home - Children 6-7 years old
What do you do if you can't get the job done on time? I don’t have time: we are looking for reasons and effective solutions

When people ask me: "How do you manage to do everything," I always answer with a joke from an Internet meme: "My secret is very simple: I do not have time for anything" (instead of nothing, more emotional expressions can stand). Meanwhile, it continues to seem to my friends and buddies that I have more time than I should. normal person(because I work multiple jobs and have multiple side projects on a regular basis).

Thinking, and even more so writing about time, is a thankless task. They wrote, write and will write about the great chronos and effective time management until this very time is over (dodging the heavy fist of physicists).

And yet they continue to look for the answer to the eternal question: “Well, how do you manage to do everything? Why are there 24 hours in a day? Why are there only 7 days in a week?”… Ironic (and in fact, truthful) answers like “Give you 60 hours, it won’t be enough” for some reason do not change the views of chronically busy and underachieving people. It was the mentioned question, which once again sounded in communication with a dear friend, that inspired me to write this article. How? You? Everything? Are you on time? I’ll try to figure out what from my experience can be useful to “comrades in misfortune” (or fortunately? If there is no time, then it’s never boring ...) - young working mothers, students who work part-time in the evenings, creative people and many others.

Main and non-main

In a stressful environment, in a difficult or problematic situation, we perceive time in a new way. It crawls or flies, shrinks or spreads and begins to dominate us. The most important thing is the current moment and everything connected with it, whether it is waiting for a bus or defending a dissertation.

Of course, “the living thinks about the living,” or, in the words of the Gospel, “the day and his wickedness prevails.” But only often do we spend time getting nervous ... in the most different occasions. How to be?

When I studied at the institute and was terribly worried about grades, exams and my future scientific and teaching career, one wonderful and wise teacher told me this: “Only health has meaning. Yours and your family. That alone can make you nervous."

The main thing is your health. No, it's not cynical or selfish. This is just the opposite of selfishness, if you correctly understand the concern for your health. As long as you are healthy, you are independent, you can plan your life, manage your time, and, most importantly, do not burden anyone, do not become a problem that one way or another (maybe with great love, or maybe not) will be solved by your relatives.

Even more important (although much more important!) Your health becomes if you have children. Only the lazy, it seems, did not repeat the common idea that a child needs a healthy mother. Just imagine: the child goes to the first grade, and the mother suddenly fell ill ... And what to do? Look for someone who will take the child to school, pick him up, put on the ears of many friends and acquaintances, disturb relatives.

You should not “save time” on visiting doctors, on massages or playing sports. At the most inopportune moment, the driven organism will take revenge, and two hours before the important event, we will call our acquaintances and friends with a plea to “immediately replace” and bring a thousand apologies to the organizer.

Of course, no one is immune from epidemics or slippery pavement in winter. But regular visits to the dentist will not take us out of the context of everyday affairs with a sharp toothache. After all, it is known that things tend to accumulate sharply, precisely when plans are suddenly frustrated, and today's affairs are transferred to tomorrow, pushing tomorrow's, and so on ad infinitum. Health care saves our schedule...

When I tell my students that the main thing is health, they don't seem to understand me completely. The guys have not yet felt that health is capital given to us without interest. If we spend it, then there will be nothing in return.

When we studied, it was customary to come to class with a fever, cough and runny nose. They boasted to each other that they had not missed a single class (it’s sad that before, and now there are teachers who require one hundred percent attendance of their classes (I’m not one of them if my students read these lines). As I now understand our a Russian literature teacher who said: don't infect me, go home and get sick!

No one can say what the disease transferred on the legs will turn into in 5-10 years. No one will remember this disease, and the consequences can be severe.

Sleep is a great gift to mankind

Once, being in another crisis of "lack of time", I wrote a humorous poem:

It's good not to sleep at all!

The bed does not need to be spread

And set an alarm

On the iPad, on the radio, on the cell phone.

And wake up at dawn,

Alarm clock on what light cursing.

It's good not to sleep at all

And lose weight quickly

And day and night work only,

And you can't see the white light

It's good not to sleep at all

And turning green like a frog

Think "stupid pillow,

Try to catch me."

