Time is the main resource of every person, and our fate largely depends on how we treat every hour and minute of our lives. Time management, or the science of time management, offers all sorts of techniques and techniques that allow you to save precious time, distribute it more rationally, and thus achieve your goals faster. The book describes ways to effectively plan time at the personal, team and corporate levels, as well as methods and rules for achieving personal effectiveness through self-motivation and prioritization. You will be able to study the concepts, essence, tasks of time management techniques, in order to then apply them in practice.
Book:
Anchoring technique
Anchoring technique
This technique has been known for a long time and has managed to establish itself as a reliable and proven method. It is based on the idea that any material object (“anchor”) is associated with a certain emotional state and is capable of causing it. This is very important, because our feelings influence our thoughts and actions, determine our actions. Why is it so difficult to start a complex task or a global project, or just start a working day? Our emotions play a big role here. Remember how often in the morning after waking up, on the way to work or school, we scroll through phrases like these in our heads: “Back to work ... Back to this stuffy office ... Again I will see a colleague with whom we had a fight yesterday ... Again, the whole mood will be spoiled ... We must finally start working on the project task, but it is so big and difficult... Another client, dissatisfied with the disruption of supplies, will wag his nerves with his demands and complaints to the authorities... The boss will get angry again, scream, as always... And then there is the session on the nose, the abstract has not been written ... I won’t hand it over again ... I won’t have time ... "
Well, in what mood after such a morning “thought shower” will you arrive at work? And if there is a traffic jam on the road, a crowd in the subway, a button torn off in a crush? Nerves are on edge, but you have to start working, but you don’t have the strength anymore. And you gradually get involved in the work process, which, as a rule, drags on until lunchtime: first, just come to your senses, then calm down while talking with colleagues, then drink a cup of coffee, trying to collect your thoughts, then a second one to structure them ...
Now imagine what would happen if a surgeon called in for an emergency operation, an airplane pilot, or a TV news anchor speaking to an audience of millions on the air behaved in a similar way. Representatives of these and many other professions do not have the opportunity to swing for a long time, gradually being drawn into the work process. The actor must be able to enter the role at the moment of entering the stage, and not two hours before the start of the performance and not by the end of the second act. The modern manager, like a good actor, must gather and concentrate at the moment when the door of the meeting room opens and he meets face to face with the head of a large enterprise, client or customer, and not three hours before the start of the discussion, and even more so not an hour later after a presentation or business meeting.
And if we are talking about professionalism, then the ability to quickly tune in to a working mood is an important and indispensable condition for a true specialist, no matter in what field of activity he works. Imagine how easy and simple it would be to start any business if we could find a way to quickly switch our emotions and instantly enter a resource state - a state of mindset to do work that gives a feeling of joy and pleasure, strength and energy.
This way is the technique of "anchoring" or "anchoring".
"Anchor"- any material object or any stimulus (visual and auditory image, gesture, posture, movement, color, smell) that causes certain emotional states.
The life of each person is rich in various events and emotions accompanying them, and therefore each of us has our own “anchors” (music, color, word, movement, gesture, etc.) for certain actions. Most often in our lives there are external "anchors": the alarm clock in the morning - it's time to get up; green traffic light - you can go; a closed barrier at a railway crossing - a train is approaching. As a rule, most of the "anchors" are so obvious and widespread that we hardly notice them, get used to them as a matter of course, and meanwhile they actively influence the change in our emotional state.
Anchors are everywhere in our lives. We rest on the beach. The atmosphere on the beach sets you up for a state of relaxation ... Candlelight dinner - a romantic mood. A festive feast is a state of fun ... The workplace (who has a computer, who has a garage) is a working mood. A beautifully set table is a state of appetite. Behind books in the reading room - a state of focused attention.
What can be an "anchor"? Everything we see, hear, feel. Since working at a computer involves me looking at a screen, it's just more convenient to use sound. But with the same success, you can hang some keychain on the monitor or put a cactus next to the computer to see it out of the corner of your eye. Any object, any sound, any smell can be chosen as an "anchor".
A. Retunsky. Creating a mindset for high performance
There are two ways to create "anchors"
1. Through repeated repetition. When there are repeated cases that reinforce the anchor-association-action link. For example, if every morning after the alarm clock we get out of bed, then after a few repetitions this sound begins to be associated with the need to get up. This method of establishing an "anchor" can be used consciously by developing your own chains of "anchor - association - action". Especially in the event that there is no emotional involvement in the process of activity or it is, but rather weak.
2. At the peak of a strong emotional experience. When we are interested in something, when we are involved in the process, then the perception, assimilation and consolidation of information happens much faster and easier. Remember what subjects at school were the easiest to learn and pass on the exam? The ones that interested you the most. What facts are faster and easier to remember? Those that were interesting to you, and those that left you indifferent, required repeated repetition and memorization. The weaker the emotional involvement, the more repetitions are required.
Which we devoted to the problem of combating laziness, I noticed that one of the main causes of laziness is lack of motivation . And indeed, if we ourselves are not puzzled by diversifying our everyday lives, they become like a “Groundhog Day”. Cooking, washing, working with children is very difficult for some. It is difficult to tune in to homework and enjoy this process. That is why I decided to write about that simple trick that helps me tune in to work myself (and any, not just home)
So, what can help you, without unnecessary excuses and bickering with yourself, get down to business that you don’t really like or that you are just too lazy to do?
Psychologists call it " anchor principle» «Anchor» is any material binding connected for us by a certain emotional state. If it is necessary to tune in to a certain business, we “turn on” the necessary material “anchor” - and introduce ourselves into the appropriate emotional state.
Anything can be an anchor: music, smells, light, sensations, words, rituals, etc. If you know what exactly helps you get ready for work, you can consciously use this “anchor” to lift your spirits and invigorate.
Of course, one of the most popular "anchors" is music . Do you remember what kind of music lifts your spirits? What kind of music do you want to move, dance, in general, be active? For me, these are the good old hits of the 70s and 80s. If I feel that laziness and apathy are approaching, that I don’t feel like turning it off today, then I turn on the music disc. 5-10 minutes of incendiary dances with my son to “I will take you to the tundra ...” and I am ready to move mountains!
No less effective are flavor anchors . I will not be mistaken if I say that a good half of office workers start their working day with a cup of coffee. If you are on maternity leave and want to get in the mood for work, try drinking your favorite invigorating drink. But for me, the “anchor” for intense intellectual activity is cherries. Yes, it is this berry and it is not accidental. Even before the birth of my son, I worked in the personnel department of a large company, heading the personnel training department. The work was just the sea! We rushed along the corridors, clicking with our heels and slamming the doors like clockwork. And only one employee was always calm and full of optimism. This is not surprising, she was pregnant and there was always a box of cherries next to her. She graciously allowed us to take a handful to cheer up and drown out the constant feeling of hunger. These hectic and difficult days, I remember in spite of everything with warmth and joy. With a cup of cherries, I learned a new language, prepared for exams, wrote my first articles. It's a pity that cherries are so expensive in winter)
Feel can also help you tune in to the right wave. For example, involuntarily I begin to relax if I am covered with a warm woolen blanket. Or I always get ready and tune in to work, sitting down at my desk. Many women say that a surge of strength and self-confidence causes them to wear high heels and the feeling that you are “in parade” going to important negotiations.
I really liked the anchor example given in one of the time management books. All of us, with pleasure and anticipation of something bright and joyful, put things in order in the house before the New Year, and in most cases the film “Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath” is shown on TV. And starting a simple cleaning, the hero of the book always turned on this film to create the right emotional mood, the cleaning was easy and fast.
It must be remembered that "anchors" can help you tune in not only to work, but also to rest. I will not tire of repeating that we must take care of restoring our strength and learn how to properly and effectively rest, and here music or silence, the sounds of nature or the sound of the sea, the smell and taste of mint tea or sweet watermelon can also come to our aid. All this can remind us of summer, holidays, those places where we were happy and calm, and help restore energy for new achievements.
How do you prepare for homework? Tell us about your "anchors" in the comments!
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Summer is over, and with the arrival of autumn rains, the burden of a new academic and working year has fallen on our shoulders. Life requires productive work from us, the soul yearns for self-realization and rest, and it is becoming more and more difficult to fit “should” and “want” in our everyday life. As wrote Gleb Arkhangelsky in his book Time Drive, lost time, unlike lost money, cannot be recovered. Time is irreplaceable, and its ever-decreasing supply is important to spend consciously and sensibly. The ability to properly manage such a valuable resource can be acquired by getting acquainted with the technology of time management, which is the subject of the article.
The literal translation of "time management" from English is "time management". This phenomenon is very old, even 2000 years ago the Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca thought about this problem. He kept a written record of time and divided it into useful and useless, thus laying the foundation for the emergence of the concept of "personal effectiveness". In the 15th century, the Italian scholar and writer Leon Batista Alberti singled out a rule he adhered to in order to manage the resource of time usefully: every morning he made a to-do list, placing them in order of decreasing importance. In the 80s of the XX century, the ability to manage your time became very important, and the theory began to be translated into practice.
Let's look at the basic principles of time management.
Principle1.
Organize your vacation the right way.
We are used to the fact that before working with any electronic device, it must be charged. The better the charging was done, the longer and better the gadget will work. It is the same with a person. Our body also needs recharging, it is very difficult to work without the necessary amount of energy, it is even more difficult to do it productively. Night sleep, as doctors advise, should be at least 8 hours a day, it would be useful to have a “smart alarm clock”. Rest during the working day should be rhythmic. Take a break every hour if possible, but don't get distracted spontaneously. The more the process of rest differs from the process of work, the better. If your activity is related to working at a computer, prefer a walk, a light workout, or at least go to the window and water the flowers instead of browsing the web.
“Comrade, remember the simple rule: you work - sitting, rest - standing,” wrote Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Do not forget to enjoy your vacation, have fun, feel it.
Principle2.
Organize your workplace.
Before you take on any task, prepare a place for its execution and create a mood. Give this activity at least five minutes before starting. Remove everything superfluous from the table, leave only what you often use for work purposes. Personal items such as photographs, decorative figurines or flowers attract a lot of our attention and interfere with our concentration. Close all tabs that are not related to the case, log out of social networks. Nothing should distract from the task at hand: under this condition, productivity will increase. If your workplace is already in perfect condition and there is no need to do the above steps, it will be enough just to sharpen a pencil or fix a folder with papers to create a mood for work.
Principle3.
Use Anchors.
Such a concept means something that evokes associations with a certain type of activity and helps to better tune in to it. So, before you start solving complex mathematical problems, you can train yourself to listen to a certain melody, and drink a cup of green tea before you start relaxing. The body will soon get used to such patterns, and switching from one activity to another will be easier and faster. However, do not forget that you cannot drink the same tea or listen to the same melody in other situations. Certain anchors must belong to certain activities.
Principle4.
Plan ahead.
At the beginning of the year, month, week, make a to-do list. At the same time, write down your goals as specifically as possible, set deadlines, paint big goals in stages. This is especially true when dealing with dreams and big goals. Before going to bed, make a plan for the next day. A few minutes spent on planning will save a lot of time to solve the tasks. When a new task appears during the day, add it to the list and cross it out when done. It will cheer you up, give you a sense of accomplishment, and serve as a good motivation.
It is important to plan in a "sparing mode", the plan must be flexible. Leave some time between tasks, always proceed from the fact that you may be late or miscalculate the time required to complete any work. Hoping for the best, assume the worst, so you will avoid possible trouble.
Principle5.
Prioritize as you plan.
This can help you eisenhower case matrix. Its founder, as the name implies, is the 34th President of the United States Dwight David Eisenhower. The essence of the method is to divide all cases into 4 groups: important urgent, important non-urgent, unimportant urgent, unimportant non-urgent. To compile the matrix, we need to draw two perpendicular axes, as in the Euclidean coordinate system, thereby dividing the sheet into 4 quadrants. Each of the quadrants will contain one of the groups of cases.
Prioritizing using this method is much easier than using only your brain and virtual lists for this.
