Despite the fact that in modern society it has become fashionable to live “on credit”, many people decide to choose a less easy, but more correct way to get rich and ask themselves: “How to save money?”.

Various kinds of loans are a trap for a person who wants to be secured. Loans only temporarily create the appearance of material well-being. In fact, one has to pay a considerable price for this “pleasure”: the money must be repaid in an amount, on average, forty percent higher than the amount of the original loan.

It is worth considering whether there is at least one rich person who lives "on credit", and? Wealthy people are financially literate, so they treat money carefully, make successful investments and invest.

Some people do not understand how to save money if they are barely enough to live "paycheck to paycheck", others cannot resist unnecessary expensive purchases and suffer from their extravagance, and still others simply live a rich life without thinking about what they spend large sums. So how to save?

People who can and cannot save money can be found in the lower middle, middle, and high income populations, but the percentages will vary.

The vast majority of poor people, unlike the rich, do not know how to save money. A to how to save money? A person who has earned a significant fortune with his work will never buy an unnecessary thing, his expenses are always thought out and controlled, and the accumulated amount only increases.

To accumulate an amount of money that can satisfy a particular need or needs, a person with any income level (the main thing is that he should be).

Steps to Successful Savings

A person usually asks questions: “How to learn to save money or to how to save money?”, when it already lacks them. A need or desire arises that cannot be immediately satisfied due to lack of funds, and after this comes the decision to accumulate money.

• The first step to successful fundraising is knowing your purpose. What do you need money for and how much exactly will you need?

Sometimes a citizen decides to simply save money in reserve, people say "for a rainy day." This is a goal, but not a specific one. It is easier to save up a certain amount for a purchase, a trip, a vacation, treatment, study, and so on, since such a goal is specific, which is why the will will be stronger.

If there is a temptation to spend money on something unplanned, the image of a desired object (for example, a renovated apartment) is more likely to help refrain from wasting than an ephemeral “for later”. In addition, people usually do not know how much money they will need in reserve, while the price of a planned purchase or event is known in advance.

• Second step. How to save money? This will help analyze the costs over time. What is the money usually spent on?

The main items of expenditure are:

1. food;
2. clothing and footwear;
3. household chemicals, household goods;
4. mandatory payments (utilities, Internet, telephone, transport, loans, etc.);
5. spending on entertainment and recreation;
6. Unexpected expenses.

• You need to master bookkeeping. For a month, write down every day in a table, where each column is an expense item, and a line is a calendar day, how much and what exactly was spent.
• At the end of the month, summarize: what is the most money spent on, what is the percentage for each expense item, and, most importantly, you need to find those expenses that were clearly unnecessary, as well as what you can save on.
• Accounting and control of money can be kept in a special computer program for home accounting. On the Internet, you can find many similar programs and choose the most convenient one, for example, Toshl Finance.
• This step is very important, because before you start saving money, you need to understand how to spend money the right way.

The percentage ratio between income and expense items varies for each person, and therefore the monthly amount for accumulation will be different. But the most suitable amount to start saving money is considered to be ten percent of income.

The following formula shows how to derive this percentage:

100% - 50% - 20% - 15% - 5% = 10%

100% income minus 50% food and mandatory fees, minus 20% clothing and household items, minus 15% entertainment, minus 5% contingencies = 10% savings.

If in a month it turned out to spend a smaller amount of money than planned, then it is added to the deferred ten percent, and not wasted. For example, over the past month, it was not necessary to purchase clothes or shoes - there is additional profit.

An important rule of accumulation: do not save on entertainment! It is impossible to rest either actively or passively without spending some money. If you completely abandon entertainment, the accumulation of money will be perceived as a serious necessity that worsens the quality of life. Accordingly, the probability of a breakdown will be greater, disappointment will come, you will want to give up on your cherished goal.

• Third step. How to save money and accumulate the right amount of them? You can't do without financial discipline. Costs need to be controlled and manage money properly.

