Read on for tips from the President and CEO of Red Hat to help you get the most out of your time and improve your personal productivity:
No matter what you do, there is one characteristic of the day that is the same for all people: we have 24 hours at our disposal.
1) Plan a week every Sunday night.
On Sunday evenings, I sit down to make a list of key tasks for each month and for the current year. These goals and objectives fill out every week, helping me stay on track and keep things going. Long-term goals may not require immediate steps to achieve them, but they are certainly important. If you are not careful in this matter, "important" goals can easily be pushed aside "urgent". Then I check my schedule and to-do list for the week. I know how much time is taken for meetings, etc. Then I plan the tasks I need to do and put them on my to-do list.
Otherwise, you will let things take their course ... and urgent matters will crowd out what is really important.
The key is to create a structure for your week and execute it in a disciplined manner. Otherwise, urgent matters will crowd out what is really important.
2. Set aside time in advance for specific tasks
Each of us makes a schedule of meetings and meetings in our schedule. Go even further and set aside time for specific tasks. For example, add to your to-do list “make a new proposal,” or “create a presentation,” or “review and approve promotional materials.”
Set aside time for specific tasks. If you don't set aside time for these tasks ahead of time, they will be delayed and delayed. Or you may have to constantly interrupt to do other things. Or you will lose focus and lose sight of them. And the really important things will remain undone.
3. Make sure the task list is doable
I often created a to-do list, but did not allocate the right amount of time to complete each task. How did it turn out? There was always more to do on my list than I could physically do, which turned it into a wish list. If you have six meeting hours scheduled for today and many tasks that will take a total of eight hours to complete, then those tasks will remain on the waiting list.
A realistic distribution of tasks forces you to prioritize. (I personally love the Toodledo organizer, but there are many other tools you can use to plan your work.) Realistic task and time allocation helps you avoid wasting time. When you know it takes less than 30 minutes to complete a given task, you will work harder and ignore distractions.
Realistic distribution of tasks and time to complete them helps you not to waste time.
4. Schedule 30-minute meetings by default
Whoever invented the default one hour in scheduling software is wasting other people's millions of hours. Most issues will take no more than 30 minutes to resolve. Many of these can be discussed within 15 minutes - especially if everyone invited to the meeting is aware that the meeting will only last 15 minutes.
Whoever invented the default one hour in scheduling software is wasting other people's millions of hours.
Don't become a slave to the default planning tools. Only schedule an hourly meeting if you are absolutely sure you need it.
5. Say no to multitasking
During a meeting - especially if you have a full hour for it - it's very difficult to resist doing several meaningless tasks at once. (Who hasn't cleared their email backlog during a meeting?) The problem is that this scattering of attention makes these meetings less productive. Even if you do things that don't require mental activity, you get distracted and become less productive.
Multitasking is a personal productivity killer. Don't try to do two things more or less well at the same time. Better focus on one thing - and make it flawless.
6. Try to make the most of your border time
My biggest loss of time occurs when I drive to work, when I return home and when I am at the airport, so I always pay special attention to how to use this time productively. I almost always plan on making a few calls on my way to work. It's simple: I take the kids to school and drop them off at a specific time; so I can create a time slot from 8:00 am to 8:30 am for the call. As a rule, I do not schedule phone calls on my way home. At this time, I can call someone back, for example, those people who are on the West Coast.
At the airport, I use Pocket, a browser plug-in that downloads articles for read lazy. I can upload up to 10 articles and provide myself with useful content in advance that I want to read while I wait for customs clearance.
Study your day carefully. Determine the downtime. Then, plan what you can do during this time. Call it "borderline" time, through which you can actually increase your productivity.
7. Keep track of the time
Once you start tracking your time (I use the Toggl time tracker for this), you will be amazed at how much time you waste on unproductive activities. When entering information, you do not need to go into details, just write what you are going to do.
Once you start tracking your time, you will be amazed at how much time you spend on unproductive activities.
I started to keep track of the time spent on certain tasks quite recently. It was an invaluable experience that opened my eyes to many things and really helped me to focus on the main thing.