Principle6.
Pareto's law or principle "20/80".
20% of the effort and time spent give 80% of the result, and the remaining 80% of the costs - only 20% of the result. Of the ten things on your to-do list for the day, two will be more important than the rest. Know how to identify this important 20%, this is the secret of success.
Principle7.
Cut the elephant into steaks.
The elephant, in our case, is a big energy-intensive business, for which there is no desire to take on. Beefsteaks are minor subtasks. For example, in writing a scientific paper, highlight several stages, such as, say, preparing a title page, compiling a list of references, and a work plan.
Principle8.
There is one proverb: if you have to eat a live frog, do not look at it for too long.
American writer Brian Tracy, recognized as one of the best consultants in the world in the field of time management, advises in his book to eat one frog every morning. With this word, the author denotes unpleasant, important and difficult things and calls for starting them at the very beginning of the working day, having prepared everything for their implementation the day before. There is another interpretation. Gleb Arkhangelsky calls frogs things that are not difficult and do not take much time, but not very pleasant. For example, a difficult conversation with your boss about your being late for work the day before or a call to the study unit. We spend about 5-10 minutes on such things, but if we don’t deal with them quickly, we will be haunted all day by the painful realization that we have yet to remove the burden from our shoulders. Every morning, take on an unpleasant task, it will make your life easier.
Principle9.
Carrot and stick.
Train yourself to follow the rules of time management using the well-known "carrot and stick" method. By eating a "frog" or finishing with a juicy "steak", reward yourself. Take a five-minute tea break or read a new chapter in a book, in general, do something that gives you pleasure. Also, when showing weakness, laziness in solving an unpleasant task, deprive yourself of such joy. This method will significantly develop self-control.
Principle10.
Don't waste time on the road.
Many of us spend several hours a day on the road. Precious irreplaceable time is wasted, bringing us almost no benefit. The same thing happens with the time we spend, for example, in line at the clinic or while waiting for a flight at the airport. Make good use of these hours. Read if you are not driving, listen to audiobooks, devote your time to self-development and self-improvement.
These principles are a set of tools for mastering the art of managing your time.
By adhering to these simple rules, you will begin to wisely manage this valuable resource, achieving maximum productivity from your work in the shortest possible time and leaving time for rest and hobbies that always do not fit into our busy schedule.
Who wants - is looking for ways.
Who does not want - reasons.
Folk wisdom.
No matter how much we love our work, some of our affairs are quite difficult and not always pleasant. How do you motivate yourself to do these things? How to competently "engage" in the implementation of a complex task in order to spend less effort and energy on it?
In Russia, this problem is especially acute. We are all brought up on fairy tales, in which the desired result appears "at the behest of a pike." But, alas, luck alone is usually not enough. To achieve success, you need serious, long, hard work.
But long and hard work does not have to be boring and “tasteless”. In the most difficult, unpleasant and energy-intensive cases, you can breathe additional interest and motivation. How to do it - read in this chapter.
Anchors for effective engagement
How to get involved in the work, so as not to waste time on the buildup, sorting out the little things and not finding the strength to take on the main thing?
In psychology, there is a good concept of "anchor". This is any material binding (music, color, word, movement, ritual) associated with a certain emotional state for us. If it is necessary to tune in to the task, we “turn on” the necessary material anchor - and introduce ourselves into the appropriate emotional state.
The most commonly used “anchor” in practice is music. Try to clearly link different music to different types of tasks. On the way to tough negotiations - hard rock, when setting up for intellectual work - calm music without words, when setting up for rest - something most beloved and pleasant, etc.
Examples of "anchors" from the participants of open seminars.
Owner of a network of gas stations, Kyiv. "I do complex intellectual work to the music of Joe Dassin." The group is surprised - such lyrical music does not correspond at all to the military type of personality of this businessman. “I’ll explain why: the best work for me was in my student years in a hostel. Young, a lot of strength, in parallel two higher educations and another job ... And there were 4 tape cassettes for the entire hostel, and all 4 were Joe Dassin. That's how this music became an "anchor", including energy resources, as in youth.
