How do I plan a more productive day?

In today’s society lives can be full of busyness. Too much busyness leads to stress which is not good for our health and wellbeing and can result in jobs being done in a hurry which can lead to an inferior result. To make the most effective use of our time there are various habits we can adopt and productivity tools we can use.

In his widely acclaimed book ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ Stephen Covey suggests tasks fall into one of four quadrants:

Q1 – important and urgent

Q2 – important and not urgent

Q3 – Urgent and not important

Q4 – not urgent and not important

Q1 tasks are typically jobs with imminent deadlines or crises. They need to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Q2 tasks can be planned for. They include thinking and organising time, relationship building and healthy lifestyle factors. They need to be scheduled.

Q3 tasks need to be done promptly but not necessarily by you. They could be done by someone else thereby freeing up your time. These tasks should be minimised and delegated.

Q4 tasks are a waste of time and should be eradicated.

Covey argues that we should focus our energies on Q2 tasks. With good detailed planning, work can often be completed before deadlines become urgent.

The four quadrants should be used in conjunction with prioritised to-do lists and diaries. These tools can help avert last minute crises and panics. By focussing our energies on good planning, the result should be that less tasks fall into Q1. A large number of Q1 tasks are stressful. At Johnston Smillie we strive for careful scheduling and time management with the aim of reducing stress both for ourselves and our clients- an outcome we would all welcome in our busy lives!

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash