How To Accomplish Your To Do List

‘PROCRASTINATION’ – This is one word that everyone seems to identify with, some more than others. For most, it’s a daily battle, and I’m one of many. There are so many things we can accomplish in a day, but there are also so many distractions to deal with, especially in the present age of technology overload. Every few minutes your phone pings with a new notification that you just have to check. This ‘just-checking’ usually turns into half an hour worth of scrolling through your social media feeds, and by the time you return to the task at hand, all your momentum has been lost. If this is a regular occurrence for you, then read on and discover a few hacks to increase your productivity;

1. Tackle The Worst First – Start your day by working on the tasks that you despise the most. Don’t wander around and waste your time with checking up on irrelevant things. A good 2-3 hour of work will get you into the groove, because you’ll be done with the worst part of your day!
2. Wake Up Earlier – Wake up an hour earlier than usual to add a productive hour to your day, because people start imposing on your time.
3. Batch Process – Do all similar tasks together. For example, check all your emails in one go, instead of checking them sporadically throughout the day. Set aside an hour for checking and replying to mails. Do this for everything on your check list. You know the saying, ‘Divide and conquer’.
4. Prioritize – Getting your priorities right is crucial. Assign all your tasks on a list according to how crucial and urgent they are. Then work on them. This way, even if you’re unable to finish off a few, you’d have done the most important ones.
5. Write Everything Down – One of the most common reasons for not doing a particular task is that we forgot about it, and remembered it too late. Instead of cluttering up your memory with thing you need to do, use it to finish the tasks and leave the To-Do lists for your computer or paper (if you’d rather write it down by hand!).
6. Use The Gap Time – Gaps are the little blocks of time that we waste while we’re waiting for our bus/metro, standing in a line, waiting for a meeting to start, etc. Use these little blocks of time to do the tasks that require little time. Cross them off your messy To-Do list!
7. Say “No” – Very often we’re interrupted in our tasks by our colleagues, fellow students, etc. for something or the other. Learn to say no to these interruptions and finish off your tasks first before indulging anyone else. This may seem selfish, but you need to concentrate to be productive.

Everyone has a set of tasks they need to accomplish every day. Everyone struggles with getting them ALL done. Do yourself a favor and reward yourself on finishing up your tasks. This is a surefire way to motivate yourself. Give yourself something to look forward to!