut down the automatic checking of emails and to control that operation manually.
Regarding the phone, often a source of new clients, we may feel compelled to answer it whenever it rings. But this will undoubtedly cut into our production time if we are producers. If we are salespeople, perhaps that is a different story but those of us who are wearing both sales and production hats have to put some type of control into it. One way to handle this is to designate periods where the ringer is off or the secretary answers the phone or leave a message on the automatic answering system or with the secretary that calls will be returned at a specific time. That way the callers will know and can rely upon a return call it a specific time. Promises need to be kept, of course.
Regardless of how you handle your email or your phones, you will definitely find putting control into these factors will raise your own standards of efficiency and productivity.
Perfectionism:
A successful life requires action. Work has to get done. We need to look at action and regard it as what it actually is. It consists of 3 steps; start, change and stop. A cycle of action, in order to be successful and to be under control, needs to contain all 3 of those elements.
Trying to be perfect is one of the false standards that many of us try to achieve in our activities. Perhaps one's ideas of perfection come from the time they were criticized as children. The key problem of trying to be perfect is that it sticks us in a cycle of action and we never are able to stop it. Since perfection is actually impossible, in order to hit the stop button on any cycle of action we must abandon the idea of trying to be perfect.
There's nothing wrong with doing things well, but doing things well, doing things the best we can, is really the only realistic standard by which we can successfully operate. If we find were having a hard time turning products out, getting things done, perhaps a closer look might indicate that we are attempting to be perfect. If we find ourselves attempting to achieve this standard, perhaps we need to define what that standard actually is, in true hard facts. This clarification could help straighten out what standards we should actually consider as our goal.
No doubt, we should do the best we can. But leave that idea of perfection to the less productive.
Multitasking Is a Myth:
With today's many amazing tools and communication deices we are capable of having almost countless numbers of things coming at us at any given time. We can keep many screens open on our computers, be listening to talk radio or running the television while we work, and, basically, find ourselves doing, or attempting to do, many things at one time.
There are folks that have Facebook going all the time on their computers. Some have Twitter going. Some are checking their email constantly and trying to read it handle other people's communications on other people's schedules rather than on their own. It's easy, after a day of an immense amount of activity, to look back and see that really nothing of importance really got done.
Multitasking is actually a myth. While we may see certain professionals operating as though they are multitasking - say a pilot for instance - a close look will find that, in reality, they are only doing one thing - even though it may be broken down into many different activities. They become so good at it, just like we are usually good at walking or getting around. It may appear to be multitasking to an outsider been, in reality, it is only one thing.
Productivity requires the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. We do one thing, complete it, then do the next thing, etc. If we do that, we actually get things done - efficiently.
Efficiency is not something that we look to achieve for its own sake. It is simply an indicator as to how much we are getting out of a fixed commodity. Since time, essentially, is a fixed commodity the more we can get done during certain periods the more efficient life will be. Keep the three above points in mind can go a long ways to making our lives more efficient and productive.
About the Author:
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