Why is it that so many of us manage to create time for meetings important clients, and yet when it comes to the rest of our day we struggle to get other important tasks done? If you're sick of procrastinating, overwhelmed by your workload or struggling to meet deadlines then it's time to take a different approach to the hours in your day...

Respect

One very effective way to get more done everyday is to start scheduling - and turning up to - 'Very Important Meetings' (VIM's) with yourself. During these VIM's you get to focus on the key tasks you need to achieve without distraction, and that's where the key to getting more done every day lives.

It's important to understand how breaks in concentration can cause havoc when it comes to effectiveness which ultimately dictates how much we achieve in any one day, and how successful we are both personally and professionally. Research into worker habits and distractions shows that we tend to change tasks every three minutes on average, and often take about 25 minutes to return to that original task. Even more staggering is that 28% of each 9-5 period is depleted by such interruptions and one estimate suggests that these interruptions can take up to 2.1 hours of an average workers day! Is there any wonder why so many people are stressed and struggling to maintain a balance in their life?!

By blocking time out in your diary to focus on a particular task or project without interruption will allow you to fully concentrate and therefore increase your levels of productivity. When you're working to your full potential you will get more done in less time, creating more precious spare minutes - or even hours - in your day.

This isn't a ground-breaking discovery, it's simply a fundamental part of smart time management. However it's easy to forget what you should be doing when your email alert keeps going off, your twitter updates are pinging onto your screen and your mobile phone's vibrating frantically! With all of these modern day distractions, combined with gossiping colleagues and ringing phones it's more important than ever to make sure you block out time in your diary to get the important tasks done in the most time-effective way possible. This also helps create a sense of satisfaction, reduces stress and overwhelm, and allows you to reach your goals more rapidly. All in all, it's a recipe for success and one that doesn't take a lot of ingredients - here's what you need to do:

Write down 3 key tasks you need to get done today that will help contribute directly to your goals. Pick only 3 - no more, no less! Having a long list of 'to-do's' distracts the mind which impacts your level of focus.

1. Schedule 'Very Important Meetings' with yourself, blocking out chunks of time in your diary to get each task done.
2. For each block of time, imagine it's a meeting with the CEO who's about to give you a big pay rise - have respect for that time-slot, turn up, pay attention and focus on the end result!
3. Where possible book a meeting room or shut your office door, turn off your mobile, disable email alerts, and avoid social media like the plague. Again, you wouldn't distract the CEO with this kind of stuff, so show your work the same respect.

So what do you want to achieve today? And what are you going to do with the time you save? Start scheduling your VIM's now and look forward to getting more done in less time!