Written by Sandra López
Índice
We have all been ‘caught by the bull’ at one time or another. Nowadays, time is, if not the most, one of the most valuable resources for any worker, but especially for freelancers, freelancers and entrepreneurs who work on their own and for whom time is slipping through their fingers. Who hasn’t had those days when you wish the hours would multiply? What about those where we wish we could turn back the clock? The truth of the matter is that we cannot go back in time, just as it is not possible to increase the hours on the clock.
We tend to think that time flies by and that others are lucky that the same thing does not happen to them. The reality of this is that we all live on the same planet (yes, the one that calls itself “Earth”) and, therefore, time passes for all of us the same. Of course, some take advantage of it more than others.
You never stop to think about it, but we have more college degrees than we think. Very few are spared from the Master’s Degree in Distractions and Absent-Mindedness, in which most of us get an honors degree. We are experts at getting distracted by the first speck of dust that flies past our screen. It’s as if our lives were going in it. We totally disconnect from the task at hand and our gaze follows the path of that little fluff that flies without schedules or restrictions. What sets us apart from her is that, although we too are free, we are not so free when it comes to time. But what is time? The answer of many entrepreneurs would be something like “A set of millions of milliseconds that can reach a speed comparable to that of a shooting star”. We are not shooting stars, nor can we reach such a speed, so the most interesting thing we can do is to distribute our tasks well in order to better organize our time.
Time is a collection of millions of milliseconds that can reach a speed comparable to that of a shooting star. Fdo: An entrepreneur
Productive habits to better organize your time
As you may well know, not all time management tools and applications work the same for everyone. There is no exact science and there are no basic rules that explain, one by one, the steps to follow to be more productive. The experience and situations experienced by each one of us are what allow us to develop and implement our own techniques, which are the ones that really work for us and with which we achieve full performance. Despite this, there are a series of practices related to time management that each and every one of us should apply, as they will help us to optimize our time efficiently.
Find your ideal work environment
Although everyone has their own preferences, the ideal in this case would be that the space in which you are going to develop your tasks is a spacious place and with the necessary light so as not to fall asleep. It would also be perfect if your chair is comfortable enough. By this we do not mean that you do your work lying down in an armchair. Simply choose a chair with a comfortable backrest with which you can adjust the height to your liking. Try to keep your desk tidy. Place in it only what you need and remove all those books and documents that you are not going to use, because they will only divert your attention. Keep in mind that this is a place where you will be spending many hours so the more comfortable it is, the better.
Say goodbye to distractions
Isolate yourself as much as possible from the world around you. See what it is that distracts you and remove it from your sight. Computers, smartphones, tablets… Don’t beat around the bush, we all know the ‘airplane mode’ (in the case of cell phones) and it is very easy to activate it. The only phone you should leave working (but far from your reach) is the one that customers will call whenever they want to ask you a question. If you use your personal cell phone for this purpose, forget that there are these applications that we love so much but that take up so much of our time. Most terminals allow you to block notifications produced by applications such as Facebook or WhatsApp when you do not have them open.
If you work from the computer, close all those windows that will distract you and check your e-mail accounts once or twice a day, in a pre-established way and with a fixed schedule. This way you won’t be constantly interrupting other tasks and you will be able to move on to what really matters.
Create a to-do list for that day
One of the things that will help you get organized is to create a list of tasks and organize them by priority. This will take you no more than five minutes and will be really useful. You will avoid checking the previous day’s emails with all the time that this entails.
Prioritizes work
We know that you are overloaded with work, so we advise you to prioritize some jobs before others. In this case, the order of the factors does alter the product. Our recommendation is not to leave the heaviest tasks for the last hours of the day. Do you really believe that the best ideas come at this time, when you are probably already tired?
Perform the most complex tasks during the hours when you are most productive. The ideal is to combine the more difficult activities with other shorter and easier ones. This way you will complete tasks and get more motivation, which will be essential to finish the heaviest work.
The hours in which we are less productive (usually the last hours of the day) are ideal to dedicate to more enjoyable projects that do not require great attention and understanding.
Prioritizing the most complex projects and interspersing them with simple tasks is the best decision if you want to achieve high levels of productivity.
Focus on a single task at a time
Have you ever heard the saying “He who grasps too much grasps too little”? A very true phrase that we should all remember from time to time. Who hasn’t tried to finish three or four projects simultaneously? This practice can be summed up in one simple word: CHAOS. It is advisable to go little by little. If you try to do too many jobs, you will end up doing none of them and the time spent on it will have been in vain.
Establish a work schedule and routine.
It is highly advisable to set a work schedule, this will help us to be consistent. Having a work schedule will force us to follow a routine. On the other hand, starting to work at a different time every day will make us get tired of what we are doing and will generate a great disorganization. The ideal would be to keep a logical order of schedules that will help us to plan our daily tasks correctly.
Take breaks
Not everything is work, our body and above all, our mind, need to rest and disconnect from time to time. We recommend you to take a break of about fifteen minutes for every two hours worked. Make sure that those 10 minutes do not take longer than necessary (as we all know), because you will have lost time that you could have spent on other projects. Resting is fine, as long as it is done correctly and in the right measure.
Plan your activities for the next day
It is highly recommended that at the end of the day you make a list of activities to do for the following day. You will be able to better organize your work. This will allow you to dedicate a certain amount of time to each project and divide the time equally.
