Every task or job that we have is important/not-important and urgent/not-urgent. It can be put in the form of a quadrant as shown in the picture below. (click on the image to enlarge)
Most people focus on important and urgent tasks. So their whole day is occupied in solving the problems of Quadrant 1, tasks that are important and which have a immediate deadline . However Stephen R Covey emphasizes that it is important to look at the activities in Quadrant 2.
The logic here is that all important tasks are initially in quadrant 2 (i.e they are important and the deadline is not immediate). However as the time progresses, they move from being not-urgent to urgent. So your important non-urgent task becomes important-urgent. So the key is to set aside time for activities in Quadrant 2 so that they never end up in Quadrant 1.
To accomplish this task, it would be useful to plan your work in advance. Planning a month in advance may seem too much and planning every day may make you feel tied too much to your schedule, so it is better to plan your tasks on a weekly basis. Planning on a weekly basis makes it easier to plan and complete the tasks.
Attached is an excel sheet that I use to plan my week for quadrant 1 & 2 activities. This is a highly effective way of handling your. Once a week (preferably Sunday), you could plan your next week to include tasks that are in Quadrant 1 and Quadrant2. However it is very important to define which tasks have high priority. Hope this excel sheet helps you :-).
Time Management Excel
P.S: "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R Covey is an excellent book on self improvement. I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to improve his/her personal as well as professional life. If you just want to read about time management, then you could read chapter 3 of the book.
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