Transcripts
1. Introduction: You ever had a to
do list that just keeps on growing endlessly,
day in and day out. You keep adding tasks to it. And you have no idea if
you're moving forward or not. Are you getting
closer to your goals, or are you moving further
away from your goals? This is part of effective
planning and scheduling, which is crucial for time
management and productivity. Whether you are a
student, an entrepreneur, accounting creator,
a business owner, regardless of your demain or
the industry that you're at, it is crucial in order
for you to crush your goals and to move
forward with your life. One step at a time,
such that you are actually achieving things
that should be done, we need to have a
clear idea how to effectively plan and
schedule our day, our week, all month, in the best way possible. And this is what we're going to be learning in this
current class, which I'm going to show you
some effective techniques to make it a bit easier to help you actually
prioritize the items on your task list
or to do lists, manage them effectively,
schedule them properly in order to actually see
yourself moving forward, getting things done,
getting closer to your goals one day at a time
in the best way possible.
2. Your Project: Your project for the
class revolves around applying what we have learned
to your own schedule, your own to do
list or task list, such that you're going to incorporate the elements
that we have covered to schedule and to optimize the arrangements
and the priorities, including the elements of time, the element of planning, in addition to the core concepts that we have covered
in this current class.
3. Effective Planning Techniques: Now when you get your priorities in place and the tasks
that you need to do, in order to move
forward with your day to day activities
and with your goals, you need to effectively plan and allocate the time needed
for those activities. Having just simply one
big to do list where you have all the tasks on that list will not
get the job done. Most probably, you
have tried this, and you ended up either not
knowing what to begin with, or how to navigate from
one task to the other. And unfortunately, you'll end up doing one of the most
unproductive habits, which is multitasking, where you jump from
one test to the other. Some of them not even
related taxing your brain, causing you to get drained, get fatigued, and not
getting things done. So how do we navigate this? First of all, we have
a technique which is called time blocking, where we assign specific times for the tasks on our calendar. I'm going to show
you a demonstration for you to understand
and to see how could you be able to apply this to your own unique case
and your own life. But the purpose of
time blocking is where we assign a certain
time block within our day in order to get
tasks or similar tasks done. And then we move to
another time block. Let's say, from 8:00 to 10:00 A.M. You allocate this
time block for exercising. Ten to 12:00 P.M. You go ahead and do your
activities about work, chores, whatever it is, such that you are moving from one block to the other
in a systematic way, knowing what to do at a
specific point in time, not leaving tasks out
and open in the air, having no idea how connected or how organized
that they should be. Batching tasks. This is
very important as well. It can go hand in hand with
time blocking, if you prefer, where you combine tasks which are similar
to each other or of a similar nature to tackle
them at the same time. For example, for
content creators, instead of creating a piece
of content every other day, where you juggle
content creation, and then you do other administrative
work, whatever it is. You allocate a certain day or a couple of days where you
batch produce your content. That way you are
creating content as a focused task for a
certain period of time, instead of switching between different tasks which
are not related, saving you time,
saving you effort, and making you more productive. And for content creators, you notice when you are
creating a piece of content, if you create a series of
pieces one after the other, you are in a state
of flow instead of disconnecting,
reconnecting, disconnecting, reconnecting, which is
taxing on your brain, at the same time
makes you lose focus, which leads us to
the third point, which is the daily goal. Every single day, try to aim for three to five key tasks or activities such that
once you get them done, it means you have
one during the day. Unfortunately, even if you plan things meticulously,
things do happen. You have to be quite
lenient and quite, let's say, mindful as you
go about the process. Life happens. You could
allocate a certain time block, you could put in all the tasks, and they do happen. However, within a
complete 24 hour cycle, aim to finish three
to five key tasks which are crucial
to help you move forward and to progress by incorporating time blocking in order to deal with those tasks, batching those tasks if they
are similar to each other. So how does this look like? Let's take a look at how we go about time blocking in
