Best Concepts About Time Management

Clear objectives

First, you must know exactly what you want. In a Taekwondo Hall where I attended the training, I saw a big line on the wall saying, "Your goal is to become a black belt ". This helps remind each student of the necessity of hard training. When you work on your own, it's easy to do nothing on your desk all day, but only do some valuable work. This is almost always the case if you are not sure what you want to do. When you are aware of the problem, you should ask yourself: "What are the goals I want to achieve here ?" You must always be clear about your goals. And write it down with a pen. Your goal must be clear to this extent: even if a stranger has an objective understanding of your situation, you can give an absolute "yes" or "no" response on whether you have completed each target. If you cannot define the destination accurately, how do you know when it will arrive?

As for the definition of specific goals and the expansion of work, I found that a useful key cycle is 90 days, that is, a quarter. If you set clear goals in this cycle, you will be able to make significant and measurable changes. I suggest you stop for a moment and write down a brief description of what kind of life you want to make in 90 days from now. What is the monthly income? What is the weight? Who will be your friends? Where are you in your career? What is your interpersonal relationship? What will your website look like? Be sure to be specific. The specific description will provide you with the boundary on the way forward.

Just as a self-driving plane needs to modify relevant flight parameters at any time to prevent deviation from the channel, you must also adjust the target periodically. Repeat your goals every morning and repeat these clear and recorded goals. A few years ago (In The Middle Of 1990s), I went around the walls of my apartment with the "$5000 per month" sign. That was exactly what I set for my own business income. Even with occasional setbacks, I continued to set up specific revenue targets and found these steps quite effective. It's not just because they helped me work on my goals-I'm afraid more importantly, let me ignore other things beyond those goals. For example, if you set your monthly income target to $10 thousand, this helps you to give up on things that only allow you to earn $5000 a month.

If you have not yet obtained the essentials for setting clear goals, take them as your first goal. If you are confused about what you need, it will be the most time-consuming thing in your life. Most people have spent too much time in the mud of "I don't know what to do. They waited for external intervention to provide them with clear goals and never realized that these are only known to themselves. Everything in the world is waiting for you, not the opposite. It will not end until you make the final determination. Waiting for a clear goal is like a sculptor facing a pebbles waiting for the stones to cut out the excess parts automatically. Don't expect the target to become clear automatically-pick up the chisel!

Flexible arrangement

There is a fundamental difference between your destination and the road there. A typical situation is that a commercial aircraft has deviated from the channel for 90% of the time, and then almost always can reach the destination, because the plane knows its destination at every moment and makes adjustments at any time. However, you cannot accurately know your path to the target in advance. I believe that the true purpose of the plan is to let you know that there is a possible path. We have heard that some statistics show that 80% of new startups will collapse in the first five years. What's more interesting is that the path of all successful companies is different from the original idea. If you look at the initial business plans of successful companies, you will often find that the initial plan has failed, and the success is only because you have tried other things. It is said that there is no biological program that will not fail in the real market. I would like to sum up that no plan can be successful in the real world.

Stephen Covey, a famous writer and business consultant, often likes to say "Be honest when you choose ". Do not blindly follow the plan without knowing your goals. For example, assume that you plan well-at least until now-and then an unexpected opportunity appears. Do you stick to the original plan, which means you lose the opportunity, or stop and chase the opportunity, that is, abandon the original plan? This is when you have to stop and combine it with your original plan to determine a better path. Do not blindly follow the plan. As long as you get new information indicating that the plan is invalid, you must be honest at the time of your choice. Sometimes you may use some unexpected shortcuts to achieve your goals faster. At other times, you need to stick to the initial plan and avoid interference that is irrelevant to the goal and only disperses your energy. Hold on to the goal while maintaining the flexibility of the plan.

I believe that a clear goal is much more important than a clear plan. In college, I am very clear about my ultimate goal-completing my college in three semesters-but my plan is changing at any time. Every day, I have new tasks, plans, or exams. I have to adapt to these changing situations. If I try to specify a long-term plan for each semester, I am afraid it will not take 24 hours to work out.