Commercial director, Novosibirsk. “Every morning I ‘smoke my diary’. When I quit smoking, I really missed the daily morning mood for work, before it was the first morning cigarette. Then the ritual was born - for about 10 minutes I drink coffee and think over the daily routine, looking at the diary. The feeling of effective tuning is the same as before when smoking a morning cigarette.
Financial Director, Nizhny Novgorod. “I don’t like cleaning, I need to tune in to it. Therefore, when I am going to clean the house, I always turn on the film “Enjoy Your Bath!”. - “Why did such an “anchor” develop?” - “Well, the most pleasant and joyful cleaning is before the New Year. Decorated Christmas tree, tangerines, gifts ... And at the same time they usually show "Enjoy Your Bath!".
A good "anchor" to include in the task can be any technical, "rough" work. As the artists say, “before sketching, sharpen your pencils.” That is - with the help of a simple technical matter, tune in to complex work.
An example of an “anchor” from N.V. Gogol, who “does not write” to the complaints of a friend, Vladimir Sollogub: “But you still write ... take a pretty pen, clean it well, put a sheet of paper in front of you and start in this way : "Something is not written to me today." Write it many times in a row, and suddenly a good idea will come to your mind! Behind it is another, a third, because no one writes otherwise, and people who are overwhelmed by constant inspiration are rare, Vladimir Alexandrovich!
Be careful: if you got yourself an "anchor", it is better to use it only for its intended purpose, try not to "turn on" it in other circumstances. If, for example, coffee is an “anchor” for you to work, and suddenly you drink a cup of coffee on vacation, you send a signal to your subconscious mind “we have work now!”. Rest becomes less effective. Many managers intuitively feel this and share it, for example: “only coffee at work, only tea on vacation.” And one of my clients at work drank only black tea, and on vacation - only green. Likewise, do not listen to the music that is your “anchor” to work during your holidays.
"Anchors" are useful for setting up not only for work, but also for leisure. An example of a musical "anchor" from personal experience. On vacation, walking in nature, I always listen to the same music - Bach's Kirnberger Chorales. During working hours, it is enough for me to close my eyes, turn on one of these chorales - and remember the smell of a pine forest warmed by the sun, imagine golden trunks and green crowns, feel my unhurried steps when there is no need to rush anywhere ... The musical "anchor" includes all memories and emotions, associated with the best moments of relaxation, and allows you to perfectly restore energy for new achievements.
Swinging when performing complex tasks
"Anchors" help to switch more easily from rest to work. The next question is: how to get involved in the task, if it is quite complex and energy-intensive? After all, the more difficult the task we perform, the higher the level of “inclusion”, involvement is necessary to work on it.
The “Swiss cheese method” will help to spend less time and effort on the buildup. Try to complete the task not in a logical order, but in an arbitrary one, “gnawing out” small pieces from different places - the simplest, most pleasant, etc. For example, when preparing a report, you can first select illustrations, write a few paragraphs that are simple and understandable to you, and etc. After a while, so many holes will form in your “cheese” that it will not be difficult to “finish” it.
“Tomorrow I will draw up the title page of my doctoral dissertation.” So one of the participants of the open training in Novosibirsk wrote in the feedback questionnaire, answering the question "Three simple steps that I will take in the coming days." A good example of how in the biggest and most complex business you can find some kind of simple beginning.
Another way to spend less energy when working on complex tasks is to "Intermediate Joy" Break the work into several stages and assign yourself a small reward for completing each stage. For example, “for every 2 pages written, take a bite of a piece of chocolate”, “read the next joke in today's issue, etc. These rewards and punishments may be very small, but it is important that they be immediate. As a rule, “little joys” for each step taken are more motivating than awareness of future long-term results. Such small rewards to yourself will allow you to make the most difficult work more enjoyable and complete it in a shorter time.
Destruction of small unpleasant affairs
There are things in our life that require, perhaps, quite a bit of time, but are unpleasant. Call an unfriendly client; finally call a plumber; ask your boss for a pay raise, etc. In time management, such tasks are called “frogs”.