an effective fashion on comparison between a to do list and a time
block approach. For example, on the right
hand side over here, this is a typical to do list that anyone
could have, right? Task number one, related
to work, two and three, go to the gym, cook dinner, Home shore number one,
home shore number two. So this is a typical to do list, and it could be uniquely yours, where you have your
own unique tasks based on your own day to
day preferences, right? However, the question is,
which one goes first, or how much does every
single one of them take? Or which sequence
should you follow? Which one has a higher priority task number
three or test number one, or going to the gym first
or cooking dinner first? So it's a set to do list. It does not take into
account priorities. It doesn't take into
account time frames. However, if we map this from being just simply a to do
list to a daily time block, where you allocate a certain
period of time, let's say, from AM to 8:00
P.M. And then you organize your day where you
have dedicated slots of time. Take a look at the
ones in green. These are similar in nature. These are batched tasks. Work task number one, two, and three, we give
them a couple hours, then you go to the gym,
then you get lunch, then you continue with the other tasks and then you get dinner, they get Shore one
and Shore two. Here you go. So from a am APM, you could allocate
specific hours for every single task based
on your own preference. That way, you know how
you navigate your day. You wake up at am, you go for 1 hour for breakfast,
then finish task one, two, and three, then
you hit the gym, then you go for lunch,
and it's quite clear. You have arranged
this the day before. Instead of waking
up in the morning and you have a to do list. And then good luck figuring out which should be done first, what is high priority, which one is low priority, and what are the things that you can just simply forget
about for the day. That by itself is demanding
and taxing and is enough to demotivate you from
doing anything on the task. So by having a time block that you build from
the day before, you are able to proceed
through the day, having a clear vision, how it's going to end, how it's going to start systematically, where you allocate tasks based on their importance and the amount of time
that they need. Now, obviously, this varies from one approach to the other. It looks different,
whether you're using a calendar or a piece of
paper, and it's up to you. I'm going to show
you how you could actually compare this
to your own life. For example, on the
right hand side, this is a distracted
multitasking approach where you simply go from
8:00 A.M. To 2:00 P.M. Doing stuff randomly,
where you jump from one task to the
other back and forth, not having a
systematic approach. So once this happens, you are going to end up being in a position where you are
not being productive, you're not getting things done. You think that
you're doing stuff. However, you're wasting
a lot of time switching between tasks that you could simply get over
with at one time. Like, let's say you're
cooking dinner, then you go to the gym, then
you continue cooking dinner. Obviously you wasted
a lot of time and you did not complete
any of those tasks. However, with time blocking, you got focus time blocks. You got the first block, second block and
the third block. And you can just simply take up all the tasks which are related, put them at one time frame, and the other tasks which are related and put them in
a different time frame. That way, you get the job done
without the whole issue of multitasking or switching
between tasks back and forth, taxing your brain,
making you lose focus, and wasting your time switching between tasks that
you should be doing, but without actually finishing
them in the first place. So by having an allocated time, you actually get stuff done, you focus on the stuff that you need to do within
that time frame. Once that time has elapsed, you move on to the next. Now let's take a look at it
a calendar point of view. Now, everyone has
access to calendar, either you use your own Outlook, Google, whatever it is. For example, take this
as a rough example. It could apply to your own case, based on your own tasks, based on your own priorities
within your own day, where you start your
day from about 7:00 A.M. And then you got
4:00 P.M. And then you allocate all of the tasks within a specific day based
on a certain time block. Let's say, from 9:00 A.M. To 12:00 P.M. You're
doing writing. Then 12:00 P.M. To one, you're doing emails. Then social media one. Then you get meeting
with ABC 13230. You take a break,
admin stuff, 3:00 P.M. So everything that
you go through the day is quite laid
out, and guess what? Often, you do have typical days. So if you do this on Monday, often it gets simply replicated on Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, unless you do have
small minor changes that you can just simply adapt. And this gives you a weekly
roadmap that you know on Monday the stuff
that you need to do when and how long
