Counter-Intuitive Time Management Techniques to Tame Your Never-Ending To Do List
Counter-Intuitive Time Management Techniques to Tame Your Never-Ending To Do List
By asking a few questions, I zero in on the source of their misery, and evaluate whether they can benefit from the special time management techniques I teach. I just look for certain things they have in common.
4 Things All Entrepreneurs, Authors and Other Creative Geniuses That Need Time Management Help Have in Common:
- They are amazingly creative yet they feel like underachievers because even though they generate brilliant ideas with jaw-dropping ease, they struggle to act on them.
- These "live-wire" geniuses are adventurous, ambitious and energetic. They'll start a hundred projects, but then bog down because of indecision, procrastination or a feeling of overwhelm.
- They search relentlessly for new time management tips and try anything to improve their time management skills regardless of past struggles, but standard, "common sense" time management techniques just don't work.
- Despite their best efforts, they've accumulated a never-ending To Do list (I call it their To Do "book") and they're frustrated with time management techniques that don't work.
These thrill-seeking rebels share another characteristic. Each was diagnosed with ADD or ADHD as a child, has adult ADHD, or exhibits many adult ADHD traits. Their brains work differently than most people. But, as soon as they turn on to my counter-intuitive time management techniques they experience a dramatic turnaround almost overnight.
See, you have to understand that your productivity depends on your mental and physical energy. Yes, you produce less when you're tired, but your energy levels fluctuate far more than you realize.
How Your Energy Levels Affect Your Productivity
- At times, you have ample mental energy. You can laser-focus on anything that interests you, you're amazingly productive, and you keep going long after other people are exhausted.
- Other times, you have plenty of physical energy, but your brain is also racing. You can't concentrate. You're eager to move and go through short (physical) tasks with ease.
- You need time to recharge. Your brain isn't a plough-horse, plodding sedately. It's a racehorse, capable of stunning bursts of power and speed. Like a racehorse, you must recharge between races.
- You also have your own unique energy fluctuations between these that create periods when you're better at some tasks than you are at others.
Your energy fluctuations follow an identifiable pattern. When my clients track their energy level fluctuations at work and at play, within a week they have an accurate map of their daily energy levels, and the pattern repeats almost identically from week to week.
As a creative genius, you'll always have many tasks on your To Do list! You effortlessly think up cool things to do or important things you should do. But you have to commit to do those tasks at a specific time by moving them from your To Do list to your agenda. Unfortunately, the large, unstructured space of your blank agenda often leads to indecisiveness and procrastination. Think of it as writer's block for time management.
A Time Management Technique That Will Add Productive Hours to Your Day and Cut Your "To-Do" List Down to Size Guaranteed
You need a way to categorize and prioritize your tasks. Traditional time management techniques group tasks by importance. But assigning letter and number combinations to signify priority loses its effectiveness when you have 47 "A" tasks, at least six of which are important enough to be an "A1!" Instead, you should group your tasks by the energy required.
Now, here's the secret to doubling your productivity and cutting your To Do list down to size. Use the map of your energy fluctuations to match tasks from your To Do list with a time when you typically have the ideal energy level for that task. Almost effortlessly, you'll give your productivity a huge shot in the arm. Match your activities with times when you have the ideal energy type and level for maximum productivity doing that task and you'll tear through your To Do list like a tornado.
CounterIntuitive Time Management Techniques to Tame Your NeverEnding To Do List - To learn more about this author, visit Linda Walker's Website.
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The absolute BIGGEST challenge that entrepreneurs, artists, authors and other creative geniuses that come to me for help is productivity. Some know they need help with time management techniques. Others are struggling but they haven't discovered that poor time management is the source of their frustration.
By asking a few questions, I zero in on the source of their misery, and evaluate whether they can benefit from the special time management techniques I teach. I just look for certain things they have in common.
4 Things All Entrepreneurs, Authors and Other Creative Geniuses That Need Time Management Help Have in Common:
- They are amazingly creative yet they feel like underachievers because even though they generate brilliant ideas with jaw-dropping ease, they struggle to act on them.
- These "live-wire" geniuses are adventurous, ambitious and energetic. They'll start a hundred projects, but then bog down because of indecision, procrastination or a feeling of overwhelm.
- They search relentlessly for new time management tips and try anything to improve their time management skills regardless of past struggles, but standard, "common sense" time management techniques just don't work.
- Despite their best efforts, they've accumulated a never-ending To Do list (I call it their To Do "book") and they're frustrated with time management techniques that don't work.
These thrill-seeking rebels share another characteristic. Each was diagnosed with ADD or ADHD as a child, has adult ADHD, or exhibits many adult ADHD traits. Their brains work differently than most people. But, as soon as they turn on to my counter-intuitive time management techniques they experience a dramatic turnaround almost overnight.
See, you have to understand that your productivity depends on your mental and physical energy. Yes, you produce less when you're tired, but your energy levels fluctuate far more than you realize.
How Your Energy Levels Affect Your Productivity
- At times, you have ample mental energy. You can laser-focus on anything that interests you, you're amazingly productive, and you keep going long after other people are exhausted.
- Other times, you have plenty of physical energy, but your brain is also racing. You can't concentrate. You're eager to move and go through short (physical) tasks with ease.
- You need time to recharge. Your brain isn't a plough-horse, plodding sedately. It's a racehorse, capable of stunning bursts of power and speed. Like a racehorse, you must recharge between races.
- You also have your own unique energy fluctuations between these that create periods when you're better at some tasks than you are at others.
Your energy fluctuations follow an identifiable pattern. When my clients track their energy level fluctuations at work and at play, within a week they have an accurate map of their daily energy levels, and the pattern repeats almost identically from week to week.
As a creative genius, you'll always have many tasks on your To Do list! You effortlessly think up cool things to do or important things you should do. But you have to commit to do those tasks at a specific time by moving them from your To Do list to your agenda. Unfortunately, the large, unstructured space of your blank agenda often leads to indecisiveness and procrastination. Think of it as writer's block for time management.
A Time Management Technique That Will Add Productive Hours to Your Day and Cut Your "To-Do" List Down to Size Guaranteed
You need a way to categorize and prioritize your tasks. Traditional time management techniques group tasks by importance. But assigning letter and number combinations to signify priority loses its effectiveness when you have 47 "A" tasks, at least six of which are important enough to be an "A1!" Instead, you should group your tasks by the energy required.
Now, here's the secret to doubling your productivity and cutting your To Do list down to size. Use the map of your energy fluctuations to match tasks from your To Do list with a time when you typically have the ideal energy level for that task. Almost effortlessly, you'll give your productivity a huge shot in the arm. Match your activities with times when you have the ideal energy type and level for maximum productivity doing that task and you'll tear through your To Do list like a tornado.
CounterIntuitive Time Management Techniques to Tame Your NeverEnding To Do List - To learn more about this author, visit Linda Walker's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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