Tag: Pros

Time management techniques

Automate Decisions
  • Transfer money to your savings account every time you receive a paycheck
  • Choose all your outfits for your week on Sunday and hang them in the closet in order
  • Subscribe to a weekly fresh delivery of organic vegetables and fruits to your home
  • Standardize the typical daily meals you like the most, saving time in cooking and grocery shopping
  • Prepare your sports bag every night and put it in your car. If you prefer running in the morning, leave your running shoes near the bed
  • Automate all electronic gadgets to go into sleep mode at a certain hour

“Time management is not a peripheral activity or skill. It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends.” – Brian Tracy

Work Around Your Energy Levels

Productivity is directly related to your energy level.
Find your most productive hours — the time of your peak energy — and schedule Deep Work for those periods. Do low-value and low-energy tasks (also known as shallow work), such as responding to emails or unimportant meetings, in between those hours.

Plan Your Day the Night Before

Before going to bed, spend 5 minutes writing your to-do list for the next day. These tasks should help you move towards your professional and personal goals.
You’ll be better prepared mentally for the challenges ahead before waking up and there won’t be any room for procrastination in the morning. As a result, you’ll work faster and smoother than ever before.

Start the Day with Critical Work

A golden time management technique: Find your most important task (MIT) for the day and tackle it first. 
Your MIT should be the one thing that creates the most impact on your work. Getting it done will give you the momentum and sense of accomplishment early in the day. That’s how big life goals are achieved: small continuous efforts, day after day.

Prioritize Tasks
  • Write down all your tasks.
  • Identify what’s urgent and what’s important. After each task, mark them with “U” for Urgent and “I” for Important. 
  • Assess value: look at your “I” tasks and identify the high-value drivers of your work. You want to find which tasks have priority over others and how many people are impacted by your work
  • Estimate time to complete each task. Order them from the most effort to the least effort.
Delegate or Outsource Tasks
  • Find the right person: he should have all the necessary skills and is capable of doing the job
  • Provide clear instructions: write down the tasks in a step-by-step manual be as specific as possible
  • Define success: be specific about what the expected outcome is and the deadline to have the task completed
  • Clarity: have the tasks explained back to you and offer clarification when something is unclear, rewriting the specifications if needed
Automate Repetitive Tasks

Putting some of your daily tasks on autopilot is key to working smarter.

  • Create canned responses for emails you keep writing over and over again
  • Set reminders in your calendar so you never forget anything
  • Proofread your writing automatically
  • Schedule and automate your social media posts in advance
  • Automatically fill online forms,  saving all your passwords in one place
  • Create spreadsheet templates for reports you have to do weekly/monthly.
Set Time Constraints

Set deadlines even when you don’t need to. Schedule less time to complete tasks and force your brain to focus.
Parkinson’s law states: “work expands to fill the time available for its completion”. So, if you reduce the time you have to complete a task, you force your brain to focus and complete it.

Eliminate Distractions
  • Turn off all notifications on your phone, computer, and tablet
  • Leave your phone in odd places that prevent you from immediately finding it
  • Work with headphones as people are less likely to approach you.
  • If you find interesting articles, save them  to read later, such as during the commute
  • Turn off your Wi-Fi when your tasks don’t require internet connectivity
  • Don’t browse social media at work at all. 
  • Use “Do Not Disturb” functions on chat systems.
  • If you have an office, shut the door.
Track Your Time

Track your time to have real data on your work and uncover insights on how you can improve your productivity.
After a couple of weeks, you’ll start noticing patterns and knowing where and how your time is leaking. By being aware of how exactly you are using your time, you can devise a plan to attack your leaks and how to get rid of them.

The 2-Minute Rule
  • If it can be done in two minutes, just do it. Don’t add it to your to-do list, put it aside for later, or delegate it to someone else. Just do it.
  • If it takes more than two minutes, start it. Once you start acting on small tasks, you can keep the ball rolling. Simply working on it for two minutes will help you break the first barrier of procrastination.
Say No More Often Than Yes

Say “no” by default to anything that doesn’t contribute to your top 5 career goals.
Your time is a limited resource and you can’t let people set your agenda in life.