Yes, I won't sleep again!

But... I don't have to imitate.

In an old lullaby, “All people must sleep at night,” but not everyone sleeps. Saving on sleep means slowing down (just slowing down!) the work of the brain and the whole body. Students keep bragging about how little sleep they get, and it would be nice to build your days (at least sometimes) so that you sleep and get enough sleep. If the schedule is free, or floating, or freelance work, or sit with a small child, it would be nice to learn how to sleep during the day and quickly recover from daytime sleep. (By the way, interesting fact: In China, schools and universities provide a two-hour break for lunch and sleep between classes during the day. Coming to Russia, students from China continue to practice this daytime sleep and are regularly late for classes.)

If you can’t sleep during the day, you need to go to bed earlier. Remember the saying “Early to bed, early to rise, you will not know grief and illness”? Oh, how I understand that "it's easy to say, but business, but read, and the kitchen, and breakfast ...". A million "a" stands as a dead barrier on the way to an early lights out. And yet, not yesterday and not today, but a long time ago it was said that the most healthy and productive sleep is before midnight. To be honest, I myself am a “owl” and I’d rather go to bed at 3 o’clock at night and get up at 9 than go to bed at 11 and get up at 5. It seems to me that I won’t have time in the morning, my head works worse and further down the list. More precisely, it seemed, until I realized that the head turns off already at 11 pm. Sitting at night became counterproductive, so I decided to try getting up in the morning. Then again. And it turned out that the head works better even taking into account the fact that I need 40 minutes to “swing”. The work process goes faster and better, the need to get to work on time firmly blocks the impulses to be distracted. There is another positive “side effect”: getting up at 5 am, I am guaranteed to eat a normal breakfast. On the issue of health.

Tale of lost time

Remember the brilliant fairy tale by E. Schwartz and the wonderful old Soviet film? Evil wizards stole time from children who wasted it. (Sometimes you really want to know the method of these wizards, honestly!) It seems that in our time, these wizards have translated their magic into technology and steal time very effectively through social networks, TV, the Internet.

I confess I don't watch TV. Almost never, maybe once a year something necessary or interesting. And I can’t say that I’m losing much - attentive reading of the tape is enough for news, and mine nervous system protected from an endless stream of negative information.

TV and other sources of information do not just eat up time - they absorb it, and it's hard to say how much. If you don’t watch TV, don’t play games, don’t sit on social networks without a professional need (let’s say!), Then free time will appear at least “to take a shower”.

If social networks are not part of the workflow, not a necessity, then you should either go there once every three or four days, or set an iron rule for yourself: logged in, checked for messages (or wrote the right message) - left. Other people's and your photos, interesting links, petitions - time flies away unnoticed. Question: how did our mothers and grandmothers cope with the house without diapers, multicookers, and sometimes washing machines? Apparently they weren't on Facebook.

Quality and Quantity

"Less is better" - Golden Rule in order to succeed. Meeting with friends? Turn off the phone and remove it. This hour or two, which we have carved out over the past three months, rightfully belongs to us and friends. Maybe you shouldn't spoil it by checking social networks, WhatsApp and other applications?

Are we playing with a child? Remove phone. The child must see and remember this pattern of behavior. This time is his. The time when he or mom are doing something, especially together, is inviolable.

Of course, you shrug your shoulders and think that you can miss a lot of important calls in this way. Maybe. But you can always call, write, clarify.

People with whom we are interested and who are dear to us, in my opinion, are a great value. There was a time in my life when, because of work, I refused to meet friends, I saw them once a year, or even less often. Now I try to respond to offers of meetings (imagine how my friends giggle when reading these lines!).

It often seems that there is not enough time for seemingly secondary, but dear things to the heart: read, improve, listen to music, learn foreign language. It is not difficult for me, an inveterate book lover, to solve this problem: spending several hours in the train and metro, I manage to read a lot.

You can listen to audiobooks while cleaning the kitchen in the evening, turn on music while ironing clothes. Pedaling the exercise bike, plunge into the sea in English while listening to podcasts. The possibilities for combining activities are endless. It is unlikely that friends will be offended by you if you embroider while sitting in a common company.

