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Angel
@ang301
The Zeigarnik effect
Starting but not completing too many projects puts people at risk of the Zeigarnik effect, which states that people are better at remembering unfinished tasks than completed ones.
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Ethan O.
@ethho518
7 Cognitive Biases That Make Us Suck at Time Management
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The Mere Urgency Effect
This bias addresses why we do unimportant tasks we think are time-sensitive over tasks that are not time-sensitive, even if the non-time-sensitive tasks provide greater rewards.
How to overcome this bias:
- Use the Eisenhower Matrix. It will reveal the urgent/not urgent and important/not important tasks.
- Block off on your calendar the most productive 2-4 hours each day for your most important work.
- Only answer emails at specific times. Don't allow email to bleed into other time.
- Give your important tasks a deadline and find a way to commit to it.
The Zeigarnik Effect
This effect describes our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks. Each unfinished task takes up some of your attention, splitting your focus. It also interferes with your sleep.
What you can do about it:
- Write your tasks down as soon as they come to you.
- Have a system in place for organizing and regularly reviewing your tasks.
- Have an end of work shutdown ritual, so your unfinished tasks don't stay in your mind after-hours.
- Take a small step to help you get started. The act of starting can help you keep going to the end.
- Don't forget to review your completed tasks and celebrate what you've already accomplished.
Valerica Dragomir
@valerica
Context Switching: Why It's So Hard to Avoid & How to Prevent It Anyway
Use tasks lists and trackers
Designate a place to add and organize your tasks that’s not your head: a pen-and-paper to-do list or a digital task manager like Todoist . By capturing tasks to come back to later, you can free your attention to focus on your immediate work, not remembering what you need to get done in the future.
Organization methods
Once you know what you’ll focus on, you’ll need a daily structure for staying focused on it. You may not be able to eliminate context switching from your day entirely, but these strategies will help you cut down on the number of times you have to shift your attention:
- Task batching : Grouping and performing similar tasks together. For example, answering all of your emails at the same time so you’re not bouncing back and forth between your work and your inbox all day.
- Time blocking : Dividing your day into blocks, such as “meetings,” “email,” and “deep work”. This method goes a step further than task batching and requires you to physically block off time on your calendar for a designated task or group of tasks and only those tasks.
- Theme days : Designating different days of the week for different types of tasks. This is a more extreme version of task batching and time blocking that allows you to focus on certain types of work on certain days and postpone other types of work that don’t fit with the day’s theme.
- Time boxing : Setting a limit on how much time you spend on a task. Similar to time blocking, time boxing requires you to designate boxes of time for specific tasks. The twist is that you must finish the designated task within the time box. The time constraint creates a sense of urgency that sharpens your focus.
- Pomodoro method : Setting a timer while working on one task and taking regular breaks. This is a variation on time boxing that calls for 25-minutes of focused work on a single, clearly defined task followed by a 5-minute break with a longer 30-minute break after every four focused sessions.
Rafael J.
@rafjj355
7 Expert-Approved Ways to Write a Better To-Do List
1. Time-Blocking
Time-blocking consists of assigning individual tasks to manageable time slots.
Instead of writing out short tasks alongside hours-long tasks on your list for the day and hoping you ha...
2. If/then Lists
To set reasonable goals make a list for high-energy days and another for when you are reluctant to work. Both lists should follow an “if/then” model.
The first lists should have the more involved tasks, while the second list should feature more mindless tasks like cleaning out your inbox, organizing your desk, or even napping.
3. Eisenhower Matrix
- Has items that are both urgent and important, is to be tackled immediately.
- Items that are important but not urgent, can be scheduled for a later time.
- Tasks deemed urgent but not important can be delegated to others if possible
- Tasks that are neither urgent nor important should be crossed off the list altogether.
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