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What is the most effective way to manage time efficiently?

Time management is one of my biggest struggles. I procrastinate more often than i should. I do my best work at the last minute, but when i wait too long i stress out.
#Procrastinate #time-management

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Chris’s Answer

In my experience this varies tremendously by person, but here are a few things that have helped me manage my time efficiently:


  1. Being honest with myself about what's important, what I can actually get done, and when I can get those things done.
  2. Related to 1 - learning to be OK with unimportant (and even some important) things not getting done.
  3. Finding a system that worked for me. - Personally, I really like Personal Kanban https://lifehacker.com/productivity-101-how-to-use-personal-kanban-to-visuali-1687948640
  4. Limiting distractions. - When it's time to do work, hide the phone, turn notifications off, do the work.
  5. Budgeting time for breaks and sanity. - Work, studying, and whatever will fill the time you give it. Making certain I don't give work all my time helps me do better work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

Chris recommends the following next steps:

Read "Personal Kanban" - https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Kanban-Mapping-Work-Navigating/dp/1453802266/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522954055&sr=1-1&keywords=personal+kanban
Turn all your notifications off for a week and compare 1.) how you feel and 2.) how efficient you were.
Read "Deep Work" - https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted-ebook/dp/B00X47ZVXM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522954197&sr=1-1&keywords=deep+work+cal+newport
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Kim’s Answer

The best thing to do is end everyday, creating a to do list for the next day. Set priorities for each task - priority 1 = must be done today; priority 2 - should be done soon but not a critical task for today; priority 3 = It would be nice to make progress BUT not time sensitive. As tempting as it is, DO NOT allow yourself to work items that are not Priority 1 related UNLESS you have completed all of Priority 1 tasks.

This is easier said then done, because often priority 1 tasks are daunting and priority 2 or 3 tasks may be more fun. Don't fall victim. Stick with your priority 1 items. Break them into smaller milestones so you can see incremental progress.

You will feel better about yourself and learn to break the habit of procrastination.
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Joan’s Answer

Find a system that works for you and stick to it.

Having said that, "Getting Things Done" from David Allen really changed my time management habits.

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Rachel’s Answer

When the workload becomes very heavy, procrastination is not a good idea.

You should start college planning to study every day. Attend your classes daily. Do the homework. When you find a class difficult, attend office hours early in the semester. If you continue to struggle, get a tutor.
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