Finding Efficiency in Your Schedule
Do you find yourself struggling to get through your to-do list? Are you someone who seems more productive when you have a full schedule and more to juggle? Today we’re taking a deep dive into strategies and tools you can use to become more productive. I mean, who wouldn’t benefit from working a little more efficiently and effectively? Let’s begin with a quick quiz to find out which productivity strategy might work best for you!
Which best describes you?
A. Juggling a lot of responsibilities with many meetings throughout the day.
B. Working on fewer but larger tasks each day.
C. Days are scattered and varied!
D. I wish I had longer stretches of free time.
2. I crave …
A. Order
B. Focus
C. Consistency
D. Efficiency
3. I am …
A. in need of more work life balance. My work spills into all areas of life.
B. a major procrastinator! I avoid challenging tasks and put things off.
C. overwhelmed! I have so many tasks, I ping pong around without finishing anything.
D. motivated by deadlines!
If you answered mostly As, try Time Blocking!
Time Blocking is a great strategy for people who juggle lots of projects and have days broken up by meetings or interruptions. To apply Time Blocking to your schedule, simply divide your day into blocks of time. Assign each block of time a specific task. Prioritize your most important tasks to the blocks of time where you can get the most done. Set aside some time at the beginning of the week to sketch your schedule of time blocks. Try out your schedule and make adjustments as needed.
If you were mostly Bs, try Task Batching!
Task Batching works well for people who have fewer meetings and spend more time on specific tasks. With Task Batching we go a step further than Time Blocking and group similar, smaller tasks into larger time blocks (think large umbrellas of tasks vs. specific tasks assigned in Time Blocking). If you work in a creative field, Task Batching may be a wonderful fit for you. You can limit the amount of topic shifting you do and stay in one area (for example: brainstorming, creating, writing, social, administrative). This provides a greater chance to focus and limit distractions.
If you answered mostly Cs, try Day Theming.
Day Theming is great for small business owners or stay at home parents. Day Theming is similar to Task Batching, however you dedicate whole days to tasks. For example, a small business owner might keep a schedule such as:
Monday Admin Day
Tuesday Photo/Design
Wednesday Training/Social Media
Thursday Writing
Friday Catch All
Saturday No Work!
Sunday Planning
This schedule provides reliable patterns in the week and gives structure to those who feel scattered and crave a schedule that still leaves room for flexibility.
If you were mostly Ds, Time Boxing might be a good fit.
Time Boxing is all about the self-imposed deadline! With Time Boxing you write out a list of priorities with the biggest, most time sensitive ones at the top. Next, assign deadlines to the tasks on your list. For example you might say, “I will have the proposal finished between 8am and 10am on Wednesday morning.” These self-imposed deadlines or “time-boxes” force you to work with focus and efficiency to get your work done. If you are easily distracted and need the pressure of a deadline to motivate you, this is a great strategy to try.
We’d love to hear from you! How do you structure your days? Which strategy appeals to you?