Don’t demand too much of yourself
If you can’t finish the list of tasks you have for today because unforeseen events have arisen and you have had to spend more time on another project, don’t suffer. The worst thing you can do is to demand too much of yourself. Try to take things slowly and patiently. You are a person, not a machine. Sometimes the times set for a given task may be exceeded and this does not mean that you are mismanaging your time, we simply underestimate the workload that a task may entail.
Applications and tools for proper time management
There are numerous time management applications and tools that will help you to properly plan your daily tasks. Each of these tools includes a series of functionalities whose sole purpose is to help us organize ourselves better in order to be more productive.
Traditional time management tools
The most classic are reluctant to abandon traditional formats. We continue to find workers who make their notes in diaries, post-its and notebooks, the oldest medium in existence but the one that has lasted the longest to date.
These tools are ideal at times when mobile connectivity or coverage may be limited, and therefore turning on a computer or connecting to the Internet is not feasible.
If you are one of those inveterate classics, you should know that, although handwritten notes encourage, stimulate and help clarify our thoughts on specific occasions, Apps are a really useful means that will facilitate your work. Surely you have piles and piles of papers accumulated in a drawer in your office. You already know that your workplace must be completely clean and organized, so what are you waiting for to say goodbye to those crumpled sheets of paper? They take up too much space, even if you organize them well, and you are not doing your bit for the environment.
If you still prefer the more traditional recipes, you should get to know tools like Evernote, which we mentioned in one of the last posts. You will be able to use it to write by hand on a digital support, and manage all the information you consider necessary.
Applications to be more productive
Currently, the boom in the applications market has put within our reach a large number of tools that seek to make our lives much simpler and more comfortable. There are many types of applications that can be useful to organize your time and tasks. As the options are numerous and time is money, here is our selection!
Apps to organize to-do lists
This tool is ideal for all those perfectionists who like to have everything under control and in place. Write down all the tasks you have for the week and distribute the time you will dedicate to each one.
Remember the milk
This application provides you with numerous functionalities so that you can organize your tasks well and never forget anything.
Its main characteristics are:
- Free application.
- Allows you to manage tasks from anywhere.
- Receive emails and task reminders.
- Share all your work.
- Access from your cell phone.
- Manage tasks offline.
- Complement it with Google Calendar.
Google Calendar
This Google application is very useful for planning daily tasks. It is like an agenda but online. We will be able to set alarms and reminders in the form of pop-ups on our desktop or emails to our email account. Therefore, Google Calendar fulfills a triple function: agenda, calendar and alarm. Among its main characteristics we can point out:
- Allows you to create events.
- Option to program alarms.
- Include quotations.
- Include places, connected to Maps.
- Collaborative calendars: you can give other users access to edit or view calendars.
Trello
Trello is a very flexible tool that allows you to have all your tasks organized in a really easy way. Among the main features we can highlight the following:
- Free application.
- It allows you to see your entire project at a glance.
- You can add as many people to the project as you need.
- Real-time update.
- Allows you to post comments.
- Option to upload files from the computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and OneDrive.
- You can add checklists, tags and due dates.
Apps for project management
If you are working with different clients at the same time, project management tools are especially for you. You will be able to keep track of each task and be aware of any changes that occur. This way you will be able to know, whenever you want, the status of the project and how it is progressing.
Basecamp
It is a project management tool with which you can work together with customers and suppliers. Everyone will have full monitoring of the project and will be kept up to date with all the changes that occur. It stands out for its simplicity and ease of use.
Active Collab
Manage your projects in a simple and efficient way with Active Collab, a flexible tool that puts a multitude of functionalities at your fingertips.
- Task management
- Team collaboration
- Time tracking
- Invoices
Google Drive for Work
Enjoy cloud storage without limitations and restrictions. With Google Drive for Work you’ll keep your work safe and secure, and you’ll be able to access it from anywhere and on any device.
- Access your files wherever you are and from any device
- Unlimited storage
- Allows content sharing (at a monthly fee)
- It allows you to store photos, articles, designs, drawings, recordings and videos up to 5 TB.
- Works offline
- Video calls
Hangouts
With Google’s Hangouts tool you can bring your conversations to life. Save the time you would spend meeting with the customer and take advantage of the video call feature offered by the application to save time and costs.
- Enables group video calls
- Hold individual and group conversations
- It gives you the option to insert emojis, photos, GIFs and maps.
- Desktop sharing
- Compatible with all devices and operating systems
Apps to avoid distractions
For those of you who get distracted by a fly, these apps are for you! Now you won’t waste any time (well, just a little) visiting and viewing other websites, because in the end what they do is take away time that you could be spending on your projects.
LeechBlock
With LeechBlock you won’t waste time (yes, we know you check social networks and your favorite websites while you work) and you will be much more efficient and productive.
Its main characteristics are as follows:
- Allows you to block the websites that we indicate to you
- Blocks sites within a set period of time
- Option to block after a time limit (e.g. 10 minutes every hour)
- Combination of periods and time limit (e.g. 10 minutes every hour between 17:00 and 22:00h)
Stayfocusd
With Stayfocusd you will be able to increase your productivity by restricting access to pages and websites that we usually access and that take away time that we could dedicate to our tasks.
- Allows you to set time limits on certain websites
- Block websites all day long
- Blocking of certain domains
What tools do you use to manage your time? Which ones make you more productive? Go ahead and try one of these and tell us about your experience!