8. Think about lunch. Your lunch can take an hour. Or 30 minutes. Or 10 minutes
No matter how long it takes for lunch, think about what you are doing. If you're used to intercepting something right in the workplace to drown out the rumbling in your stomach, fine. But if you're grabbing extra power from a short break, lunch is just the time when multitasking can be a great solution: you can create new connections and new connections, socialize informally and create a company culture - unless you go to lunch every day ... the same composition.
If you're grabbing extra power from a short break, lunch is the time when multitasking can be great.
Pick two days a week to go out to lunch with people you don't know very well. Or just take a walk. Or do something productive for yourself. Let's say you spend one hour every day for lunch; that's five hours a week. Think about how you spend this time. You don't have to work, but you have to make this time work for you.
9. Don't take up the time you should be with your family.
I, like you, am a bit of a workaholic. So I am very careful with how I spend the evening. When I come home from work, I devote this time to my family: We have dinner together, help the children with their homework. I completely stop working. No phone calls, no emails.
Basically, we have two hours before the kids are supposed to get ready for bed. All this time I devote to my family. Then I can switch back to work. It is convenient for me to leave work at 5:00 or 5:30 pm, because at 8 or 9 o'clock I can resume work cases.
Each family has the most active hours, when all its members get together, discuss something, interact with each other. If you don't free up this time in advance, there's a good chance of a smooth transition to work. Therefore, it is important to define these boundaries: when you work and when you spend time with your household. This means no desk phone calls, no business messaging or other office activities. Take a break from work, stay with your family. It is important to define boundaries: when you work and when you spend time with your household
10. Start Every Day Right
The first thing I do when I get out of bed is to do morning exercises because exercise energizes me. (Research also shows that moderate aerobic activity can improve your mood for up to 12 hours.)
Start your morning productively and your whole day will be like this
I get up early and go for a run. Then I read the newspaper to give myself some relaxation after training. Then I go downstairs to have breakfast with the children. Not only do you get a boost of vigor and energy, but you also set the stage for the rest of the day. Start your morning productively and your whole day will be like this.
No matter what you do, there is one characteristic of the day that is the same for all people: we have 24 hours at our disposal.
1) Plan a week every Sunday night.
On Sunday evenings, I sit down to make a list of key tasks for each month and for the current year. These goals and objectives fill out every week, helping me stay on track and keep things going. Long-term goals may not require immediate steps to achieve them, but they are certainly important. If you are not careful in this matter, "important" goals can easily be pushed aside "urgent". Then I check my schedule and to-do list for the week. I know how much time is taken for meetings, etc. Then I plan the tasks I need to do and put them on my to-do list.
Otherwise, you will let things take their course ... and urgent matters will crowd out what is really important.
The key is to create a structure for your week and execute it in a disciplined manner. Otherwise, urgent matters will crowd out what is really important.
2. Set aside time in advance for specific tasks
Each of us makes a schedule of meetings and meetings in our schedule. Go even further and set aside time for specific tasks. For example, add to your to-do list “make a new proposal,” or “create a presentation,” or “review and approve promotional materials.”
Set aside time for specific tasks. If you don't set aside time for these tasks ahead of time, they will be delayed and delayed. Or you may have to constantly interrupt to do other things. Or you will lose focus and lose sight of them. And the really important things will remain undone.
3. Make sure the task list is doable
I often created a to-do list, but did not allocate the right amount of time to complete each task. How did it turn out? There was always more to do on my list than I could physically do, which turned it into a wish list. If you have six meeting hours scheduled for today and many tasks that will take a total of eight hours to complete, then those tasks will remain on the waiting list.
A realistic distribution of tasks forces you to prioritize. (I personally love the Toodledo organizer, but there are many other tools you can use to plan your work.) Realistic task and time allocation helps you avoid wasting time. When you know it takes less than 30 minutes to complete a given task, you will work harder and ignore distractions.
Realistic distribution of tasks and time to complete them helps you not to waste time.
