Short cuts are awesome. Can you imagine how time consuming it would be if you had to copy and paste an email to 20 people you work with? Using shortcuts or hacks, saves you time and gives you a great deal of satisfaction because you got the job done, without large numbers of hurdles in your way.
Time management hacks are what you need, and although there are a large number of them available, it is best to pick a few hacks that will work for you and use them 100%.
- Get up early, exercise and eat a healthy breakfast. When you drag yourself out of bed at the last minute, your brain will tell you that there are not enough hours left in the day for you to finish your work. In some cases, you might even listen to this and totally procrastinate on the entire day. Getting up at 5: 30 am will allow you to get a head start and chunk down the tasks you need to do into manageable pieces.
- Turn off all notifications on your cell phone. Each time you hear a chime, you are likely to stop what you are doing to check the notifications. It is best to check emails at the end of the day and respond accordingly.
- The night before, write down your biggest task and the one you would likely procrastinate on. Before you sleep, think about completing that task effortlessly and with pleasure. Do that task first before anything else. The satisfaction you get, will propel you through the rest of your day.
- Never multitask. Know what you have to do and tackle one task at time. Focus is key and if you try to multitask, you will get frustrated jumping from one task to another.
- With tasks, you need to chunk them down. Having a huge task to do, will cause you to think about putting it off. Instead, have smaller tasks and some rewards for completing those tasks before moving on to the others.
- Learn as many shortcuts as possible. Then decide which are best for your situation and use only those. Look at your work and figure out different ways to automate the mundane tasks so they get done. Social media posting and email tasks all have ways of using shortcuts.
- Create to do lists, and use the right apps to not only manage your time but increase your productivity. When you have a calendar mapped out, it takes away doubt and guessing, which leads to procrastination. Know your tasks and the time you need to complete them.
- Declutter your workspace and your computer. The less material on your desk, the easier it is to find what you need and also not be distracted. A cluttered computer desktop is also a time waster as you search through different files you have stored there. Seriously organizing your computer means when it is time to get down to work, you know exactly where your material is. Your cellphone is often used for work as well, so clean it up and get rid of apps that you don’t need.
- Sometimes you tend to procrastinate because you have too many mundane tasks waiting for you. Look to outsource some tasks, or if possible delegate them. That will leave you with the absolute necessary work that has to be done and the ability to focus on the important stuff.
- Work on distancing yourself from those who manage to steal your time. Sometimes certain co-workers have enough charm that they can convince you that coffee and a gab session are worth your consideration. As a possible procrastinator, you need to avoid those personalities, in the work space.