will they take? Any tasks which pop up, you're able to squeeze
them in the calendar. You're able to find any room
to accommodate for changes such as a buffer window for things that pop
up during your day, instead of going to your day, beginning your day with
simply a to do list. And that to do list has
no order, no time frame, and it could consume
the entire week or the entire month if you
do not take some time to actually map them on your calendar where you allocate a certain block of time
in order to tackle them. And you will be
surprised it doesn't take really a lot of
effort to do this. Just simply go on your calendar, pick one day and take a look at your to do list
and just simply throw the stuff that you have
from your to do list on the calendar and start to tinker with the timing based
on your daily routines, how you go about your day. That way you have a clear idea where every single task falls. Keeping in mind
every single day, we're going to aim for
three to five task stops and then whatever is left, we push it on to the second
day and the third and the fourth such that by
the end of the week, we get the tasks done, and then you repeat
the week afterwards. So this is a strategic
approach to planning, effective planning
and time management, such that you have a task. You got a priority, things
that need to be done. You're able to organize them
without the whole stress and overwhelm of not knowing
what to do, when to do it, how long it's going to take, and nothing is worse than
spending, let's say, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, doing nothing, and then you
pack up everything on Friday. Good luck finishing
everything up. You'd end up being
stressed and overwhelmed. So we have to take a step back, take a look at our
priorities and our tasks. First of all, batch them. The stuff that are
similar to each other, allocate a certain time block,
for example, in writing. It could be
researching, writing, drafting, all of these things
are similar in nature. Put them at the same time slot because you can tackle
them one after the other. For example, emails, address
all of the emails that you have the back and forth communication within
that time block, instead of switching
between writing, then emails, then writing again. The switch by itself
from one task to another actually physically scientifically
drains your brain. It falls into multitasking
where you end up not completing any
of those tasks, and you end up doing them
with minimal quality. So a focused approach on a specific task,
you complete it, you go to the next
will get you more results over the long run.
4. Creating a Routine: Is considered one of the
most important steps in order to ensure your
long term success, which is creating a routine. First of all, our
brains love routines. Why? Because it makes things
quite easy to follow. Instead of every
single day waking up, trying to figure out
what you're going to do, you do have a clear schedule, you do have a clear expectations of the stuff that you're
going to spend your day with. That way, it makes
it less demanding for your brain to try
to figure things out, keeping you motivated
and avoiding the motivation and the whole
aspect of procrastination. Because if you wake
up in the morning and you have no idea
what you're going to do, you take a look at
that to do list, no idea what to begin,
it's overwhelming. And what happens is you're
more likely to procrastinate. So we need to create a routine, and the first thing
that we need to do is have a morning routine. Start off your day slowly, have breakfast, go for a walk, stretches, whatever it is. But make sure that these
are productive habits. Some individuals, they
like to go for journaling, some of them they have
mindfulness approaches, some of them they have
a breakfast exercise. Whatever productive approach,
which is good enough to help you get up in the
morning, even reading as well, it's up to you to
just simply get your system up and running
and do that every day, every day as part of
a morning routine, which is part of your schedule. Wake up in the morning for
the first 1 hour, breakfast, then you begin your activities, which takes you to
the second part. Consistency. Once you clearly
allocate a time block, you have a clear
schedule for the week, you have to be consistent. You have to be accountable. Stick with the schedule for the long term in order
to ensure success. Think about it as work.
You clock in at 8:00 A.M. You clock out at 5:00 P.M. Every single day of
the year, right? Except on the vacation days. So follow a similar approach where you have a clear schedule for a certain period of time from am 2:00 P.M. You have clearly identified the
time blocks for the tasks. You have a clear morning
routine to begin your day. You get a cup of coffee,
whatever it is, it's up to you, and then you go about completing
the tasks for the day. Then once you are
done with that, you're going to have
another routine, which is the evening routine, which is part of the
review and adjustment. Adapt routines based on progress.
This is very important. You have to be flexible.
