Everyone has 24 hours in a day, but some people manage to do everything and even more, while others can hardly cope with the main tasks. If you have difficulty planning things, learn the principles of time management. They will show how to allocate time effectively, find resources for work, training, family, self-development, yourself. Understanding the principles of time management is easy, and the results will be amazing. If you can’t immediately follow the recommendations, don’t despair and don’t quit what you started – everything has its time.
Set goals
To understand how to plan a day, you need to write down goals - current and general. It's about the things that need to be done in the next 24 hours, and the larger projects for which you organize your day today.
The problem in the absence of global goals does not allow achieving small successes today. For example, learning a language is long, boring, uninteresting. This leads to the temptation to abandon classes in the first weeks or months. But if the purpose of learning Spanish is a trip to another country, a promotion, things will go more fun. Look for motivation, write things down point by point - and you will have time for everything.
Divide big things into small ones
Another name for this principle sounds like "Eat the elephant in pieces." When the project is very large, the matter is unpleasant, difficult, we begin to postpone the decision to the last. The approach is completely unproductive. If you still have to do it, put the plan on the shelves and start implementing it in stages.
Other helpful tips:
- at the beginning of the day, plan unpleasant and / or important things;
- then do what is easier;
- for a snack, leave the "pleasures".
Such a hierarchy will help to do everything, have motivation in the form of a pleasant thing at the end of the day, and maximum satisfaction from current achievements is also guaranteed.
Breaks are sacred
Personal coffee breaks during the working day should be mandatory. There is no one-size-fits-all method of relaxation, since many things are individual. It's obvious that:
- it is impossible to maintain the rise of forces for hours on end;
- rest is needed to maintain productivity;
- pauses should be comfortable for you.
Someone wants to spend time in silence, read, others prefer communication with colleagues. It doesn't matter which "break" format you choose, as long as it helps you reset.
Is a timer needed?
As practice shows, yes, and the majority. The Pomodoro Technique involves setting a timer for each activity. Your task is to keep within the allocated framework and do not forget to rest for a few minutes. After 4 sets of cases of about 30 minutes, you need to take a longer break. Pomodoro himself recommended doing each session for 25 minutes. In the matter of how to learn to plan, this will not help much, but maximum productivity is maintained precisely during such a period of time.
Change the type of activity
It can be mental work instead of physical or vice versa. If you work at home, take breaks for household chores - this way you can reboot, get distracted, restore efficiency and at the same time not meet the evening exhausted, in front of the stove and a mountain of dirty dishes.
When during the day you have to work mainly, try to alternate the main operations, taking into account the type of activity. This will give the brain a little unloading, help to maintain efficiency.
Stock up
Many good time management schemes fail due to overwhelming workloads. You can calculate the time to complete current tasks, taking into account that you are in a great mood, feel good, do not get distracted by children, do not finish old tasks. As a result, the process stops, the plans “move out”. Learn to realistically evaluate your capabilities and give yourself a little time. 5-10 minutes an hour on top will help you meet and protect you from disappointment that you again did not succeed.
The other side of the time management coin is stress under the pressure of time. Your task is to find a middle ground and not create unnecessary problems for yourself.
Consider a reward system
Above, we wrote how to properly organize your day, taking into account the “reward” at the end. A more impressive reward system helps a lot. Think for yourself what could please you, how to reward yourself for the fact that the tasks were completed with a bang, you did it and met the allotted time. The main thing is not to focus on awards - motivation in general should be different.
Distractions: what to do?
The best advice is not to get distracted, but it's hard to do. If you still rewrite, watch videos and read articles through links, set aside 40 minutes for this during the day. Ideally, this should be 20 minutes before work and 20 minutes at the end. The rest of the time, do not open messages in messengers outside of work and do not be distracted in other ways. Sometimes a banal correspondence at lunchtime can take an hour and a half, and this is a considerable loss of working time. To tune in to a productive way, you can listen to rhythmic music without words. This is a good option for people who work in large offices. Put on your headphones and your colleagues will stop distracting you with their endless conversations about nothing.
Family and yourself
We have analyzed the principles of distribution of cases during the day. Now the question is how to find time for yourself and loved ones. Start with the following:
- Attention should be paid every day - even for 10-15 minutes, but regularly.
- After work, take care of yourself and your family - you need to leave work in the office (physically or mentally).
- Do not do anything through force - you also have the right to rest and manifestations of healthy egoism.
- Explain to household members about “15 minutes for yourself”, especially children - the time may be different, the main thing is that no one can touch you during this period.
- Make a plan for personal goals - things that do not burn, we put off for later for years. If you understand exactly what needs to be done, it will be easier to act.
Delegate authority to other family members as much as possible. Life is a common task, so you need to deal with it together, taking into account the age of the household and current loads. For example, children can clean their own room, walk the dog, do their homework, and only let you check. Plan food purchases, global cooking for the weekend. Such a distribution of duties will allocate a lot of time for personal affairs (courses, taking a bath, sports training, etc.).
How to learn to do everything - no way, many experts joke. But we are sure that with proper planning, success can be achieved. The main thing is to rationally calculate your strength, not be distracted and remember why globally you are doing so many small things today.