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Writer's pictureShalav D

Habits of Effective People

Updated: Oct 16, 2021


‘A man’s problem stems from the inability to sit in a room quietly’. -

SENECA


In many ways, being busy is glorified in our society. You see someone else working very hard and you tend to get a little competitive. If you are not as busy as they are, you perceive yourself to be lazy. But being busy does not mean that you will get more productive with your time. A busy but slow person may take an hour to complete a task, while an effective person can do the same in 15 minutes. Think about it for a minute. Would you prefer to be an effective person or a productive person, rather than just a busy person?



Proactive


Effective people focus on things that they can control. Such as their time, energy, and schedule, or focus on healthy habits. Complaining about things beyond their control is a futile exercise in their opinion.


One needs to strike a balance between the things that are under control or not. Thinking about things that are nowhere near your control is otiose.


Remember that one thing that is under your control is your mood. Compare yourself to someone else for a minute. Think of the work they do, the lifestyle choices they make. This comparison often leads to self-criticism. We end up reaching out to complain about it to our friends or family members. So you can see how it turns into a tiny little loop that changes the focus of our minds. Be proactive instead, know that you can take responsibility and break the chain whenever external stimuli are affecting you mentally.



Giving time to Quadrant


There are tasks which you need to complete in a day. So those are at a higher priority while some are not. It is quite simple to sort through them. Firstly, create a box and divide them into four sections. Then, allocate the tasks in the boxes. Starting from the top left mention your tasks that need your immediate attention and move on to those with lesser importance. Using this, you will see where you need to allocate your time and energy.


Using downtime wisely


Successful people always find time to read so why not use your downtime to do the same! The surprising thing about reading or listening to books is that you can easily do it during your idle time. Set to play while you travel, in the bed, while cleaning or cooking. For those of you who don’t feel you don't have time to go through the whole book, there is an app called Blinkist. The app allows you to take insights from thousands of different books and it can compress them in 15 minutes. One can read or listen to them on the go. Now you can get the employees to try it out and if you do, I

highly recommend listening to 15 minutes of gold from Stephen Covey's book '7 Habits 7 Influential People.'



Knowing when you are most productive:


Everyone has a time of the day where you feel the most productive. If it is in the morning, then organize your day in such a way that you complete the most difficult task of the day in the morning itself. Basically, all you have to do is make sure your schedule is planned as per the period when you know you are most productive. Then skip activities like responding to emails in the filler, because your energy will be lost in these stuff.


We know it's time to schedule our day when we are most productive and do

it the day before yesterday. That way you will not spend valuable mental

energy in the morning, you will try to learn what to do. For example, if you

are the most productive in the morning, try to schedule more difficult and

important tasks first. Predict how long it takes me to complete a specific

task. Imagine how long it takes to get the job done, by squeezing time in


we always have a chance to see things. Creating schedules makes us

more responsible for completing tasks within a predetermined time.


Sharpening the saw


If a lumberjack complains that it takes too long to sharpen his saw, he may

not be as effective at cutting down trees. This also applies to our physical,

mental, and spiritual health. We need to spend time taking breaks and self-

care. Without doing so, we may not be as effective. Therefore, when

scheduling your day, it is important that you set aside time to schedule

short and long breaks. You will not feel guilty for taking too much time

that way.


Focus on one task at a time


Humans are terrible at multitasking. Science has proven it. There is this

saying,’ Focus like a Roman’. This saying aptly describes the task you

choose to undertake. Give it all your energy so you can complete it to the

best of your ability. Doing this will only help you complete your task faster

and the quality of it will drastically improve.


We recommend you incorporate these habits of effective people into your

routine! Once you cultivate these habits, you will be efficient, and

productive.


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In many ways, being busy is glorified in our society. You see someone else working very hard and you tend to get a little competitive. If you are not as busy as they are, you perceive yourself to be lazy. But being busy does not mean that you will get more productive with your time. A busy but slow person may take an hour to complete a task, while an effective person can do the same in 15 minutes. Think about it for a minute. Would you prefer to be an effective person or a productive person, rather than just a busy person?



Being Proactive

Effective people focus on things that they can control. Such as their time, energy, and schedule, or focus on healthy habits. Complaining about things beyond their control is a futile exercise in their opinion. Because really, what is it like to complain about the weather? Compare, critique, and complain about the three things that undermine all your productivity and effectiveness.


Remember that one thing that is under your control is your mood. Compare yourself to someone else for a minute. Think of the work they do, the lifestyle choices they make. This comparison often leads to self-criticism. We end up reaching out to complain about it to our friends or family members. So you can see how it turns into a tiny little loop that allows us to focus our minds. The valuable mental energy that can be used instead of doing creative work. Be proactive instead, know that you can take responsibility and break the chain anytime when external stimuli are affecting you mentally.


Giving time to Quadrant

More generally, people spend more time focusing on high-need and high-priority items. This makes sense, but for long-term impact, we want to include our time in Quadrant Number Two. Quadrant 2 includes tasks that are high-priority but low emergency jobs. For example, checking if your car insurance is still valid. Working in Quadrant Two means you are going to work on really valuable things. Things that are really important to you and make sense to complete. When we are able to fulfill the requirements of this quadrant, we will be more motivated to continue working effectively.


Using downtime wisely

You have heard that the habit of very successful people is that they read a lot. The surprising thing about reading or listening to books is that you can easily do it during your idle time. Set to play while you travel, in front of the bed, while cleaning or cooking. For those of you who don’t feel like you have time to go through the whole book, there is an app called Blinkist. Basically, the app takes insights from thousands of different books and can compress them in 15 minutes. Once can read or listen to them on the go. Now you can get the employees to try it out and if you do, I highly recommend listening to 15 minutes of gold from Stephen Covey's book "7 Habits 7 Influential People."


Knowing when they are most productive

Some work better in the morning, some after lunch, and others work more efficiently in the evening. All you have to do is make sure your schedule is planned as per the period when you know you are most productive. Then skip activities like responding to emails in the filler, because your energy will be lost a little more.


We know it's time to schedule our day when we are most productive and do it the day before yesterday. That way you will not spend valuable mental energy in the morning, you will try to learn what to do. For example, if you are the most productive in the morning, try to schedule more difficult and important tasks first. Predict how long it takes me to complete a specific task. Imagine how long it takes to get the job done, by squeezing time in we always have a chance to see things. Creating schedules makes us more responsible for completing tasks within a predetermined time.


Sharpening the saw

If a lumberjack complains that it takes too long to sharpen his saw, he may not be as effective at cutting down trees. This also applies to our physical, mental, and spiritual health. We need to spend time for breaks and self-care. Without doing so, we may not be as effective. Therefore, when scheduling your day, it is important that you set aside time to schedule short and long breaks. You will not feel guilty for taking too much time that way.


Focus on one task at a time

There has been a long-running debate over whether multitasking allows us to be more effective or efficient. It is an ongoing debate, with a lot of research coming into it. However, the effectiveness of multitasking depends on the area of your work. Now I always thought I was an amazing multi-tasker, but recently I started questioning myself. Does being good at multi-tasking mean that I am effective?


We recommend you incorporate these habits of effective people into your routine! Once you cultivate these habits, you will be efficient, and productive.


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