My first article about productivity was about apps and websites that'll help us be more productive. However, this one will focus on some time-related productivity rules we can follow.
2-minute rule I
When we start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to complete. This way, it's easier for us to stick to that habit. Most of the time, when we start a habit we tend to give up after not even a week because they're too complex to stick to or because we keep forgetting them. If we create a habit that we can complete effortlessly, we'll be more likely to stick to it. Furthermore, we can always add more parts to the habit later.
2-minute rule II
If a task can be completed in 2 minutes or less, we should go ahead and do it when we think of it. An extension to this rule is to set aside a time (around 30 minutes) to do all the tasks that take 2 minutes (such as replying to an email or doing our laundry). This way, we will stop procrastinating on these smaller tasks while we're also less likely to forget them.
5 min rule
We must commit to spending just five minutes on the task we're procrastinating. After doing that, we can stop if we want. However, most of the time, we tend to continue the task. This is because the initial 5 minutes help us gain the required momentum to complete the task. We'll be much more likely to fish a task if we do it for just 5 minutes.
15-minute rule
This mainly applies to students. We take 15 minutes to solve the problem in any way we can. If we don't have an answer after 15 minutes, we must seek help. We can either use google, refer to books or simply ask someone only after trying for 15 minutes. And we also shouldn't focus on one problem for more than 15 minutes, as that would be a time waster.
33-minute rules
Choose one task we want to work on that needs a lot of focus and concentration. Switch off all notifications and anything that could distract us and set a timer for 33 minutes and 33 seconds. Focus on that task only until our timer goes off. When the timer goes off, take a break for 5 to 10 minutes, and repeat. This is a modification of the Pomodoro method, but the 33 minus and 33 seconds make it more interesting. Just like the Pomodoro method, we must focus only on that task during the given time duration. We can modify the timer even more and focus for, let's say, 44 minutes and 44 seconds if we like.
2-day rule
Now we're back to habits. This rule tells us to never skip something we're trying to accomplish for more than two days in a row. This is simply a rule that'll help us stick to habits. To make it even more effective, we can reward ourselves if we stick to a certain rule for a particular time and punish ourselves (not harshly. Just something like putting money into a jar) if we fail to stick to this rule.
80/20 rule
This doesn't look like a time-related rule at first sight, but I thought I should include it here as it's important. What this rule means is that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. We should find this 20% of the actions and pay more time and attention to them. This way we can maximize our outcomes.
One touch method
Here, we select the tasks we want to complete, prioritize them, and fully complete one of them before moving on to our next task. This seems obvious, but most people tend to overlook this. If we multitask, we won't complete any of the tasks properly. However, if we take one task at a time, we can put our complete focus into that single task, getting it done quicker and more efficiently in the process
1-3-5 rule
We can reasonably get one big thing, three medium things, and five small things done in one day. Our job is to select these big, medium, and small things and organize them properly throughout our day. We shouldn't try to complete the big tasks at once or small tasks before anything. Once we learn how to manage these tasks properly, we'll be able to get more tasks done during the day
50-40-30-20-10 rule
This is a fun yet effective rule. First, we focus for 50 minutes. Then we take a 10-minute break and focus for 40 minutes. A 10-minute break follows. Likewise, we focus on 30, 20, and 10 minutes with 10-minute breaks in between them. Here, we'll look forward to the next focus session since it's shorter than the previous one. And the breaks will help us recharge after each session. By the end of one cycle, we would've gotten 2.5 hours of work done in just over 3 hours without burning out.
60-30-10 rule
This rule tells us to use 60% of our day for top-tier tasks, 30% of it for mid-tier tasks, and 10% for lower-tier ones. This is another time-management rule that helps us get more tasks done throughout the day. It also makes sure we don't spend time doing useless tasks, instead of focusing on more important ones.
So there you have your 11 time-related productivity tips. Obviously, you don't have to use all of them at once. Make sure you take it slow, try them, and see what worlds for you. Happy studying!
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