And I still can't!

To be successful, you need to recover. Switch between different types activities. Just do nothing. Relax. Finding these minutes for pure rest - a disconnected computer, mobile phone and complete silence. Or Rammstein, whichever you prefer.

Where can you find this time? How?

Do not forget about two rules: delegate authority and ask for help.

Often, having taken a leadership position, we begin to do everything ourselves, for subordinates, and for deputies, and for everyone, everyone, everyone. Only the functions of the president, maybe we do not take over. It seems that no one can do it right, good, perfect, not screw up. The most important quality of a leader is to see who can do what and how. And to transfer accordingly tasks. It is impossible to pull any work alone. In addition, if we stably and reasonably transfer our functionality to colleagues, then it’s not scary to get sick, go on vacation, miss a day due to last call child.

It's just as important to ask for help. Relatives, colleagues, friends. It seems to me that in 99 cases out of 100 to the question “Maybe you need help?”, We hastily answer “No”. So how do you get help? We are strong, we were taught that only the weak ask for help. But those who offer often sincerely want to make our lives easier. What if the request was denied? Nothing wrong. Just don't burden that person with questions anymore.

What else?

To be honest, it is very difficult to control time, especially if a person does not live alone. After all, it is impossible not to talk with loved ones in the evening after work, I want to sit longer with my mother, answer the child's questions. So give general recommendations- not very fair.

In addition, there are situations when a person really does not have time during the day. Meeting after meeting, lecture after lecture, question after question. You see or hear that the phone is bursting with calls and texts, but there is nothing you can do. And when the long-awaited pause comes, you just relax and keep quiet, and don't think about how to talk to someone. Offended friend or "second half" pronounces: did you have time to go to the toilet? You know, sometimes it doesn't.

That is why, feeling deadly tired in the evening, I honestly tell my relatives: my tongue does not toss and turn and my head is cast iron. May I not talk about anything today? Let's turn off the TV, shall we? Can I have a quick meal and lie down, and you will call me to drink tea? In the same way, you can limit telephone conversations: when you feel that a friend is in the mood for a long conversation, and you have “the floor is not swept, the stove is not heated”, it is better to calmly tell her about it and schedule a meeting, and not get angry during the conversation or trying to wash the dishes with one hand while you pour out your soul.

By the way, about washing dishes. If you don’t have enough time for household chores, it’s a good idea to plan the purchase of items that make life much easier: a dishwasher, a robot vacuum cleaner. A slow cooker helps someone, but someone cannot do without an au pair, housekeeper, nanny. It is worth thinking about this in order to preserve strength and health - your own and loved ones.

Of course, there are certain tricks that help streamline time at least a little. old kind lists cases: for a day, sometimes it’s more convenient - for a week or a month, sometimes - to distribute family affairs, work cases, or matters related to parents, matters related to friends. And cross out or circle with a beautiful red pen what is done.

However, such lists can only be frustrating - you wrote and you don’t have time. Then it’s good to write down what you managed to do - and the growing list of “to-dos done today” will delight and inspire.

Since you are here...

… we have a small request. The Matrona portal is actively developing, our audience is growing, but we do not have enough funds for the editorial work. Many topics that we would like to raise and that are of interest to you, our readers, remain uncovered due to financial constraints. Unlike many media, we deliberately do not make a paid subscription, because we want our materials to be available to everyone.

But. Matrons are daily articles, columns and interviews, translations of the best English-language articles about family and upbringing, these are editors, hosting and servers. So you can understand why we are asking for your help.

For example, is 50 rubles a month a lot or a little? A cup of coffee? Not much for a family budget. For Matron - a lot.

If everyone who reads Matrons supports us with 50 rubles a month, they will make a huge contribution to the possibility of developing the publication and the emergence of new relevant and interesting materials about the life of a woman modern world, family, raising children, creative self-realization and spiritual meanings.

The crazy rhythm of life gives rise to an eternal lack of time, exhausting with its monotony. Work, Kindergarten, shop, cooking, laundry, cleaning ... The day flies by like an arrow, and the next morning again - work, home ... We do not have time to do our favorite hobby, chat with a child, go to the theater. We forget to call our parents, meet friends, help relatives.