If a decision has been made to set aside ten percent of income, this must be done. To how to save money the right way? You can buy or make a piggy bank for money, or you can take it and put it in a bank account.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to be one hundred percent sure of the safety of money in the bank, but still, if they lie there, there is practically no temptation and opportunity to take them at any moment to spend on an unplanned purchase. In addition, the deposit involves the payment by the bank to its client of interest on the invested amount, that is, in addition to savings, you can get passive income.

If you urgently need to save

If, after analyzing your budget and determining the amount that you can save monthly, a person understands that it will be possible to accumulate the required amount of money only after ten years, and there is no way to wait that long, the question is: “How to learn how to save money?” remains virtually unanswered. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the right way to save.

If there is a time frame that determines the moment when the required amount must be collected, the algorithm of actions changes:

1. The period in which you need to accumulate the n-th amount of money, divided into months. Divide the required amount of money by the number of months and get the amount that needs to be set aside once a month.
2. Considering the amount that can be set aside without damage, determine the items of expenditure that still need to be reduced in order to accumulate money in a short time. In other words, find what you can save on and how to save money. You may have to give up a lot, but if the goal is desired, you can endure a little.
3. If you can’t find that item / items of expenses that can be “cut”, then you need to either increase your income (look for a side job, passive income, change jobs, etc.) or postpone the deadline for achieving the goal.

For many people, the question: “Where did the money go?” Is rhetorical and implies the answer: “Nowhere again!”. Having started doing home accounting, you will be able to see what exactly the funds are spent on and start. It may be surprising that funds can be accumulated simply because the family's income and expenses are kept and recorded.

The psychology of thrift

How to save money? To understand how to learn to save and how to save money the right way, you need to learn the principle of accumulation: you need to limit yourself today in order to benefit tomorrow.

This principle must be kept in mind and remembered every time there is a temptation to spend money on an unnecessary thing.

Here are some tips to help you stay mentally strong:

1. Visualize the image of the goal more often and feel the joy that will arise when the desired amount is accumulated and spent for its intended purpose.
2. Convert purchase price to business hours. How much does one hour of labor cost at work? And how many of these hours will have to be given in exchange for the purchase of a particular product or service? Understanding that, for example, you need to pay for a new shoe with a week of working time, makes you think about whether it is worth buying this expensive thing.
3. Pay in cash, not with a plastic card, since the money that was in your hands is morally harder to give than those that you didn’t even manage to see.
4. Communicate and consult with people who managed to accumulate the amount necessary to fulfill their dreams, take into account their rules for handling money. You can and should take an interest in the biographies of rich people, learn their secrets of success, and also read the works of authors writing about the psychology of wealth (R. Kiyosaki, B. Hedges, M. Fisher, J. Kehoe and others).
5. How to save money? live on the same amount. Usually, with an increase in salary or the receipt of money as a gift and in other cases an increase in income, people begin to spend more. As incomes rise, needs rise, so it is important manage money properly. To save money, it is also better to save expected or unexpected allowances in a piggy bank. So the desired amount will accumulate faster.
6. How to spend money correctly? Immediately after receiving income in hand, defer the amount of mandatory payments. So you can protect yourself from the growth of debts, as well as reduce internal anxiety and tension.
7. Learn to value and love money. A careful attitude to money is manifested even in the form in which they are stored: stacked exactly in a wallet from denominations of a smaller denomination to a larger one or crumpled in pockets and different corners of a bag.

Love for money can be developed if you abandon negative attitudes (money is evil; there is no big money with honest work and others) and learn positive ones.

• give freedom at the material level;
• give confidence in yourself and the future;
• help to survive in the material world;
• it is a force with which much can be achieved;
• help to fulfill their own and other people's desires;
• help to get out of a difficult situation, improve health, become more beautiful and so on;
• make life comfortable, bring joy, confidence, peace of mind.

These attitudes should resonate in the soul, be perceived emotionally positively, they must be believed.

Positive affirmations help to change the perception and attitude towards money. For example, such: “I love money, so they love me”, “Money flows to me like a river”, “I spend money wisely”, “Every day I get more and more money”, “I make more money than I spend” .

Positive statements should be repeated several times a day for a month (the minimum necessary to consolidate the habit) consciously and carefully, out loud or to yourself.

Every time we decide to start a new life, we make a list of future achievements. The most experienced write down a plan of action and keep a diary. Problems begin when you have to live according to this plan and put the "massive plans" into practice.

How beautiful the to-do list for tomorrow looks in the diary of an office employee or a housewife! Everything is taken into account and calculated, so you can start a new life.

It’s just that the rainbow “tomorrow” tends to turn into a dim “today”, when unfinished business remains hanging again, and tomorrow’s schedule grows and expands.

How to make the right daily routine? How much time to allocate for each case? How to force yourself to fulfill the planned? Answers below.

Making a to-do list

It's best to plan tomorrow's schedule on the evening of the previous day, so you still have fresh memories of today's work, about what remained unfinished. The most important rule is to set realistic and specific goals (see ""). The task of “starting a new life” is not specific and not real, but “do exercises” and “take a contrast shower in the morning” are already quite feasible.

Do not try to cram everything into your schedule at once, because there are only 24 hours in a day. It is better to do 2-3 things well than to plan 15-20 and not do a single one.

After compiling a to-do list, prioritize, that is, those tasks that are of the greatest importance, highlight in a different color or underline.

If you think you are a strong person who can immediately get into work, schedule all the important things for the morning. If you are a supporter of the theory of biorhythms and you need to “swing”, leave simple activities in the morning that will set you up for work.

Once your plan is ready, take a look at it "from the outside" - are there things in it that have already lost their relevance or will not contribute to your success? If there are such cases, feel free to cross them out, do not try to reschedule for another day. These unpromising tasks are holding you back.

Now about time. For each task, write down the time you are going to spend on it. These precious minutes should be calculated as accurately as possible so that tomorrow everything goes according to plan, and the deadlines are not missed. Try to realistically assess the amount of work ahead.

To avoid missed deadlines, schedule some extra time. To do this, conditionally divide the working day into two halves and indicate a reserve block between them. So, if you have an urgent problem in the morning, and the time according to the plan shifts, you compensate for this loss with a reserve. You can also leave 15 spare minutes in each hour for the same purpose.

During the first time of work on a schedule, you will use the reserve, but then it will remain, and here another question arises - what will you spend it on? For entertainment or self-education? Of course, the second option is preferable, but it all depends on how you are used to spending your free time.

How to complete the plan?

There are several reasons why plans fail:

Time is spent on “energy eaters” - TV, the Internet, smoke breaks, etc. We went to Odnoklassniki just for a minute - to look at personal messages, and hung for an hour - Petya’s son was born, we must congratulate, Masha got divorced, we must sympathize, Lesha went to Thailand, you need to put likes under the photos ...

Tasks are timed incorrectly. We were going to wash the dishes for only half an hour, but did not appreciate in advance the mountain that was waiting for you in the sink, and as a result, we spent an hour and a half.

You were distracted by another task that arose suddenly, but more simple. We were engaged in a quarterly report, and then suddenly Vera Ivanova called and asked to make her a certificate of income by the end of the working day. “It's a matter of five minutes,” you thought, and spent a quarter of an hour on it. Now you will have to focus on the plan again, and the time in the entire schedule will shift.

What needs to be done to move according to the plan - from the first to the last point? If you have the right schedule, then half the battle is done - you do not have to sit and figure out what to do.

Once you have completed a task, be sure to mark it in the plan. But in no case do not tick off those things that you have not completed. If in the plan you had a call to the client, but you could not get through to him, the job is not done, it should be rescheduled for the next day.

For every task you complete, praise yourself and give yourself a reward. For example, for a successfully completed project, allow yourself to play your favorite online farm.

And constantly remind yourself what threatens you with not fulfilling the points of the plan - a report that is not made guarantees you a sleepless night, and a postponed visit to the dentist will lead to a long and painful treatment. For some reason, people are more affected by negative motivation than positive.

Agree, gaining control over your life is better than sitting in the evening and sighing about a wasted day. Make to-do lists, calculate your time, and be sure to leave a reserve of time for rest or self-improvement. Then peace and regularity will appear in your life, and nervousness and eternal deadlines will disappear.

Date: 2013-05-30

Hello site readers.

