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Welcome to Day 1 of 7 Days To Better Productivity & Time Management.
Today’s task will take about 1 hour.
We’re going to begin by identifying your very best way to work. We’ll uncover your ideal productivity style so that you’ll be able to get more done, with more natural motivation, and without willpower or tricks.
Let’s start!
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• Large Productivity Workspace – I need to have opportunities to choose from, I tend to start easilyi, then lose interest once the concept is defined.
• Mix of Routine & Flexibility – I need to have defined a set of opportunities for tomorrow. It does not have to end up with any of them, but preferably some.
• Peak Work Time – Late morning, before lunch and mid evening when the kida are I bed.
• Buzz – a closed office door totally suffocates me. I am the type who think out loud and like feedback on my ideas as they come. I prefer a shared office with 2-5 others. At home I prefer to work alongside my husband, not necessarily working on the same project, but both working on something. It is very diffucult for me to get anything done if he sits down to watch sports or a movie.
What will I do different.
– Every evening have a list of identified opportunities for tomorrow.
– Ensure social pressure for my projects. Call for short meetings with my collegues to discuss ideas and progress. Make work nights at home.
I love that you’ve identified what you’ll do differently Marianne. Nice one!
Done – and have identified a few changes to make. I’ve never thought about these things together before, so this has been valuable.
A great start then Alison. 🙂
Like many others, I thought I like having lots of projects on the go, but in reality I think it stresses me out. My problem is I get inspired with lots of vague ideas for projects but like planes banking and waiting to land, they all get held up if I can’t finish what I’m working on, or decide which project to tackle next.
Nancy I think this is true of many people. When we get honest with ourselves we feel calmer and generally get more of what matters done, too. 🙂
I enjoy multiple projects and don’t usually have a problem flip flopping between them, but not too many either because then I get overwhelmed. I love routine – a planned schedule, making lists, etc. I also prefer working in the morning, but not right when I wake up (it takes me about 30 minutes or so to get going) and a quieter working environment.
These insights will help you over the coming days Donna.
I have a large brain space and always have multiple things going on. I’m also a night owl! I think some of my issue has been beating myself up a bit because I don’t get going first thing in the morning, and then feeling like I’ve let the day get away from me. I think if I can rearrange my attitude about it , I may be able to boost my productivity without the negative feelings.
I think you’re on to something there, Nancy. A change in attitude could lead to a much better outcome. 🙂 Kylie ~ Community Manager
This was great! Takes some of the guilt away about why I am the way I am. I knew I am not a lazy person, but I was guilting myself to thinking I was – does that make sence to anyone but me? Going through this lesson, considering my feelings in each answer, I realize more about myself and how I need to approach my To-Do list and chores. When I was a younger mother raising my wonderful daughter, caring for pets, including several horses, school functions including showing horses, and hobbies and projects from needlework to counter top tile, and working two or three jobs to-boot, my days were full. My daughter is now 32 years old, and my life has become a game of survival, just working and trying to keep a job and my house (with regular layoffs every few weeks). There is just one older, blind Cocker Spaniel and a spry bundle of love in a Chihuahua body now, and I don’t have the energy to work multiple jobs anymore (plus working night shift, sometimes you don’t get the sleep you need during the day and just getting through the night is a struggle, even with energy drinks.) So, this lesson is very helpful to me and enlightening. When I was younger, perhaps my schedule controlled me, and now, being an empty nester and on my own for so long, I must learn new strategies to take control of my To-Do list so that I can move past the dread of undone chores so that I can move on to the next level of my life and begin actually LIVING.
I am so grateful to you Michele. I feel good about this and it is coming at just the right time. I have felt a prompting this whole year – “get ready, be ready, get your store in order”. So I have been in the mindset of decluttering, etc., already, but seriously lacked motivation. I would make great plans of accomplishment for an upcoming layoff, but with fleeting motivation once at home. My daughter has gotten married and they are planning a baby. I have Not been ready got grandmotherhood (ashamedly), feeling that I was not in the place I wanted to be, to be the the grandmother I wanted to be (that I thought a grandmother should be). Well, nothing is going to change the fact that I will have to work my entire life, but if I declutter my life and gain control of it, I won’t feel bogged down with undone chores and To-Do wish list, and I will find more freedom to be that grandmother I hope to be.