So in a hurry and bustle life rushes by. Looking back at the years that have passed, we would give a lot for the opportunity to live them differently: rejoicing in every day, the smile of a child, the flight of a butterfly and the murmur of a stream. But what to do to stop the inexorable run of minutes? Take a moment, stop in the endless whirl of worries and slowly think: “Why do I always fail to do anything?”

A story about lost time

Realizing the scale of the problem, humanity has developed a scientific strategy to solve it. A whole area has appeared that studies ways to detect and eliminate lost hours - time management. Special techniques teach you to understand why you do not have time for anything, and save an irreplaceable resource - time. Initially, they were used only for work, but gradually the term expanded to other areas: household chores, leisure activities, self-education.

time eaters

V American firms employee's constant delays after work are the reason for dismissal. Employers consider it unacceptable that the staff does not have time to cope with their duties in the allotted hours.

If you're chronically pressed for time, it's most likely a lack of self-discipline and an inability to deal with multiple distractions. In time management, the factors that steal our cherished minutes are called chronophages. Let's name the active time eaters that prevent us from succeeding and succeeding in life.

  • Internet

Problem number 1 of the computer age - dependence on all kinds of gadgets. Often, an Internet user, in addition to e-mail, has several accounts in in social networks, Instagram, forums, uses instant messengers and other applications. Such a person constantly looks through news feeds, letters and messages, puts endless likes and shares with friends the pictures and statuses he likes.

The insidiousness of the Internet chronophage is that it causes a strong addiction. Just look at the people on the subway. 90% of them are completely absorbed by smartphones. Meanwhile, if we analyze the value of the information being viewed, it can be safely assigned a garbage rating.

If you regularly update your pages and feel anxious when you don't see new posts, it's no wonder that you don't have time to do anything. It's time to take restrictive measures.

What to do to get rid of the habit that steals valuable time?

  • Filter email: unsubscribe from unnecessary mailings, send especially annoying recipients to spam.
  • Turn off sound notifications, check accounts no more than 1-2 times a day.
  • Leave only those pages that are really important to you, delete the rest without regret.
  • Control the duration of Internet communication, allocate a limited time period for it, gradually reducing it to a reasonable minimum.

In the freed minutes, do what gives you real pleasure. Chat in real life with old friends, go on a tour of hometown, take up a creative hobby. Such activities allow you to appreciate the moments of being, to live here and now, and not to exist in virtual reality.

  • Mess in the workplace

If your desk is littered with unnecessary papers to find required document it will take a lot of time. The same applies to folders on the computer. Do a general cleanup of your files. Organize them according to certain criteria: work, study, hobbies, correspondence, etc. Send documents that have lost their relevance to the trash. Clean your desktop of unnecessary shortcuts. Let it take a few hours, but the time savings will be many times greater.

In order to properly organize workplace, special programs have been developed, for example, the Japanese 5C system. Her key points:

  • sorting,
  • keeping order,
  • keeping clean,
  • standardization,
  • improvement.

By following these five rules, you will organize your workspace and learn how to use your time more efficiently. Smart Japanese have long found the answer to the question: "Why do people do nothing at work?". The proof is the excellence of Japanese technology and the highest level life in a country on the threshold of the 22nd century.

  • The habit of doing everything at once

When it accumulates a large number of cases, many begin to do them at the same time. Acting in this way, it is impossible to do anything on time. If things are solved in an emergency mode, the quality of work suffers. There are miscalculations and errors, the elimination of which requires even more time and effort.

The way out of this situation is quite simple. Make a list of tasks every day, placing them in order of importance. Follow this chart even if you feel like starting from the last point. The most important principle of time management is not to leave big things for later. The traditional excuse is "I'll do it when there's enough time". In this way, you not only do not have time to do anything, but also accumulate a lot of unresolved issues. get busy global problem little by little every day, and the result will definitely appear.

If you fail to complete your to-do list on time by removing all other obstacles, you may be overestimating the real possibilities. Another reason for chronic failure is the desire of the employer to dump an unbearable amount of work on one person, thus saving on staff salaries.

