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BoostYourProductivityFocus&TimeManagement

Focus

1.MeditationPick an amount of time you can commit to meditating daily. Its important that youre consistent and

disciplined inyourpractice.Committostickingwithyourschedulefor30days. Ifyouslipup,startcounting

againatday1.After those30daysyoucanassesswhether ithashelped increaseyour focusorotherwise

addedvaluetoyourlife.Ifithasnt,itmakessensetostop.Ifithas,continuewithit;itshouldbemucheasier

tocontinueonceyouvealreadydoneitfor30days.This30dayruleisagoodtrickfortryingtogetyourself

intohabitsyouwanttoadopt.

Meditationpractice(515minforbeginners)

o Sitinanypositionthatsstableandcomfortablewithoutexertingmucheffort.Ifpossible,avoidleaningonanything(thatwayifyoustartdriftingofftosleep,yourbodywillstarttoslumpandyouaremorelikely

tojerkbackawake).

o Breatheinandoutafewtimesandletyourbodyrelax.o Donottrytocontrolyourrateorstrengthofbreathing,justbreathenaturallyandobserveastheairfills

yourlungsandthenstreamsbackout.

o Closeyoureyesorfocusyourgazeonsomestablepointinfrontofyouandstartbycountingeveryoutbreathupto21.

o Ifyoueverget lost inthought,becomeuncertainofwhichnumberyoureonorcountover21withoutintendingto,bringyourfocusbacktoyourbreathandstartoverfrom1.

o Ifyouhavegreatdifficultmaintainingthecount,trycountingboththeinbreathandoutbreath.o Donottrytoblockoutexternalsensations(suchassounds)orstopbackgroundthoughts.Donotworryif

thoughtssometimescometobemoreprominentinyourawarenessthanthebreathsensations.Youronly

taskistomaintainanawarenessofthebreaththatisascontinuousaspossible.

o It is important to rememberyouareworkinga focusandwillpowermusclehere.Dontberateyourselfwhen yourmindwanders. Instead, you shouldgently let go of the line of thought and redirect your

attention to the breath. Cultivate happiness at the fact that younoticedyour mind wandering and

appreciationforthementalfacultythatallowedyoutodoso.Attemptingtopunishyourselfforallowing

yourmindtowanderwillnotmakeyourmindlesslikelytowanderinthefutureandwillmakeyourmind

moreagitated.Performthesameprocedureifyoufindyourselffrustrated/annoyed/irritatedorbored.

Therearemanymeditationtechniquesoutthere;experimentandfindwhatworksbestforyou.Andworkto

sticktothemeditationscheduleyousetforyourself.

2.Specifygoalsandbreakthemintoactionablesubgoals

Itshardtofocus ifyoudontknowwhattofocuson.Specifyinggoalsandchunkingthem intosubgoals isa

goodway to avoid this problem. Get explicit about your goals:write them down. Then figure out what

steps/subgoals

you

need

to

accomplish

in

order

to

achieve

your

larger

goal.

Sounds

simple,

but

its

an

importantstepmostdonttake.

Nowlookattheitematthetopofyourlist.Doyoufeelmotivatedtoworkonthattask,andcanyouvisualize

yourselfworkingonit?Ifnot,breakitdownintosmallertasksuntilyoudo.

o Sojo is a great resource for helping you get through different hurdles at different points in yourplanningandexecutionprocess:http://www.thesojo.net/


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3.Createadistractionfreetimeandspace.

Identifywhatmightbedistractingyouandfigureoutwhatcanbeeliminatedeitherpermanentlyorduring

the hours you most need to stay focused. Disable instant alarms, put your phone on silent and even

temporarily disable your internet connection for a set amount of timewhile youwork on activities that

demand focus likewritingorediting.Carveouta timeyouplan toworkon thesehighfocussteps,write it

downandthendoyourbesttoeliminatedigitalandrealworlddistractionswhileyouworkonit.

4.Exercise&diet

Regularexerciseaids focus. Inthemediumlongterm itkeepsyourenergyup, improves focusandcanhelp

alleviatefeelingsofbeingoverwhelmedandfrazzled,whichcanbedebilitatingtoproductivity.Gettingaerobic

exercisefor3060minutes34daysaweeksgivesyouahugefocusadvantage.Eventakinga510minutewalk

outsidebeforesettlingdownandenteringyournodistractionzonecanbehelpfulinkeepingyoufocusedand

ontask;theboostfromexerciseshouldmorethanpayforthetimeittakesup.

Diet isalso important formanagingenergyand focus.Theearlieryouget intogooddiethabits, thebetter.

Herearesomegoodtipsonhealthyeatinghabits:http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm

TimeManagement

1.Timelogging

Mostofusthinkwehaveafairlyaccuratesenseofhowwespendourtime/ourdays.Asitturnsout,manyof

usdont.

Time

logging

gives

us

alittle

reality

check

on

how

were

spending

our

time.

The

idea

is

simple.

o Startaspreadsheetwhereyourecordhowyourespendingyourtimeforaweekorevenbetter,foramonth.Thereareanumberoftoolsthatcanhelpyoudothis(seelinkbelow). Simplywritingdown

whatyouredoingforcesyoutothinkaboutwhetheryouredoingthemostproductivething.

o Lookbackathowyouspendyourtimeandsee ifhowyouspendyourtime isconsistentwithyourpriority list.Areyouspendingminimaltimeonsomethingyouvepeggedasahighpriority?Makea

concertedefforttospendmoretimeonit.Timebox it.Areyouspending lotsoftimeonsomething

thatgivesyoulittletonovalue?AddittoyourtoNotdolist(comingup),cutitoutorscaleitback.