Many people don't have money. And a man, as a rule, blames his small income, or his wife-spender, for this. But no matter how much he earns, at least 1,500,000 rubles or more, the money still disappears somewhere! I have already said in the article - that with an increase in income, consumption increases. Here is such a person with..a. And most importantly, he says to himself that if he earns more, then the money will automatically begin to be saved from him. But they will not be until a person learns to save them. So how to save money to have something to live on for a rainy day? More on that below!

Why is the money not delayed?

To learn how to save money, first answer the question - why is the money not delayed? It often happens that a person has unplanned expenses. It seems like you think I will get such and such an amount and set aside so much. But there is a paradox! As the money comes in, so do the unforeseen costs. In my case, this is an endless investment in advertising for the development of the site. It would seem that I did not find a good platform for advertising, but it immediately appears when the money appears. And until I try this advertising platform, I will still dream of it.

Other people might have a car fixed, having a baby, an unscheduled vacation, debt you haven't paid back for two years, fines, a girlfriend, non-payment of utility bills, something that needs to be treated, an apartment renovation. If this is not the case, then the money is simply lost.

You know, it feels like when there is no money, there are no ideas for investing it. As money appears, ideas immediately arise where to invest it. And why postpone when it is better to spend everything, and then it will not itch. In general, money is an opportunity for me. I call them opportunities (from English - opportunities). When they appear in a specific size, new possibilities open up that were not available before.

For example, if there was no money before, then I did not think about going to study English and going on an excursion to America. As the money appeared, so the opportunity arose to do it. Of course, with new higher incomes, a person will not live as before. It goes to a new level, which requires a lot of money. Therefore, the money is not delayed, it immediately merges into new opportunities: buying an apartment, a car, traveling, things, education, and so on.

If a person lived with new incomes in the same way as with old ones, money would definitely accumulate. But this happens very rarely. Man is not such a creature to restrain himself. This especially happens when there was no money for a long time (for example, 5 years), and then suddenly they appeared. Then the person will definitely run to satisfy his hunger.

From here we can draw conclusions why the money is not delayed. First - unexpected costs, the second - growing needs, third - the human factor associated with "hunger satisfaction" , fourth - new features that a person has long wanted to use.

If all this is removed, then a person will accumulate so much money that he will then live happily ever after in old age. But you and I are not like that, and we need special ways that will help us save a lot of money.

How to learn to save money?

If you are an adult and you have a family, then you need start keeping a family budget. Start writing down all your daily expenses in a special notebook. At the end of the month, you will be able to analyze your costs and identify what you can refuse. Next month you can save a decent amount. In addition, you will know your fixed costs, and how much you can save in a piggy bank.

Stop buying unnecessary things. Almost all people with an increase in income begin to buy what they do not need. For example, a woman starts buying handbags or shoes. Why does she need this, if her closet is already so full of shoes, and there are so many bags that there is enough to vilify for all days of the week. Men could give up bottles of beer and cigarettes, or at least reduce their consumption. This will save you money and be good for your health.

As I said, as income increases, expenses increase. I do not advise you to deny yourself something. What are we living for then? But if you want to learn how to save money, it will be better if you start control your new requests. Try to save at least 50% of your free money in a piggy bank. For example, your monthly income was 20,000 rubles. Later it grew to 27,000 rubles. More money was 7,000 rubles. Set aside 50% of this amount (3500 rubles) in your piggy bank. And use the rest for your needs. I strongly do not recommend that you limit yourself in something, but be sure to use the above advice, otherwise you will never learn how to save money.

Usually, people don't start saving money just like that. They are saving up for something specific. Therefore, in order to learn how to save money -. What will you save money for? To buy an apartment, car, vacation? When there is, then there is a motive.

The best way not to spend money is if it is in a bank or on a card. Cash is spent instantly. But if they are in the bank, then you will be too lazy to go to remove them. After all, you need to stand in line, waste hours, and even interest will be taken away (in some cases).

You should also learn plan your expenses. I have already said that it often happens that when "superfluous" money, there are new sources of costs. So, if they did not appear as planned, postpone them for the next month or two. For example, there was a need to buy a new TV, as the old one broke down. Unforeseen situation. But you can watch movies on the Internet, or you can not watch this TV at all. Postpone buying or repairing a TV to a later date. If you urgently need a TV, then buy / repair, and write off the resulting costs for the next month.

