Action4Balance

At some point in time, we have all put off doing something. When you procrastinate on occasion, it can give you a much needed break. But when it becomes a habit, it can cause real problems. You end up working harder, making you prone to stress and burn-out.

Procrastinating is like chaining a bowling ball to your ankle. It follows you everywhere you go. Until you complete the job at hand, you don't feel any peace. The longer you wait, the worse it gets.

There are things you can do to help you become more productive and stop procrastinating. Getting and keeping yourself organized will help you to get things done.

Take Action:

• Set deadlines to complete your tasks and write them on the calendar.

If you have a visual reminder of your time limit, it will be easier to complete your tasks before the last minute, saving you allot of stress. Having less stress makes you happier and better able to cope.

• Dividing your tasks into separate categories can be very helpful.

Have a space for your 'priority' jobs, those needing your immediate attention, and a space for those jobs that can wait. Don't have your 'can wait' jobs mixed with your 'priority' jobs, because they will take your attention away from those things you need to be doing first. It can also be helpful to attach brightly colored Post-It-Notes to your jobs as an added reminder.

However you choose to organize your work, actually getting it done on time depends on you. You must be willing to stop procrastinating, and just do it. When you don't allow yourself to fall behind, you will be
happier and stress-free because you have accomplished something.

Recommended Resource:

www.sedona.com

Many books and courses on effective time management state that each of the activities that occupy your week can be classified in two ways:

In terms of how important they are and how urgent they are.

Category I Tasks that are both important and urgent

Category II Tasks that are important but not urgent

Category III Tasks that are urgent but not important

Category IV Tasks that are neither urgent nor important

The central principle of time management is: to spend NO time on activities described as not important- whether urgent or not.

How determine whether a task is important or not?

Here are 5 simple questions you can use to answer that question:

1. What are the benefits?

What are some of the benefits that you'll receive from completing this task? The more
important the benefits, the more important the task.

2. What would happen if I didn't do this task?

Ask yourself what would be the consequences of delaying or ignoring this task. Important tasks tend to have serious consequences. So, if there are no consequences for ignoring this task, it may not be that important.

3. What am I ultimately trying to accomplish?

How does this task fit in with your current projects, goals, and objectives?

4. What's the payoff for completing the task?

An important task tends to have a good payoff or return-on-investment (ROI) for the time and effort you will put in to get it done.

5. Can I link it to my mission, vision, or goals?
Any task that contributes to your long-term goals in some way is bound to be important.

Use these 5 questions to decide whether a task is important or not. Then it's just
a matter of consciously choosing to spend more of your time on important projects and tasks.

Related Articles:

Time Management: The Pickle Jar Theory

How to Manage Your Time Effectively?

Recommended Resource:

Personal Time Management

Have you ever felt that you could spend your entire life working on one task after another and never get done? That's a very common feeling...and you know what, you are absolutely right!

We live in a time when there is more stuff to do than anyone could possibly accomplish in an entire lifetime.

Just think about all the books that are available for you to read. You could spend your entire life reading one book after another and never get done reading them all.

My goal here is not to add more stress to you, but to help you think about your tasks in a new and more productive and less stressed way. To realize that just because you CAN do something doesn't necessarily mean that you'd want to or even that you should.

Effective time managers KNOW that they can't possibly do everything that is available for them to do... so they don't even try.

Instead of trying to do everything, effective time managers find good, worthwhile things to do, things that can really make a difference in their life and career, and focus their limited amount of time doing those things quickly and well.

This means that you have to be willing to make difficult choices, to stop doing some things so you can focus your time on better things instead.

Here are a couple of suggestions to help you get started with the process:

1) Make a WRITTEN list of your main work responsibilities right now

What is your job right now?

What are the different areas where you can make a difference?

What do you need to work on to produce excellent results?

This list will help you think about all the ways that you could be spending your time.

It's very difficult to do this type of analysis in your head, so put it in writing and make it as detailed as you need to.

The point of this exercise is to help you see all the different ways that you could be spending your time so you can recognize the most valuable ones.

2) KNOW that you can't do everything.

When you first make a list like this, you might feel totally overwhelmed and feel that you can't possibly do it all... and you are right, you can't.

The point of this exercise is not to make you feel that you have even more things to do than you did before, but to help you find the BEST uses of your time right now.

Since you can't do everything, you have to DECIDE what is most important for you to do right now.

Which of these areas would make the most difference?

Which ones do YOU need to spend your time on right now?

