The trick with using To-Do Lists effectively lies in prioritizing the tasks on your list. Many people use an A – F coding system (A for high priority items, F for very low priorities). Make sure that you break large tasks or projects down into specific, actionable steps – then you won't overlook something important.

Failing to Keep a To-Do List

Goals give you a destination and a vision to work toward. When you know where you want to go, you can manage your priorities, time, and resources to get there. Goals also help you decide what's worth spending your time on, and what's just a distraction.

Not Setting Personal Goals

It's essential to learn how to prioritize tasks effectively if you want to manage your time better.Determine if a task is high-yield and high-priority, or low-value, "fill in" work. You'll manage your time much better during the day if you know the difference.

Not Prioritizing

Taking on too much is a poor use of your time, and it can get you a reputation for producing rushed sloppy work.

Taking on Too Much

An "addiction to busyness" rarely means that you're effective, and it can lead to stress.

Instead, try to slow down, and learn to manage your time better.

Thriving on "Busy"

All of us have different times of day when we feel most productive and energetic.

You can make the best use of your time by scheduling high-value work during your peak time, and low-energy work (like returning phone calls and checking email), during your "down" time.

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Ineffectively Scheduling Tasks

Whether they come from emails, colleagues in a crisis, or phone calls from clients, distractions prevent us from achieving flow, which is the satisfying and seemingly effortless work that we do when we're 100 percent engaged in a task.It's vital to know how to minimize distractions and manage interruptions effectively.

Failing to Manage Distractions

Don't dismiss breaks as "wasting time." They provide valuable down-time, which will enable you to think creatively and work effectively.

Try to take a five-minute break every hour or two.

Not Taking Breaks

Procrastinators feel that they have to complete a task from start to finish, and this high expectation makes them feel overwhelmed and anxious. Instead, focus on devoting a small amount of time to starting. Tell yourself that you're only going to start on a project for ten minutes.



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Procrastination

It can take 20-40 percent more time to finish a list of jobs when you multitask, compared with completing the same list of tasks in sequence. 

Forget about multitasking and, instead, focus on one task at a time. That way, you'll produce higher quality work.

Multitasking

Avoiding Common Pitfalls How well do you manage your time? If you're like many people, your answer may not be completely positive! Perhaps you feel overloaded, and you often have to work late to hit your deadlines. Or maybe your days seem to go from one crisis to another, and this is stressful and demoralizing.