Multi-tasking is here to stay and grow - with all its induced stresses!  Housewives have been doing it all the time, and so an recent years have corporate executives, I T professionals and lately service professionals and many others. The tips that follow can enable them to handle multi-tasking with more ease. Even an extra hour “earned” in bits every day can greatly reduce stress levels and increase productivity.

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Tip 1 - Remember the six “P’s” for progress: ‘Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance’.  Visualise the week and the day ahead.  Fifteen minutes of organised ‘mind-mapping’ for the next week and five minutes of ad-hoc planning for the day, while sipping coffee at breakfast or while waiting at a traffic jam on your way to work, can make a big difference in the way your day / week pans out. Focus on your priorities and ensure timely delivery.

Tip 2 - Don’t rush from one task to another. Take a deliberate break for five minutes. This ‘appointment with yourself’ will help you form the right frame of mind to take up your tasks.  Deep breathing or relaxing exercises such as eye-palming or talking a walk in the corridor will help you to pace yourself / your work.

Tip 3 - The early bird gets its worms.  Starting early - even only ten minutes ahead - could make a difference. Before leaving the house, a quick mental check-list ensures that you don’t return for a forgotten mobile / document. An early start can therefore be a good start for your day!

Tip 4 - Communicate the right things in time.  Do more ‘telling’ as well as more ‘asking’ for information. You will stand to gain through ‘disclosing’ and ‘feedback’. Often when a schedule slips up the reactions usually are “You didn’t tell me” or “You didn’t ask me”.  Be pro-active and avoid gaps in communication.

Tip 5 - Be more assertive, not only with subordinates but also with your associates and your boss.  If your time is being wasted by people around you, minimise this as far as possible.  Share your calendar, as necessary, and let people know when you are free for discussions.

Tip 6 - Learn to say ‘no’ more often - nicely and firmly. Here again, credible responses are effective - example, ‘I wish I could take up this work, but I have to send this deliverable to the client by tomorrow’.  Be gracious with people, but tough with time.

Tip 7 - Bunch similar activities, where possible. Set aside time (once in an hour / two hours, etc) to review your e-mails. Constant monitoring of e-mail can eat up a lot of your time and could be ineffective. This tip can be used for your personal matters as well (bill payments, shopping, etc).  Let go of the tendency to go on and on - at meetings, on calls or e-mails. Keep meetings, mails and calls short and to the point. Conclude with clear action points.

Tip 8 - Invest a few minutes at the end of each day / week on your ‘learning diary’. Introspect into your activities, particularly on those that were less time-effective. Innovatively explore how you can reduce ‘time-bugs’.

Tip 9 - Take care of yourself - have six hours or more of sleep each night, eat nourishing food, exercise regularly to keep yourself healthy. If you are sleep-deprived, take a nap (progressive enterprises provide nap rooms these days!); even 20 minutes of deep sleep can be refreshing and could spur you on to higher productivity.

Tip 10 - Apart from time spent at work, for personal upkeep, etc, set aside time to pursue personal hobbies or simply take time off to spend with family or on vacation.  Not only will these be relaxing, but will also stimulate your mind and give you a fresh perspective on life!

Let me conclude with a poem from Kalidasa - “Yesterday is but a dream; tomorrow is only a vision; but today, well lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow, a vision of hope”.The writer, a former faculty member at IIM Bangalore, is now a management process consultant on areas such as cost reduction, cycle time management, effective supervision and value engineering.  He can be reached at rvg@craveservices.com