Instant event

I didn't use some fancy systems in the selection of time scheduling tools, but simply used simple pen and paper lists. My only tool is a notebook that records the tasks to be completed and the deadline. I don't have to worry about any schedules or priorities. I just need to take a look at the list and select the appropriate time. Complete it and check it out on the list.

If I need to write a 10-hour term report, I will start it immediately instead of dividing it into smaller units. I often do these time-consuming jobs on weekends. I will go to the library early, do the necessary research, and then return to the dormitory to continue working until the final report is printed. If necessary, start to rest. It doesn't matter how much the project is or how long the professor permits. Once I start to complete a task, I will always work until the percentage is completed or even delivered.

This simple practice saves me a lot of time. First, it enables me to focus on everything and maintain efficiency at work. Switching between different tasks takes a lot of time, because each time you have to spend time adapting to the new situation (re-load the context ). In fact, as long as possible, I will combine theme-like things and finish them before switching to other theme things. In college, I often finish all the mathematical jobs consecutively, then start programming until all the jobs are completed, and finally start to do all the general education jobs. Only in this way can I focus on mathematical thinking, programming thinking, writing thinking, or artistic thinking, and try to keep any mode of thinking for the longest time. Secondly, I think this habit will help relieve my stress and help me relax, because my mind will not be confused by too many things to be done. This habit of doing only one thing at a time allows me to forget other things that are irrelevant to the current situation.

Failed

Most people seem to have a natural fear of failure, but failure is actually the best friend. Successful people have experienced a lot of failures because they have made many attempts. The great baseball player Babe Ruth is also the record holder of the three-way runner-out while keeping his own base number record. Those who have the most successes have also experienced the most failures. Do not consider failure as wrong or shameful. You can regret it only when you do not try it. Therefore, do not be afraid to try to improve work efficiency. Sometimes the fastest way to know whether something is feasible is to start doing it immediately. It can always be adjusted slowly in the process. This method can be called the "reserve-fire-aim" method, which is often more effective than the common "reserve-aim-fire" method in the past. The reason is that after you open the fire once, you get some factual evidence to adjust your aim. Too many people are stuck in planning and thinking, and do not know how to start to act. How many original great ideas have you missed because you are too stuck in an analytical State (for example, prepare-aim ......)?

During college, I tried a lot of crazy thoughts because I thought they might save my time. I kept reading time management materials and applying what I learned to practice, but also adjusted my original thoughts. Most of my own ideas are failed, but some are indeed valid. The reason why I am willing to fail over and over again is that there is always a slight opportunity for me to discover something else that can improve myself.

Failure is not the opposite of success. Failure is an indispensable part of success. Once you have succeeded, no one will remember your previous failures. Microsoft is not the first commercial attempt of Bill Gates and Paul Allen. But who will remember the first defeat of Traf-o-data? Actor Jim Carey, who was a young comedy player, did not know how many times he/she had heard a buzz on the stage. The electric lights we use at night are still not abandoned because Thomas Edison failed in 10000 tests. If you used to regard "failure" as a curse, you should correct it: (the result of each attempt is) You can either succeed or get useful experiences.

The fear of failure will benefit you a lot. If you are excited about a specific goal, but are afraid that you may not be able to achieve it, you can do it at any time. Even if you fail during the attempt, you will learn valuable things and do better in the next attempt. Looking at successful business people today, you will find that most of them (including me) experienced a series of bad failures before finding their final success career. I believe most of them agree that early failures are the key to their future success. Therefore, my advice to every entrepreneur is to release products or services first, instead of worrying about the possibility of launching them. Even if they are unlikely to succeed, you can always learn more through action than you want.

Relentlessly give up doing meaningless things

You have to give up on every waste of time. Learning to give up is unrestricted. Apply this principle: "When you suspect one thing, you should give up ." Unsubscribe to unnecessary magazines. If you have a magazine that was published more than two months ago and has not read it, you should drop it because it may have lost the value of reading. Realize that everything you spend time doing should be valuable.

