Time management tricks, tools & tips [closed]

Answer 1

On the 'how to stay focused', I think once you decide to close your email and put your phone on send, the next things to control are the sounds around you that might derail your thoughts. People talking, phones ringing, etc.

I have started putting the headphones on and surfing to http://www.simplynoise.com/. This is a noise generator that gives you the option of white, pink, or brown/red noise. It drowns out most of the audio distractions that often poke at my concentration.

Answer 2

A single answer to all of the listed questions is David Ellen's Getting Things Done (GTD) ( "The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" )

A 45-minute presentation of the process can be found on youtube, and you can get the book on Amazon

Answer 3

The single most useful piece of time-management advice I could give is just get on and do it. If something is going to take less than 5 minutes to do, do it now.

Answer 4

Encourage people to push their correspondence with you down the distraction chain:

1. Phone / Face-to-face
2. Instant messaging
3. Email

You can do this by deffering them: "I'm really busy right now, can you send me it in an email?"

This should reduce the amount of interruptions you receive allowing you to stay "in the zone" for longer periods of time, increasing your productivity.

Finally, allot time for processing emails at set times of the day. I, for example, have my email set to send and receive once every two hours. This bulking of activities allows you to get more done in the day without impacting customer relations.

Answer 5

This question has already been asked, so you might search for it.

I personally use Zen to done which is a simplified version of "Get Things Done". For the trusted system I host Tracks application for myself.

Answer 6

The single most valuable tool that I can recommend is a "todo" list.

This may take the form of a specialised app, gadget or pen and paper, however the most important thing to remember is that new tasks should be added to the bottom of the list and tasks to be started must be taken from the top - ie. don't cherry pick your tasks, as this will leave you with a task list full of time-consuming (and often boring) jobs that will begin to drag you down.