If the situation does not change, consider changing the organization. Otherwise, lack of time will develop into a problem of lack of health.

  • Communication with colleagues and acquaintances

This problem is more for women. Most women's groups it is almost the norm to have lengthy discussions on various topics: from cooking to politics. If you constantly discuss the affairs of colleagues, it is natural that you do not have time to do your own.

Do not distract during work hours for personal problems - this will have to be compensated free time. Communication within reasonable limits is permissible, the main thing is that it does not interfere with the performance of work duties.

  • Laziness

The most insidious time eater is able to disguise himself as others. It is laziness that makes you talk on the phone for hours, watch endless TV shows instead of doing useful work. Psychologists have found another hidden reason why a person does not have time to do anything - procrastination. This intricate term denotes the habit of constantly postponing urgent matters under various pretexts.

It differs from banal laziness in that the lazy person does not worry about doing nothing. Being in a state of procrastination, a person realizes the harm of idleness. Despite the absence of physical or mental effort, he does not rest, but expends internal energy.

How to figure out why I'm not doing well

To find your personal time sinks, start keeping track of your day. Make friends with an organizer and a timer. With their help, it is easy to do such a useful exercise.

Each hour, write down the specific fruits of your activities. We emphasize: not what you did, but concrete results. If you were in Odnoklassniki, write: "As a result, nothing." Have you prepared food? Write down: "Soup, meatballs, compote for three days."

After a few days, analyze your personal efficiency. How many hours a day are spent doing useful things, and how many are spent doing nothing? The conclusion is obvious. If you want to keep up with everything, cut classes with zero efficiency. Replace useless minutes and hours with constructive ones.

Depending on the goals that you are pursuing, spend them on obtaining useful skills, developing a business, raising children. Build a ladder for the long term and walk up it in small but sure steps. Thanks to the ability to manage time, you will have a chance to overcome the daily routine and say goodbye to the unenviable role of "squirrels in the wheel."

Test "Why am I not doing anything?"

Check your life for temporary leaks. Mark the problems that you face at least a couple of times a week.

  • Meetings at work.
  • Conversations with colleagues.
  • Putting things off.
  • Telephone conversations.
  • TV set.
  • Surfing on the Internet.
  • Reworking mistakes made at work.
  • Conflicts with loved ones and children.
  • Waiting in line, traffic jams, etc.
  • Communication with virtual friends.
  • Lack of inspiration.
  • Smoke breaks.
  • Long falling asleep or slow awakening.
  • Frequent tea parties.
  • Unexpected guests.

The results depend on the number of checked items:

  • 0-4 - You are capable of becoming a time management guru.
  • 5-7 - "Thieves of time" have already begun to steal minutes of your life.
  • More than 7 - Caution! Chronophages follow you step by step. 10 minutes here, 15 - there, a sad result - 2-3 irretrievably lost hours.

Effective stop list

Having recognized personal temporary kidnappers, proceed to eliminate them. Your main allies are determination and the right motivation. Think about how amazingly you will spend 3-5 extra hours a week (almost a whole day a month!).

An example plan might look like this:

  • Do not visit certain sites and pages (or cut the visiting time to a minimum).
  • Limit telephone conversations to 5-7 minutes.
  • Watch TV programs only by prior choice in the program.
  • Partially entrust household chores to be done by relatives (determine which ones).
  • Solve problems in order of their importance (do not take on several tasks at once).

It is important to indicate specific cases in the stop list, outline clear steps. Do not allow vague language, evasive phrases and unrealistic promises. To have time to live and work, properly prioritize. Otherwise, nothing can be done.

Compare yourself yesterday with the updated image of the future. Every day, remember to take at least a small step forward. As soon as life turns into chaos, look for chronophages, reorganize time. Gradually, the saved minutes will add up to the years of a new life, where there will be no place for the question: “Why do I not have time for anything?”