"Frogs" are often delayed for a long time and threaten to develop into big trouble. It's a shame: a task that took 5 minutes was put off for weeks and therefore turned into a problem that would take many hours to solve.
The Spaniards have a saying: "Eat a frog every morning." Indeed, starting the day by eating one “frog”, you walk around cheerful and joyful all day. You don’t remember about the rest of the “frogs” - they stayed for the next days. And vice versa, if you don’t eat the “frog” in the morning, it will loom somewhere on the horizon all day and poison life. As one student of the TM school writes: “I thought I had herds of“ frogs ”, green carpets around me ... And when I introduced the“ daily frog rule ”- they all dispersed in two weeks.”
A large unpleasant problem can be easier to solve by breaking it into a large number of small “frogs”. One of the members of the TM community says: “I had to solve a rather unpleasant problem with the tax. On the one hand, the problem is not urgent, it can be postponed, but on the other hand, it will be much worse in the end. Then I broke the problem into subtasks, but not simply, but down to the smallest detail, down to the simplest, easily executable steps. Something like this: 1. Buy an envelope. 2. Find the address of the tax office in the directory. 3. Label the envelope. And so on. It turned out about 150 points. Then he made it a rule: every morning to cross out any 5 points. Thus, the problem, which had been put off for months, was quickly resolved.”
"Globalization" of major tasks
The smaller the deadline for the task and the larger it is, the more difficult it is, as a rule, to force yourself to complete it. This is especially true for very large tasks, in the terminology of time management - "elephants". For example:
Writing a dissertation;
Development of a business plan for the development of the region;
Repair in the house;
Studying of foreign language;
Improving your physical fitness.
Our main problem when working with "elephants" is the propensity of the Russian people to globalization, the enlargement of tasks.
“...Globalizing the problem and thereby ruining it is the first and, most importantly, almost unconscious reaction of the Russian people. Skill, culture, ritual.
I was once taught this technique by my supervisor. Then we were busy introducing computer control in chemical production. I stumbled on ammonia: processes are dangerous, computers are weak. And I decided to hold this case for now. So he said at the meeting: they say, early, I'm against it. No one understood me, they decided: here is a young retrograde.
And my leader took, I remember, aside and read a whole lecture: “You are right, but you did wrong. It was necessary to say the opposite: yes, comrades, this is wonderful. Computers open up gigantic prospects. They will soon be able to entrust not only control, but also optimization, information, management. Let's make a decision right now to start preparing this gigantic program ... Now, if you enlarged the problem in such a way, everyone would be in favor and the cause would die of itself ... "" (Yuri Luzhkov, "Parkinson's Russian Laws")
The only way to fight this passion for globalization and still "eat the elephant" is to cut it into small measurable "steaks" and eat one such steak every day. At the same time, it is important to cut the “elephant” into such “steaks”, each of which really brings you closer to eating the “elephant”.
For example, English. "Beefsteaks": learn so many words a week, watch so many films in the language, so many hours to chat with native speakers on Internet forums. But not "learn grammar" - you can study it endlessly, without improving your knowledge of the language at all.
Another example: getting a driver's license. Effective "steaks": "solve so many cards"; "drive so many hours." But not "learn the rules of the road" - you can study them indefinitely, and in this action there is no "approaching the elephant." After all, to pass a theoretical exam, it’s enough just to solve the cards, and for orientation on the road, you really need to remember not all the rules of the road, but 3-4 key principles (such as “interference on the right”) and several basic road signs.
Personal rewards and punishments
It is not enough to competently structure unpleasant things and divide them into “steaks”. It is desirable to create for yourself additional motivation for the rhythmic, regular eating of these "steaks".
The first, easiest way is the "carrot and stick method" known to mankind for a long time. Here are some examples.
Corporate training at NewsOutdoorRussia. One of the participants says: “I have a fairly intense training program: swimming pool, fitness, etc. If I do it, then at the end of the month I allow myself shopping for a certain amount. If I don’t do it, I allow myself shopping for a different amount, much less. This is both a stick and a carrot at the same time.
