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Reducing Time Wasting Activities to Minimize Procrastination. Put First Things First To Stop Procrastination.
Reducing Time Wasting Activities to Minimize Procrastination
One of the ways to deal with procrastination is to identify the things that are wasting your time. One of it is other people. There are people who incessantly demand for your time day and night and it doesn't stop. You will tend to procrastinate your important duties because of your need to attend to these things. You cannot avoid these things like feeding your baby, doing the household chores for your mother or getting calls from your boss or your customers. The key is to manage your time wisely and know what your priorities are by rearranging your schedule so you can determine when your productive time is. For example: If you know you have to send the kids to school and you won't have time to exercise, you have to change your habit by waking up earlier in the morning so you can get your exercise done. If you know that you can't study at home because your house is too small and your siblings offer too much distraction, then wait till they are fast asleep then focus on studying late at night. You can even opt to sleep during the evening when they are awake. If you need to take your kids on a holiday trip, why not consider painting the shed first instead of putting it off until after the trip when you are tired and lazy to work? You have to work diligently what are your most frequent time wasters. Here are some tips that will help you deal with time wasting activities: " Don't start what you cannot finish. If you do something halfway, you are wasting time on things that don't bring results. It is pointless to start what you can't complete because at the end of the day, you are measured by how much you accomplish, not how many projects you undertake. " Don't schedule less important work before work that is more important. This is an issue of priority. " If you are doing too much menial work, try delegating or leveraging on other people. For example, ask your secretary to help you type a letter while you focus on the business aspects. " Don't do things that can be done with technology - like printers for example. " Don't keep excessive paperwork " Don't Respond to every person's requests normally in the office " Answering every person's phone call is not productive " Don't spread yourself too thin " Don't socialize too much when you are transiting between tasks Put First Things First To Stop Procrastination Stephen Covey has mentioned in his book - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a chapter that is crucial in time management. First, he asks 2 very profound questions: (1) What one thing could you do (you aren't doing now) that if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive effect in your personal life? (2) What one thing in your business or professional life would bring similar results? The key topic in this chapter is to identify what your priorities are. Speed without the right direction will only lead you to get the wrong place faster. You will usually wind up procrastinating the things you should REALLY be doing in life. Covey has stressed that most activities fall into 2 combination of quadrants which is the IMPORTANT / NOT IMPORTANT quadrant And URGENT / NOT URGENT quadrant There are only 4 outcomes as a result of these combinations. The important and urgent quadrant consists of tasks which require people to attend to immediately like deadline driven projects, sudden or unexpected crises or problems that require immediate attention The urgent and not important quadrant consists of tasks which are not important in the long run, but requires immediate attention like telephone calls, email, some reports, some meetings and even certain social functions. The not urgent and not important quadrant are contains the most time wasting tasks which procrastinators tend to fall into often. The most important quadrant is the not urgent but important quadrant. This group requires lots of planning and reorganizing but the results they yield are tremendous. For example, exercise may not seem urgent at the very moment, but long term exercising results in better health and more energy. It can also prevent you from getting burnt out by planning things ahead. You are the manager of your life. You are the only person who can 'boss' yourself around and make decisions which of your activities are considered your priority in life. You may think it is trivial, but you must learn to categorize the things you are doing in all the right quadrants. If you usually procrastinate your important tasks for other things like coffee breaks or chatting with your colleagues, put them in the not urgent and not important box to clarify reasons for your involvement.
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