10 Tips to be effective on a daily basis

For me, being efficient doesn’t mean chopping down tasks automatically as quickly as possible. There are computers for that ... Besides, we measure their performance index, not their efficiency index.

Being effective is, on the contrary, doing what makes sense, which is important to you.

How we actually do it to be more efficient:

1. Make your daily list

The Daily List is the list we write down before we start the day (ideally the night before), and which contains everything we want to accomplish during the day.

This is my common thread so as not to scatter me. It keeps me from realizing at night that I've been busy all day ... but didn't do anything I wanted!

2. At least one action per day on a long-term project

Ah, the trap of the long-term project! We must be done in such a long time that we don't see the urgency to get started right now. And again, sometimes there is not even a deadline ...

Rather than doing complicated schedules with Gantt charts and all and all ... where you end up spending more time planning than doing, I prefer to put at least one action on my list every day to move a long-term project forward.

You don't necessarily have to spend a lot of time there. It’s crazy how much you can do in 5 minutes a day to be more efficient in life!

3. Write your plan to be effective

What do I call a road map? This is the list of actions required to achieve a result. I use it mostly for tasks that are a bit long and require thought. For those kinds of tasks that you don't quite know how to tackle, you often start by analyzing everything that would need to be done in order to find the first thing you need to do.

At this point, we have an outline of everything that will need to be done to achieve the result. It may seem silly, but we rarely think of noting the fruit of this reflection in a corner.

By the time we have finished the first action, we forgot the rest of the plan and we have to start thinking again ... Did you say effective?

4. One thing at a time

One more thing that differentiates us from computers: They can multitask with no loss of quality and be more efficient (or more accurately, they exploit the downtime of one process to run another), not us.

Us, when we try to do several things at the same time, we generally find ourselves having started everything and especially nothing finished… You don't believe me?

Have you ever said that you were just going to read one or two emails, while a program that was a little long to start was launched, only to realize that instead of one or two emails you had surfed? for 30 minutes on the web? So you know what I'm talking about.

5. Start with the most important task

The best way to do what matters is to do it before something else stops you. Before a coworker comes in to interrupt you, before the phone rings, before a meeting drags on and takes up all the time you have left ... or before you find the funniest thing to do.

Don't let the important get eaten up by the pseudo-urgency!

6. Write down your ideas

Because you always think of things at the wrong time, but it's terribly frustrating then to try to find that idea that you have forgotten which decreases your effectiveness ...

And also because one of the main causes of multitasking is that we drop our work in progress every time we think of another thing that we must do, for fear of forgetting it precisely… By noting this news task, we allow our brain to refocus on the work in progress ... to finish it!

7. Alternate types of tasks

Those who have already tried to spend a whole day writing an article or a report to be more efficient, for example, know it: we accomplish much less by doing the same thing for 8 hours in a row than 8 times 1 hour. spaced in time.

This is also true for leisure time: watching a good movie is nice, but going film after film all day quickly becomes unbearable ...

If we spend too long on the same activity, we end up getting bored. We then work less vote, and especially less well. Changing the type of task brings a breath of fresh air and allows you to use other resources.

8. Take breaks

Indispensable to be effective, breaks allow you to replenish your energy (both physical and mental).

They have another hidden advantage. They allow you to take a step back and therefore have a critical look at your work. It is impossible to know if you are doing the essentials when you spend all day with your head in the handlebars ...

Need proof? Have you ever been stuck in vain on a problem for hours, to suddenly find the solution while you were in the shower?

9. Constrain your working time

No no no ! Just because you work more hours at work doesn't mean you are more efficient (although attitudes are far from having changed on the issue). There are even countries where it is considered that if you are still at work after 5 p.m., you are poorly organized.

And they are right ! If you don't set a limit, you won't get more done. You'll just give yourself more time to do the same.

10. Stop thinking and ACT

Of course, sometimes you have to take the time to think… on condition that you think to achieve something, to plan, to organize, to decide. But once it's done: ACTION!

Keeping thinking for no reason only serves to fuel your fears. This is the first step towards procrastination ... So instead of spending half an hour finding reasons not to do now, devote that half hour to taking action. It will bring you closer to your dreams than any other thought!

And you, what methods do you use to succeed in being effective on a daily basis?