At a corporate seminar at Sibirtelecom OJSC, two participants agreed to jointly buy a prize and time their personal time. They chose an arbitrator who will determine who spent the timing more carefully. The winner will get a prize.
The harder way is to start quantifying your results. For example, daily note the number of learned English words, the number of squats and push-ups done, etc.
It is possible to measure not only the results, but also the amount of time spent, for example, on the “elephant task”. In any case, whether you are measuring results or time, you need to record this quantitative indicator on a graph daily.
A person is arranged in such a way that the very fixation of a quantitative indicator is already pushing for actions in the right direction. Just start taking into account the time spent on an unpleasant task - and it will begin to solve itself faster.
Finally, it is sometimes helpful to place yourself in the "place of death." Ancient Chinese generals used to say: "In order to guarantee victory, place the soldiers in the area of death - burn the ships." For example, make a public promise, like the President of France, Charles de Gaulle, who went into the waiting room and announced publicly: "From today, I, General de Gaulle, quit smoking."
"The place of death" can be, in particular, time pressure - a situation of severe lack of time. People of some psychological types intuitively feel that they are more efficient in time trouble, and artificially drive themselves into such a situation. There is nothing wrong with this, but to reduce your risks and improve the quality of the result, I recommend replacing a large time trouble with several small ones. For example, to use not a large “place of death” in the form of a deadline for the delivery of a product to a customer, but a small one in the form of a project meeting with the CEO.
Nikolai Pavlenko, Managing Partner at Georg Consulting, spoke at the First TM Conference in Moscow in 2003 in a report: “Our company has adopted two types of deadlines. The first is the deadline, the “line of death”, the deadline for delivering the product to the customer. The second is redline, the "red line", the deadline for the delivery of the product within the company. Between the "red line" and the "line of death" there must be a reserve. There are penalties for violating the redline. In this way, we motivate the employee without compromising our obligations to the customer.”
Daily To Do Table
An easy way to bring all your "elephants" and "frogs" together, and motivate yourself to complete the necessary tasks every day, is to start a table of regular tasks. It looks something like this:
There is nothing particularly terrible in the dashes, but as soon as there are too many of them in some column, this will give you an alarm signal and force you to do what you need.
This table must be hung in a conspicuous place above the desktop or pasted into your diary. It is important that it catches your eye several times a day. For example, I have a daily to-do list hanging on the inside of my wardrobe door. Thus, I see the table at least twice a day - dressing in the morning and taking off my suit in the evening.
Next to this table, it is useful to write down a few "intermediate joys." For example, list non-urgent purchases that are pleasant for you and agree with yourself: “for every next 15 ticks in any column, I buy the next pleasant thing.” You will be surprised at how much faster your long-term business is progressing.
At a post-training session at Wimm-Bill-Dann, one of the participants said: “I started a table of daily tasks for my son. He really liked it, now he meets me in the evening and rejoices: “Today I managed not only to take a walk and watch TV, but also to do all my homework and my homework!”
pinarik calendar
The easiest way to self-motivate was invented by a member of the TM community Dmitry Litvak. The name "pinarik calendar" comes from the word "kick". It looks like this:
pinarik calendar
Past years are shown above the calendar, future years below. You take a pencil and with sense, with feeling, with arrangement, cross out the years you have lived one by one. It is possible - with lyrical memories. Then, in the same way, cross out the lived days and months of the current year. Pinarik is ready for use.
Every morning, starting work, cross out half of the day that has come. In the evening - the second half. Keep the pinarik in a conspicuous place, look into it more often. Thus, you materialize time, every day you feel how it goes. Believe me, the effect is huge. Investing time - 15 minutes for the establishment of a pinarik, and then - 30 seconds in the morning, 30 seconds in the evening for crossing out days.
The second step in creating a personal TM system
Learn how to tune in to difficult and frustrating tasks to reduce the amount of time you spend working on them. Brief recommendations:
Use "anchors" to adjust to various tasks and rest;
Use the "Swiss cheese method" when swinging;
Eat at least one "frog" daily;
Crush the "elephants" into "steaks", bringing you closer to reaching the "elephant";
Reward yourself with "in-between joys";
Get a table of daily cases, with a list of rewards for performance;
Try a pinafore calendar.
