Tips to tame your Schedule

Just random info on schedules, life, stress, etc.

• Make a list of all the activities that you long to do more of...things that make you happy, relaxed or sane. Then rank the list in order of importance and pick one or two to focus on.
• "Devoting more time to what you love can help you get more done overall. Research shows that to be productive and creative, you must take time for recreation and relaxation. Trying to skimp on them hurts your motivation and often leads you to procrastinate. Plus, being a little selfish will keep you from becoming resentful, burned out, or cranky. And that's a good thing for everyone."
• A 2004 study shows that office workers are interrupted, on average, every 3 minutes. The study also showed that it takes about 23 minutes for people to get back to the task they were taken away from.
• "Limit distractions: resist the urge to check your email 500 times a day. Experts recommend checking only twice day - at noon and at 4pm. Those are the times when you're most likely to have responses to your previously sent e-mails." (I'm not sure if I could do this, but it sure would allow me to get a lot more done!)
• "Schedule a quick and brainless task first. This will allow you to cross something off your list right away and to start the day feeling accomplished. Schedule your most onerous task second, it's better to get it over with it."
• (My hubs does this, but I haven't perfected it yet.) On Friday afternoons, set aside a half hour to go through what has been accomplished for the week and map out the next week.
• "Force yourself to work on a procrastinated task for a short period of time - perhaps as little as one minute. When you realize how much of the anxiety was created in your head, you'll give yourself the jolt needed to follow it through."