Productivity can be said to be a measure of efficiency; working smarter, yielding better results consistently and with less effort or keeping all aspects of your life in equilibrium. Your productivity is measured by your results per time. It is important to note that everyone has the same 24 hours each day. The different results people get with time depend on how much value is placed on their time and how they choose to spend it. The habits that are developed over time by individuals determine their results/productivity levels each day/period.
Hence, I will be writing on most of these daily habits in detail; the first in this post and the rest in subsequent posts.
HABIT ONE: Making a To-Do List
A To-do list as the name implies is a list/schedule of activities to be carried out at a certain time. This is really important as it gives you a target to focus on for that day and ticking an item after its completion gives you a sense of satisfaction as well as encouragement to go on to complete the next task. You get a feeling of achievement, self-confidence and order for each task completed. Thus having a to-do list is really important.
A to-do list can be written almost at any time but then you get different results. The best time to make a to-do list for a day is the previous night. You know, your day begins the moment you wake up from sleep at any time. Hence, you may not want to wake up thinking of how to plan a day that is already in motion. Thus, you make your to-do list is the previous night or whatever time lies before your rest/sleep time.
A good to-do list is made with the possibility of completion in mind. Do not be tempted to fill your list with too many items; just focus on first-things-first and cut down the list. You will not want to make plans you cannot meet up with; you could just lose the day to frustration. Thus, you prioritize on all your time-consuming tasks and write down 1-3 of them. You also prioritize on all your less time-consuming tasks and write down 3-5 of them. Make sure the items on your list can be completed within the day. You may want to set the time for each activity to be more specific. This keeps you in check regarding the time consumed on each activity.
In summary:
• Make a to-do list on the previous night
• Cut-down your to-do list (prioritize with time and effort in mind)
• Be as specific as possible
• Work towards completing every task on the list.
• Cross of every item when done.
• Let your to-do list be easily accessible anytime of the day
Please stay tuned for my next post on habit 2. See you soon