BeadLinks.com
Bead Links on The Net Find Bead Links for Bead Stores Around the World
 | |
| |
 |
BeadLinks.com Home | Directory of Craft & Hobby Articles | Browse Craft & Hobby Articles from the Top | The Down The Street Bead Show Articles on Artistic Creativity |
|
|
|
9 Steps to Supercharge Your Productivity with Creativity
Time is the great equalizer. Everybody has the exact same number of hours in each day. For most people, the hours available are usually less than the hours needed to get everything done. However, by using the following principles of creativity, you should be able get more done in less time, while making certain that you are doing what's most important and moving yourself closer to your goals. 1. Start with quiet focus When you have a lot to do, your first instinct is probably to hit the ground running. If you feel you have a tremendous amount to do, you may feel the urge to jump in and get started on your work. Rather than doing that, take a few minutes to get calm and organize your thoughts. Think of this as a short form of meditation; just try to empty your mind. After you have done this, your focus, energy, and perspective will all be improved. Taking a few minutes up front to center yourself can make you tremendously more productive. 2. Brainstorm your day Take a piece of paper (it can be a loose sheet, but it can be helpful if it's part of a designated notebook or planner) and write down everything you need to do that day. Let your mind flow, and get everything out. As with all creative exercises, don't criticize your ideas. Don't think of something you'd like to do and then not write it down because you think you won't be able to do it or that you shouldn't do it. The most important thing here is that you get everything onto the page. 3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to your List Take this list you've created and apply the 80/20 rule to it. Remember, 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your effort. Circle only the 20% of items that will yield 80% of those results. This step will focus your day down to the critical tasks you must get down. 4. Chunk Up For each circled activity, chunk up. Put the bigger picture in perspective. This will refocus and motivate you to work on it. Or, it may make you realize that the task is not as important as you thought. Having a 'why' is very helpful in getting us to work towards our goal, especially if the task is something we're not excited about doing. 5. Chunk Down For each circled item remaining on the list, chunk down. Break the items down into smaller parts. You should strive to get them to a point where each task is broken down into a series of single action items. How big each item is depends on your work style. I like my action items to be things I can complete between 15 minutes and 1 hour. 6. Prioritize your list Prioritize every item on your list. A simple way to do this is look at your list and ask yourself, 'at the end of today, what one thing on my list, if finished, will have the biggest positive impact on my life?' The answer to that is your number one priority. Ask that question again with the remaining items on your list. That's your number two item. Continue this until your list is complete. 7. Schedule those activities For every action item in step 5, schedule when you will do it and how long it will take. Resolve to stick to the schedule. You can take two approaches to scheduling. First, and the way to ensure you get the most important work done, is to schedule your first priority item first in the day, then your second, and so on. You can also schedule your high priority items during your most productive hours. You have high and low productive times during the day. You know when they are, not me (if you don't know, pay attention to yourself for the next couple of weeks and figure it out). Scheduling this way ensures you devote your best time to the most important activities, but if your most productive time is not first thing in the morning you run a greater risk of your high priority items not being done. 8. Go with the Flow Be aware that the day has a way of stealing your time. Keep your 80/20 priorities in mind when new things come up. Make sure to prioritize and evaluate new things that come. Don't sacrifice an important item on your list to do something less important. At the same time, keep an open mind and be willing to flow with new items. Your schedule and list is there to help you. If something new comes up that will be more beneficial for you, go with it. 9. Go one at a time Work through you list and schedule in the order you have it. For big tasks, don't be overwhelmed by the number of tasks, just work through them one at a time. Put your attention solely on the task at hand. For the vital action items, try to remove distractions. Turn off the phone, close the door, or work at a time when everyone else is asleep. You can finish a task that you might think would take you three hours in one hour if you put 100% of your attention on it. Try following these 9 steps and watch your productivity explode! Avish Parashar has a refreshingly unique approach to speaking and training: identify the fundamentals of success and then give people the tools to implement those fundamentals. Avish's approach can be deceptive; it's fun, funny, interactive, engaging, entertaining, and ridiculously simple. Success isn't complicated, it's simple. So visit the web site to learn more about the "Ridiculously Simple Ideas That Everybody Needs and Nobody Uses." Learn More:http://www.avishparashar.com Free Creativity Mini-Course:http://www.avishparashar.com/creativity-free-minicourse.html
