HOW TO MANAGE TASKS EFFICIENTLY WITH THESE 4 EASY ACTIONABLE STEPS | Ask Dr Annika
By: Annika Sorensen
Tags: Time Management, Efficiency, Work Life Balance, Work Smarter, Stress Management

HOW TO MANAGE TASKS EFFICIENTLY WITH THESE 4 EASY ACTIONABLE STEPS | Ask Dr Annika Annika Sorensen Aug 23·4 min read

Do you sometimes feel that you’ve lost your ability to manage tasks efficiently?

I know, I’ve been there too.

There are moments that there are just too many things on my list and I sometimes feel like it’s too much than what I can take.

Times like this make me feel useless… and it’s very stressful.

I remember a time when a client came to me saying:

“I am so stressed out. I don’t know what to do and the business is going down.”

Our sessions made our bond stronger, together with the trust. So during one of our sessions, a lot of things were put out in the open and what we’re able to see is that there’s been an ongoing mismatch with his Mother-in-law.

They were not animus… basically, there has been a misunderstanding.

And when that misunderstanding has been cleared, my client got things working well again.

So what I’m saying here is that…

We can have problems, at work or at home, or somewhere else which can sometimes be unavoidable. So when there is, just stop and figure it out.

GIVE TIME TO PONDER

Take the time to ponder about it first because when there’s too much happening but no thinking or planning has happened, a lot of mistakes can arise and although mistakes are okay, it’s gonna slow us down and we know that they could have been prevented in the first place.

MAKE A LIST TO MANAGE TASKS EFFICIENTLY

Making a list of things to do or tasks at hand plays a crucial role in this journey!

When you don’t have a list, you just go on and do things randomly… even maybe sometimes pick random tasks because that task makes you happier than the rest.

But what does this do to other tasks? They get piled up.

When you make a list of things to do, you automatically put them in their logical order, thus giving it organization.

And working on tasks with a structure means you’re managing your tasks efficiently.

On the other hand, if you get confused on which task goes first while making your list, I advise you to break them down into these 4 categories:

1. Urgent and Important

Examples of tasks that fall under this category are those that you cannot always predict and require immediate action or attention to stop further harm if any. These tasks give you the feeling to drop other tasks and do only these tasks NOW.

2. Not Urgent But Important

These tasks, since they are not urgent… mean that you get to have the time to really ponder about them.

Sample tasks that fall here are the tasks that could be really something big for your business and need plenty of time planning and doing.

“Why does it come second if it is not urgent”

Because if you don’t start doing them now, sooner or later THEY BECOME URGENT.

3. Urgent But Not Important

These are the tasks that require urgency because they could be preventing you from achieving some of your goals, or proceeding to the next step/s.

But since they are not important, ask yourself if they can be rescheduled or outsourced.

4. Not Urgent and Not Important

Yes, they do exist. Some examples that fall here are those that other people told you that you need or tasks you see other people have so you also thought you need but don’t probably have to do at all.

Avoid these tasks as much as possible as they only serve as a distraction. Reflect and ask if these tasks are really necessary or just a waste of time.

If they turn out to be somewhat necessary after you ponder about it, then figure out if they fall under any of the first three, or again, just delegate.

RAISE YOUR POTENTIAL CAPACITY

Raising your potential capacity means doing what you can to increase your energy. With more energy, you will be able to do more.

DELEGATE SOME TASKS

If there’s too much ongoing — literally too much than what you can take even after doing the above steps, then you might want to consider delegating or outsourcing.

Outsourcing is a good way to take some tasks off your plate. Just choose the tasks that don’t really need to be done by you personally, and focus on the bigger things.

These are the 4 steps I advise you to take: Taking the time to ponder, making a list, raising your potential capacity, and delegating some tasks.

Combine these all together and you’ll have less stress from too many tasks!

Want to read more like this? CLICK HERE.

If you want to start your process for less stress in your life get my free e-book and start working.

To your success and keep smiling,