More Ways to Get the Most Out of Now

This blog post draws on the previous tips in "Three Ways to Get The Most Out of Now."

• Get ready the night before. Completing a few simple tasks before you leave the office can help you get started faster the next day. Write a "to do" list for the activities you need/want to accomplish the next day, and number them. Clear off your desk, and assemble the resume projects you have to write the next day. Make sure you have everything together so you'll be able to get started right away.

• Accomplish one task for your project. If you're having a hard time getting started, tell yourself that you'll just write one section -- for example, the Education and Affiliation section. The satisfaction of getting one thing done can spur you to do one more section.

• Do just one more thing. At the end of a long day, faced with a long to-do list for the next day, can you look at the list and find one more short task? If you get in the habit of working until you are finished -- and then finding one more thing to do, those little things will add up!

• Identify your time-wasters. We all have things that kill our day ... unintended interruptions, a short web-surfing session that turns into an hour. Think about a typical day and see where you typically waste time. For example, if you tend to do a lot of research in support of a client project, you might be "over-researching." If you find this to be a problem, use a kitchen timer, and set it for a pre-defined period of time, say 15 minutes. If you haven't found enough information in 15 minutes, you can either quit, or set it for 5 more minutes.