Tips for Handling Tasks Efficiently

Recently I posted a video blog about procrastination. Ian from the Philippines decided to send in his own top five list. Here are his top five tips to handling your tasks more efficiently.

• Look at what needs to be done and set goals. I believe that a person shouldn’t do work immediately. Doing work without a goal is really pointless seeing that you have no direction. Ask yourself, “What am I going to accomplish when I finish this work?”. Once you have the answer in mind, set the goal. Do you want to aim it high so when you reach it you’re really good… or would you prefer to set it lower so you can reflect on it when you make a mistake? It depends also how well do you know the job you’re doing. If you’re sure about what you’re doing, go ahead. If you’re unsure, either call someone for help or just don’t do it. Remember, “He who asks a question is a fool for 5 minutes. He who doesn’t ask is a fool forever”.
• Arrange your tasks accordingly. It is really good when you arrange your tasks like this:
  • Urgent and Important
  • Urgent but Not Important
  • Important but Not Urgent
  • Unimportant and non-urgent.

  It’s your best option to tackle all urgent matters first before the non-urgent ones. Although you may be thinking “Of course I know that”, in this hectic pace of life, most people tend to forget this. I think that the arrangement already mentioned is self-explanatory so let’s move on.

• Divide and Conquer! I don’t like doing tasks at once and some of you reading this may not too. When I have multiple large projects at school, I spend a few minutes thinking of how to divide these tasks accordingly. Given the million-dollar question “When’s the submission date?” I tend to do the one closest first. If it’s several weeks away, I usually divide it by spending a few hours every day to complete it. Honestly, I’m not a perfectionist so I don’t really give a 100% output, but of course I should and must. The output in the end will definitely look better than a rushed project. Remember that you shouldn’t lose sleep just because of a large task. Make use of the given time wisely or suffer the consequences.
• Set a schedule. When I was younger, I enjoyed making schedules for myself every school year and until now I do. Every year when you do the same tasks at the exact same time (giving respect as well to daylight savings), life becomes dull. Try and do variations to the same tasks once a year. This will give you a sense of variety in your life. Just make sure that your schedule is one that balances your tasks and relaxation time which leads us to the last.
• Relax. Take it easy. Giving some time for yourself is the best time you might even have. Have fun with family. Go out with friends. An ounce of relaxation is better than a pound of therapy. Enjoy your life while you’ve got it. This is a great stress-buster. Cheap (well it’s free. Fees may apply) and effective!

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