Effective time management relies on disciplined planning. As the saying goes in the military, 'Prior preparation prevents poor performance'. Planning your time has several advantages, including the ability to prioritise tasks and focus your activities effectively. One benefit that is often overlooked is the mental preparation it provides. Planning ahead allows your subconscious mind to prepare for upcoming tasks, which is particularly beneficial when you have a few days' notice. By explicitly stating to your subconscious mind the important tasks for tomorrow or the year ahead, you can better prepare yourself and be ready to tackle those tasks when the time comes.

Do you have a preferred time of day when you tend to be most productive? We suggest allocating your most demanding and creative mental work during your peak performance time. If you are a morning person, allocate this time in the morning. Alternatively, if you are a night owl, allocate this time during the night. For less challenging and low productivity tasks, allocate them when you are less inclined or have low energy.

To enhance productivity, a proactive approach is to pre-plan and design your ideal week or day. Utilise an Excel spreadsheet, with the weekdays being the columns and half-hour intervals being the rows. Assign each half-hour box with the necessary activities to complete. Essential activities such as sleep and weekly commitments should be inputted first, and the remaining time should be allocated to accomplish personal and professional goals.

Andrew Carnegie, the American steel baron of the 1920s, is reputed to have paid US$1 million for the idea of using a prioritised TO-DO list. The practice of listing down all the tasks that need to be done and then prioritising them into A, B, C, and D grade priorities greatly enhanced his company's productivity.

Here are a few tips for making the most of your TO-DO list. Firstly, for maximum productivity, start creating your daily TO-DO list the night before so you can sleep on it, then add to it as required during the day. Handwrite tomorrow's new To-Do List, starting with yesterday's leftovers. Many people do not bother with prioritising and tend to do the fun or easy tasks so that they can be deceived into thinking they were 'productive'. However, the key is to focus on the priority A jobs first.

If you have activities of equal priority, start with the ones you dread doing the most. This will eliminate the procrastination factor from your day's work and ensure that you do not keep putting it off, making it a burden for you. Once the unpleasant work is done, everything else seems easier.

Place returning calls and messages at the very top of your daily priority list and handle them in blocks of calls rather than randomly throughout the day. Leave detailed notes or messages, including the times you are available to take return calls.

However, do not overdo planning and prioritising your time. Instead, use strategic opportunism in your daily work. Often chance encounters, unexpected visits or unplanned phone calls present small but significant opportunities to move a few steps closer to your vision.

Most of those events cannot be planned. But, if they deal with important issues, pursue them. If not, move on.

To improve productivity and complete unpleasant tasks, it is beneficial to break them down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Once you have completed each piece, reward yourself. As Brian Tracy suggests, 'How do you eat an elephant? - one bite at a time'.

It is important to be decisive when making decisions. Waiting for all the information can be counterproductive, as stated by Bill Gates, 'if you wait for all the information to make a business case – you have waited too long'. Trusting your instincts can be beneficial.

If you are still struggling to get things done, consider setting a final deadline and seek assistance from a coach or friend. You may reward yourself for completing the task or ask someone else to provide a non-reward if it is not completed. Non-rewards may include writing a cheque to your competitor, purchasing an outrageous gift for someone you dislike, or (for women) wearing the same dress to multiple events.

To achieve productivity, it is essential to commit to fulfilling your promises, whether to yourself or others, by delivering them on time without fail. Every time you go back on your word, you reduce your productivity by wasting time in regret, remorse, and justifying your actions. It is worth remembering that there are only reasons and results. Therefore, strive to eliminate the reasons and focus on the desired outcomes.

Utilise a time management system such as a diary, online calendar & tools or a mobile app, and ensure that it is always kept with you. Arrange your work area for maximum productivity, and employ a tickler file to hold manilla folders with your most important topics. It is advisable to handle each piece of paper only once and to have an efficient filing system in place. Consider undertaking a course on office organisation to develop further skills in this area (see below for further information).

In order to maximise your productivity, it is essential to delegate or outsource all tasks that cost less than the hourly rate you aspire to earn. For instance, there are many individuals who are willing to mow lawns, do laundry, or handle bookkeeping for a fee of $15 to $25 per hour. It is more advantageous to hire them to complete these tasks and to focus on finding more quality and high-paying work, such as negotiating, analysing, or recruiting.