Use “Gap Time” Effectively:
  • Learn a new skill, either for your professional or personal life
  • Read books or articles you saved for later
  • Organize your computer, folders, calendar or work
  • Plan your week, tomorrow, or the rest of your day
  • Listen to a podcast
  • Learn a language
  • Take a walk and think and let your mind wander
  • Take a productive pause to clear your mind.
80/20 Your Time

The 80 20 rule states that “80% of the output or results will come from 20% of the input or action”. In other words, the little things are the ones that account for the majority of the results.
Use the 80/20 rule in your life and work to prioritize the input that brings the majority of the output.

Break Down Big Tasks

Break down big tasks into smaller ones to avoid procrastinating and help you stay on track to achieve your final goal.
Never put a huge project down as just one to-do on your list. Instead, put bite-sized to-dos that you can do one at a time. Take it to step by step.

Work From the Calendar

Schedule tasks, working from your calendar instead of the to-do list. When an event is consistently scheduled on your calendar, it’s much more likely to transform into an unconscious habit
Using your calendar forces you to rethink your work from tasks to time units. That small change increases the likelihood of getting things done.

reference

https://dansilvestre.com/time-management-techniques/amp/

Distance learning and its usefulness

what is distance learning?

Distance learning can truly be defined as the way of getting an education without visiting a school or attending a class physically.

Adaptability and Freedom

One of the main advantages of distance learning can be the personalized approach to getting an education regardless of the channels or mediums you are using for this purpose. Whether you are getting study materials online or through posts you can learn only when a connection is developed between the material of the course and you. You get the freedom to deal with the study material in the distance learning process. You can plan your learning process at your convenience instead of sticking with a fixed schedule.

Self-inspiration

Distance learning encourages you to motivate yourself to learn due to the absence of a traditional teacher to guide you. You will have to create a learning environment and control it effectively so that a band of self-motivation develops in you to inspire you to learn for your personal growth. You can cultivate this band in you by engaging yourself in distance learning methods.

Flexibility to Choose

You will have to follow a set schedule of learning as per the curriculum of the school if you are following traditional ways of learning. But different types of distance learning allows you to set your learning schedule as per your convenience without following a regular schedule of learning. Even if you are out of touch with the learning process, a distance learning program offers you the flexibility to choose your course of learning.

Easy to Access

If you cannot attend regular classes due to various reasons like time constraints and distance etc. then distance learning can be the best option for you to access the benefits of your education. If you opt for a correspondence course for distance learning then you will have to make postal delivery as a connection between you and your distance learning centre. But if you have a computer and internet connection then you can opt for an online learning method by using some video conferencing software like ezTalks Cloud Meeting etc. It will allow you to interact with your teachers face-to-face to resolve your problems. Moreover, you can continue learning even without taking leave from your job.

Earn While You Learn

For those who want to improve their resume by getting a higher education and without breaking their existing job then distance learning can be the best option for them. You can go on earning your livelihood along with improving your qualification as distance learning will accommodate both, learning as well as earning.

Saves Money and Time Both

By joining a distance learning course you can save money and time spent travelling to a nearby educational institution. Distance learning allows you to access your learning centre online without any additional cost. Moreover, the course offered at distance learning centres is cheaper than the courses provided at traditional education centres.

Virtual Trips

Another important advantage for distance learning is to plan virtual trips if your budget does not allow you to go on trips from an actual school. Video conferencing allows the students of distance learning courses to visit the location important for them and experience the enjoyment even better than an actual trip. These virtual trips allow you to visit locations that you might have never thought of. Moreover, such trips can enable your teachers or lecturers to make your ordinary lessons more interesting than ever.

Reference

https://eztalks.com/elearning/benefits-of-distance-learning.html