Vasilisa Reply:
January 30th, 2015 at 3:32 am

15 ways to change your life in 60 minutes! At least once a month, use any of these methods to shake up yourself and your life, to refresh it. So,…
1 - Tidy up and throw out all the rubbish Any thing that surrounds you either gives you energy or takes it away. Take inventory of your apartment. If you have not used a thing for a year ... Why do you need it? Sell ​​on avito.ru, give it to someone, take it to the trash. Free up your living space, let the energy into your home, give it room to move! If the energy does not move, you get a swamp.
2 - Make a list of ALL things hanging on you - write down on paper and bring any to the result. Our brain works best when it sees something concrete and tangible in front of it. When you keep a to-do list in your mind, your thoughts jump randomly from one to the other. As a result, you are inactive and not one step closer to their resolution. So grab a piece of paper and write out a to-do list. It might take a couple of days. Then choose the simplest - write it out on a separate sheet and deal with its solution until it is done. Remove the general list, otherwise your brain will continue its fruitless jumps. Resolving 1 case will energize you for future accomplishments. And literally in a month you will successfully destroy most of the "hanging"!
3 – Do what you fear It is extremely energizing, self-confident and motivating. plus it The best way dealing with any other fears. So choose the most fearless fear and overcome it.
4 - Do something new - something you've never done before. It doesn't have to be scary, but it has to be new. New impressions are new energy, expanded world view and new neural connections in the brain. Novelty makes your brain think better!
5 - Identify 3 main goals-DREAMS in your life Why do you live? Why do you do what you do? Defining life guidelines helps you focus your efforts by stopping doing unnecessary things.
6 - Buy yourself a quality good thing– image upgrade New, high-quality, expensive thing can give you a lot - confidence, energy, new proposals. Just try it, go to the store, try it on, look in the mirror and you yourself will feel everything!
7 - Meet someone who is more successful than you. You grow and develop only when you are surrounded by more successful and strong people than you. If there are none, you reach a certain level and don't move on. So think about where these people might be and get to know them.
8 - Chat with losers, drunkards, idlers .. You must have heard how badly they live. But hardly seen. Go, have a look, talk… And then, every time you feel like being lazy, remember what it can lead to.
9 - Sign up for a live training on a topic that interests you This is a great way not only to gain new knowledge that can move you forward, but also to find like-minded people and mentors. At such trainings it is much easier to establish contact. So don't waste money on yourself. This is your best investment!
-10 - Buy a subscription to a fitness club The easiest way to quickly change your life for the better is to increase your physical fitness. Swim, run, jump, shake fats, disperse blood throughout the body ... When the body is in good shape, you begin to think better and faster.
11 - Heal a tooth or something that hurts you Any pain in the body suggests that the disease has been going on for a long time and sucks you vitality. You may not even notice it, but the energy becomes less. Therefore, if something hurts, consult a doctor and immediately undergo a course of treatment. And even if everything is fine, you still go through a complete examination at least once a year.
12 - Create a hall of fame for personal achievement Whoever you are, but in your life there are results, victories and achievements. It does not matter where, when and how and how old you were. What matters is that it was. Collect all your letters, moments of overcoming yourself (skydiving), moments of happiness (birth of a child) and put it in one place, decorate this place. And your life will be filled with the energy of success!
13 - Drop everything and go to a new place - relax and think Constantly being on the front line of life blurs your perception. A new environment where you completely disconnect from the outside world will help you quickly find a way out of your problems. It is not necessary to go to distant lands here. You can just go to the nearest village or rent a cottage outside the city for a week.
14 - Throw out the TV Or at least remove all the news channels, leaving only nature and sports. Why do you need all this informational noise. You will not be able to influence, and therefore change, 99.9% of these events. Think only about what you can really influence. Well, use the TV to relax or get emotions. Now there are many channels where there is no news at all and even advertising. So the choice is great.
15 - See your dream come true No pictures, stories or videos will inspire you like a dream that you saw for yourself could touch and feel it. Take a test drive of a car, make an appointment with a realtor to view the house, go to where your dream is. And its achievement will be many times faster. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO START-CONTINUE...and CONTINUE... Move towards the dream, and not LIE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE DREAM!

Let's start with why we never have enough time to get everything done. Why cases are often taken away more attention than we expected.

Remember your student years namely sleepless nights. Even a very responsible student will spend one or two nights cramming during the session, as they did not have time to learn something during the day.

