9:00 AM. The workday begins. You turn on your computer, Facebook, Whatsapp, talk to your colleagues, finish breakfast, and after so many small (distr) actions, you finally begin to work.
And guess what? It's already 10:00 AM. This description is a reality for many people. The ability to start, concentrate, and finish the day's tasks seems more like a gift than a habit.
However, it's not like that. Being a productive person is possible, and the benefits are evident for those who do it and for the entire work team. How can you achieve this habit? We share 7 tips to activate it in your life starting today.
1.- Set priorities for the day
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Plan an action strategy. Write a list of the day's tasks and define which one you should tackle first. This way, you'll have an overview of the day and you'll be able to define the steps to achieve your goals. It's necessary to distinguish between what is urgent - situations that demand your immediate attention - and what is important - what contributes to your personal and long-term goals.
For example: sending an invoice for collection before the 30th is more urgent than responding to all your emails; but it's probably not more important than having an annual planning meeting to decide the direction of the business.
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It's advisable to plan ahead to avoid filling our day with urgencies and to be able to accomplish both tasks. One of our favorite apps to achieve this is Todoist.
Plan ahead to avoid filling your day with urgent activities.
A tool that helps prioritize tasks is the "Eisenhower matrix" (later popularized by Stephen Covey), which has 4 quadrants according to these two categories: important/urgent.
2.- Start with the most difficult and valuable tasks
Benefit from your morning energy to do the most challenging activities that will probably take more work to complete. By doing this, you'll notice that you enter a mood of concentration and productivity.
Now, if you have personal goals, you must learn to give time to those that don't necessarily generate a profit but have personal value. Dedicate the morning to it. If you have to wake up earlier, learn to give yourself that space. Don't leave it for when "you have no more pending tasks." We all know that phrase is a nice fiction.
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3.- Delegate early
A day at the office can be like a basketball game: whoever has the ball executes the action. If in your list of priorities, you detect that you need third parties to achieve a goal, pass them the ball from the first hour to make your play later.
For example, if you need to print a file that your boss needs to approve, send an email early requesting approval.
Don't forget that delegating is a leadership quality. Transfer activities and responsibilities to your collaborators so that they can execute them during the day. Don't be afraid to pass the ball to others so that you can concentrate on planning the next play.
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