Are you one of those people who does everything at the last moment? You had two weeks to start working on a new project, but you didn't lift a finger until the very last day? At work, do you usually put off difficult tasks or tasks that you don't enjoy doing until the last minute? Do you start looking for gifts for the birthdays of your friends and loved ones only the day before, or even on the same day? Every year, your goals that you set for yourself on New Year's Eve remain unfulfilled? Then you are a procrastinator. Why do we sabotage ourselves? In this article, we will tell you about What is procrastination, and give you 11 tips to get rid of it. As the saying goes, don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today.

It seems that postponing everything until the last minute is a general tendency of society. We all know this, but there are people who do it more than others. It doesn't matter how much time we are given to complete a task - a month or a week - most people will wait until the last minute to get started. But for many people this is not a problem. What's more, some people perform better with this extra pressure. While for others it causes frustration and stress, and the results of their work are rather mediocre due to the lack of time they have left to complete the task.

This can happen both when we have a "deadline" (the deadline by which the task must be completed), and when the deadline for the task is not defined. When a “deadline” is not set, the task will most likely never be completed. What happens to promises to yourself, such as to start exercising, quit smoking, or go on a diet?

What is procrastination?

"Put off until tomorrow what you can do today." It is the tendency to delay or evade the task to be done. Instead, we focus on other tasks that are less important and more enjoyable.

For example, you should start preparing for exams, but instead you start browsing the news in VKontakte. Only 5 minutes. And later you suddenly find that 3 hours have passed. Or an even more ridiculous example. When you prefer to wash all the dishes in the house, as well as at the neighbors' houses, than to take up your studies.

Why are we doing this? Why do some people procrastinate more than others? Why do we sabotagethemselves?

Find out what goes on in the mind of a procrastinator in the following video. How does their brain function? Is it different from other people's brains? Activate subtitles!

Why do we procrastinate? What is going on in our brain?

We find it hard to put off pleasure

The tasks we usually put off tend to be boring or unfulfilling and unproductive for a long time. People, like animals, tend to primarily perform those tasks that bring visible results in a short period of time. From the point of view of evolution, we inherited a tendency to impulsiveness and momentary satisfaction from distant ancestors. In those days, people preferred to eat well. today, because the prospects for tomorrow were highly questionable.

It seems that today this behavior model does not work. The future is no longer so uncertain. We began to feel more confident about the future, and over time we learned self-control. Our brains have evolved to learn how to delay pleasure. However, for us, getting an immediate benefit is still more tempting than expecting a better, but far-off result. The fact is that the ability to delay this benefit is not an easy task. Thus, children spend enough time to overcome impulsivity, learn to control themselves and see that sometimes it is better to put aside immediate gratification and focus on long-term gain. However, there are some who never succeed.

Impulsivity is closely related to procrastination. This is a personality trait that is based on a systematic tendency to seek immediate gain without thinking about the consequences. If we are impulsive and allow ourselves to be distracted by those activities that give us instant gratification, we will be more prone to procrastination.

Impulsivity and procrastination are highly hereditary traits, according to this study. In addition, according to the researchers, both of these traits are combined together, and procrastination is becoming a modern manifestation of the impulsiveness that was characteristic of our ancestors.

The Marshmallow Test: A Test for Delayed Pleasure

In the next video, you can find out what the essence of the Marshmallow Test is, or, as it is also called, the Marshmallow Test. This study shows how children responded to delayed gratification. Four-year-old kids were given a cloud of marshmallows, or marshmallows, and warned that they could eat it, but if they were patient and waited only 15 minutes, they would receive a second such marshmallow as a reward. What do you think the children did?

15 years later, the researchers analyzed how the fate of these children developed, and came to a surprising conclusion. Most of those who managed to resist the temptation became more successful, went to university and had better academic performance than those who could not resist and ate a marshmallow cloud.

