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Efficient time and project management3/10/2024 This subject is a unique and individual concept, in that all of us participate in some sort of time based activities. This article will be based on some of the methods I use personally to control my workload. As the project manager the websites under the MRG Promotions banner. My work consists of Website maintenance, Graphic design, Advertising, Blog and article research and writing, Site contents, Product selection, Marketing and Sales etc. All this as well as the process of everyday living. To help me make the most of my time, I use the following series of vetting procedures which help me focus and prioritise my activities. Learn when to say YES and NO This is equally applicable to those working in company environment, or those working for themselves. The scenario is easy to visualise. The busy individual keeps accepting additional work. Unfortunately the way these tasks are dealt with may often mean there is a struggle to get them done. It’s basically a case biting off more than you can chew. Those in this situation can understand the stress this causes. Creative and productive people are often targeted because they follow through and get things done. However these people when asked, can assess their workload, and make a decision accordingly. Which potentially, means, if they haven’t got time. They might have to say ‘no’ to additional requests for their services. Yet, there are those who says yes on impulse Their intentions might be good, but they are unlikely to be productive in the long-run. Due to having too much to do, and not enough time in which to do it. There is a common misconception that overworking is the answer. Try to balance your workload to achieve the best results for you and your company. Working Smart This simply means organising the workload into manageable chunks, based on relevance and importance. Define what the most important tasks are., then carry them out in order of importance, Knowing how to prioritise tasks effectively and understand which ones have the highest sense of urgency is one of the keys to working smart. To give you an idea, I run three product based websites. All of which have a unique subject matter targeting a specific audience. In the ideal world, these would be updated weekly with new content/offers and relevant information. However I have to manage my time to focus on one website update at a time. This essentially means each website may receive some kind of update maybe once a month. Due to the complexity of work involved. Each update has to be broken down into smaller chunks. What follows is a rough to do list for one of my website updates. The process is similar whether the update is a blog article, news item, offer or product launch. First: Research your update, this is a fairly obvious process and can be time consuming. Making sure what you have to say is both accurate and relevant. Creating the update. This involves writing your update, creating any graphics to be used with it etc. Presentation: Here the update is placed on a site page for evaluation. Making sure it fits in with the site brand and image. Checking to make sure all the link mechanics work as they should do etc. Live placement: This essentially means publication of the update to the website. Creating awareness for the update etc. This is the sequence of events I go through prior to the publication of any new content on any of my sites. Which I think adheres to my work smart principle. Focus on one thing at a time While we are capable of doing more than one thing at a time. We can only consciously focus on one thing at any given time. Therefore it stands to reason that the thing that receives the full power of our attention will be will be completed in a more positive way. Being the best multi-tasker in our office, doesn’t necessarily mean we’re being productive. Although work might be getting done, it may not be completed to the best of our abilities. Splitting attention over three things in essence equals to only a third of the effort going in, increasing the probability of mistakes. So rather than trying to juggle too many tasks, prioritise them and do them one at a time. Not only will your productivity improve, you might also find that stress levels associated with this practice actually drop. Working Backwards This is something we do naturally without much thought. It’s where we see the finished task. Then work backwards finding the steps or processes needed to achieve that task. The process is illustrated quite clearly in my update creation process. My site needs an update, I go through this sequence of steps to produce it. It’s essentially the same procedure as settings goals. Where someone has an outcome in mind. Then, be able to break their vision down into a series of doable steps. Using this work method means that everything has a clear purpose, i t also means you’re far more likely to be motivated to actually do it Downtime/Uptime In NLP, these relate to states of conscious in which we operate on a daily basis. These attitudes can change regularly as we move through our daily activities. They are natural states which can also be induced as needed. Uptime is where we are consciously aware of, and fully focused on whatever we are doing at that given moment. Downtime is the opposite primarily a daydream state. Where we are consciously aware of the world around us. But not focused fully in that moment. Ever been in full work mode when something takes your mind off what you are doing, and you go into a quiet reflective moment. Maybe holiday memories or happy moments with family. That is a moment of downtime. It’s the minds way of quietly refreshing itself, this happens naturally. Learn to take breaks and listen to what your body is telling you. Knowing when to relax is the best way to give yourself a break when you need it Learn to take care of yourself The major issue with productivity comes down to being able to concentrate on the task at hand, and if you’re tired, overworked, and/or hungry working is likely to be the last thing on your mind. People who produce results are generally balanced in their habits. Whether it’s getting enough sleep, eating right and exercising. They tend to take care of themselves. This applies not just to the physical body but also to the way we think about things. The focus is on what needs to be done, and finding the best methods to achieve that result. However there is a major tendency to overthink, to criticise and be generally negative about ourselves and those around us. Try to avoid these conditions. The almost universal image for a busy or productive person as a serious over-worker with an inability to switch off, it’s actually almost the exact opposite. So rather than giving ourselves grief and beating ourselves up because the mind isn’t on the job. Refocus on what we can do, by doing The best we can, With the resources we have available. At that particular moment in time. In this way you give of your best. As for making mistakes, they are human nature, and the only way to improve and become more productive is to actually learn from them and move on. We hope this small article has been of interest please feel free to share it All the best
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