What to do when you have a lot things *you* want to do and you want to do it all, without letting nothing left?

Question

I don't have any technique or something that I follow.

I normally jump from one thing to other, sometimes having dozens of tabs opened in my browser (more than 50 some times) and even using different profiles for my differents "interests" let me with a lot of tabs per interest.

So, in organizing things for people like me who doesn't follow rules (at less now). What will be the steps, suggestions or techniques that would help me more.

For example, now I'm trying to decide what library (developer) to use but there exist more than 5 options (perhaps more than 10), and having a full time job isn't easy to explore all of them.

Answer 1

Write it down

Write down everything you want to focus on for the next few hours.

Prioritise it

Quickly work out what is more important. Delete things that may now seem unimportant.

Concentrate on one thing

Then for the next 25 minutes just do that one thing. Do not allow yourself to be distracted. Set a timer. Look up the Pomodoro Technique as a guide.

Repeat

Keep on doing this and over time you will build up discipline get better at focusing on one thing at a time.

Answer 2

Here are two tips that could help in your situation:

• Smaller Tasks - If you find yourself jumping from one thing to another then you should try breaking down your larger tasks into smaller sub-tasks so that you achieve something before your focus shifts to another task. Having smaller tasks will help improve your focus, as the goal will always be closer

• Decision Making - if you are having problems with taking decisions, for example which development library to use, then you should try setting research and decision criteria beforehand. Make a list of the attributes you are looking for, then compare each individual library to that list. Examine each library, then compare your notes on each at the end. Then make a decision! Don't let perfection stand in the way of productivity!

Answer 3

When I say that I jump from one thing to other, more specifically I'm saying that for >example: I start reading about subject A, then it refers to thing Q, R and S, if I dont know >then I search them then if each of them has x,y,z I search for them so that would give me 9 >different things and be each search say 5 to 10 results that I find interesting. Sometimes I >end in a different matter than the one I started.

I had this problem too. Now if I am reading subject A and it refers to Q,R and S, i open the tabs for them. But I finish reading A. Then check the open tabs, more often than not I am not that interested in knowing about Q, R and Sanymore.

Always use a Breadth First Search instead of Depth First Search. Reminded me of http://xkcd.com/761/

Similarly for other tasks, if something else comes to your mind that you feel you need to do,
Write it down on a list
Finish your current task
Go to list and pick the most interesting item

This way you are never jumping from one task to another

Answer 4

Make a To-do list

Like @Mongus says write your all tasks to a list. It doesn't matter what is it. A to-do list could be a piece of paper or a software in your computer. This is a easy but very good example for a to-do list:

Prioritize your list

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you focus and spend more of your time on the things that really matter to you. Rate your tasks into categories using the ABCD or 1234.

Plan your life

Planing your life makes you more produvtivity. Spend some time at the beginning of each week to plan your schedule. İt's balance your important long-term projects with your more urgent tasks. All you need is a few minutes each week for your planning session.

Using time management system

You can found a lot of time management system on this site. This system can help you keep track of everything that you need to do, organize and prioritize your work, and develop sound plans to complete it.

Identify bad habits

Make a list of bad habits that are stealing your time and ignore them. These are thief. Remember that the easiest way to eliminate a bad habit, it to replace it with a better habit.

Don't do other's work

Just do your work. Not others. Instead of, teach the other peoples how to do their own work.