How come some people are more productive than others?

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.

So how come some are more productive than others?

I'd like to share a simple formula that worked for me for years and years.

But first, let's see if you have the following symptoms:• You worked 6-7 days a week for more than a month• You just feel overwhelmed by the quantity of things “to do”• You deliver late consistently• You often bring work home because you couldn't finish it at the office

If that's you, read on.

How to be on top of your tasks?Most people know the Eisenhower matrix, that tells you to categorize things into 4 quadrants (urgent/important, urgent/not important, etc.)But that’s not time management. That’s just prioritization.

Here are some practical tips to actually get better at time management.

First, get yourself an online calendar.I suggest your use Google Calendar, mainly because it’s integrated with Gmail and it’s available on all mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows etc.)Second, put EVERYTHING you have to do in your calendar. Everything means: lunch breaks, emails down to the phone call you need to return.

Personally, I have a simple rule: any task that is NOT in my calendar DOES NOT exist.

The calendar reminds me of what to do next so I don’t have to think about it. Of course, this requires planning in advance.

Here’s a simple 6-steps formula to start planning better

1. Start with the end in mind: write down for each project what the outcomes are. Don't start with the tasks themselves - you may find out that some tasks are actually 'skippable'

2. For each outcome, ask yourself what tasks must be done? (this is your task list)

3. Order these ‘to-do’ by order of priority - this is where you use the Eisenhower matrix

4. Estimate how much time each task will take (half an hour? An hour? Fifteen minutes?)

5. Schedule those tasks in your calendar, but do so by order of priority (i.e. most important thing must be tackled earlier in the week than least important things)

6. As you go through your days, take note of what tasks you’ve skipped and reschedule them (or you will forget to do them). Also ask yourself what happened (poor estimation? Unexpected crisis? etc.)

Sounds like a lot to think through.

But as you get better at it, you’ll get more important things done in a single day.

Who knows, you might even go back home earlier while still performing 

:)

Try it and let us know how it goes.