Productivity

Why does it seem like some have more hours in a day than others? Time is a finite resource. Can we really manage it? It ticks away as you read this without us having any control over it. The challenge lies not in managing time itself but rather in managing our behaviours as to what we do while time is doing its own thing. This blog post explores the nuances of time management for postgraduate students working on their research projects.

Why is it sometimes so difficult to make progress on our…

The MoSCoW method is a prioritisation framework commonly used in project management and goal setting. It is often used in product development to prioritise product features, but it can be applied in everyday life to cast a critical eye over the items on our to-do lists and to help us prioritise them according to our time and other resources available. Software development expert Dai Clegg created the MoSCoW method while working at Oracle.

The acronym MoSCoW stands for:

• Must-haves
• Should-h…

Dwight Eisenhower, president of the United States from 1953 to 1961, had a passion for productivity. His strategy to use what we know today as the Eisenhower Matrix as a decision-making tool helped him in his quest to get more done in work and life. Although he achieved numerous accolades in his professional life, he still had time to pursue hobbies such as oil painting and golf. Let’s see what we can learn from this strategy.

The Eisenhower Matrix, also called the Urgent-Important Matrix, an…

In this blog post, we'll tackle seven common arguments against using to-do lists and offer solutions to overcome these challenges. We'll debunk each myth, while I'd specifically like to hear your thoughts on the last one.

Myth #1: To-do lists are unhelpful because they contain large, vague tasks.

Problem: When your to-do list is filled with overwhelming, unclear tasks, knowing where to start and feeling motivated can be difficult.

Solution: Break down large tasks into smaller, actionable …

We often set goals that involve only ourselves. There’s no line manager watching and waiting for you to submit your task. You don’t need to report to anyone on your progress. These goals are also referred to by Stephen Covey as the "important, but not urgent" tasks. They are important because they often have a long-term impact on your own life as well as those around you (even though they may not realise it). But they are not urgent; you can move the deadline out indefinitely. In fact, the deadl…

Goal setting… it sounds so easy; you jot down a few wishes, and off you go. If it is so easy, why do so many of us not achieve our goals? This blog post will look at the goal itself and deeply dive into how you can formulate your goals to set yourself up for success.

You may have heard some proclaim that one should not have New Year's resolutions. New Year's resolutions sound like this "I want to be happy", "I want to be successful", or the famous "I want to lose weight" or "I want to complet…