Counter Intuitive Time Management Techniques to Tame Your Never Ending To Do List

written by: Linda Walker; article published: year 2009, month 03;

In: Root » Self improvement » Time management

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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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About the Author:

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: www.productivitymythsbusted.com

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