Manage Your Time in Chunks for Maximum Productivity

I work with a lot of busy people and I have noticed how many of them are frustrated because they can’t complete their tasks. I found that most people create their task list and then sort of wait for the magic to happen. They complete items randomly, add new ones, going through it randomly. You should be aware that creating a list is only solving part of the problem, you need to further organize and productively handle your to-do’s.

A particular method I found works best for me is task focusing. This works best if you have a list where it doesn’t matter which task you do first, but with some modification it can be applied anyway. Basically I choose just 2-3 tasks to focus on for the next 2-3 days. I then close all other tasks on that list out of my mind and work with the selected ones.

This task management has two huge positive effects (apart from the fact that these tasks get done). One is that it works around the fact that I tend to dabble in as much stuff as I can, slowing me, and my projects down a lot. Although it may seem that the more projects you work on, the more you get done, this is obviously not so, since you also have to adjust to each one, every time you switch.

The other benefit is that I don’t feel the “Oh, I didn’t work with that project at all” feeling. This usually happens when I work with 6-7 things at once, and can’t finish something by the end of the day on project 7. This gives me a bad feeling, and the whole day may seem wasted. If you clearly focus on 3-4 projects through, you will get considerable work done on all three, and even if you don’t finish something, you won’t be at 20% completion for all, but, say 100%, 90% and 70%, which is far better.

I recommend choosing tasks for a 2-3 day period at the most. The reason I don’t choose 2-3 for a week is that I may well get bored with them. If you do have the chance to choose, you should take that advantage, but not switch between tasks hourly. I found that for me the 2 day interval with 2 tasks is the best.

It is also my experience that if I finish the tasks ahead of time, I will work on them more, perfecting them and making them better. Of course this doesn’t apply to everything, you can start a new project if you want, but if you finish close to the deadline I recommend taking some time off so you can start the next day with increased productivity.