Always Playing Catch-Up? Tips to Get More Done Each Day

How to Achieve an Abundance of Wealth

Have you ever felt like your productivity level has slipped? Initially, you planned to accomplish four projects today, but you completed only two. You felt disappointed with yourself and asked where the time went. Then you wondered why your performance is off at work or at home.

Wondering how to increase your efficiency and get more out of your life?

Here are some useful tips to get you inspired:

1. Hit the ground running:

Prepare and get to work as soon as you arrive, whether you’re headed to work or home. Using the example of work, imagine yourself driving or riding to the office. Imagine what it’s going to be like when you get there.

Do you have three large stacks of paperwork to do? Decide what you’ll need to do first. Perhaps you can complete that project you started last Friday with just a couple more hours of work. Put your mind ahead of your body’s arrival so you can get started quickly.

2. Learn to anticipate:

When you consider what will happen when you arrive, you’ll be ready to meet the actual challenges when you get home. You might think, “If the kids are hungry, I need to prepare snacks. I’ll get out that fruit salad from yesterday and give them glasses of juice right away so I can get to the laundry.” Anticipate what might happen.

3. Create a method of keeping track of tasks that best works for you:

Either record your list into your smartphone, writing down things to do in your calendar, or carry a spiral notebook and have a running list to look at or listen to. Having a visual or audible cue can be a roadmap to show you how to get more done.

Having some way to check off items is helpful so you can tell at a glance which tasks you’ve completed and which ones remain to be done.
Try a couple of methods until you find which method comes easiest for you to use. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution here. The one that helps you get the most done is the one you should stick with.

4. Politely tell others you are busy and don’t “have a minute:”

If you’re at work and people stop by your office to chat, feel free to say, “I’m sorry. I can’t talk right now but I’d love to have lunch today and hear more about this.” When you’re not interrupted, you can get a lot more done. This way, others learn to avoid interrupting your work time.

5. Keep meetings brief:

If you’re in a position to have control over meetings at work, cut the meeting to 30 minutes max while achieving the same results. Bring a written agenda to the meeting and you’ll be ready to cover your points quickly.

6. Reinforce your efforts to achieve. Praise yourself each day:

It could be that you have completed a work project you’ve been working on for several weeks or cooked a great meal for friends and family. Recognize the efforts you make to accomplish those tasks.

7. Allow yourself plenty of time in the morning:

If you need an hour to shower, have breakfast, and get your task list written for the day, then get up early enough to have your full hour. When you respect your own needs, you’ll be better emotionally prepared to get things accomplished.

Even if you feel like you have not accomplished anything, the great news is that you’ve got lots of choices when it comes to increasing your efficiency. While reading this list, you might have gotten some inspiration to come up with your own methods to get more done in a day. That’s great! Try them all. The strategies that best work for you are the ones worth continuing.

If you put forth some effort to change your approach, you’ll no longer wonder how to increase your efficiency. Instead, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see you’re getting more done each and every day.

Viken Mikaelian

Viken Mikaelian is the CEO of PlannedGiving.com, Major Gifts LLC and Philanthropy.org — the resource for all your major and planned giving marketing needs. Viken is available for speaking engagements on planned giving marketing, personal development and time management. Connect with Viken on LinkedIn.

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Always Playing Catch-Up? Tips to Get More Done Each Day

How to Achieve an Abundance of Wealth

Wondering how to increase your efficiency and get more out of your life?

Here are some useful tips to get you inspired:

1. Hit the ground running:

2. Learn to anticipate:

3. Create a method of keeping track of tasks that best works for you:

4. Politely tell others you are busy and don’t “have a minute:”

5. Keep meetings brief:

6. Reinforce your efforts to achieve. Praise yourself each day:

7. Allow yourself plenty of time in the morning:

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