Personal efficiency trick that I learnt from Tim Ferriss

Optimize your day

In an effort to actually get work done, I'm testing a new email policy. I'm checking and responding to email only twice a day at 11am and 4pm.

If you need a response before one of these two times, for anything urgent, please call me on my cell phone.

Thanks for understanding this move to greater effectiveness and efficiency.

Why am I doing what I’m doing right now?

Well managed time is the most important key to success. My golden rules:

RULE No.1
Work SMART not HARD.

Prioritize
A - urgent and important
B - not urgent but important - find some time for these
C - urgent but not important - be careful with these traps
D - neither urgent nor important - eliminate = forget it, delete it. Most of the tasks can be deleted immediately.

RULE No. 2
Have a plan
Plan your day ahead, preferably a night before

RULE No. 3
Do, Delegate, Defer

- Do: if something is urgent and important (A) and can be completed quickly.
- Delegate: if the task can be better dealt with by someone else.
- Defer: set aside time at a later date to spend on any activity that require longer action.

Other ideas
Understand the value of your time: We may all value our time differently, but we all have the same number of minutes in a day. Once they are lost, they are gone forever.

Plan: You don’t plan failure, but you have to plan for success. Do tomorrow’s planning today: Don’t wait until you’re in the middle of the day to figure out what you need to accomplish. Determine that before the day starts.

Identify your “prime time:” What part of the day do you have more or less energy? Plan high-energy or low-energy tasks accordingly.

Schedule tasks as needed. Check off completed items. Revise the list as needed.

Ask yourself, “Why am I doing what I’m doing right now?” and ask it often: Always evaluate what you are doing to ensure the most productive use of your time.

“Delete” whenever possible: Eliminate clutter, file the completed, delegate wisely, learn to say NO.

Check your calendar: Have a good system to track time-sensitive events.

Be flexible: Have the ability to accommodate the unforeseen. Sometimes the urgent will have to override the planned.

Take a day off now and again: Have days for unplanned relaxation and spontaneous activity.