Which ones do you need to delegate to your team?

Use the list that you made in step 1 as your checklist as you ask these questions and they will help you find the best projects to work on right now.

3) MAKE time for these high-value projects

Now start making time for these few, vital, high-value projects that you've identified.

Since you know that you can't do everything, you'll have to make room for these important projects by NOT doing some other things that you might have done otherwise.

What are you going to stop doing?

What are you going to give up?

What are you going to delay or postpone creating a room for these important projects?

One way to make time for your most important projects is to remember the story of the big rocks in the jar. You can make time for your most important projects by putting them in your schedule first, and then allowing all the other busywork to fill the gaps.

How much time do you need to spend on these high-value projects each week?

Make a committed decision to spend at least two hours each day (preferably the first two hours) working on these high-value projects. Then add more hours as you can.

Ready to make significant changes?

Recommended Resources:

Sedona.com

BrianTracy.com

Recently I asked my clients and friends, professional women, a simple question: what makes them stressed?

The majority of them answered, that it's not having enough hours in the day.

In fact, time is today's most valuable commodity. But for professional women it's even more: we strive to juggle multiple responsibilities and continue meeting household and family's needs, while at the same time working and trying to maintain personal interests as well.

Time management theories have come and gone. I’ve learned and tried several of these and I am sure you have your own experience as well.

The latest theory of time management I heard from the first glance could seem simplistic, even elementary. But it has actually caused me to stop and think about how I run my entire life. The theory I was recently taught in a Leadership weekend is called the

Pickle Jar Theory.

The Pickle Jar Theory uses the analogy of an empty pickle jar to think about how we use the fixed amount of time available to us each day. If we think of it as we plan our schedule, we can get important work done while still leaving time for the small things that make life fun.

Let’s start…

All you need is an empty pickle jar, a big one where you could fit at least three of the largest pickles you’ve ever imagined inside of it.

Now, put some large stones in it. Put in as many as you possibly can. And, when you get it to the point you think it can hold no more, try adding another or two.

Even though it seems full, you're not done yet. You’re going to now put in a handful of pebbles. Give your pickle jar a shake and as the stones and pebbles start to settle and create more room. Now, add the sand until you can’t possibly fit anymore in, and then add some water (pickle juice ) .

What this means…in the terms of time management

I am sure the significance of this little exercise hasn’t escaped any of you even this analogy seems simplistic. In fact, each of us has many large priorities in our life, represented by the large stones. We also have things which we enjoy doing, such as the pebbles. We have other things we have to do, like the sand. And finally, we have things that simply clutter up our lives and get in everywhere: water.

The Pickle Jar Theory …

...addresses the central principle of time management which is simple and profound: spend your time doing those things you value (your priorities) and those things that help you achieve your goals first.

Looking at the pickle jar, it becomes obvious that by doing your priority tasks first you are able to stay focused on the important things and as a result you complete more and make time for things you enjoy doing as well - in order to feel truly fulfilled. The theory takes into consideration fact that you may need all of the “objects” in the pickle jar and shows just how we make time for everything and how everything simply “fits” where it is supposed to fit. Balance is the key word. Not balance in general but one you consider your balance.

Actually all time management theories are about balance and the Pickle Jar theory is all about balance. You make time for everything, and everything simply fits well where it is supposed to fit. And, just as important, it shows the importance of "not worrying of the small stuff" - or the sand and water.

Take Action

- Think about your own daily to-do list.

- Take a CLOSER look at your daily to-do lists. How much time is wasted returning emails that do not require a timely response, phone calls or even reading endless information on the Internet etc.? When you work from home it becomes double difficult keep up with your priorities. How about delegation – try delegate some tasks to your family members.

- Apply the Pickle Jar Theory.

Would you benefit from setting aside time first thing in the morning to determine what the day’s “stones" were?

Try scheduling in times when “stones” should be addressed or completed and let the less significant priorities, the unexpected things that seem to just pop-up, fill in the gaps left in the pickle jar.

Following this principle will ensure effective time management and the completion of all your tasks on time and with as little stress as possible. Plus, which is equally important – allows you to have quality time with your family or relaxed ‘you time’.

I strongly encourage you to use at least one time management system. It empowers you to actually do instead of rushing about without any goals in sight.

When you KNOW its time to make CHANGES in your life Click HERE

Recommended Resources:

Eat That Frog, by Brian Tracy

How to Master Your Time

Personal Time Management