To make effective changes in your life, you must first understand where you are now. What is effective? What can be done better? To accomplish what is important to us in the 1440 minutes that each of us has each day, we must decide where to focus our attention.
Tracking what you do each day brings clarity and productivity. I recommend keeping track of 30-minute segments for two consecutive workdays and noting (generally) how you spent each time block. For instance, from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m., your entry could be: I drove to work, read on my eReader and checked my mobile email.
Many of us believe we know how we spend our days. However, by actively tracking what you do each day, you can truly define how your time is spent. This will allow you to examine your current results and establish a baseline from which to begin making improvements.
Once you've determined where you are, you can embark on a focused journey to your desired destination. Determine which tasks or activities you can perform differently. Make the necessary changes. Compare the new results to the baseline. Are you getting closer to your goals with the changes you've made? Continue if yes. If not, make the necessary adjustments. Then follow and observe.
I once worked with an executive who spent the majority of his time making phone calls.
When he asked for advice on how to better focus his time, I asked, "How many phone calls did you make yesterday?"
"About ten," he said confidently.
"Bull," I exclaimed before I could stop myself.
But he smiled and admitted that, while he'd like to make ten calls per day, his time is consumed by minutia, resulting in four or five calls per day.
As a result, I challenged him. I handed him a stack of ten quarters and told him to put them on one side of his desk. Every time he made a call, he was to move one-quarter of his desk to the other side, a physical reminder of his completed intention. When we spoke a week later, he assured me that he was making more outbound calls, thanks to the fact that we'd identified where he was, determined where he wanted to be and made getting from one to the other a game.
Concentration is essential, but it can be difficult when you're juggling so many balls at once. Changing your focus frequently reduces productivity, and constantly having to refocus on what you were doing before an interruption disrupts your workflow, prevents you from completing your most important tasks, and forces you to spend more time than necessary getting things done.
Consider identifying what you are NOT going to do in the next 24 to 96 hours to develop a "focus-to-finish" mindset. Every day, we all have more to do than is humanly possible. Determining what on your agenda can be safely postponed for a day or three allows you to focus on what needs to be done.
A simple 15-minute kitchen timer can help you develop a "focus-to-finish" mindset. www.e.ggtimer.com is my favorite timer website. Keep your attention on the task at hand for the entire 15-minute period. If you still have work to do at the end of the time, schedule another 15-minute session and focus solely on that one task. This simple method allows you to reduce interruptions and work single-mindedly in a very manageable way.
So, how do you spend less money while getting more done and remaining happy? Pursue clarity and focus until the task at hand is finished. With these two simple steps, you can improve on whatever you currently consider to be your best.
Read next: 3 Life-Changing Habits of High Performers
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