Here are a few options for timetracking applications to check out:

http://lifehacker.com/5362829/five besttime+trackingapplications

2.ToNOTdolists

Wereallfamiliarwithtodolists,buttoNOTdolistsarearguablyasimportant.Mostpeoplehavethingsthey

spendalot

of

time

on

that

theyre

not

getting

alot

back

from.

Watching

the

Real

Housewives,

surfing

the

internet,orplayingvideogamesforhoursonend.Inordertomaketimetoimproveyourselfandaccomplish

yourgoals, youneed to cutout the things you spend timeon thatarentadding value to your life.Time

loggingcanbeavaluabletoolforfiguringoutwhatshouldbeonyourtostoplist.Youcaneithereliminatea

habit entirely or restrict it to certain times, making it more of an enjoyable treat that you engage in

deliberately.

3.Buildingaprioritylist&settingdeadlines

Youneedtoknowwhichgoalsaremostimportantsoyoucanfocusonthemfirst.Ifyouhavetimeleftoverfor

therest,evenbetterbutput firstthings first.Explicitlystatingyourpriorities iscrucial.Getting itdownon

paper forces you to turn fuzzy ideas into an actionable concrete form. And its always there for future

reference.

First

prioritize

your

big

goals

list.

Its

sometimes

hard

to

rank

goals

relative

to

each

other

but

force

yourself

to

do it.Lookatyourtopprioritygoal.Ifyoudontyethavesubgoalsforthatgoal,makethem.Ifyoualready

havesubgoals:goldstar!Nowprioritizethem.Thenstartmakingtimetoknocksomeofthosesubgoalsout.

Settingdeadlinescanbehelpful.

4.Timeboxing&thePomodorotechnique

Setatimeranddontstopworkingonataskuntilitsfinishedorthetimergoesoff.Settingthetimerfor3090

minutes isagoodruleofthumb.This isagoodstrategytouseonceyouhavea listofactionablesubgoals

youretryingtoachieve.Pickahighprioritysubgoalandtimeboxaway.


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ThePomodorotechnique isaspecialformoftimeboxing.Youpickatasktoworkon,workonyourchosen

taskfor25minutes,thengiveyourselfa35minutebreak.Repeatthisprocess4timesandthenallowyourself

alongerbreak.http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3freepomodoroproductivityapps/

5.FreeYourBrain

Does itoccurtoyouthatsomethingneedsdoing?Write itdown.If itneedstobedoneataparticulartime,

writeitinyourcalendar.Therearefarmoreusefulthingsyourbraincouldbedoingthantryingtokeeptrack

oflistsofstufftodo.Useyourextendedbraininstead.

Youneedasystemyoucantrust.Putalltheinformationinoneplaceitcanbeonpaperoroncomputer, but it should be kept very easy to find. The list of taskswill need reviewing and

organizing,perhapsonceaweek.

AdditionalTools&Tips:

1. SpeedReadingTheresa lot to learnandkeepupwith. Ifyoucan read faster,youcan learn faster,whichmeansyoucan

eitherlearnmoreorspendlesstimelearningwhatyouwanttolearnandmoretimegettingthingsdone.

http://www.spreeder.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading

2. ToLearnListA lotofbig ideashavemanycomponents.Andsometimes inorder tomakebig ideashappen,youneedto

understandthecomponentsfirst.Writingdownallthethingsyouwanttolearnwhenyouthinkofthemisa

greathabittogetinto.

3. Hangoutwithpeoplewhohavequalitiesthatyouwanttohave.Neverunderestimatethepowerofsocialnorms.Studiesshowwebecomelikethepeoplewehangaround.So

ifyouwanttobefocusedandefficient,makeanefforttospendtimewithpeopleyouthinkarefocusedand

efficient.

4. WorkononethingatatimeMultitaskingdoesntwork.Stayfocusedononethingatatime.

5.

Batching

Findtasksthataresimilar,suchasansweringabunchofemails,anddothematthesametime.

6. TimeYourWorkSetalistofthingstodoeachday,andanumberofhoursyouintendtowork.Thenworkuntilthelistoftasks

iscompletedoryoureachyourtimelimit.Whicheverissooner.Youwillgiveyourselfanincentivetocomplete

tasksquickly.

ActionPoints

Learnmore:o LearnaboutGettingThingsDone,apopularmethodforkeepingtrackoftasksandpreventingthem

fromcluttering

your

mind:

http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/GTD

cognition.pdf

Domore:o TryEatThatFrog.EatThatFrog isasimpletechniqueforavoidingprocrastinationonyourmost

importanttasks.Tryitout:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GB5Fh2XM

o ExperimentwithHabits.Commit to ahabit youwant to adopt for30days. If you fail, startover.Especiallywhenbeginning,itsadvisabletochooseonehabitatatimetofocusonsoyoullhaveto

prioritizethehabitsyouwant.Onceyouvehit30days,youcandecidewhetherthehabit isworth

keeping.

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