Let’s face it – do you want to change your approach to the time and the way you use it? Unfortunately, it’s impossible to add an extra hour to the day. So what is the best way to start self-improvement in being productive? The strong resolve of improvement! And realizing what we’re doing wrong.
Let’s join my journey through the most common time management mistakes I make working remotely!
Common time management mistakes that I made, sometimes I make and try not to make!
Postponing
I am the champion in telling myself that “I still have the whole weekend to finish it.” What I had to do during two last days, therefore, I usually do in the last few hours of Sunday. This results in the adrenaline rising, and I am finishing the weekend again stressed and not relaxed.
After all, I know exactly that I am making the same mistake again, and my previous experiences end up in the trash bin of my brain (which is quite a huge place, unfortunately). Week after week, day after day, hour after hour, I postpone my tasks for later. And their mountain piles up and spreads, creating Mount Everest of unproductive things. I am only grateful to my body that I am so eager to absorb these adrenaline decks that make me think brighter, and ideas are not lost in the depths of fatigue.
Tip: Daily routine plus two major daily tasks
My work is based on several fixed, daily tasks whose failure (especially a few days in a row) results in disorganization and weaker performance. I fixed them rigid hour frames in which they must be filled, for example:
- First task from 8:10 AM to 9:00 AM,
- The second from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM,
- Third, most developed, from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM.
In the breaks between them, I try to complete additional tasks that appear during the week. In this way I control the fleeing time, subjugating it.
Scattering
I’m a little perceptive person, but I notice everything that can potentially distract me. At one point, I even clean my computer with dust and dog hair three times a day. I’m disturbed by sounds from the environment… and screens. Yes, screens – my phone is rich in all kinds of applications (for some reasons my friends call as a person-app, I’m able to find a suitable app for everything). The smartphone is also my work tool, so I can’t just put it aside.
Tip: Most of the time spent on the task at work I have disabled WiFi on my phone.
This will not distract me from news alerts from friends, new likes on Instagram or incoming mail. All work related messages are checked in a web browser. I turn on the WiFi every two hours for about five minutes if the situation does not require doing it more often. Besides, I put it away as far away from me as I have the additional motivation to get up off the couch when I need it. And as a result, time management errors are eliminated by themselves.
Not looking at the watch
To find a right work-life balance, having the clock is necessary. The lack of concentrations doesn’t let me find the right lower corner of my screen where Windows displays the bar with time, that’s why I needed to buy a wall clock. I also noticed that the lack of a clock caused staring at the phone screen more often and it’s not that easy to control myself from checking Facebook or Instagram…
Tip: That’s why I decided to buy it!
I put it exactly opposite the place where I sit. Thanks to that I know exactly how much time left to finish the job. It motivates me – if I see that there are already 3 PM, and there is still something else to do, I’m doing it a lot faster. Besides, buying a clock made me glad, because I was trying to choose the one that would please my eyes most. Time management mistakes can, therefore, be eliminated in a very pleasant way!
Misunderstanding the difference between free and work time
Being a remote employee requires a clear separation between the time spent in work and free time. I often hear from my friends that I am lucky – at any time I can put my computer aside, relax and take care of something else. But I do not let anyone say that without self-denial, this way of doing the job is incredibly lazy – it scatters me all the time. Free time spent working late is not free – the head is still working at full speed, and the adrenaline level rises for every thought that we still have not finished our task.
Tip: In this case, the principle of the establishment of daily routines works there good as well.
Rest should be something we owe, a reward for work done – not only does every activity done in leisure time taste a few times better, but we also do not have the final sense of time lost. There are, of course, people who do not mind, because they can find themselves under any conditions, I understand it. But I need a solid incentive to mobilize for action – usually, the prize is waiting for me in the evening’s dozens of pages of the book.
Laziness
Yes – I’m lazy. And I do not think this is a strange thing because everything has so far been quite easy – satisfactory grades in school, gaining new skills, studies also went completely smoothly. I am happy to have never had a goalless situation, but in hindsight, I must admit that I was lazy of this situation and that there were time management mistakes. I’ve always had the time that I used to spend on unproductively. I’ve lost a lot of self-development opportunities lately – only recently have I understood that I am still young and my mind is absorbent, and consequently it is time to begin to learn a new language.
Tip: Find the source of your problem – mine is described above.
In your case, it can be fatigue, too many headaches each day, or a stressful lifestyle that takes away our desire to do anything else. In this case, it is extremely important to make the right diagnosis – to be aware of what causes our state to open our minds and make us think.
I know how difficult it is to realize the possibility of change – the promise of free bending is extremely tempting. It is much more difficult to lay down your schedule for the day so that you can meet your goals in the shortest possible time. This is because our brain is geared to pleasure, but it abolishes all necessities.
I’m at the stage of having knowledge of it, I spend a lot of time during the day and try to change it. There are times when I have time management errors, but I believe I am well on the way to clearing the mind of all the scatterers. There is still much to do to me – and there is so little time!
Remember, that you can enhance your productivity when working remotely by tracking time spent at work – TimeCamp does it perfectly! right now!