Scheduling your tasks can help you keep track of how much time that you should be spending and when you should be spending that time. Something that really helps me is giving myself a little less time than the work actually takes, so that you can begin to get faster at doing the tasks that you need to do. Personalizing the schedule toward your needs is important. If you’re like me, scheduling your whole day isn’t as good. Many other people, on the opposite side of the coin, keep a very strict schedule, even keeping schedules by the minute.
Eat the Frog First
One of Mark Twain’s most famous quotes was when he said “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” While that statement might seem a bit random and idiotic, it can actually be applied to our everyday lives. Do the thing that will be the most time-consuming first when you start working. Many people expel all their energy doing mundane tasks like answering emails, until they’re worn out once they get to the things that can make or break their career. The opposite is what should be happening. Use all your energy doing the things that really matter, and do those things during the first part of the day. Later, when all of the important work is done, you can cruise through the rest of the day with things that don’t matter as much, like answering those dreaded emails.