5 Ways to Produce Something of Value This Week
“Let’s define work, for a moment, as something you create that has a lasting value in the market.”-Seth Godin
Photo by hawkexpress
Let’s admit it- the workplace isn’t always the ideal environment to get work accomplished and life will always get in the way of you getting personal projects accomplished. It’s time to free yourself from the noise, and to accomplish something. The following 5 points will help you this week to get a project crossed off your list, whether it’s professional or personal.
1. Identify the Project
How many people that you know come into work or wake up every day without a plan? Don’t be that guy. Create a plan for yourself, both personally and professionally.
Before each semester, I use Google Drawing to make a mind map of all the projects I’d like to get accomplished. This easy tool allows me to keep track of what I’m really accomplishing each semester and it comes in handy during my annual review, when I can proudly whip it out and say “look what I’ve done”. Identify your projects.
2. Break the Project into Steps
Identifying a project is the first step, but the second part of breaking that project up into steps should not be overlooked. How can you start on your journey, when you don’t know the path or where you’re going? Breaking the project into steps allows you to see the full scope of your project so that you can reserve enough time to tackle it.
I use a tool called Teamly to help me organize my projects by setting quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals. The tool has a great strategy- you can only work set 5 tasks per quarter, month, week, and day. This prevents people from overloading themselves with too much work or to get too far into planning, only to see a project needing reevaluating several times along the way.
3. Find your Best Working Time
There are certain points during the day when I work best on personal projects. Although it’s hard to wake up early in the winter when the sun doesn’t make it appearance until I’m well on my way to work, it is truly the most creative time for me. My mind struggle at night, probably wiped out from work during the day. You must find your best time for working- whether it’s early in the morning or late at night and work to devote that time to personal projects.
At work, I also have better work times. Usually the mornings are filled with chit chat, phone calls, e-mails, and meetings. I am able to get more work done at the end of the day. You also must find the best times to get projects accomplished at your workplace and schedule that time for such.
4. Free Yourself from Interruptions
I work best in a closed room with music on, and that’s exactly the kind of environment I put myself in when I work on personal projects each morning. I have a subscription to Pandora, which provides me commercial-free music all day long. Free yourself from distractions- pets, kids, phone calls, TV, Facebook, e-mail- and start crossing projects off of your list. If you don’t have alone time, you may want to use those alumni rights and seek refuge in a college library or a public library.
With co-workers chatting, e-mail popping up, meetings, and your phone ringing, forget getting anything accomplished during the day in the workplace. However, there are some useful times I put into goo practice that have helped me to accomplish more during my day.
Only check e-mail a few times a day (morning, noon, and before you leave) and leave it shut down during the down times.
Check news and social media sites once per day.
Plug in headphones-whether you are listening to music or not.
Or, find a quiet place to concentrate and get work done.
Always have your task list open and cross items off as your get them accomplished.
5. Implement, Evaluate, and Maintain the Project
After you have done the work on any project, whether it is completing that book you’ve been working on or a new resource at work, you must work in implementation into the project plan. Send that book out to publishers or advertise that new resource at work. Evaluate your project progress- what worked, what didn’t? And finally, plan for maintenance- following up with publishers or updates that have to be made to that resource.
I want to hear from you. What are some of your production tips? What are your practices for getting things accomplished?
As an educationist who is currently focusing on DIY learning, I believe we need a radically different approach to crediting learning that occurs in our daily lives. Informal, low-cost learning can play a huge role in developing human capital, communities, and businesses and I love to connect with those who share my passion.
It is important to be efficient as you approach any effort. If you recognize inefficiencies in what you do, it is important that you change your behavior. My guiding principle is to avoid the “I don’t have time to do it right, but I do have time to do it over” syndrome. Doing something more efficiently will take more time the first time, but save you time in the long run. It seems that Leah has adopted new tools along the way to improve her efficiency. Great post. If you want to be a more efficient learner, try some of my book summaries at DrDougGreen.Com.
Thanks for sharing, Dr. Doug. Learning and productivity are at the heart of living a purposeful life. Weeding out distractions and focusing on the tasks that matter will help us to lead rich, full lives.
For a add-on to #4 if you use chrome browser there’s a extension called ‘stayfocusd’ yes that’s the spelling, you can block and set limits on sites like facebook and others, so say 10 minutes a day for facebook then that’s it, kind of forces you to concentrate on projects. It’s free in the chrome store.