‘Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do’, said Jean-Paul Sartre. Resonates well with the baby boomers, all the way till the Gen Z’s, doesn’t it? Sartre knows best.

Intricate ideas. Elaborate propositions. Well-intentioned plans. And none of them ever seem to come to fruition. In fact, they remain fantasies that eventually become anecdotes. Time to see those results. Time to master your Time.

Record Planned Activities.

Make a list of everything that you must accomplish for the day/week in order to achieve optimum results. Oftentimes, we hear people talk about how pleasurable it is to strike-out tasks done. Turns out it is true. The gratification is truly blissful. We tried it.

Consider the 80/20 Rule.

Determine which 20% of activities will yield 80% of the results, bringing you closest to your goals. This is for all you smart workers. Identifying that 20% is where the challenge lies. Trust your experience and understanding of the task to lead you to it.

Rank.

Use a ranking system to begin planning. “A” tasks have high priority and must be completed immediately. “B” tasks are moderately important but can be done after the “A” tasks. “ C” tasks are of low-level importance and can be tackled in your spare time. However, it is always good to categorise the urgent tasks from the important tasks. Non-completion of certain tasks can have an adverse domino effect on other tasks.

Create a Schedule.

Establish deadlines for each task. Estimate the time required to complete each task. Create a schedule and look for opportunities to multitask. For example, can you couple something of lesser priority with something of greater importance?

Re-evaluate Goals and Adjust.

It is always a good practice to review your goals, envision the finish line and adjust your plan. As we progress through, we may hit a few bumps in the road that may slow us down. Reviewing the plan and making minor adjustments will ensure negation of major breakdowns at crucial times.

Purge.

Eliminate those tasks on your list that remain at the bottom and will never get done. Quite frankly, ‘purging’ is a very constructive process to indulge in. Get realistic and knock off those tasks that never got done over a period of time.

Easier said AND done, we say. Re-wire your ways and get those results pouring in.Let us know which one is your go-to trick from the list above.