Nothing is written in stone. So as you develop
these routines, as you are developing
your schedule, you notice that things
work out better than the other for your own
specific unique case. So you incorporate them, right? So you're moving forward
with a clear direction rather than waking up in
the morning with the to do list every day and having
no idea what to do. So how do we go about this? We created our schedule. We have allocated the
tasks on a day to day basis for the entire week
based on time blocks, where we batched all the tasks which are similar together, and the tasks which are not
necessary, we eliminate them. And then we create a routine where we wake up at a
certain period of time, follow up a certain
morning routine. Let's say, you go for a
walk, you get some coffee, and then we go ahead
about tackling the tasks based on those time blocks by
the end of the day, we review and adjust. That way, you are creating
a consistent cycle, which is productive, not hectic, easy to follow, and
open for adjustment. Minimizes multitasking
and procrastination. The less you have to
think about the task, and the more you are
inclined to do the task, you're more likely to
actually get the job done. However, the more
time you spend on thinking and
contemplating whether or not you need to do the task, you'll end up most probably
not doing the task at all. So it's very important to
create a routine that works for you by having a clear
starting point for the day, things that you do,
which is up to you in the morning time
cup of coffee, go for the walk, hydrate,
journal, whatever it is. Then you begin the schedule
which you have created. Then once you are done, you wrap this up by reviewing
what have you done for the day to plan or adjust
for the day ahead.
5. Routine Example: Now, most probably
you're wondering how to create such a routine. There's nothing to
be concerned about. It's very basic and very simple. Here's an important
time block routine for you that you could follow, and it's up to you to adjust it. For example, this is
a weekly schedule. Monday, all the way to Sunday, we got the time from 6:00 A.M.
All the way to 11:00 P.M. If you notice, over here, we're not having tasks. We're having generic
blocks which simply dictate the routine that we're going to follow
during the day. For example, 6-7, breakfast, seven to eight, get ready. It's up to you, coffee,
whatever it is. Eight till 12, almost,
you're going to do the work. This is where you refer
to your time block. What is work that you're going to be doing within
that time frame? 12 to one lunch, one to five work, five to six, a break, six to seven, cleanup, seven to eight, dinner.
Then that's it. For these segments
or blocks of work, you're going to take a
look at your calendar, take a look at the
tasks which you have prioritized and allocated
based on that time block. At this cycle, you are creating your own daily Routine, right? Every single day, you have a clear idea how your
day will look like. Of course, one day to the
other, you could adjust it. For example, you
could incorporate the elements of exercise in one, as we can see on Tuesday, five to six, we got exercise. Here we do not have exercise. For example, so by taking a look at this from a
macro point of view, you clearly have a
very delicate and very nicely organized
weekly routine where you know day by day, what are you going
to be doing working, lunch, dinner, then exercise, then getting ready for work, all of these things
they're happening over and over again on
a day to day basis. And they're not
surprising, they're not overwhelming for your brain. And once you go into
the work time block, you take a look at
the tasks that you have already prioritized
at the beginning, and then tackle them one at a time based on
order and importance, and then you move on to
the second time block. That way, you're concluding
your day effectively. Keep repeating this
over and over again. You end up having your
own unique routine. Obviously, feel
free to tinker with us because this could
not work for everyone. Some individuals, they prefer to kick start their working
hours from 6:00 A.M. Some of them from 12:00
P.M. It's up to you. But once you create
your daily breakdown of key themes which are
taking place within your day, try to repeat that every other day and
adjust along the way. And once you zoom
in, you do have for every single time block tasks which have been
batched together, compiled together based on similarity and importance,
and you tackle them. So you avoid multitasking, you avoid jumping back
and forth between tasks, you avoid the lack
of organization, you minimize demotivation
and procrastination. All of this by following
such a systematic approach.
6. Managing Interruptions: And we have to be quite real. Make sure that you give yourself some flexibility because at the end of the day,
interruptions where happen. Nothing goes as planned 100%. This is the realistic talk. The whole idealistic approach. All of us are humans.
At the end of the day. We are susceptible to
distractions to interruptions, lack of motivation, lack of consistency, including
yours truly. I'm the first one to acknowledge
that we do have limits. So make sure that you are
quite lenient with yourself, but not to the point where
you are fooling yourself. This is very important. We
have to be accountable, but we have to understand our limitations as
part of self care, mindfulness, our abilities
to develop and grow. This is very important
for growth mindset. So why am I referring
to this very simply, how to deal with interruptions?
