Time Management & Procrastination

During these times of complete social lockdown; the one thing most of my friends and relatives are talking about is time management. Even after being at home, they are not able to complete their tasks and complain about not having enough time.

The key to effectively utilize the most of our time lies in our habits that we adapt in day to day life. There are only twenty-four hours in a day. The best thing we can do is make the most of it. We have surrounded ourselves with time-saving devices—high-speed computers and blindingly fast assembly lines at workplaces; fast-cooking microwave ovens, heat-and-serve dinners, and instant messaging at home. However, finding time to get all the work done is the biggest challenge. Time management is, therefore, an attempt to control and allocate finite time resources.

Below underscored points can explain, partly, why many suffer from stress and complain of never having enough time.

1. Get the measure of where your time goes

If you get an accurate picture of how you're spending your time, you'll know where you're wasting it. The best way is to create an activity log. Assign priorities to each and then examine the log to identify patterns of time use and where most of your day is spent or wasted.

2. Plan for change

After you've identified lousy time spending patterns, it’s time to find the causes. Begin by asking and honestly answering tough personal questions, such as “Why am I spending so much time in low-value tasks like watching a series on Netflix for a whole day/night?” or "Why I am not able to create 10 mins routine for exercise?". This type of inquiry will bring you to the causes of wasted time.

The best way to correct the problem is to develop more desirable habits. Analyze your activity log. If your Internet use is causes of poor time management, spend a week consciously taming them. The change will happen only by practicing a new, more effective behavior.

3. Sort your goals

Goals differ in time frames and importance. Some are short-term, and others can be achieved only over months or years. In terms of importance, there are three types of goals:

Critical goals are endpoints and essential to your success, and therefore must be accomplished. For example, budgeting your monthly expenses and do some kind of financial planning for your future.

Enabling goals to create a more desirable condition or take advantage of an opportunity to fill a long-term need, that is, critical goals. For example, enrolling in a learning course may not be critical but will help you earn more.

Nice-to-have goals make improvements that enhance your lifestyle, and usually make activities faster, easier, or more pleasant—for example, meditating for ten minutes every morning.

How to Schedule Things

There are plenty of time-management tools available on any app store to prepare a schedule, such as a to-do list app, reminders, and sticky notes.

Procrastination

• It is the habit of delaying or putting off doing something that should be done now. We all procrastinate to some extent. The result is that high-priority tasks are postponed.

Procrastination is often confused with laziness, but they are very different. Procrastination is an active process – you choose to do something else instead of the task that you know you should be doing. In contrast, laziness suggests apathy, inactivity, and an unwillingness to act

I personally follow the two minutes rule. It’s surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less. For example, washing your dishes immediately after your meal, tossing the laundry in the washing machine, taking out the garbage, cleaning up clutter, sending that text, and so on. The focus is on taking action and letting things flow from there.

If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now.

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it First Thing in the Morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the BIGGEST one first.” — Mark Twain