Simple tips and tricks I have learned over the time. Some are useful.
If we can focus on one thing for a period of time, it is great. It is True But Useless (TBU) to me. I cannot do that. I have my work, my Facebook, my Twitter, my books… They are part of my reality.
Instead of fighting hard to just focus on one thing at a time, I did them better.
So what was the previous typical behavior? Let say I am reading a book. Notice that I have Facebook, LinkedIn, … tabs opening. I would have:
- Read a few pages in the book
- Switched to Facebook and read/scroll Facebook
- Time flies, usually longer than I have expected or imagined. Back to the book
- Read a couple more pages
- The steps were repeated. Sometimes, I stopped reading the book and did something else
They look normal except for the unaware consequences – I forgot almost everything
- I felt reading time longer than reality
- I felt Facebook time shorter than reality (it always takes longer)
I want to remember as much as I can what I have read. I want to enjoy my social media time. Above all, I want to feel good.
Pause and Reflect
Before starting the next action, I pause and reflect what I have learned/done in the previous action. I simply recall what I have learned, make sense of those new information, summarize them in my head. The actions vary. They take a few minutes.
A few amazing things happen
- I remember more what I have learned/done. I can recall them again at the end of the day
- Sometimes, I continued the learning. It gave me time to decide. I am in charge
Track the time
I do not track my time to manage it better. I do it to raise my awareness to the actions. Of course, at the end of a week, I gain the benefit of having everything logged and tracked.
I am not interested in managing my time. Instead, I am focusing on improving my energy and attention.
I use Toggl to track my time, but any tool can do the job, even on paper.
