How to Accomplish More in Less Time

Anthony Ekanem

• Publisher: Anthony Ekanem
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9783965087095
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Time Management

The pace and intensity of our lives, both at work and at home, leave several of us feeling like a person riding a frantically galloping horse. Our day-to-day incessant busyness, too much to do and not enough time; the pressure to produce and check off items on our to-do list by each day's end, seems to decide the direction and quality of our existence for us.However, if we approach our days in another way, we can consciously change this out-of-control pattern. It only requires the courage to do less. This may sound simple, but doing less can actually be very difficult. Too often, we mistakenly believe that doing less makes us lazy and results in a lack of productivity. Rather than, doing less helps us enjoy what we do achieve. We learn to do less of what is extraneous, and engage in fewer self-defeating behaviors, so we create a rich life that we truly feel great about.Just doing less for its own sake can be easy, startling, and transformative. Imagine having a real and unhurried conversation in the middle of an unforgiving workday with somebody you care about. Imagine completing one discrete task at a time and feeling calm and happy about it. In this book, you will see a new approach. The approach is equally useful for our personal life and our work life. In fact, the two hemispheres of our work and personal lives constantly reflect on and affect one another, each changing and/or reinforcing the other.

Foreword

The pace and intensity of our lives, both at work and at home, leave several of us feeling like a person riding a frantically galloping horse. Our day-to-day incessant busyness, too much to do and not enough time; the pressure to produce and check off items on our to-do list by each day’s end, seems to decide the direction and quality of our existence for us.

However, if we approach our days in another way, we can consciously change this out-of-control pattern. It only requires the courage to do less. This may sound simple, but doing less can actually be very difficult. Too often, we mistakenly believe that doing less makes us lazy and results in a lack of productivity. Rather than, doing less helps us enjoy what we do achieve. We learn to do less of what is extraneous, and engage in fewer self-defeating behaviors, so we create a rich life that we truly feel great about.

Just doing less for its own sake can be easy, startling, and transformative. Imagine having a real and unhurried conversation in the middle of an unforgiving workday with somebody you care about. Imagine completing one discrete task at a time and feeling calm and happy about it. In this book, you will see a new approach. The approach is equally useful for our personal life and our work life. In fact, the two hemispheres of our work and personal lives constantly reflect on and affect one another, each changing and/or reinforcing the other.

Every life has awesome meaning, but the fog of constant activity and plain bad habits can often obscure the meaning of our own. Acknowledge and change these, and we can again enjoy the ways we contribute to the workplace, enjoy the sweetness of our lives, and share openly and generously with the ones we love. Less busyness leads to appreciating the sacredness of life. Doing less leads to more love, more effectiveness and internal calmness, and a greater ability to accomplish more of what matters most to us.

Chapter 1

Prioritizing

Not everything in life can be a priority. Many important things will compete for attention over your lifetime, but there are not enough hours in anybody's lifetime to give attention to everything that could potentially be a priority.

Determining your basic priorities is a key exercise in moving toward more efficient use of your time. Your basic priorities provide a means for making time choices, helping you decide where it is important to invest yourself and where you are able to let go.

Prioritizing

Setting priorities is a matter of deciding what is very important. In this case, "important" means significant to you. What activities and roles give your life meaning? These are the components of your life where you would like to succeed the most.

Not everything in your life can be a priority. Many important things will compete for attention over your lifetime, but there are not enough hours in anybody's lifetime to give attention to everything that could potentially be a priority. Determining your basic priorities is a key exercise in moving toward more efficient use of your time. Your basic priorities provide a means for making time choices, helping you decide where it is important to invest yourself and where you are able to let go.

On a daily basis, you also have to learn to set task priorities. Prioritizing tasks includes two steps:

• Recognizing what needs to ...

Table of contents

• Foreword