Balancing Time and Effort

Time can be a factor of your success when working toward a goal. 0:00 This is especially relevant when you 0:04 have professional projects due at specific deadlines. 0:06 In this case it's doubly important to be 0:09 clear about how you'll go about accomplishing your goals. 0:11 You can help yourself out by preparing lots 0:15 of details for each task you need to complete. 0:17 The more detailed your tasks are, the easier it will 0:21 be to predict how much time you'll need for each step. 0:24 And as a result, you can then predict how long the entire project will take. 0:27 Certain steps may require more effort like reading and writing 0:32 as part of research for a blog post or physically 0:36 traveling to a certain place like going to a store 0:39 to buy building materials for something you're building at home. 0:42 By providing as much detail as possible, you can 0:45 ensure that small details don't get forgotten along the way. 0:48 Or become delays later on in the process. 0:52 This can be especially helpful for web projects. 0:55 Being able to estimate how much time each step will take, can help you 0:57 set mile stones, so you can share progress with your team, boss, or client. 1:01 However, time isn't the only variable here. 1:07 You should also consider the amount of energy, each task takes. 1:09 Some tasks quite intense and require lots of mental and/or physical effort. 1:14 At the same time, some tasks are almost mindless and 1:18 require very little energy, but they're necessary to make progress. 1:23 Now, stacking too many similar tasks on 1:27 top of each other can be very demotivating. 1:30 Knowing you've got hours and hours of similar tasks to do is tough. 1:33 And that's why it's important to create a balance 1:37 for yourself by interspersing different kinds of tasks if possible. 1:39 After you've taken some Ruby tutorials, for example, go for a walk outside. 1:44 After you workout build in time to rest and recharge. 1:49 At work break up project meetings with an activity. 1:52 Like a project demo. 1:56 Or lunch, or both. 1:57 Professional projects need milestones and due dates. 2:00 But try not to think of deadlines in a negative light. 2:03 It's natural to feel anxiety over whether or not you can finish on time, but if 2:06 you've done the right consideration as we've outlined 2:11 here it shouldn't be a problem at all. 2:13 Even if you do face the laze along the way, you 2:15 can still adjust if you're aware of all of the details. 2:18 A good communication is always a positive 2:22 thing, and can help you whenever issues arise. 2:24 You certainly wouldn't want to tell your team on 2:26 the day a project is due that it will 2:29 take two more weeks, especially if they could have 2:31 helped you over come the problems along the way. 2:34 Monitor your progress by keeping track with your checklist or App. 2:37 Even a simple spreadsheet can help you gauge your progress and seeing 2:42 how many tasks you've completed will become a nice motivator as well. 2:46