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Is Your Team Suffering from FWTS? Who do you know who is feeling stuck, under-performing, or dealing with frustration and upset?These folks might be suffering from FLAT WORLD THINKING SYNDROME! (FWTS)"Flat World Thinking Syndrome" is the number one issue standing between predictable performance and breakthrough performance. Allow me to illustrate. Connect with Your Inner Artist In the "Roadblocks to Creativity" e-course, we look at the 7 most common things that block our creative expression. So, if we're "blocked" when we're facing those things, what are we like when we're free of them?Well, certainly we're connected to our "Inner Artist". Art of Creation with Attention Attention is the greatest creative power in the world. If you command your attention, you command your creation/life. Breathing Out Stage Fright You're stepping onto the stage, amidst opening night flurry and last minute stage directions. In the audience are the director you'd like to work with, the reviewer everyone listens to, and your first acting coach. 12 Ways To Boost Your Creativity At Work As workplaces continue to rightsize and downsize, we all find ourselves doing more with less. How do we stay ahead of the workload while staying sane? The key is to put your creativity to work for you so you can do more with less and shine like never before. Internet Business: 10 Important Creative Ways To Get New Product Ideas Creativity is one of the most important keys to success in any business.If you want to succeed in any business, you have to bemore creative and pragmatic. Creativity Isnt Just About Art It Is About Healing Go on, pick up a pen, hold it in your hand and ask, " What can you do for me?"What do you hear? If you listen with your heart you may hear " I can show you a world within that only you and I can explore! Let's start writing and see what we can find."As you travel deeper within you will start to find a world of emotion and thoughts that you never imagined you had, whether you are delving into those dark corners of pain or dancing into the lightness of your being. Creativity Management - Artists and Creativity Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. The Healing Powers of Journaling For the past several years, I have found joy working as a motivational writer and speaker. One of my greatest passions has been the gift of sharing my deep love and respect for the written word. Mindfulness and Music: Things That Go Hmmm Shhh.. Top Ten Creative Strategies for Inspiring Creativity Where You Work and Play Websites, automobiles, milk cartons, living spaces. Design saturates every aspect of our lives and the difference between success and failure could be the color purple, could be the person that you talk to every morning when you wake up, or could be the amount of light that streams into your office every day. Fear & Creativity My fears are most powerful when they're simmering just under the surface of my awareness. I'm resistant to a new idea, I'm defensive about holding on to my old ways, I feel excited and panicked at the same time - these are sure-fire signs that there's some fear under there. Self-Care for Creative Artists: 10 Reasons To Care About It 1. To be more comfortable in performance situations - performance anxiety usually stems from a variety of causes - physical, mental and emotional. Top Ten Brainstorming Techniques for Business Success We experience creativity every time a fresh idea pops into our minds. We recognize creative imagination in everything from a pastel painting to a business plan. Break An Egg For Creativity In 1420, the dignitaries of Florence held a competition.They offered the enormous prize of 200 gold florins to the architect whose genius could span the unfinished dome of the Florence Cathedral. How Do You Paint New Age About once every year or so, I take a critical look at the design of my web site and now our popular newsletter and wonder what I could do to create a theme background for them.The site has been changed several times over the last four years, but it doesn't really have a theme backdrop. Think Orange! Creativity and the Sacral Chakra Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just flick a switch and turn on your creativity? Sadly, at times, tapping into your creativity can feel like trying to squeeze water from a stone. The good news is, there are ways of encouraging creativity and one of these ways is through balancing your sacral chakra. The Optimal Mind State Let's begin by defining the optimal mind state and the power it will give you to channel your energy toward your desired outcome. The optimal mind state is a quality of attention that leads to the highest level of concentration. Creativity: The Key To Getting More Done In Less Time If your to-do list seems as long at the end of the day as it did at the start (or worse yet, longer!) then you could definitely use an injection of creativity in your work day.Here are five simple ways of using your creativity to improve the quality of your day:1) Stop banging your head against the wall -- A good chunk of the time people waste in a day is due to stressing over the same problems that face them day after day. Art, Artists and Money Practical money tips for people in the arts.1.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |