3. Managing the Daily Tasks
Once planning and prioritization is done, the next important activity is to make sure we are able to manage the tasks in the given timeline. Else, the entire planning effort goes waste.
Tricks and Tips to manage them well within the planned day
Organize yourself – Your work area should be clean and decluttered. Take care of house work before you start office work. Keep required things, like, water, notebook, pen/pencil, chargers, mobile, etc. handy. Task plan for the day should be ready.
Use calendar – Set meetings / reminders / deadlines to have a check on the timelines.
Dependent activities – Take care of dependent activities first, activities which others are dependent on you, or you are dependent on others. Send reminders to people whom you have a dependency on.
Group tasks – Group similar tasks together. Group parallel tasks, that can be done along with some main activity.
Task timing – There are best times of the day for all of us. Understand what is it for you and plan the tasks accordingly. Pick up tasks that needs focus when your mind is fresh.
Delegate –If there is any task that does not require your specific skills, then see if you can delegate it.
Review progress – Continuously review progress and keep a time check and decide if you need to take some additional steps to speed up.
End goal – Keep in mind that every activity is interlinked with many other activities and a small delay of one task may cause a huge impact on the overall plan and deliverables.
Take help – If you are stuck, take help. Do not abandon tasks if you are not able to do it. Do not stretch it so much that, it impacts other activities/planning. Escalate if required.
Do not waste time – Utilize the time you are waiting for help in doing some other activity.
Handle quick tasks – If a is going to take only few seconds or minutes take care of it then and there itself.
Be diligent – Do the task right the very first time. Be very meticulous and do a due diligence for all the activities you are doing.
To Summarize: “Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.” – Lord Chesterfield
This brings us to the end of Part-3: Managing the Daily Tasks
In Part 4, we will understand how “Staying Motivated” helps us to manage time. Till then Stay Tuned and share with us your views on have you adopted the measures I spoke about in the previous parts of the series.