- Improving time management begins with understanding your tendencies. On the left, we have focus. And on the right, we have chaos. Those who have always stayed on the left are focus masters, and they're rare. These people are gifted with organization and have never had any issue with productivity. They're frustrated with the inefficiency of people around them. They may say, "Just do it my way," but this rarely works. For focus masters, this course provides a simple way to help others become more productive. Those on the right of the scale are chaos masters, and they've always struggled with organization and productivity. Many chaos masters learn to be successful despite their natural tendency to be disorganized. They may have a cluttered office yet claim they know where everything is. They may show up late or occasionally miss deadlines. For chaos masters, this course provides a simple way to be more efficient and focused without hurting their creativity or ability to build relationships. Those in the middle are nomads. I've found most people fit into this category. They may consider themselves inherently focused but they've wandered from that tendency, and it's frustrating. If you're a nomad, this course can help you recover your lost focus and regain control. The focus-chaos scale helps you become aware of how this course can best help you. Many who've successfully completed this course have also found it helpful to learn where I, your instructor, fit on this scale.
Let's say you're at your workspace. And suddenly you remember, you want to hang up a new picture on the wall. You could write yourself a note and put that note in your physical inbox. If you're away from your desk at lunch and you realize you forgot to send a file to a coworker, you could send yourself an email to take care of it. Maybe you're driving and you think of a project you need to work on at home, at a safe place to stop, you could dictate a message to your digital notepad. Use whatever approved gathering point works best for you in the moment. Just get the thought out of your head because your mind is not an approved gathering point. Over time, you may find that some gathering points work best for you. I find I'm most effective when I'm processing email. So I'll often email myself when these thoughts pop up. Play to your strengths. You can start using this habit right now. Did something come into your mind that was unresolved while you were watching this video? Put that thought into an approved gathering point right now. The more you practice this habit, the more your brain will become focused, creative and ready to communicate.
Quadrant I (urgent and important) are reacting to one crisis after another, leading to stress and burnout. People who spend their time mostly in Quadrant III (urgent and not important) are stuck responding to external demands, while those who spend their time in Quadrant IV (not urgent and not important) are distracted or wasting their time.
Covey advocates spending the majority of our time in Quadrant II (not urgent and important), as the foundation of a productive and fulfilling life. He writes:
"Quadrant II is the heart of effective personal management. It deals with things like building relationships, writing a personal mission statement, long-range planning, exercising, preventive maintenance, preparation -- all those things we know we need to do, but somehow seldom get around to doing, because they aren't urgent. To paraphrase Peter Drucker, effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems. They think preventively. They have genuine Quadrant I crises and emergencies that require their immediate attention, but the number is comparatively small."
When most people try to multitask what they are really doing is switchtasking.
Takes move time as we are doing too many things in the available time
Increases time to complete a task (sometimes doubles)
How to Avoid Switchtasking | Lucidchart Blog