Saima Ikram
Living in the world of distraction, everywhere you look there is a new person to talk to, a new social media platform to join, a new music to listen to and much, much more. Often these feel exciting, but unfortunately, when these distractions infiltrate the workplace, they impact your productivity negatively. With the technology moving forward, the digital distractions are gaining momentum and the importance of progress is left behind.
With the convenience of streaming and digitalization in everything, people are now even making their day to day schedules and time-management strategies with the help of digital tools. But it does not help to reduce distractions because these digital technologies connect you from anywhere to anywhere in the world. The best way to rule out distractions from your life is by managing your time manually by using a pen and a paper. Though crude in form but it allows more control of your scheduling activity.
Following are the ways research has shown that non-digital time management is better for improving your productivity at work:
Less distracting:
When you create a schedule away from the computer, it keeps you more focused on what you are planning. As you are just focusing on the paper which can be changed only when you manually turn the pages, it forces your mind to pay more attention to the projects you have to work on in future.
You put more effort:
While creating a digital time management schedule, you don’t have to make much effort. You can easily copy and paste the unfinished tasks from today to tomorrow. This makes your mind less attentive to when you are rescheduling over and over again. But with a manual time management schedule, you are forced to be more meaningful on the tasks that are yet to be completed. You think of getting them done instead of writing them over and over again.
You pour your life into it:
A manual time management schedule no matter how it looks depicts your habits and your mindset. When you look at the plans you created, how much time you spent, how much delays you faced by your own self, you look at the entire framework of what you are working towards.
It is a mindfulness practice:
Creating a time-management schedule manually is a truly mindfulness practice. It allows you to connect with your thoughts which you cannot do while creating a digital time management schedule. It becomes a daily practice of spiritual reflection at the beginning of your day and works as a bridge between meditation and vocation.
It actually works:
The biggest drawback of a digital time-management schedule is that it seldom works. It is so easy to be forgotten and you can easily lose track of your tasks because of the distractions that are present online. But looking at the list that has been manually created is a direct lesson to your mind that you have tasks that need your attention. It naturally makes you more attentive towards your work and boosts productivity.