Researchers Roger Buhler, Dale Griffin and Michael Ross have uncovered the so-called "Planning Fallacy". Their study (published in the journal social psychology and personality psychology) showed that during planning, the subjects had a tendency to focus on the optimistic scenario, which caused problems when unseen circumstances. A more profitable strategy when planning time is to focus on a pessimistic (or "realistic") scenario. Of course, it is not necessary to immediately assume the worst option, although you should not forget about it either.

The Less Wrong blog offers a different perspective on time. Instead of evaluating your project and deciding how long it will take you to complete it, find out how long it took others to complete a similar task. This is a more accurate indicator of how much time you will eventually have to spend.

But not every task can be compared with a similar one. Cognitive science professor Douglas Hofstadter jokingly came up with "Hofstadter's Law". His column in The Guardian explains it best: “Any task will take longer than you think. Even if we take into account the law of Hofstadter.

This is an inevitable property of our minds: no matter how we plan, according to Hofstadter's Law, tasks will always take longer, even if we take this delay into account. So do not be surprised if the time spent on the project goes beyond all conceivable limits.

How to increase or decrease urgency

A study conducted at the University of Belgium showed that we are more clearly presenting the immediate events than the events in the distant future (we also remember the events of the recent past better).

Therefore, if we focus on the details of the future project, it will seem closer and more relevant to us. If you don't procrastinate early on, you can lay the groundwork for your project in minutes. This process will naturally set you up for work, and you will avoid a mountain of procrastination.

In other words, the main thing is to start. This is why self-development experts (like Tony Robbins) advise making goals as specific and clear as possible. This emphasizes the relevance of the goal and makes it less distant.

Move fast and make mistakes

"Ask for forgiveness, not permission" is traditional entrepreneurial advice.

Most people can easily stop you when you decide to start, but will not dare to interfere if you are already moving.

And experiments confirm this. A study conducted at the University of Chicago shows that people are much more upset when they anticipate something bad than when the bad thing has already happened.

It comes from the realization that we can change the future, but we cannot fix the past. And also because of the ability to evaluate the mistakes of the past. The prospect of failure reflects badly on our emotional state, while we become bolder when failure is already behind us.

If you're planning to make a change, like being proactive at work, and still want the least hassle and the most support, take the first step and ask for "forgiveness" if things go wrong. In any case, taking a step, however wrong, is better than doing nothing. Again, the key is to start.

How to change the value of time

Another study from the University of Chicago found that people place more value on the near future than on the near past. Scientists have noticed that emotional impact future event increases as it approaches, but once the event has occurred, its emotional impact is significantly reduced.

Research points to one of the main rules successful negotiations: pay later if you are a buyer and sell early if you are a seller.

In theory, this means that you are unlikely to get more if you send an invoice after the service has been provided. Of course, if you are a service provider, you will want to get paid up front and maximize your profits. Do not settle for a postpaid payment system.

Unfortunately, we don't have a magical DeLorean car that we can jump into and go back in time and make amends. But simply being aware of these patterns will go a long way in making decisions, planning, and understanding why we behave and react the way we do.

We don’t know about you, but for us this is a typical problem: you run around at work - important things, then and there, if you want coffee with a girlfriend - you remember, you also have to add a report, it’s not up to coffee, you sign up for a massage - it cancels, because you need to buy Czech shoes for your daughter for a concert (but I completely forgot), you run out to training - a friend’s call, you have now moved coffee :). And you are not some businesswoman with a million things to do, and, in general, you are responsible and really try, and not forgetful of some kind, but all the same - the eternal carousel of "managed-canceled-did not have time-forgotten." Why and how to deal with it?

We asked those who are better versed in this - in the BogushTime Time Management Studio. Coach Oksana Dolgova was not surprised by our problem. "I myself encountered it before. After the birth of my daughter, I went on maternity leave and thought - well, finally, sitting at home, I will do everything. I even decided to complete a course in the analysis of financial markets in parallel, so that I could work on the stock exchange in my free time from household chores." I learned, - says Oksana. But she didn't work for almost a day. Do you know why? It sounds trite - I did not know how to plan. Even though I thought I could. And now, whether I ask my clients or friends, or they plan their day, most say yes. However, my next question is: "Are you planning on paper?" - leads them to a dead end. The answer is traditional: "Why? It's all in my head." And I always say this frankly: if they don’t fix it, then you don’t plan.