Thank you Michele.
You’re very, very welcome, Lara! We see these extraverted powerhouses around us and it can make us feel lazy or inadequate. How wonderful to allow ourselves to be US – and find that we are smart and productive after all!
Good self refection task! I’ve learned I have a “small” brain space for productivity, , prefer routine, work best quietly in the afternoon, and prefer to have 1-2 goals. Looking forward to see where this goes!
A good start Tonya!
Now I understand why it is so hard for me to get up early to work on these things!
LOL exactly Chris!
Hi everyone – it’s Tuesday morning here for me (Australia) and its just after 6.30am – so that makes me a morning person!
• Small Productivity Workspace – too much going on and I feel out of control!
• Mix of Routine & Flexibility – I need to have a schedule and plan my workload, but realise no flexibility causes stress too. I often write lists for things I want to achieve around the house too.
• Peak Work Time – Early morning to early afternoon. By late afternoon / evening I’m done for the day and tire easily.
• Quiet space with a low interruption factor. It Drives me nuts being interrupted.
I share a joint office at home with my husband and there is often a high interruption factor. I have no other space to use as an office, but we do have a long term plan to build me an office – can’t wait, Bring it on!
Ooh Leonie… If you like a quiet space then you’ll love your new home office!!
I fall in the middle for most of the questions. I def like to plan but like to have the power to change them or exceed them. It really depends on what type of task for me.
The middle is good Lori, because it means you’re less put off by the ‘wrong’ time or place than people with more extreme preferences.
I love this! I’m thinking on some I’m in the middle, may have to really pay attention to how I’m doing/feeling/etc while I’m working.
Exactly Diane – pay attention, then try it another way and see how that works!
I have a small productivity brain space and I like both the element of surprise and planning, schedules and to-do lists but feel comforted by a schedule. I don’t know my peak and fallow times so need to monitor them. At the moment I seem to get a lot done in the morning but tend to do my chores. I’m studying for my Masters which is a long term project but think that short term projects suit me better as they hold my interest so I think I need to try to schedule doing my dissertation around other tasks I need to do. I find it very easy to get distracted from my dissertation but it weighs heavily as something that I need to get working on. I enjoy the idea of being around people but don’t get anything done in this environment. To achieve anything I need to be in my office with my emails turned off but I don’t relish this isolation.
You can use this awareness as we go forward, Debi-Ann! 🙂
Great Exercise! I would have thought that I had a large productivity brainspace, but in fact it is the opposite. My most productive days have my exercise finished first thing. it is like if I can get through that then the rest of my day can proceed, otherwise I tend to flounder. I love routine and planning but need to be careful not to get too caught up in the planning – that can lead to all planning and no action – LOL. My morning are best spent doing what I consider more physically demanding work, and my afternoon, more cerebral work or errands (anything to keep my hands busy so I don’t munch).
I like the idea of compartmentalizing my days (errand day, laundry day, office, etc). I sort of do that already, but could really tweak it to make it more efficient.
Mary I think compartmentalizing works well for people like us who get easily overwhelmed. It creates a sense of calm.
I tend to have too many projects, but am overwhelmed. I think I need to pick just a few to work on and get those things done before moving on to the next. I like having a routine, but I don’t necessarily follow them. I think I’m more productive in the morning, so I should do my routine then so I get things done. Right now I try to do my routine items at night and am not very productive. I do better when I have limited distractions. I can clean the house when nobody is home, but if the kids are home I tend to not do my chores.
These realizations can make life a lot less stressful, Jodi!
The job that I do does mean that I have multiple tasks to do in a day, however I feel at times overwhelmed by too many tasks and can end up starting things and moving onto the next without always finishing the prior task. I do work better with a more planned, structured day.
