As a designer, we’re often tasked with deliverables that can be tough to complete. External forces such as client requirements and timelines can often increase difficulty. With proper management, we can ensure there’s enough time to complete our tasks. I use Evernote to create to-do lists for work and different aspects of my life. This routine helps me stay accountable, organized, and creates a sense of purpose for each day.
I understood the power of to-do lists after reading Eat That Frog by author Brian Tracy. The premise of his book is based on the Law of Forced Efficiency which states, “There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” Your job is to identify those key tasks where you can spend 20% of your time for 80% of returns as stated by the Pareto Principle.
“There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”
The book discusses an old saying that, if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s the worst thing you will have to do all day. By using this metaphor and prioritizing your tasks, you can complete the most impactful and difficult ones first. Then anything you do after will be much easier.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
- Decide what you want to achieve.
- Write it down.
- Break it into smaller subtasks.
- Set a deadline on all your goals.
- Check things off as they get done.
- Add new items to your list as they come up.
- Make sure you set yourself up for success by creating your to-do list everyday. I create my lists at night for the following day.
- In a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, Health Researcher, Phillippa Lally and her research team found on average, it takes more than two months or 66 days to be exact for a new habit to form.
- Do you want to complete a new work project, get a promotion, learn a new skill? Whatever your goals are, understand what value it brings to your life.
The lesson I’ve learned from applying these principles is that time management is a means to an end. By being consistent in planning my days in advance, I can spend my time at work, working. There is never a moment where I don’t know what to do next. Planning helps me stay proactive and allows me to get more done. Now when I leave work, I don’t feel guilty for going home and spending time with the people that matter to me.
Keep in mind, what works for me, may not for you. Experiment until you find something that helps you become more productive.
TL;DR
- Create a to-do list based on the priority of the things you want to complete.
- Break difficult tasks into smaller sub-tasks and give them deadlines.
- Always plan ahead.
- Be consistent.
