Would you like some help setting aside distractions and focusing on your work? Try these methods of organizing your time and tasks:
Eat the Frog
What’s the toughest thing you need to tackle today? It’s not always the most difficult task, but it’s the one you least want to do—the one that will hang over your head and sap your attention until it’s done. In this technique, that’s your “frog.” The name comes from a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
Taking on your least appealing duty immediately gets it out of the way, leaving room for more pleasant work. Making a habit of “eating your frog” also builds your confidence that you can handle tough things. If you are more motivated by thinking in positive terms, your “frog” could be the single thing that you would feel most satisfied to have done by the end of the day.
Pomodoro
Big tasks can seem so daunting that you don’t know how to start. Planning too much can even backfire if you get bogged down in making lists. The Pomodoro method shifts the focus to the time you put in, not the results you get.
Named for a tomato-shaped timer, a pomodoro (Italian for tomato) in this technique is a 25-minute block of time. You set your timer, work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. After four pomodoros, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. If you are interrupted in the middle of a pomodoro, restart the timer for another 25 minutes.
Time Blocking
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of small-but-important things you need to do. If you end up expending a lot of mental energy just keeping track of it all and switching inefficiently between unrelated tasks, time blocking might help. In this technique, you group similar tasks into batches and identify times to work on them.
You might set aside a block of time for cold calls and lead generation. You could also have a regular time or times each day when you answer emails. Maybe you have a vague, scattered feeling that you should be doing more on social media. If so, assign a block of time for checking and posting to all your platforms, then leave it alone until the next day.
Review and Revise
Whether you block out times to work on similar tasks or set a timer or eat a metaphorical frog, actively using a time-management technique can help you take control of your day. Try checking in with yourself in the evening to see how the method you chose worked for you and to refine your approach for the next day. By deciding how you will structure your attention and your time, you can move from simply reacting to events to directing a schedule that boosts productivity and your sense of well-being.