Productivity basics | Action based vs. Time-based goals

The path to leading a productive life requires some key qualities, such as discipline, goals and planning, rewards etc.

A starting point to start thinking about the journey to becoming a productive person would to be consider how certain goals or tasks are planned. The pursuit of productivity success has three initial basic approaches.

1. Action based tasks
2. Time-boxed based tasks
3. A hybrid of the above

Action based tasks - The easiest way and most common method to start getting productive is by first focusing on writing down the tasks that need completing - a task list. This task list, whether it is a daily, weekly or even a much longer-term task objective, will serve as the first front-of-mind reminder on work that needs focus, so that it can be completed within the intended time-goal

Time-boxed based tasks - Another approach, while not necessarily creating a to-do list, is to self impose a limit on how much time is spent doing tasks before forcing yourself to move onto other work. This works quite well if you are a school or uni students. Students regularly spend time revising course material and or completing planned homework tasks. From my own past experience I have found that without implementing a time-boxed strategy, I over-spent time on certain tasks - e.g.: doing more Mathematics practice vs. English revision. Without keeping an eye on the clock, time can often get away from you - leading to a struggle to find time in the future that was meant to be allocated in the past for said tasks.

Hybrid approach - The ideal scenario would be to use a combination of the two. Success ultimately depends on being disciplined enough to set realistic goals and marking them complete as progress is made through the tasks.

Some simple practical tips to start becoming productive

• Jot down on a notepad/book the one or two key activities you need to get done for that day.
• Write down If you are able to estimate how much time each activity requires, note that down along with the task as well.
• Use your smart phone to set count down timers when starting out each task. Visit www.tomatotimer.com which uses the Pomodoro Technique, where each task time is followed by a short break time and three continuous tasks are followed by a longer break time. Each of these times can be set by the end-user.
• When starting out be flexible if action items are not complete, or work goes beyond the allocated time. The intention here is to begin using the above so that it becomes habitual.