5 ways to be more effective today

I’ve never met a logical thinker who didn’t want to be more effective! My goal is to help logical thinkers achieve their goals and dreams…and a major piece of this is learning how to make the most of each day. 

Today’s topic is how to become more effective in your day. To me, being effective means that the energy spent moved you toward your goals. I’ll share 5 ways that you can implement TODAY to become more effective from wherever you are. Each idea turns up the dial of your output. Implement them how it works best for you, but I do encourage you to implement something from what you hear today.

Here’s a summary of them all, and the post covers each one more in depth. 

1. Take 10 minutes at the beginning of the day to set your priorities. If you actually stop and identify your priorities, they will be on your mind throughout the day. This becomes a focal point that allows you to make course corrections as the day progresses – you are able to identify the helpful activities versus the distractions.
2. Timeblock an important project. Timeblocking is carving out a certain number of minutes during the day to devote to that project. I love this one, because I tend to set big goals with steps that are more unclear. If a project is big and unclear, I can tend to avoid it. Decide how much time to work on it, set a timer and just focus on that activity for that time, without worrying about how much you are getting done. This will ensure you get to the project sooner than if you waited until you were ready with all the specific steps.
3. Make your email time deliberate. Email can be an efficiency sink. You can get caught for hours if you don’t have a purpose. This is also a great one to use along with timeblocking to ensure you don’t spend too much time on it. If you decide to engage in your email, make decisions about each one and move on.
4. Focus on one thing at a time. Our culture has had this romance with multitasking that I think is starting to pass. Multi-tasking is simply moving your attention between topics rapidly. However, each time you have to move your focus, you lose energy. It is important not to fool yourself that things are getting done faster – the overall time spent is not going to be less! Focus intensifies your effectiveness, so when you move between tasks some effectiveness is lost.
5. Acknowledge transitions. Building on the previous point, switching activities uses extra energy. However, you can retain more energy through the switch by being very intentional. Make a conscious point to close out thoughts on one task and remind yourself of your intention for the next.

 Any of these will help you in your day’s efficiency. I encourage you to play with these and implement them! Reach out to me if you have questions or feedback, and please pass this on to others you think it will help!