The art of time wasting
Why is it that whenever you have a super urgent task to do you miraculously find 100 less urgent things that have to be done THAT SECOND?!
Five hours of household chores, three Netflix series later and still yet to start any tasks? Sound familiar?
There is an interesting observation known as Parkinsons Law that a task/work expands to fit the time allocated to it. This may explain why upon having notice of a piece of coursework months ahead of the submission deadline, you would often find me a few days beforehand confined to a corner of the library furiously typing away and questioning my life choices. Suffice to say, I would not recommend such method to anyone.
Organise like a boss
Tips and Tricks
So what can be done about this? I am by no means a refined organiser, however I have found the following to be useful in my pursuit of organisational bliss;
- Working out when you are most productive in the day and setting your most daunting to task to cover such period – for me, this is the morning time
- Double checking deadlines for tasks when given i.e. is that research project REALLY required in the next two hours or can this wait until the end of the day
- Making lists! I love, love, love a list and the satisfaction of striking through a task when completed
- Organising tasks by blocks of time in my diary/calendar and sticking to the allocated time for each task
- Dissecting a task into smaller pieces to avoid my brain becoming overwhelmed
- Putting my phone in the other room when I have to undertake tasks
- Working out what tasks can be delegated out (if any)
- Taking a short break between tasks to reset the mind
- Filing emails at the end of the day (as this is my least productive time and does not take too much effort)
- Scheduling to watch that “must see” Netflix show as a treat during the evening for relaxation (because who doesn’t like a Netflix and Chill 😊)
Photo by Godisable Jacob on Pexels.com 
Photo by Ellie Burgin on Pexels.com
And let’s not forget…
As with anything, it is all about trial and error and working out what methods work for you. You may find that you do your best work in the evening and therefore your morning may be taken up with the less taxing of jobs leaving you free to complete your daily goals before bedtime.
Feel free to comment below with any other tips or tricks that work for you!
Saver Raver 