Don't try to do everything - do what YOU need

Therefore, the first and main advice (for someone, perhaps hackneyed), but the only effective one is to write down your plans. Clearly, hourly. When you plan, you spend your time the way you want to, not the way it happened. When I first wrote down my intentions for the weekend, I was delighted and shocked at the same time. It seemed that the tasks for two days, but it turned out ... I wanted to cook dinner, clean the house, sort out and hide all the summer things, go to the salon for a manicure, go to cartoons with my daughter, finally read a book in the evening. It seemed that it was difficult to accomplish the plan in one day, but it turned out that 6:00 was enough for this, and, besides, I had time to rest. I just consistently determined everything - that is, I optimized my time.

Second. Don't try to do everything - do what YOU need. This is not about selfishness, but about your interests. Just determine for yourself what you want to have in a month, a year, two or five, and start acting accordingly today. Relatively speaking, if you want to go to the Carpathians for the Christmas holidays in a month, take the time to look for a ticket, a ski suit, or whatever you need for such a vacation. If you want to buy a car in a year, already study the offers, nuances and possible side jobs. Do you understand? Every action you take today should be closely related to what you wish for yourself in the future. Just ask yourself - why am I doing this? There must be a goal, and this goal must warm you. Then there will always be time for it.

Never ranks planned tasks by importance, just write down everything in a "stream of consciousness"

Third. Calculate the time required for each task. Going for a manicure is not only painting your nails dry and having nice chats with the master, it is also a round trip. That is not an hour, but one and a half or two. And the purchase of products itself takes time both in the store, and on the road, and then putting everything bought on the shelves at home. If you expect to do 10 things that really need 27, and not 10:00, then don't be surprised later that you didn't even have half of it. Soberly weigh and calmly transfer it to other days, redistribute it for a whole week - but consciously, thoughtfully. Don't try to push yourself. To succeed in everything is to achieve your goals and enjoy your work.

Fourth. Never ranks scheduled tasks by importance, Just write down "stream of consciousness" whatever you want to do. Even "Saturday, 11.00 - go to the grocery store" or "Wednesday, 17.00 - take the baby to the circle." It is this routine that we do not take into account, and it is precisely because of it that we do not have time to complete other, more pleasant things. “Oh, I forgot, I still have to pick up tickets”, “Oh, today is my colleague’s birthday, I’ll have to skip fitness again” - familiar, right? We consider everyday affairs unimportant and neglect their planning, and they are one of the main chrono-radiators.

Fifth. Forget about papers and stickers pasted all over the apartment. It only creates chaos both around and in your head. Chairman in order to quickly and efficiently solve and it does not need to be overloaded with unnecessary trifles. For them, get a planner - with him and write down all your affairs, plans and various "do not forget." So it is easier to control and, accordingly, to keep up."

We don't know about you, but we'll try. Because Oksana's words were very striking: even if you do not live according to the plan, you still live according to the plan - only not yours, but someone else's. So maybe it's time to make sure that you plan, and not you? Then do whatever you want.

 


Read:



Is it allowed to use olives in the diet for weight loss What are the benefits of pickled olives

Is it allowed to use olives in the diet for weight loss What are the benefits of pickled olives

They are mistakenly referred to as berries, fruits, vegetables. But these are stone fruits that have something in common with plums, cherries and apricots. Just for the taste...

How many calories are in buckwheat?

How many calories are in buckwheat?

Since ancient times, buckwheat has been considered the queen of cereals for its numerous beneficial properties, rich vitamin composition, microelement content and...

PP omelette for breakfast: diet recipes with photos

PP omelette for breakfast: diet recipes with photos

There seems to be no special science in how to cook a regular scrambled egg. But for many, the dish burns, the yolks are blurry, the protein is not fried ....

How to cook chicken stomachs so that they are soft

How to cook chicken stomachs so that they are soft

Hello my dear chefs! Not everyone considers offal a delicacy. There are even those who treat them with disgust. But at...

feed image RSS