Secrets on How to Take Control of your Day
“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
How many times have you heard this statement?
How many times did you push yourself to do everything on your daily checklist?
How many ‘mornights’ have you spent working on the things that you need to do?
For the past 20+ years of existence, I have imbibed and followed this statement. More often than not, I underestimate the time that I need to do certain tasks. Hence, I usually list 10 to 20+ tasks all in one day.
Most of the ‘self-help’ gurus that I follow highlighted the importance of having MITs or ‘Most Important Tasks.” These are the critical tasks that will create the most important results we want to achieve.
But, I did not realize how essential and relevant setting MITs in my everyday life until recently.
Before, I just really ‘go with the flow.’ I did the tasks assigned to me regardless of their relevance in achieving the greater vision for my personal life and the team of which I’m a part. I was being reactive than proactive. In the end, my efforts did not translate into the goals I have in mind.
Since then, I knew that something must change. I need to redirect myself and take accountability for my decision and actions.
Just recently, my mentor/supervisor pointed out to me that “not everything is urgent.”
Indeed, she’s right. We have very limited resources — time, money, and whatnot. Therefore, it’s very crucial to do things that really contribute to our growth and development.
This time, I started revisiting and applying the concepts I’ve learned before to my personal life. This is where Pareto Principle, Eisenhower Matrix, and Action-Priority Matrix come into play.
What are these concepts?
Pareto Principle specifies that 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes, asserting an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs. (Reference: Investopedia)
📌This means that you need to identify the 20% of your actions that contribute to 80% of your growth.
The Eisenhower Matrix, also referred to as Urgent-Important Matrix, helps you decide on and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. (Reference: Eisenhower)
📌This helps you sort out the tasks at hand and prioritize the things that are really urgent and important. This matrix urges you to identify tasks that you can do, decide, delegate, and delete.
Action Priority Matrix is a simple diagramming technique that helps you choose which activities to prioritize in order to make the most efficient use of your time. (Reference: ToolsHero)
📌This matrix lets you identify activities that are quick wins, major projects, fill-ins, and thankless tasks.
A combination of these concepts helps me prioritize tasks at hand because whether we like it or not, we only have 24 hours in one day — ⅓ of this is even allotted to sleep and rest.
Hence, we must be smart and efficient in how we use the most important and precious commodity that we have — time. ⏳
Think twice when you hear or read this statement again, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
You don’t have to do it all one day.
You don’t have to do it all on your own.
Tomorrow can be another day. 🌅
