1. IDENTIFY WHAT YOUR BAD HABITS ARE

Spend some time looking at how you are spending your time. Sometimes the key habits to change are not always the most obvious ones. Use a diary to map in where you are spending your time, and if you want more detail then use an APP that will check your phone and computer use, the results can be very interesting.

2. WORK IN BLOCKS OF TIME

Block your calendar time into sections or themes of work so that you can get your head down and focus on one activity or one theme of work in one go.

3. TAKE A BREAK

Set yourself a period of time to work on a block of work and then take a break. Walk away from what you are doing and give your brain time to switch and refresh.

4. REMOVE DISTRACTIONS

Remove or reduce what distracts you. Whether this is emails, your phone, people, or noise remove them or remove yourself so that you can give an hour or so to focus on one piece of work. You will work through the tasks a lot more quickly if you are not ‘stop starting’

5. SPLIT TASKS DOWN INTO ACHIEVABLE CHUNKS

Larger activities can feel overwhelming and it is easy to procrastinate to avoid getting started. Break down the larger activities into more manageable chunks. The size of the chunk may depend on how much time you are able to block out in the calendar or it may be based on how long you can mentally focus on a task.

6. STOP THINKING START DOING

How long have you been thinking about and preparing to get started? Can you get started whilst the information is still coming in or while you are still working out how to carry out the task?

Spend some time planning and preparing but don’t wait for perfection. When you have enough information to make a start then make it!

7. START WITH THE PRIORITY TASKS

Identify your priority tasks for the day and start with those. Nothing else is started until the priority tasks are completed. Priorities tasks as High, medium and low and work in this order. This will help productivity and time management.

8. EAT THE FROG

Don’t leave the tasks that you don’t want to do until the end of the day or the last minute. Move them up the list and get them done and out the way. This will help clear it away from sitting in the back of your mind distracting you.

9. USE THE SMART ELEMENT OF YOUR PHONE

Smart phones are smart but are you using all the functions available to you? Push notifications can be a big distraction but can be switched off, muted during certain times. What apps do you need during the day or can you mute these during work hours. If you can’t work out the finer detail then just switch off the Wi-Fi and 3g whilst you are working on your block of activity.

10. JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD

Don’t say yes to other people when it means you are saying no to yourself or your work priorities. Limit the number of meetings in a day, hold meetings over the phone, say no or ‘not yet’ to extra work, manage expectations or work deadlines.

If you would like some tools to help you implement some of these tips then do check out our Planner and Phonenix app to help you.