If you are interested in being productive, at least you must hear a famous time management method called 'time-blocking or 'time-boxing, which is a way became popular by Elon Musk to streamline our life toward our goals and getting things done as much as possible. To do this, you simply need to block out your calendar with your To-dos with the estimated time to finish. it gives us maximized concentration and refraining from wasting time by distractions.
We all are living in a complicated society, which means we have tremendous tasks that have to be done. Even the categories of these things are really diverse. Some people claim that this is why we need to do time-blocking.
In this theory, for the last two months, I did try to improve my productivity by using the time-blocking method. However, I didn't accomplish satisfaction at all, I was continuously struggling with the time estimation to finish a certain task, this problem always required me extra efforts and energy to track where I was and where I am. Obviously, leading my days to success didn't come to the real. And even it is not easy for me to keep focusing on doing a task. As a result, I ended up with a couple of major problems I have been through:
1. I need to spend so much time in order to list up all my 'To-dos' and put them into the calendar.
2. Accumulating data for time estimation gives rise to another time-consuming process.
3. It's very stressful as I face unfinished tasks at the end of the day and rearrange my calendar.
It's true that some people are becoming productive a lot and getting success with this method but I feel likes 'Time-blocking' would never work for me. It just makes me feel exhausted through unwanted tasks every day.
Thus I come up with a new method developed by Ivy Lee who is an expert on productivity and a hero of the story of the dramatic growth of Bethlehem steel. Aside from a detailed explanation, I'll talk about what I'm recently doing.
Every night before going to bed, I just write 6 tasks that I have to do tomorrow for my goals, and then I label them with priority numbers. That's it. And from the morning, I just need to get started to do from the first thing I wrote. There is only one rule I have to follow, which is that I must finish 'the number 1 task' in the day whatever it is.
Hi Seunghwan, great journal entry! I've been looking for ways to become more productive too. I think I'll go Ivy Lee's method a go, too. π
I really like your rule that you must finish the number one task. It breaks it down to just one thing, which seems easier to achieve. I think achieving that first task would make me much more likely to keep going with the others. :-)
@Michael_Journaly Hi, it's really simple and effective!! I can focus on really what I want and I can spend my energy in a more concentrated way. With this method, I also created a system for being productive in my Roam research, which is a note-taking program. I will get to writing about it soon. I look forward to seeing you again in that journal :)
@Ashley Yes, exactly!! then I can gain more motivation by doing a weekly review. It's an awesome method I think.