Day 4 of 10 Days To Perfect Time Management

10 Days To Time Management

- Day Four.

- By Lalit Adhikari

Day Four: Habits for being highly productive.

The foundation of good work habits are:

1. Focus.

2. Concentration.

Focus:

Focus means clarity in desired goal and result and relative priority of each work towards the result. Think of a photographer adjusting lens to bring the subject in short focus. In same way, at work you have to short focus certain things at work which will produce high result.

The very worst waste of time is doing something at work that need not to be done at all.

Concentration:

Concentration is the ability to stay with the task until its 100% complete. It means to work in straight line from where you are to where you want to go without diversion and distraction, without getting side track by doing things of lesser importance.

There's a popular adage: "Just make sure that every step you take is headed in that direction".

Four steps to high productivity:

1. Set clear goals n objective in writing. Think them carefully before you begin.

2. Detail plan of action for achieving goal. This answers "How are you trying to do it?"

3. Clear priority with activities organized in higher hierarchy of value and importance to the desired result. Do it with respect to 80/20 rule.

4. Attention to the highest pay-off task leading to the goal.

Task completion gives you confidence, competence and a feeling of mastery. It gives you a feeling of self-control that you are in-charge of your destiny.

Habit of completing your transaction, finishing what you have start is an essential part of character building. You can't imagine a fully mature human being who is unable to finish what he/ she begins.

Take care of your working posture and body language.

Common characteristics of Geniuses:

1. They have a systematic and orderly approach to problem solving.

2. They seem to have a sense of wonder, the ability to see things a fresh or almost a child-like way. They keep an open mind and flexibility to all subjects.

3. They have ability to concentrate with greater depth and intensity.

Genius is somewhat an infinite capacity to take infinite pains.

Four keys to develop ability of concentration:

1. Clear your work-space before you start to work.

2. Plan your day and organize your work so that you create blocks of time. Each block should be of 60-90 minutes only.

3. Work for 60 minutes uninterrupted, no telephone calls, no msgs etc.

4. Develop a compulsion to closure and an urge to completion.

Nine ideas to increase your productivity:

1. Use concentration on power. This means to concentrate where they will yield the highest pay-offs to you.

2. Concentrate on few major areas where your superior performance will bring outstanding results. Remember that its almost less than 5% of what you do that accounts to your results.

3. Do things that you are better at. Focus on your unique talent.

4. Concentrate human resources (your own and others') on major opportunities.

5. Fish for whale not forage. If you catch forage you will only have bucket full of fish but if you catch a whale, you will pay for the whole voyage.

6. Identify your key result areas and work in them exclusively.

7. Set deadlines for important goals and stick to them.

8. Allow enough time to do everything well.

9. Don't hurry. Maintain a stable pace.