I seem to have to the most motivation and energy first thing in a morning and can sometimes procrastinate late afternoon because of the number of tasks that I still have to do ( I think to myself if I do not finish these tasks I will just do them in the evening, which then encroaches on my home life). I do need a quiet room to concentrate and to prevent me from getting distracted with other things that are going on in the office.
Gill, we’ll talk about finishing things on Day #4!
I figured out that I like a few projects at a time, but seem to end up with more. I need to change that. I do get overwhelmed with too much and then seem to shut down and not know where to begin and that does lead me to procrastinate……did that today!
I am an early bird and work much better in the morning and have even gotten up earlier than my family to work and get a lot accomplished. By 9pm I am toast….
I easily get sucked into blogs, fb and searching for things for my work etc…. I need to set a time limit…
I like having a schedule and or routine….I get more accomplished this way. I love having a list and crossing things off.
I do better in a quiet enviroment, as I get distracted anytime I have tried to work at Starbucks.
I think I need to not take on so much as this overwhelms me and so I have realized that 2 sessions a week is manageable for me for my business and then I need to plan out my mornings to use them very effectively and have a looser schedule in the afternoons with family.
I need to set a timer for fb/blogs searching internet etc….
Some good insights here, Mary Beth. You’ll like the next couple of days for honing all those projects. 🙂
Interesting. I thought I loved multiple projects and I’m pretty good at juggling, but it creates a lot of stress. This has made me realize that I am definitely not organizing my life in the way that is geared to my comfort zone. The challenge I have is that I love planning things, but usually plan too much and also resist the plan almost immediately. Thoughts on how to sneak up on myself?
Kirsten, I’ve found the secret is to let planning be an end in itself. Use it to excite and explore. But don’t expect it to be a roadmap. When it comes to what you NEED to get done, use a more pragmatic part of your brain. More about this on Day 3. 🙂
PS You might like to try Morning Pages as a way to plan without obligation:
http://juicywriting.com/morning-pages/
This was enlightening as I thought I would be better one project at a time and spontaneous, but I found that I was always at my best when I had several things to juggle, but had a defined schedule to keep it all on track. That said, I do need some flexibility built in for the unexpected which always occurs.
The best thing I realized was that I have a 4 to 7pm slump and should plan high energy needing tasks for the early & late morning when I am at my best. I seem to like quiet and focus for at home projects, but busy pace for midday intellectual projects elsewhere. I also have a small evening time span when I can be productive in low energy tasks, wrapping things up or getting them set for the next day.
As a stay at home mom of a 13 year old, there is a decreased amount of time needed to focus on momming, so it’s time for a new routine with new areas of focus.
A new routine with new areas of focus, sounds exciting, Melinda! Kylie ~ Community Manager
I can relate to Terri. I prefer focusing on one task at a time and have a hard time getting anything done when the day seems too fragmented and too short for everything there is to do.
I need time for my own business venture (a music studio), my own practicing and planning (as a church organist, choir director, and part time high school choir accompanist). I am transitioning from my role as mom to five kids, keeping home and family related tasks as top priorities, to trying to “do it all.” My youngest is now 14.
My preferred and usually only possible time to get important things done is during the morning (peaceful and quiet, please). However, I find myself yielding to my husband’s late night schedule (often working on things I didn’t get done earlier in the day), staying up too late and having a hard time getting going in the morning.
The greatest challenge for me last school year was the reality and the feeling that I never had time off and that I was never on top of things.
I will do so much better with a well thought out plan for the week based on clear priorities along with realistic expectations. I love immersing myself in a task and much prefer the satisfaction of a job well done, but I realize I need to impose some limits.
Day One is already proving to be helpful! I initially thought I was a “large productivity brainspace” person, but in reality, I’m a “small productivity brainspace” person. I always feel like I should be taking on more or be able to handle more, but it is good to know that not everyone works well that way!
It’s great to know this Jan – you’ll probably do better work and be happier!