I always thought that time management was the best tool for success, but then my professor said know
when you're most productive is essential. You may be really good at allotting time for all your different projects, but what if you're scheduling it wrong? For example, I was in the habit of doing pretty mindless, easy stuff during the late morning early afternoon, and then was stuck with tough things in the later afternoon after lunch. I had it all wrong! I'm most productive between about 8 am and 2 pm. (Kind of short window, I know.) So as I'm working on two research papers, I've learned to do the heavy duty readings and writing during the early part of the day, I do catalogue searches and bibliographies later when my mind is running a little slower.
Perfection!
When are you most productive? Do agree that knowing when you're most productive is more important than straight up schedules?
P.S. Some cool productivity apps!
Idea Sketch: Let's brainstorm visually, yes?
Wunderlist: a great to-do list. (Reminders on iPhone is great, but this has fun backgrounds.)
CamScanner allows you to turn your photos into PDFs. I've used this several times if I went to quick email a PDF of a worksheet I'm doing to someone.
Grocery List so you don't buy those impulse candy bars. :)
Photo via
@sarahcarlsonetc Instagram
I'm similar to you, morning is best and I can be a bit useless after lunch. I've recently realised though that I find it much more satisfying to finish something than start something new. so i try to do a few quick-but-annoying jobs in the morning, then start on a bigger project right before i stop for lunch. if everything's already set up and I've already started, I'm much more likely to want to get back to work straight after lunch than if I feel like I have a big job that I haven't started yet!
ReplyDeleteAlso, 30/30 is my favourite productivity app. it's a to-do list/timer combo!