| The absolute BIGGEST challenge that
entrepreneurs, artists, authors and other creative geniuses that come to me for help is
productivity. Some know they need help with time management techniques. Others are
struggling but they haven't discovered that poor time management is the source of their
frustration.
By asking a few questions, I zero in on the source of their
misery, and evaluate whether they can benefit from the special time management techniques
I teach. I just look for certain things they have in common.
4 Things All Entrepreneurs, Authors and Other Creative
Geniuses That Need Time Management Help Have in Common:
- They are amazingly creative yet they feel like
underachievers because even though they generate brilliant ideas with jaw-dropping ease,
they struggle to act on them.
- These "live-wire" geniuses are adventurous,
ambitious and energetic. They'll start a hundred projects, but then bog down because of
indecision, procrastination or a feeling of overwhelm.
- They search relentlessly for new time management tips and
try anything to improve their time management skills regardless of past struggles, but
standard, "common sense" time management techniques just don't work.
- Despite their best efforts, they've accumulated a
never-ending To Do list (I call it their To Do "book") and they're frustrated
with time management techniques that don't work.
These thrill-seeking rebels share another characteristic.
Each was diagnosed with ADD or ADHD as a child, has adult ADHD, or exhibits many adult
ADHD traits. Their brains work differently than most people. But, as soon as they turn on
to my counter-intuitive time management techniques they experience a dramatic turnaround
almost overnight.
See, you have to understand that your productivity depends
on your mental and physical energy. Yes, you produce less when you're tired, but your
energy levels fluctuate far more than you realize.
How Your Energy Levels Affect Your Productivity
- At times, you have ample mental energy. You can laser-focus
on anything that interests you, you're amazingly productive, and you keep going long after
other people are exhausted.
- Other times, you have plenty of physical energy, but your
brain is also racing. You can't concentrate. You're eager to move and go through short
(physical) tasks with ease.
- You need time to recharge. Your brain isn't a plough-horse,
plodding sedately. It's a racehorse, capable of stunning bursts of power and speed. Like a
racehorse, you must recharge between races.
- You also have your own unique energy fluctuations between
these that create periods when you're better at some tasks than you are at others.
Your energy fluctuations follow an identifiable pattern.
When my clients track their energy level fluctuations at work and at play, within a week
they have an accurate map of their daily energy levels, and the pattern repeats almost
identically from week to week.
As a creative genius, you'll always have many tasks on your
To Do list! You effortlessly think up cool things to do or important things you should do.
But you have to commit to do those tasks at a specific time by moving them from your To Do
list to your agenda. Unfortunately, the large, unstructured space of your blank agenda
often leads to indecisiveness and procrastination. Think of it as writer's block for time
management.
A Time Management Technique That Will Add Productive Hours
to Your Day and Cut Your "To-Do" List Down to Size Guaranteed
You need a way to categorize and prioritize your tasks.
Traditional time management techniques group tasks by importance. But assigning letter and
number combinations to signify priority loses its effectiveness when you have 47
"A" tasks, at least six of which are important enough to be an "A1!"
Instead, you should group your tasks by the energy required.
Now, here's the secret to doubling your productivity and
cutting your To Do list down to size. Use the map of your energy fluctuations to match
tasks from your To Do list with a time when you typically have the ideal energy level for
that task. Almost effortlessly, you'll give your productivity a huge shot in the arm.
Match your activities with times when you have the ideal energy type and level for maximum
productivity doing that task and you'll tear through your To Do list like a tornado.
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Linda Walker coaches entrepreneurs,
artists, authors and other creative geniuses who want to realize their dreams and overcome
their needless struggle with traditional time management techniques that don't work with
rebel, thrill-seeking, creative brains. Now, discover the "productivity myths"
holding you back, and learn how to overcome them: http://www.productivitymythsbusted.com |
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