4. Schedule 30-minute meetings by default
Whoever invented the default one hour in scheduling software is wasting other people's millions of hours. Most issues will take no more than 30 minutes to resolve. Many of these can be discussed within 15 minutes - especially if everyone invited to the meeting is aware that the meeting will only last 15 minutes.
Whoever invented the default one hour in scheduling software is wasting other people's millions of hours.
Don't become a slave to the default planning tools. Only schedule an hourly meeting if you are absolutely sure you need it.
5. Say no to multitasking
During a meeting - especially if you have a full hour for it - it's very difficult to resist doing several meaningless tasks at once. (Who hasn't cleared their email backlog during a meeting?) The problem is that this scattering of attention makes these meetings less productive. Even if you do things that don't require mental activity, you get distracted and become less productive.
Multitasking is a personal productivity killer. Don't try to do two things more or less well at the same time. Better focus on one thing - and make it flawless.
6. Try to make the most of your border time
My biggest loss of time occurs when I drive to work, when I return home and when I am at the airport, so I always pay special attention to how to use this time productively. I almost always plan on making a few calls on my way to work. It's simple: I take the kids to school and drop them off at a specific time; so I can create a time slot from 8:00 am to 8:30 am for the call. As a rule, I do not schedule phone calls on my way home. At this time, I can call someone back, for example, those people who are on the West Coast.
At the airport, I use Pocket, a browser plug-in that downloads articles for read lazy. I can upload up to 10 articles and provide myself with useful content in advance that I want to read while I wait for customs clearance.
Study your day carefully. Determine the downtime. Then, plan what you can do during this time. Call it "borderline" time, through which you can actually increase your productivity.
7. Keep track of the time
Once you start tracking your time (I use the Toggl time tracker for this), you will be amazed at how much time you waste on unproductive activities. When entering information, you do not need to go into details, just write what you are going to do.
Once you start tracking your time, you will be amazed at how much time you spend on unproductive activities.
I started to keep track of the time spent on certain tasks quite recently. It was an invaluable experience that opened my eyes to many things and really helped me to focus on the main thing.
8. Think about lunch. Your lunch can take an hour. Or 30 minutes. Or 10 minutes
No matter how long it takes for lunch, think about what you are doing. If you're used to intercepting something right in the workplace to drown out the rumbling in your stomach, fine. But if you're grabbing extra power from a short break, lunch is just the time when multitasking can be a great solution: you can create new connections and new connections, socialize informally and create a company culture - unless you go to lunch every day ... the same composition.
If you're grabbing extra power from a short break, lunch is the time when multitasking can be great.
Pick two days a week to go out to lunch with people you don't know very well. Or just take a walk. Or do something productive for yourself. Let's say you spend one hour every day for lunch; that's five hours a week. Think about how you spend this time. You don't have to work, but you have to make this time work for you.
9. Don't take up the time you should be with your family.
I, like you, am a bit of a workaholic. So I am very careful with how I spend the evening. When I come home from work, I devote this time to my family: We have dinner together, help the children with their homework. I completely stop working. No phone calls, no emails.
Basically, we have two hours before the kids are supposed to get ready for bed. All this time I devote to my family. Then I can switch back to work. It is convenient for me to leave work at 5:00 or 5:30 pm, because at 8 or 9 o'clock I can resume work cases.
Each family has the most active hours, when all its members get together, discuss something, interact with each other. If you don't free up this time in advance, there's a good chance of a smooth transition to work. Therefore, it is important to define these boundaries: when you work and when you spend time with your household. This means no desk phone calls, no business messaging or other office activities. Take a break from work, stay with your family. It is important to define boundaries: when you work and when you spend time with your household
10. Start Every Day Right
The first thing I do when I get out of bed is to do morning exercises because exercise energizes me. (Research also shows that moderate aerobic activity can improve your mood for up to 12 hours.)
Start your morning productively and your whole day will be like this
I get up early and go for a run. Then I read the newspaper to give myself some relaxation after training. Then I go downstairs to have breakfast with the children. Not only do you get a boost of vigor and energy, but you also set the stage for the rest of the day. Start your morning productively and your whole day will be like this.