On August 15, the Salyut hotel in the capital hosted the opening of the VIII International Festival of Social Technologies in Defense of Family Values "For Life - 2017", timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the February and October revolutions, events that undermined people's faith in strong, healthy relationships.
For many years, the participants of this largest annual forum of the international Russian-speaking social movement in defense of life have been dealing with the problems of overcoming the demographic crisis based on the revival of the idea of a large family, providing comprehensive assistance to pregnant women and families with children.
The festival will end its work on August 17. And even before its opening, on August 14, its participants attended a four-hour seminar by Gleb Arkhangelsky, a leading Russian expert in the field of time management (time management), a member of the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation, and the owner of the title "Entrepreneur of the Year". Gleb leads a project to implement time management in the largest Russian corporations and government agencies.
He told the participants of the festival about goal-setting, planning and self-motivation. The first part of the seminar was devoted to theory, the second - to tools for effective time management. A lot of people do not know how to plan their work and their lives, they complain that they do not have time to do anything ... Generously sharing his knowledge with them, Gleb Arkhangelsky explained what a strategic cardboard is and why it should be put into a diary, how to keep it correctly, why eating a frog on an empty stomach and slicing an elephant into steaks (a frog is a petty nuisance, an elephant is a huge and overwhelming problem like abolishing abortion), how to set goals and use techniques such as "anchor", "Swiss cheese" and " gift” (we must not forget that praise and gratitude can be the best reward, the best gift for yourself and others, because it is very important for people to be praised and thanked). Along the way, we learned that a dissertation is best written to the string music of Bach and Mozart, that Gleb himself loves to work to the music of Wagner, and he, the father of four children, works best not in his office at his desk, but, for example, sitting in the kitchen.
According to festival president Sergey Chesnokov, “efficient use of time is an extremely important tool for managers and employees of charitable organizations. The vast majority of charitable NGOs are unable to pay salaries to a large staff of specialists, which leads to a heavy workload of several employees. In such a situation, the ability to effectively manage time can provide better results, it is the prevention of many problems that any leader faces.”
After the first part of the seminar, people rushed to buy Arkhangelsky's books, and at the end of the seminar, happy book owners lined up for autographs. The first day of the festival gave the defenders of life a storm of positive emotions and the mood to win.
After supper more than five hundred participants of the festival "For Life", who came from almost three hundred cities in Russia, near and far abroad (Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, Lithuania, Italy, Spain), discussed proposals to those in power, which are designed to improve the demographic situation in Russia. All of them arrived in Moscow to discuss issues of strengthening family values and develop measures aimed at protecting human life, strengthening demographic sovereignty and preserving the reproductive potential within their countries. Within the framework of the festival, presentations of various achievements of the participants of the movement will be held. According to the results of the competitive part of the festival, the winners will receive awards for achievements in protecting life.
Already on the first day of the festival, discussions were held on common goals, objectives and a program of further actions in the field of life protection. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, figures of culture, art, politics, science and business will see thematic exhibitions, evaluate the performances of creative teams, make their proposals to the authorities, and share their experience. A meeting of district coordinators of the All-Russian public movement “For Life!” was held. The result of the festival should be the adoption of the manifesto of the movement "For Life".
On the night of August 15-16, those who wish can take part in the night Divine Liturgy with a prayer to stop abortions (hours and confession at 23.30 - 00.00). At the end of the liturgy in the Church of the Intercession in Yasenevo (Litovsky Boulevard, 7a), those who wish will be able to travel around Moscow with prayer by bus. The free trip will last about nine hours and will pass along the fifth transport ring or concrete road. During the trip, believers will read akathists and pray in a secular manner. Participants are provided with free meals at the beginning of the trip and a meal upon arrival at the Salyut Hotel. The prayers of believing Muscovites are extremely important, since it is in the capital that fateful decisions for the country are made. On the trip you need to take the blessing of the confessor. For questions about participation, call +79685032368. The festival has just begun. Free admission! We are waiting for you, friends!
Irina Akhundova, member of the Union of Journalists of Moscow