Before you sign up to purchase any new services and subscribe to the service, ask yourself how long will it take you? There is an opportunity cost to do everything. Ask yourself, "Is it worth making sacrifices for it ?"

When I went to college, I had to strictly screen everything I had to do. I once refused to join a professor's program on computer science research because that would waste a lot of time. It takes about 10 to 20 hours for the study to work. In such a long period of time, I will be in complicated work, but I will not learn anything I did not know. In addition, this study only accounts for 10% of my classroom scores. As far as my previous performance is concerned, the result of not attending the Institute is that my score for this semester is changed from A to -. I told the professor that the score was fair and would accept -. I don't want to talk to him about any special conditions. So even if my score for that semester is a-, but because I made better use of those 10 to 20 hours, my score for myself was a +.

Ask yourself the following question: "If I want to do a job that cannot acquire new knowledge like studying a subject, establishing a relationship, or engaging in a job, should I start again?" If your answer is "no," move away from those things. This is called meaningless thinking. I have learned that many people use the creed "starting from beginning to end in doing things" to limit themselves. They spent a lot of time crawling a ladder, but when they reached the top of the ladder, they found that the original ladder was wrong building, and all they had done was in vain. Remember that failure is your friend. Therefore, when you find that the previous decisions are no longer serving your current goals, please boldly and relentlessly abandon the previous decisions and then look for better ideas. People will not be proud to spend their whole life pursuing a goal of slack off their lives. At this time, you must practice choosing to take care of the overall situation. You must constantly reevaluate your current situation before you can make the right decisions for future development. If you do not always examine your decisions today, all previous decisions are irrelevant.

Identify and reuse the wasted time

Record an hour-long TV program and watch it in 45 minutes. In the same case, if you can solve the problem by phone for 10 minutes, do not spend an hour sending a long email. Put the things you want to do together, and then immediately fix them.

In the summer between the second and third semesters during college, I found that an apartment along the street is a little closer to the project hall than our dormitory. So I moved out of my dormitory and moved into the apartment along the street, which saves me some walking or cycling time every day. In my original dormitory, there were three people in each room, but now I have a smaller, single-occupancy small apartment room. For example, I can cook dinner at work, because there are only a few steps between my desk and the stove.

People who try to divide time and want to improve efficiency always give up bad habits as a starting point, but I think that is wrong. Optimizing individual habits is not the first task, but the goal is the most important. If you do not have a clear purpose, but try to use valid habits to crowd out invalid habits, the result is only failure. Because you don't have a strong reason to support your time to do meaningful things, it's easy to stop doing things. You need a big, attractive goal to continue your enthusiasm and motivation. The reason you can squeeze 15 minutes out of your work time is that your passionate thoughts make the 15 minutes more meaningful.

For example, if you have a job that you like, but the competition for this job is not fierce, you should pay attention to saving 15 minutes for every job, you save a total of hours or even hours every day. If you can use them to achieve your goal, you will take the initiative to make better use of the saved time. If you reach the highest standard of life, the order should be (objective-> intent-> spiritual creed). On the contrary, low levels tend to be self-optimistic (habits-> time-> action ).

Apply a ratio of 80 to 20.

We all know that the principle of "a 80/20 Proportional Relationship Rule" refers to the value of 20% with a 80% effort. In turn, the rule also refers to the value of 80% with 20% efforts. I strictly abide by this principle when I was in college. In a few weeks, I escaped 40% of the courses, because for me, listening to lectures is not the most efficient way to learn. As I mentioned earlier, I refused to participate in a research project because I felt it was not worth the time. In the same way, I attended only twice in a math class, either at the moment or at the end of the semester. Because I think reading books by myself is much faster than learning lectures. I started my homework every time I was in class, and then recorded what I would like to talk about next time. In fact, I took the highest score in the course, but the professor may not know who I am. Other students except me follow the rules and ignore their own rules. Find the 20% most important part of your life and make every effort. If there are some things that will waste time, do not hesitate to give up on it. Invest your time in things that can get twice the result with half the effort.

Defending your time

If you want to work efficiently, you need a large amount of time not to be disturbed to complete the meaningful work. When you make sure you are not disturbed, your work efficiency will be much higher. When you sit down and want to complete a particularly complex job, do it with your mind, instead of doing other things during this period. I found that a period of no less than 90 minutes is ideal for completing a separate job.

You need to discuss with others in your life so that they will not disturb you during work hours. If necessary, inform them in advance. If you have to concentrate on doing things, use violence to threaten them :-). At school, I lock my bedroom door when I need to work. In this way, my roommate will understand that I cannot be disturbed during this time. However, each independent dormitory is designed for two people (or four people), so I paid more and owned a space entirely owned by myself, so I can work in a private room. If you happen to work in a frequently disturbed environment, your productivity will be affected, so you have to change the environment at any cost. Some people told me that they copied this article to their boss to help persuade him/her to try to reduce unnecessary interruptions at work.

For some people, it is good to set aside a special period of time to work. I found that I am working for a long period of time, with an indefinite end time and don't want to be disturbed. I often set the start time of my work, but I do not specify the specific time for completion. At any time, I do my best to do my work until I am hungry or have other physical needs. I can work for six consecutive hours without any rest. Although people generally think that frequent rest can improve efficiency, I think that is just a kind of artificial comfort for the poor and inactive workers in the industrialization period, it does not apply to those with strong motivation, high goals, and creativity. I found that I would keep working until I almost couldn't continue, instead of dividing a job into several small parts, because that would lead to the danger of being distracted at work.

Every time you focus on a job and ignore other things, it takes 15 minutes to enter the status. After being disturbed, it will take another 15 minutes to enter the status again. Once you enter the status, you must keep it. This kind of State allows you to concentrate on a lot of work and previous work-related experience. When I am in this status, I never want to do anything in the past or in the future. I will simply think that only me and I work now.

However, sometimes I encounter such problems. Due to the increase in work, it cannot be completed on time (Parkinson's Law), but I think it is worth taking the risk to give it a try. For example, when I optimize my web pages, I often have good ideas in my mind. So I immediately put my ideas into practice. I found that the execution idea was much more efficient than the subsequent arrangement.

Full Investment

In a period of time, do not consider anything other than the current work. Do not check your email address, forum, or surfing the Internet. If you have this idea, disconnect the Internet at work. Turn off the phone or reject the call. Go to the restroom and make sure you are not hungry for a while. Do not leave the chair or talk to anyone during this period.

After deciding what to do, don't do anything else. If you are accidentally disturbed by others, ask them what is the most important thing and determine if they are only doing the most important thing. If this person is replying to an email, it is the most important thing for him to send an email at this time. Otherwise, this person is a waste of time.

If you need to take a rest, you can take a thorough rest. If you feel that you need to recover your physical strength, do not rest while working. Receiving emails or surfing the Internet is not a break. When you are resting, close your eyes, take a deep breath, listen to some relaxing music, or go out for a walk, take a nap for 20 minutes, or eat fruit. Rest until you think you can work hard. If you need to take a rest, you should take a rest and work at work. If 100% is concentrated, simply do not work. It is correct to take a rest as long as you want, but do not let the rest time take up the work time.

Multi-line work

New knowledge in a particular field has increased so quickly that your knowledge may become obsolete at any time. The only solution is to absorb new knowledge as much as possible. I did not have many skills at work today five years ago. As far as I know, the best way to keep up with the times is to read as much as possible, and listen to recordings.

When watching TV, I read computer magazines during the advertising period. For a man, shave and read. I shave my face with an electric razor every day and read something in these two or three minutes. This allows me to read more than two articles a week-100 more articles a year. This habit is easy to start. Just pick up a few magazines or print articles that don't have time to read and put them in your bedroom. When you go out, just take one copy. If you want to arrange a group, such as at a post office or store, you can read it out. You will be surprised how much knowledge you have learned while doing these things without worrying about it.

Listen to educational recordings as much as possible. You can hear it when you drive. Nightingale Conant sells various recording programs organized by experts in various fields. Most of them are six hours long and are about $60 to $70. They are worth something. These programs are more practical than attending a university. People who have obtained a degree in business or trade at a university are taught by university professors. When you take the same course, the millionaire or billionaire tells you what is feasible and what is not feasible. A good way to save time is to directly ask those who master the skills you want to learn.

Multi-line work may be the most important simple skill for me to complete my college courses in three semesters. I usually have seven to eight hours of courses on work days. But every Tuesday of the last semester, I have been connected to classes from AM to AM. Because I have chosen 12 courses every semester and I have to perform many quizzes and homework every week. I have no time to study in addition to working hours. So I have to learn what I encounter. If the teacher writes something on the blackboard, I will remember it. If I cannot wait and study again, it is dangerous to lag behind. For those difficult courses, I will do my homework, complete programming algorithms, or improve my plans. You can find countless opportunities for multi-line work. During your activities, such as driving, cooking, shopping or walking, listening to tapes or reading something.

The idea of multi-line work seems to be in conflict with the previous suggestions. However, what we talked about above is a high-intensity job. You must do your best to concentrate on them. Work here refers to low-intensity jobs that can do other things at the same time, such as queuing, cooking, taking a plane or going from one place to another. Multi-line work cannot be used in critical tasks, otherwise it will be counterproductive. Take a rest, but don't waste your time on partial results. The adjustment between full effort and complete rest is more effective.

Multi-line work can increase your efficiency to a new level. You may think this is too tiring, but many people find that the effect is the opposite. I am full of energy by doing many things. The harder you work, the stronger your ability to work, and the more effective you can rest.

Try it

People and people are different, so effective methods for you may not work for others. You may enjoy high job efficiency in the morning or stay up late. Use your own characteristics to find a way to make up for the shortcomings. Experiment work while listening to music. I use a free winampplayer, which can play a variety of free music on my computer all day. I found that classical music and new century music, especially Mozart, are not doing well in network development. However, for most daily tasks, listening to those fast techno/trance music can make me faster. I don't know why. When I listen to fast-paced music, my work is twice as effective as I don't listen to music. On the other hand, music with lyrics is harmful because it is too distracting. If I want to be highly concentrated, I will not listen to music at all. You can try it and see what kind of music is good for you. For me, the difference between these music is dramatic.

When you think of a strange idea to improve efficiency, first try to see how it works. If you do not try, do not give up your thoughts easily. Local success is more common than full failure, so every attempt will be helpful for time management practices. Even if the ongoing attempt is stupid, it will make you more efficient.

Stay passionate

The word "enthusiasm" comes from the Greek "entheos", which literally means "God in mind ". I like this explanation very much. If you are not passionate about how to schedule time, I doubt that it is impossible to master the art of time management. To the direction that truly inspires you. Chase your passion, not money. If you are not enthusiastic about your work, you are wasting your life. Change your job. Rethink new careers. If your current career is boring, do not get discouraged. Remember, failure is a friend. Listen to the call of your heart and stimulate your work. Doing things that make you unhappy is the most time-consuming. You work for your own life.

As most people do, you may be able to take the initiative quickly, but then you will be down, inefficient, and unable to continue planning. How easy it is to start a new plan when you are enthusiastic. But how difficult is persistence when passion fades away? People will always have one or more shortcomings. Unless you try to cultivate them, you will lose initiative and enthusiasm over time. I don't think that the things I don't want to do can be forced. If I don't take the initiative, it's almost impossible to sit down and work hard, and how painful it is. When you have enough initiative, you can work just as well.

In college, I cannot lose my passion, so that I will die. I soon realized that I had to consciously increase my enthusiasm every day. I 've been keeping my Walkman around (there was no mp3 at that time). When I moved from a teaching room to the next one, I listened to the tapes of time management and self-motivation. I also listen when jogging in the morning. I keep my passion almost all the time. Even if someone says I will fail. These tapes have a huge impact on me because I have been active.