Task characteristics

According to a study conducted at the University of Konstanz in Germany, there is a higher chance of procrastination when we see the task at hand in too abstract a way. Conversely, if we focus on the details, concretizing for ourselves how, when, and where the task has to be completed, the probability of its “postponement” will be significantly lower.

The complexity of the task also plays an important role. as a cause of procrastination. The more difficult a task seems to us, or the less equipped we feel for it, the more likely we are to put it off until later. Motivation and commitment performance also determines our propensity to procrastinate.

Anxiety and stress

Do anxiety and stress affect procrastination? Sometimes we have so many things to do that we don't know where to start. Anxiety sometimes paralyzes us so much that we fail to do anything we planned.

Procrastination reduces stress

The behavior of a procrastinator has a functional basis. Knowing that we have to do something, a project, a job or something else, we begin to experience some anxiety (great or minor, depending on the person and the characteristics of the task). If we put this task aside and do something else that is more enjoyable, we can reduce our stress levels. But at the same time, the habit of procrastinator behavior will gain additional strength and create a model for learning and repetition in the future.

When you think again about the task that you should have done, it will cause you the already familiar anxiety, and the whole cycle will begin anew. Therefore, it takes so much work to get rid of this type of behavior.

It's always the wrong moment

How to avoid procrastination?

1. Make lists of tasks you need to complete

List only those tasks that you usually put off doing. Do not include similar tasks that require the same resources from you. And don't set too many goals for yourself. Be realistic. If you schedule more tasks than you can handle, then you risk losing motivation when you realize you haven't done it. It's better to schedule a few tasks and get them all done than to make a long list and panic about it and end up doing nothing at all.

2. Divide the task into several parts

If the task is complex, break it down into easier parts. This will help you flesh it out and see it as more achievable. Plan how you will do it, when and where. In addition, going through these small milestones will increase your motivation.

3. Prioritize

Not all tasks are equally important. Prioritize to make sure you do the most important things first.

4. Avoid multitasking

Multitasking does not contribute to our efficiency if we want to achieve a good result. Concentrate as much as possible on one thing, and then your attention will not be distracted. Moreover, this one will help you control your stress and anxiety levels.

5. Eliminate distractions

If you're one of those people who tend to procrastinate because you get distracted easily, it's best to eliminate all distractions. Mute your mobile and deactivate all phone or computer notifications. If you have social networks bookmarked in your internet browser, hide them in folders to make them less accessible.

6. Business time, fun hour

This is what my mother always told us in childhood, and she was absolutely right. Avoid everyone's favorite approach: "I'll quickly look at the news in Vkontakte, and immediately get to work." Take care of the main task first, and when you are done, you can afford rest and entertainment.

7. Visualize goals

Having a clear idea of ​​what benefits the completed task will bring to you will give you a positive boost of motivation. Alternatively, think about the consequences of delaying a task, such as failing to meet a deadline, performing poorly or mediocrely, disappointing someone...

8. Ask for help

If you think the task is too difficult, feel free to ask for help.

9. Take control of your stress and anxiety levels

If a task, or several tasks that you have to complete, causes you anxiety and paralyzes you, the first thing to do is to relax. Learn more about how to manage your anxiety levels according to the progressive relaxation method. You can also try mindful meditation method, which allows not only to cope with stress, but also helps to improve attention and concentration.

10. Tell others about your plans

If you tell other people about the task that you have to perform, you will begin to realize a higher degree of responsibility for the result. Feeling ashamed before a public defeat can be a great motivator.

11. It's never the right moment.

Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today. Do you put something off until later just because there is no right moment for it? Imagine that if you still haven't found that moment, maybe it doesn't exist at all. If you wait for the right moment to come, you will never get it done.

Translation by Alexandra Dyuzheva

In August 2015 I took part in the training "Public Speaking". I said that I was fond of time management, and during a break, one participant asked me a question: “I have goals, they are really mine, but I can’t force myself to do what I have to do in the first place. How should I be?”

I began to chaotically explain something about values, about other people's goals, about planning methods, that is, to offer superficial methods from my arsenal.

But if you look, each person is individual. It was necessary to ask what tasks she sets and what tasks she begins to do in the first place - to find the root of the problem. What's this? Fear? Failure to plan? Or the inability to motivate yourself?

