8 Approaches Ultra-Productive People Use To Finish Their Tasks

Are you always racing against time? Do you always find yourself stuck with a lot of tasks and no way to manage them? Do you have a satisfied feeling at the end of the day or are you sulking over where the day went? Do you often wonder how others balance their time and get everything done?

You have landed at exactly the right place! Here, we will tell you how to be ultra-productive and make the most of your time – the most precious yet scare resource for every human being. Let’s not waste any time and get on with the approaches that you can actually start applying today. These are the tried and tested approaches used by ultra-productive people.

1. They know their priorities

All of us seem to have a LOT on our hands all the time and it is always very important. But trust me, if we look closely, we would find that not everything on our to-do list is equally important. Some of them are and some of them are not. Some can be delegated, some cannot be.

Ultra-productive people know their priorities better than the rest of us. So, we need to follow their lead and prioritize tasks. Also, when we accomplish the most important things, we tend to get even more motivated to get on with the rest of things to be done.

2. They don’t defer tasks

Either they do it, delegate it or eliminate it, but they never defer it. Delaying a thing to be done later means that you will have to look at it twice, read it twice or comprehend it twice. That’s a big time-waster. Tackle the task at hand immediately, delegate it if you can or decide that it is not required.

3. They focus on one task at one time

Multi-tasking is old school, ultra-productive people focus instead! If you are trying to multi-task, you may think that you are saving time or getting a lot done in little time but usually that’s not true. Instead of this approach, it is much better to focus on one task and finish it by a decided timeline. This will not only help you in achieving better results but will actually save you time and energy.

4. They don’t say “yes” to everything

Saying yes to everything is a sure way to end up not getting what you want. Productive people say no more than they say yes. This way, they have only those things to do that really matter to them or can really make a difference. If you say yes to everything, you won’t be able to get even half of them done and end up disappointing yourself as well as others.

Learning to say no is an important step that can boost your productivity. Over-commitment is a key to failure.

5. They set aside specific time for email and other ways of communication

Being connected all the time is a fallacy that has sneaked into all of our daily activities. Apparently, it doesn’t take specific time because we falsely believe that we are “just checking” our smart phones when waiting in a queue or so but this activity takes both our precious mental energy and time.

Ultra-productive people check their emails and other messages only at specific times. This way, they can focus on the task at hand and can complete it more successfully.

6. They do the least inspiring thing first

Generally people try to delay doing the stuff that they find least interesting. That’s a wrong approach for productivity. Ultra-productive people tackle such things first. This way, they have a clearer mind to do rest of the activities and can actually look forward to them. Otherwise, a less interesting task to be done would keep nagging you even when you are involved in your favorite activities.

7. They plan their day

They plan effectively. Good planning is like getting almost half the task done! If you plan your day or week, you will be quite clear about what needs to be done, how much time it will consume and what are the expected results. Otherwise, you will keep doing things constantly and the results might be vague or undesired.

8. They have a to-do list

Documenting things is one of the best ways to be absolutely clear about your thoughts. Ultra-productive people document their tasks. Sometimes, by following this practice, we can be surprised by the results ourselves. When we write down things, we put them in black and white. In our mind, things can be a jumbled mess but when you write them, you know exactly what needs to be done.

Featured photo credit: university student group/www.audio-luci-store.it via flickr.com

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