How to Get Better Control Over Your Life?

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.

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Recommended Resource:

Personal Time Management