Tips on Productivity and Time Management

Today is a delightfully rainy day. I know we are expecting more rain and more wind, but for now it is just an off and on again drizzle. It is relaxing. Hopefully it stays relaxing and doesn't venture into the stressful arena.

Anyway....

This week's post topic is one that I have found difficult, mainly because prioritizing is somewhat difficult for me.

I have tried to plan out each second of my day.

And failed to even stick with it an hour.

I have tried just winging it.

And failed, although I did distract myself by learning a great deal of random things on Wikipedia.

Then I tried post-it notes.

And lost them. All.

So my current method is giving myself a time limit to finish a specific amount of things. It isn't quite as strict as having every second of every day planned, nor as easily ignorable as not having anything planned.

It seems to be working so far.

So here are a few tips I've learned within my journey to discovering how to become more productive thanks to prioritizing and becoming more efficient at time management.

1. What works for one person may not work for another.
2. Using the snowball effect (like most people use for money and paying off loans) can work when you've got a lot of little things. Figure out which one is easiest and can take the least amount of time, then complete it. You'll get the encouragement of crossing something off your list (even if it is a mental list) and be able to move on to the next item.
3. Do you have anything that is time sensitive? Do those things first.
4. Don't be afraid to ask for help. It'll take longer to do if you are having to learn how to do it on your own and then you might run out of time.
5. Don't forget to relax some. If you don't relax, generally quality of what you're doing takes a hit.
6. Along the lines of that, don't forget to  breathe. Oxygen is good for you.
7. If you need to socialize and have a project you're working on that can be a group project, ask someone to come over and help out. I'd recommend not asking them over to, say, clean your house, but whatever floats your boat.
8. If it is something you aren't excited to do, figure out a way to make it a game.

Most of those seem very similar to each other, but it works. There are some things that would be hard to prioritize with, many that I don't currently have much experience with (like kids and a spouse and whatnot).

How do you make sure you get everything done? Are there specific ways that help you prioritize everything? If so, feel free to leave a comment!

Until next time,

Shelby