If your enthusiasm is high, you will work very effectively and treat boring work as fun. I have always found that once I want to raise my career to a new level, I must first raise my consciousness to a new level. If you want to change, your actions will change, and the results will change. Unless you are an exciting guy, you need to increase your enthusiasm every day. I recommend listening to self-motivated tapes, or reading motivated books and articles, at least 15 minutes a day. As soon as you stop fighting for yourself, you will begin to doubt yourself and your motivation will begin to drop. It is surprising that you can maintain your passion by injecting proactive things into yourself. If you work on multiple lines at the same time, you don't have to spend any additional time.

Diet and exercise

In the summer before the last semester of the University (1993), I became a semi-vegetarian. I found that my energy was greatly improved, especially the ability to concentrate. Four years later (in 1997), I became a strict vegetarian (not eating meat). Today, this has produced greater enhancements.

Drinking and eating have a profound impact on activities. Meat products require more time and energy to digest than plant foods, so when your body consumes special energy to digest, it means that the energy you use for mental work will be reduced. When digestion contains meat, your work efficiency will be reduced and your energy will be more dispersed. If you find it hard to concentrate on mental work after meals, what you eat is the culprit. Franklin also believes that a modest meal is significant to his work. He can continue his effective work for the rest of the time, while his colleagues seem dull and sleepy.

Regular physical exercise is also necessary to have enough energy and a clear mind. In college, I have to run for 30 minutes before breakfast every day. Of course, I will also listen to self-motivated tapes and educational tapes. Every day, this puts my body in good shape and helps me maintain my desired weight. In addition, I had to wrap around my campus every day, and I had to carry a 20-30-pound schoolbag, which was filled with textbooks. In this way, even if I sat in the classroom most weekends, I got enough physical exercise.

Mastering time management makes sense to hone your best time management tools, that is, your health. Through diet and exercise, you can cultivate the ability to continuously concentrate, even if the hard work seems easy.

For example, if you think you are overweight, go to a nearby gymnasium or sports goods store and select one (or a pair) dumbbell which is equivalent to your excess weight. Take it around and feel your daily burden. Imagine how easy it would be if you lose this weight. Carrying heavy loads to exercise is one thing, but if these weights are part of the weight, you can never put them down or get the harvest from them. Make up your mind to lose these excess weights, and the standard body will benefit you for life.

Work-and-rest Integration

I think if you cannot reasonably arrange your life, it would be easier to maintain long-term motivation, be healthy, and be happy. The advantages of some aspects cannot make up for the shortcomings of other aspects. In college, I try to relax one day a week. Sports, parties, community clubs, playing games, playing billiards, and even traveling to Las Vegas in the last semester. "Black March" is caused by unreasonable life. Being too focused on one aspect at the cost of other lives is harmful in the long run. Maintain a balance in all aspects of your life. When your career develops, do not forget to develop your own personality.

What I regret most when I finish college in three semesters is that I have no friends. Although I have many good friends (both men and women) and we play together at bars every week, I do not have time to chase girls out of my busy schedule. I remember one time, a girl was obviously interested in me and she was more with me. But I gave up because I didn't have time to date her as she imagined. She cannot be my girlfriend.

If I had to start again, I believe it would be better to finish my studies in four to five semesters, so I have time to find a girlfriend. It is wonderful to share the fun of life with others, not to mention other close contacts. After graduation, I have a lot of time for dating. I found my girlfriend a few months later, and we got married four years later. She and I were alumni in college, and we had many acquaintances, but we never met each other at that time.

I believe that the significance of time management is to do everything possible to make your life interesting. By clarifying your goals and developing good habits, you can achieve your goals more efficiently. You will enjoy a rich and rich life that you have never had before. More than a decade later, I looked back at my college life, And I was grateful for the whole process. On the way to success, I made a strict plan and grew up quickly. This is the best time in my life.

If you want to become active, you can make your life change. The reason for mastering time management is to get a superior life and make it different. Time management is not self-sacrifice or self-denial, nor is it hard to do things that you do not want to do. In fact, it makes you more happy to do what you like.