Practice This

I follow simple rules to make sure I invest my time only in most important things. These simple rules keep me from wasting my time on non-important activities. Focusing only on important activities helps me getting results in less time and with less effort. Here are the rules:

• Define important categories. For example, my important categories are Family, Finance, each Customer is a category, Blogging, Personal Development, and some other. This can a be a good start to define your categories.
• Define outcomes/results/achievements/deliverables in each category. For example, conduct service A for customer B by Date C. Have another baby. Write and publish 1 professional blog post and 1 personal blog post tomorrow. It must be measurable and timely.
• Allocate time for each category. Block time beforehand for each category. This keeps me from using great excuses like "if I only had time for this…".
• Prioritize activities in each category. Each category has a list of tasks/activities to complete. When dedicated to either category I pick the activity that gets me closer to the outcome faster or with less effort.

Once I know what I need to do [activity/task] I can estimate required time and block it appropriately.

That is it. As simple as that. The biggest trick is sticking to these simple rules which is pretty hard. I wish I had a dog to watch me follow the rules [from "4 hour workweek" by Tim Ferris]:

This simple practice keeps me away from workaholism, I spend much more time with my family, I breath with full chest and my mind is clear.

“Man must be disciplined, for he is by nature raw and wild” – Immanuel Kant