The key to successful delegation is to have positive expectations of the outcome, avoid dumping work without follow-up, and not getting too caught up in the belief that no one can do it as well as you. To begin delegating, use a Delegating Sheet with job descriptions, details, methodology, and desired outcomes, as well as the format of the result. This will serve as the basis for the systems that the person will utilise.

Encourage your team members to take charge and expect the best from them. Learn from your mistakes and do not allow your team to delegate tasks back to you. Instead, guide, empower, and energise them to solve problems and bring solutions to the table. Ask them, 'what would you do in this situation' when they encounter problems, and help them develop their problem-solving skills.

Effective leadership of meetings is crucial to optimising productivity. Mismanaged meetings are a drain on valuable time for everyone involved.

To ensure meetings are effective, focus the bulk of the discussion on topics relevant to the majority of attendees. If this isn't possible, consider shorter meetings with fewer participants.

It is unacceptable to consistently start and finish meetings late, lack clear outcomes and agendas, allow discussions to deviate from the topic, fail to minimise interruptions, or handle conflicts poorly. These are all issues that can be improved with training and practice. Developing this skill set will result in increased productivity for all attendees.

Following each meeting, it is important to generate an Action Plan and hold participants accountable at the next meeting by reviewing progress made.

Some individuals struggle to decline requests for assistance. However, if you acknowledge that important work is not being completed, it is necessary to correct this issue. In addition to consuming valuable time, accepting such requests may portray you as 'nice' but also as 'disorganised' and 'unreliable'.

Develop the ability to refuse any request that is beneath your level of skill or responsibility. Refusing promptly is essential, as delaying your answer may cause frustration and anger. Therefore, learn and refine this essential skill.

The following are ten tips for declining requests:

• Respond promptly.
• Assertively refuse without aggression.
• Provide a single reason for declining the request.
• Keep the reason vague if necessary.
• There is no obligation to explain or provide excessive detail.
• If the requester persists, maintain your position.
• Use a calm tone to avoid becoming emotional.
• If the requester overloads you, ask them to justify why it is more important than your existing commitments.
• Refuse requests that are unethical or could compromise you.
• If pressured or threatened, leave and seek legal advice or support from others. Stand up for yourself

To ensure maximum productivity, it is essential to concentrate on one task at a time. By being 'present' with the task at hand, maximum effort can be exerted, and the task can be completed in the shortest possible time. If you find yourself becoming distracted mentally during a meeting, while reading or listening to someone, stop and remind yourself, quietly whispering to your subconscious mind, 'Thank you, I will now concentrate even better'. When interacting with others, give them your full attention and demonstrate exceptional listening skills. Aim to complete the following tasks as quickly as possible:

• Responding to requests
• Returning phone calls
• Shortening phone calls
• Saying 'no'
• Apologising
• Eating lunch
• Conducting meetings
• Making commitments (deciding)
• Saying 'thank you'
• Writing memos.

To ensure maximum productivity, it is important to begin every project or activity by asking, 'What is my objective?' or 'What outcome am I looking to achieve?' Taking the time to clarify the goal of the activity and prepare a detailed outline is a valuable investment of time. Additionally, it is useful to ask oneself, 'What am I trying to say here?' or 'What are my main points?' This approach often results in a final product that is more precise and of higher quality.

To maximise productivity while performing complex tasks, it is advisable to avoid interruptions. Arrange for someone to screen your phone calls and handle any unexpected visitors to your office. Keep your office door closed to discourage pop-in visitors.

It is important to avoid being distracted from important tasks. Engaging in activities like checking emails, chatting with friends, playing computer games, or taking multiple coffee or toilet breaks to avoid unpleasant tasks such as cold calling or financial reports is a waste of time.

To increase productivity and save time, consider the following tips. First, close your door during the day to limit interruptions and focus on your work. Second, try to avoid unnecessary travel by using phone, video, or teleconferencing. If you must travel, consider going during off-peak hours to save time. Additionally, find someone who can assist with some of your important tasks. As you become more skilled, you may be able to complete tasks more quickly, reducing the time needed for similar tasks.

When travelling, arrive early for flights and meetings to make productive use of any extra time. Always carry reading material with you to make use of unexpected downtime. Consider building an audiotape library to listen to in your car, and use a portable tape player to record ideas for later review and filing. Utilize time-saving features on all the technology you use, and aim to eliminate double ups by doing things right the first time. Lastly, keep a Monthly Summary worksheet and use it to track your progress towards your goals.