The same principle holds for telephoning. Some people like to initiate calls early in the day and return calls later in the day; some folks find the opposite timing most comfortable. While you cannot completely control when you will receive calls, it is a good idea to set aside a particular portion or portions of each day for phone work.
In managing time effectively, starting and stopping work on schedule are crucial because you need to develop the habit of working according to plan rather than according to inspiration. If you wait until you feel in the right mood to begin a task, you will probably waste a great deal of time trying to get yourself into the right mood or castigating yourself for not being in the right mood and not, therefore, working on important tasks. So, if you haven't already developed the habit of working according to schedule rather than according to mood, now is the time to do it.
Remember, however, that stopping work on time is just as important as beginning work on time. Many people recognize the importance of starting on schedule but neglect the equally important principle of stopping on schedule rather than according to mood. This neglect can result in what might be called temporary burn out. If you work on a task until you drop because you are in a productive mood, chances are very high that you will pay for your productive spurt of today with a significant period of downtime tomorrow. Also, you will likely neglect other tasks and develop a backlog, which will make scheduling and coordinating your activities all the harder in the days following your period of inspiration.
In addition, starting and stopping on schedule requires less time and energy than planning each day from scratch. If you get up each morning with no plan for how you will spend your day, you will very likely spend much of it figuring out what you are in the mood to do with the rest of it.
Thus, having blocks of time devoted to particular kinds of activities each day can greatly simplify your scheduling.
Keeping motivated and on track
Many creative writers and artists discipline themselves to bring their daily work to a close at a point where they have a strong sense of what comes next. Doing so enables them to stop on schedule while maintaining high motivation to return to a task the following day. Some writers report, for example, that they always quit work in the middle of a sentence. This trick allows them to leave a task knowing that they will be able to return to it later and begin working on it again with a clear sense of direction and a strong desire to work.
To take advantage of this trick, you must be sure to stop at a point where you feel relatively certain of the next step. Many of us are inclined to do precisely the opposite to keep going as long as we are moving along smoothly and to stop when we reach an obstacle or run out of energy. This latter approach, however, makes the prospect of returning to the task quite daunting because we know we will have to begin by facing an obstacle and continue until we either reach another difficult obstacle or simply wear out.
The inclination to procrastinate is often particularly strong during periods of vocational transition. The urge to put off tasks related to getting a job or charting a new career path is strong for several reasons. First, uncertainty is a potent de motivator for many people. Being uncertain about the results of your labors may make you less inclined to start laboring.
Second, the strong emotions of anger, anxiety, and depression that often accompany job loss can distract you from looking toward the future and can paralyze your efforts to act in the present. Finally, performance anxiety can become severe and debilitating when you feel you must constantly sell yourself and, therefore, constantly risk rejection. Dealing with the urge to procrastinate is, therefore, the major motivational challenge many job seekers face.
