Save Valuable Time: 3 Questions

Questions that will make you more productive

Working effectively has to do with setting the right priorities. It is easy to live without priorities and to go with the flow of tasks that hit your way.

When everything seems equally important, in the end nothing is important at all. You spend your time on tasks that will get you nowhere, while the most important steps toward your goal are being pushed away.

The questions below will force you to turn this situation around. Get rid of the useless tasks and focus on the steps towards your most important goal(s). This way you will be more productive, more effective and you will feel more relaxed and happy. Write these questions down on paper and be sure to write down the answers.  Only then you will experience how effective these questions can be!

1. Only work two hours per day

“Say you would get a heart attack and the doctor would tell you that you are only allowed to work for two hours per day. When you work more than that you will most likely get another heart attack. To which tasks would you devote these two hours?”

This question forces you to set the right priorities in your work. Say you were only allowed to work for two hours per day, which tasks would you keep doing to minimize the loss? Which tasks earn you your money?

In short: which tasks are the core of your work? Most of the time these are the tasks for which you were hired, or on basis of which you have started your business. It is easy to get caught up in all kinds of tasks which add little to no value towards the final result, which is a happy boss or an improved quality of life.

2. Stop with 80% of your time-consuming tasks

“Say somebody would press a weapon to your head, and would force you to stop with 80% of your time-consuming tasks. Which tasks would you get rid of then?”

Which tasks do you use to fill your day? Which tasks would you get rid of when you are forced to?

It is good to start with getting rid of all the moments that you are “checking” something. Think about Facebook, MySpace, Ping, SMS, Twitter, E-mail, RSS-feeds, statistics, news sites, etc.

Every time you check something you feel nice for a short moment. You get immediate satisfaction when something has arrived and you can put your attention to something simple. To get your attention back to your task and be productive again will cost you relatively much energy. How much time would you save when you wouldn’t “check” as much things as you do? And how many other time-consuming and useless tasks can you remove from your workday?

3. Don’t fool yourself

“What are the three most important tasks you use to get the feeling you have been productive, while actually you haven’t been productive at all?”

We human beings are an odd species. Sometimes we know we are absolutely not working on attaining our goals, but still we pretend as if we do. You are reading 30 reviews of a book that you maybe are going to buy, which maybe might have a positive influence on your work in the future. And because this maybe could be a good idea you are focusing your attention to this book instead to your work right now. A lot more fun, and it is easy to justify for yourself that you are doing the right thing.

Are you convinced that you can get to your goals by staying “up-to-date” with the latest news? Then realize that at the end of the day you are mostly up-to-date but no step closer to your goals and dreams.

What way do you fool yourself? Expose these mind twists to yourself so you can recognize them whenever they resurface. It is easier to fool yourself, but in the end it is more satisfying when you can quickly reach your goals!

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