Whether it’s the test we have tomorrow that we haven’t studied for or the chores we’ve been pushing aside for the past week, it’s all the same—procrastination. A lot of the time don’t even realize we’re procrastinating because fail keep track of the tasks that should be in priority to us. It’s become a behavior that raises problems with our punctuality and our ability to meet deadlines.This is why it’s important to learn how to be more productive.
This guide will teach anyone how to be productive everyday, including productivity at work and productivity at school. We’ll show you a method used by many successful people today. By the end of this article, you’ll know how to be more efficient with your time and feel more accomplished with yourself as time goes by.
How to Be More Productive
Before I show you how to increase productivity, I’ll start you off with a story. In 1918, Ivy Lee – a productivity consultant was given a task by Charles M. Schwab, who was the richest man in the world at that time. Schwab owned a steel manufacturing company and he wanted Lee to help him create a more productive and efficient way for his team to get tasks done. Upon Schwab’s request, Ivy Lee developed a productivity method and asked for 15 minutes with each of Schwab’s executives. Schwab asked him how much it was going to cost but Lee’s response was:
“Nothing, unless it works. After three months, you can send me a check for whatever you feel the method is worth to you”
Low and behold, three months later, Schwab was so satisfied with the results that he wrote Lee a $25,000 cheque, which is worth $400,000 today.
We’re dealing with a $400,000 productivity method here, people. Here it is:
Ivy Lee’s Productivity Method
Step 1
At the end of each day, write down 6 of the most important tasks you need to accomplish for tomorrow. No more, no less. The reason why you want to write down 6 is because according to research, any more than 6 will cause you to feel overwhelmed and any less will make you less productive than you can be.
Step 2
List them in order according to their importance. For example:
- Finish Assignment that’s due at 12am (1st priority)
- Study for Marketing test that’s in two days (2nd priority)
- Go to the grocery store (3rd priority)
- Do laundry (4th priority)
- Prepare meal plan for the week (5th priority)
- Write a blog post (6th priority)
You’ll notice that as you go down the list, the tasks get less and less important.
Step 3
On the next day, focus on accomplishing the first task until it’s complete. Then move on to the second. Make sure you don’t touch any of the other tasks until the first one is complete, or else it will defeat the purpose of this method.
Step 4
Follow the sequence in step 3 until all tasks are completed. If you don’t complete all 6 tasks, carry the unfinished tasks onto your list of tasks to do for tomorrow. Your goal is to do your best to finish all tasks on that list. However, someimes you’re unable to and that’s the only time you should be carrying over tasks onto the next day.
Step 5
Repeat the entire process every day. You’ll start to notice a huge productivity increase!
Source: The Huffington Post
Using Todoist to Help with The Ivy Lee Method
Now that you know the Ivy Lee productivity method, you can start using it to stop procrastinating and start using it to lead a productive life.
To aid you with this method, you can use Todoist—an app available for Android and iOS that can help you with keeping track of that method. It’s also available on your PC, Mac and browser as well, but I prefer the mobile version. You can download it here.
Within the app, you’re able to list out a number of daily tasks. In this case, following the Ivy Lee method you’d list out six like I have in the image above; ordering the list by descending priority. Once you finish a task, swipe right on the task to remove it from your list.
While using the app, you’ll also notice some other cool features as well. I won’t talk about those in this article though. You’ll have to figure them out for yourself.
Make sure you create a new list at the end of each day! And remember, anything that you don’t accomplish will be carried over. Todoist does that automatically for you and will also give you reminders for what you didn’t complete. Think of it as your own personal productivity schedule. Now you can stop wasting time at work, school, and home because you’ll have already planned ahead.
I hope this teaches you how to be more productive and that you share this article with your friends.