Alas, I am not a professional coach or consultant, and such a mistake is quite natural, but still, feeling guilty for not being able to help a person, I conducted an analysis and now I know the most common reasons why people, seeing their own goals, cannot move or move in a different direction. Now you will know them too.

Perhaps someone will be able to diagnose their illness. We love to self-medicate.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of reasons why we do not achieve our goals. I tried to systematize them and combined them into eight groups.

1. Inability to set goals, make plans and prioritize. (Fuzzy goals, lack of plans, spontaneous change of plans...)

2. Personal characteristics (lack of discipline, procrastination, character traits...)

3. Errors related to information (many, few, misuse...)

4. Garbage (in the head, on the table...)

5. Mistakes in communication (failure to say no, talkative environment...)

6. Mistakes in the organization of work (where to start? multitasking, lack of rest, lack of delegation ...)

8. Force majeure (equipment breakdown, fraud...)

Let's talk a little about drugs now. I'm talking about my own example. Perhaps you have more efficient methods. I will be glad if you share.

1. Inability to set goals, make plans and prioritize.

It is fairly easy to diagnose. There must be goals, there must be plans, priorities must be placed according to goals. And most importantly - the results should be. Results are feedback.

It is treated by viewing and reading special materials on time management and participating in trainings. And, of course, the development of practical skills.

Five years ago I had no goals, I did not know about the plans, and the priority was the problems of the environment. 100 books and 10 time management trainings fixed this problem. Corrected, of course, not books and trainings, but myself and daily practice. Now there is a goal and there is a plan.

2. Personal features.

Diagnosed by observation. Diary, timekeeping, loved ones.

It is treated by work on oneself, personal growth trainings, in especially difficult cases by a psychotherapist.

Five years ago I was infantile, undisciplined and lazy. Now I have matured, every minute is scheduled, there is no time to be lazy.

3. Errors related to information.

Diagnosed by timekeeping or a person from the outside (for example, a coach, it seems to me, I honestly have not seen coaches at work).

It is treated by training information processing skills: decision making, GTD, calls, mail. As well as focusing on your own goals and priorities.

I always saved up all the information, now I process the information using the GTD method and systematize it.

4. Garbage.

Diagnosed by looking at the desktop.

It is treated by putting things in order and keeping the desktop and head clean. We put everything from the head on the table, and from the table to the basket or to the archive.

Lean manufacturing in the service of time management. There is one pen and one pencil on the table, the folders are signed and in their places.

5. Mistakes in communication.

It is diagnosed by timing and a look from the side.

It is treated by understanding the importance of one's own goals over others. And failure training.

Previously, I didn’t know how to say “no” at all, now it’s easy if there are more important tasks. But it was not time management that helped, but the environment in which I got. I work in a team where mutual assistance is an empty phrase. The main slogan: "It is better to do your own work badly than someone else's well."

6. Errors in the organization of work.

Diagnosed by frustrated plans.

It is treated by developing the skills of delegation, scheduling for the day, focusing on the task, etc.

At the first stages of work on myself, I wrote a lot of plans, and performed few tasks, now that everything is planned, everything is being done and even more.

7. Waste time.

Diagnosed by timing and frustrated plans.

It is treated with discipline and milestones in achieving goals.

Installed RescueTime, removed Google from the quick launch bar.

8. Force majeure.

Diagnosed with frustrated plans and the absence of the guilty.

It is not treated, but if there are too many force majeure, then the problem is not in them, but in you. Look for errors somewhere else.

For me, force majeure is most often the initiative of management and equipment breakdowns, but, knowing about the leadership’s initiative, I leave a margin of time, and in order to predict and eliminate breakdowns, preventive maintenance is carried out.

I hope this grouping will help you see your problem, and for treatment, contact narrow specialists.

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Current article. I would like to read about the experience of focusing on a task. Because I understand what needs to be done, but consciously focusing attention for a long time does not work. I wonder who has their own chips / developments? (preferably non-abstract explanations)

Anastasia, read about the Pomodoro technique - focus on one task for 25 minutes, and then rest for 5 minutes.

