I’ve spent the past several years writing about time management. I’ve studied the schedules of hundreds of people — including my own. The best productivity tip I’ve gleaned from all these calendars?
Match the right task to the right time. If you do this, it’s amazing what you’ll get done.
I happen to be best able to focus in the mornings. When I sit down at my desk around 8 a.m. with a cup of coffee, I am a copy-writing machine. I can crank out an 800-word article before my first trip to the bathroom.
At 3 p.m. I do not have this same focus. If I sit down to write an article, I’ll be checking Facebook, checking email, cleaning the gunk off my computer keyboard, and wandering over to the refrigerator with startling frequency.
I know this, yet it’s been a long battle to honor the right rhythm for my days. At one point last year I looked at my schedule and realized I’d failed to protect three of five mornings a week because of various kid commitments. I’d often wind up with phone calls scheduled at awful times like 9 a.m. on the mornings I did have available, too.
Long term, this was not a recipe for success. So I reformed. I changed my childcare schedule to give me my mornings back — and elected to quit earlier in the evening instead. I also became pro-active about scheduling interviews. Now, if I’m arranging a time to chat with a source, I always suggest afternoon slots first. If that completely doesn’t work with someone I really want to interview, fine. But why offer up my best writing time without a fight?
Your schedule may look different, of course. Maybe you write best at night or — for some reason — from 2 to 3 p.m. If so, that’s great. But whatever time you work best, protect it for work that requires intense focus. Schedule other things at other times. You’ll be amazed at what you can check off the to-do list.