Are You Short on Time or Short on Effective Planning? Steps to Improve Productivity

Despite feeling like there is never enough time in the day, Americans now have more free time than ever.

Sociologist John P. Robinson at the University of Maryland, insists that the issue is one of perception rather than actual commitments. Hanna Rosin summarized his findings in Slate Magazine, “Robinson doesn’t ask us to meditate, or take more vacations, or breathe, or walk in nature, or do anything that will invariably feel like just another item on the to-do list. The answer to feeling oppressively busy, he says, is to stop telling yourself that you’re oppressively busy, because the truth is that we are all much less busy than we think we are.”

Consider your workday, do you spend the time frantically rushing from one project to another? This sort of constant busyness leads to shoddy work and poor health. Left untended, these issues sap your productivity leaving you unfocused and less productive. So how do you slow the pace but maintain the output?

Effective Planning

One way to get you schedule under control is effective planning. Make sure you are giving yourself enough time not just to do the work but also to consider the outcome and “think it through.” By building in that time for contemplation, you will slow the pace and reduce the amount of rework due to unconsidered consequences. If you start to view planning as a necessity rather than a luxury, you will see benefits in both wellness and productivity. The key is to prioritize so you can complete urgent task without rushing, giving you more flexibility.

Avoid Distractions

Another option is to turn the smart phone off. That is the approach taken by LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner who schedules blocks of solitary time when he is not to be disturbed by emails or calls. By building in these sessions, Weiner allows himself the personal time necessary to make the right decisions and focus on what is truly important. Although multi-tasking is sometimes unavoidable, completing tasks one at a time is usually more efficient and leads to better results.

Visual Management

Consider using visual management to help maximize the effectiveness of your planning. Simply being able to view the tasks in front of you as if they were physical objects can make the workload feel less daunting. This can be something as simple as index cards or post-it notes on the wall. Moving task around will also help you conceptualize the day ahead, and checking off completed task is always great for motivation. Learn more about visual management with this video course.