I liked this one: "I work in a team where mutual assistance is an empty phrase. The main slogan is:" It is better to do your own work badly than someone else's well. Alas, in many teams this is not accepted. Something about the corporate spirit and so on.

Anastasia,

I will share my chip (according to borrowed and adjusted for myself).

There is an application Forest. Initially, it was created for the "treatment" of Internet addiction. The principle is as follows: you set a timer for a certain number of minutes, at which time a tree begins to grow; in order for the tree to grow, you cannot use prohibited applications (the list is configured individually); and so during the day you can grow a whole clearing, and then see how much time per day or week you spent focused.

I use this program for my own tasks. I set it for half an hour - this is the time that I can really spend without being distracted by anything (I tell myself: no extraneous thoughts, only the essence of the task, I’ll think about all my thoughts in half an hour), I stop exactly on the timer, no matter what I do: even better, if on the most interesting - there is an incentive to grow the next tree. Then I switch to something: everyday life, reading fiction, etc. for 10 minutes. Then in a new way. If you don’t feel like doing it at all, I put a timer on a bush - 10 minutes. I tell myself that this time can be tolerated, and then I will be free to do what I want. But since I like my work, in 10 minutes I usually remember about it and then I “plant” with pleasure.

That's it. And these trees for me, on the one hand, are an excellent quantitative indicator, and on the other, they are just a small aesthetic pleasure.

And one more thing about concentration: everything is quite banal - you will not concentrate yourself, no one will do it for you. You need to drive out extraneous thoughts. It occurred to me (whatever it was, whether it was the thought that it wouldn’t work, or “yes, why” or not connected with the case at all) - to drive: “I’m doing it, I decided so, period, I’ll think about it in 15 minutes.”

We are able to control our feelings, thoughts, time)

What I was talking about is basically a variation on the tomato method. Read it, it seems, even on the site there is - maybe it will suit you.

great article, thanks.

about time wasters...

I have a decent amount of free time from watching various videos

(cinema, info shows, documentaries, interviews, music videos, sports, etc.)

and it seems to be without fanaticism, but the share of this in leisure is the main

i.e. you sit, look, look, and the impressions seem to be positive

but in fact you do nothing in fact, and so on in a circle ....

Now I came up with this, naturally without fanaticism, but I got hooked on the idea.

defined a line: on a free day until 12 noon, if I want to watch a video, after that I don’t watch anything until the morning until I wake up (even if it’s football live, I’ll watch the recording if necessary)

That is, after 12 days, this time is automatically released,

either for reading

or for accumulated cases,

or just to rest your head from informational garbage.

And it even seemed to be easier on the psyche, no, it’s not necessary, that’s enough, nothing more as a result.

Thanks again for the article.

Thank you very much for your feedback! I'll comment a bit, if I may.

To focus, I set goals, create plans, and make to-do lists. Each task that comes from outside is analyzed for compliance with the goals. I didn't learn it right away. More precisely, I am still learning, sometimes something interesting, but not important, distracts me for 10-15 minutes, but then I pull myself together and break away.

I also use auxiliary programs: the tomato method on the phone and rescuetime on the computer.

http://time-management-for-you.blogspot.ru/ - a review of the tomato time management book.

Why TV is often a sink is described in the book "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He does what we must do with our own efforts - he puts our consciousness in order. Everything is simple there - the same series, the same characters, shows and sporting events have the same rules. There is a clear structure and you do not need to put everything on the shelves yourself.

I try to give up TV, and if I watch it, I am fully aware that this is a waste of time and it will not make me smarter or more successful.

A small idea about TV addiction: at one time I was also very dependent on films and TV shows, the solution was simply brilliant. I watch them dubbed in French, repeating interesting phrases and expressions. The language has progressed incredibly!

I realized that for me the main problem of time management is just the fear of doing something imperfectly planned, as well as the fear of the future. It helped a lot to work with my inner critic, who only does what he yells that everything is wrong and everything is wrong, and that the situation is not at all working. Now he sits somewhere far away, bound and with his mouth sealed. And I just do what I need and rejoice, because each of this something brings me closer to the goal.