This is very important. So how do you go about
managing destruction, distractions, and
avoiding procrastination? So when you are
dealing with a task or you have a clear schedule, you have a plan, sometimes things do happen which
throw you off, right? So first of all, we need to identify what are these
common distractions? Are we taking a look at social media too often
picking up emails, responding to calls,
browsing the Internet, playing a video game during
work or whatever it is? You need to be quite honest
and clear with yourself that these are distractions
that I need to get rid of. Then we use some basic
productivity techniques simply as shutting
off your phone, putting it on do not disturb
mode, ignoring emails, not picking up calls,
or delegating tasks which are not really
important to you. Take care of your
nutrition, sleep properly, have some light activity, some exercise in order to
get you up or running. This by itself will help
you re calibrate and focus. Then, most importantly, create a distraction
free work environment. This is very important because you could have a great schedule. You could have
everything planned out. But if you have your colleague doing backflips in one corner, and then you got your boss throwing coffee in
the other corner, and then you got
your phone ringing, and then the electricity is
blinking back and forth. So obviously, all of these
elements are distraction. They're distractive to
your brain by default. So there's no need to force your focus because the
way our brains are built, we deal with environmental cues in order as part of
survival, right? So it's very important to set an environment where
you do not have any distractions which will
absorb your attention, taking it away from the
important tasks at hand. And most importantly, break down the tasks
and set deadlines. Do not bite more
than you could chew. Obviously, things need time. Every single goal that you have, break it down to manageable
tasks and set deadlines. If you are planning
to write a book write a page every single
day or every single week. It's up to you, based
on your abilities and based on your own constraints
and time preferences. But set a deadline
and commit to it. This is part of practicing self discipline and
accountability. No matter how organized you are, no matter how
productive you are, you will get to a point
where that motivation fades away and you need to be
disciplined to get the job done. When you go to the office every single day from
8:00 A.M. To 5:00 P.M. And you just simply punch
in like clockwork at AM. This is part of discipline. This is part of accountability because at the end of the
day, if you don't do this, you'll get an email from your HR telling you you have been delayed or late
or your boss will call you for a meeting,
all of this hassle. So apply this to different
aspects of your life. We have to be accountable. We need to practice
self discipline. But to make our jobs easier,
we need, first of all, to identify, let's say, the weaknesses that we
have, the distractions, then fix them using
productivity approaches, then make sure our environment supports the process by creating a distraction
free environment, breaking down the tasks
and setting deadlines in a way that they are
easily digestible. And one way that I found
personally to work really well is that you break a task to a point which
looks quite too easy. That way, when you
tackle the tasks, you are motivated to go on and tackle more and more tasks. But if you have a huge task, the first thing that
you're going to be dealing with is
the overwhelm that it takes a lot of effort and you're more likely
to procrastinate. If you're facing such a task,
here's my advice to you. It down to its smallest
possible executable form. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 minute, get it done. And once you get that done, take a moment to realize
that, well, you got it done, and you could do more,
and you'll end up actually wiring your brain
to push you further. And finally, like
we have mentioned, practice self discipline
and accountability. Like I've mentioned
at the beginning of this lesson, all of
us we're humans. We're susceptible to
these distractions, these productivity downfalls. But there's a difference between fooling yourself and
being true to yourself. When you are tired, you
acknowledge that you're tired. That's part of mindfulness, self care, well being. However, if you are just simply being lazy or
slacking behind and masking this under
the mask of being tired or not feeling motivated, you need to get discipline. You need to get
accountable, right? So you have to push
yourself in that direction. So these are some basic and yet powerful strategies that we follow in order to manage distractions and to
avoid procrastination. Follow them in sequence, and hopefully they will
help you get through your typical daily routine and typical tasks
that you need to achieve within your day
to achieve and crush your goals and achieve your ambitions and reach them
in the best way possible.
7. Wrapping Up: So what do you think?
I truly hope that you found the class
helpful if it added at least 1% to your own productivity efforts to your own time management skills. It's a job well done. I truly look forward
to receiving your feedback on the
current class and make sure that you
follow my profile for the latest
releases and updates, and I'll see you
in the next class.
Engr. Hussein Attié, CEO I Engineer I Educator
