How often do you get ambushed in your office? For example, your co-worker pops his/her head in and asks “Hey, can you please help me with this thing?”. You, out of habit or kindness, reply “Of course I can”. Whether or not you think about it in this way, you have just given your word to help out your co-worker.

Now I know that telling people “no” can be difficult and can seem harsh. I am not suggesting that in your new way of time management, you reject everyone every time they need help–that will destroy any sort of team atmosphere and build serious hostility in the workplace. Instead, defer.

Deferring is a great technique that is relatively simple to execute. In the above conversation when your co-worker pops his/her head in and says “Hey, can you please help me with this thing”, you can reply with a deferring comment such as “Let me finish this project and then I can see if I can help you out”. Or, “I am really swamped today, could we talk about it tomorrow?”.

Deferring ambushes will help your time management in three ways. First, it will allow you to complete your veggies or tasks without having to divide your brain in the dreaded multi-tasking. Secondly, it will allow team to not resent you. Lastly, it effectively communicates your needs and attempts to pair them with your co-worker’s need in the most efficient way possible.

A huge cause of mistakes in the work place are caused by multi-tasking too many projects in too little time. Replying to emails while checking voicemails and listening to your co-worker’s story about his dog is bound to slow down each task and lead it to be done less effectively.

Our brains are fantastic processors, but they have their limits. Yes, it is possible to do multiple things at once, but it increases the time it takes for our brain to process our thoughts about each task and it is more likely to “cross wires” between tasks and make a mistake.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for us to slow down, take 5 minutes to do a task, do it well and then move on to the next task? While you might feel more productive doing two things at once, stop mistaking activity for productivity.

I recently returned from training at a Fortune 100 company, absolutely an industry leader in their field, but what I found there shocked me. I am amazed at the number of people are “winging it” at work. They come to work each morning without a plan or direction. And this applies to employees at all levels, from the senior management through the entry level positions. It is a case of the blind-leading-the-blind. How productive can that be?

As I have found a lot, I received a very positive response on the Master List. For those who don’t know, the Master List occurs on a pad a paper and any “to-do” that pops into your brain throughout the day goes onto the List. It can be related to work, family, your dog, whatever it is, write it onto the Master List. So often these days our brains become giant calandars with addendums, sticky notes and reminders constantly distracting us from how our brains were meant to function: as processors. When you try to keep everything in your brain, things are guaranteed to fall through the cracks, not get done and take away from your performance at every other task you are doing. When all of those “extras” go onto the Master List, you are far more likely to accomplish them in an efficient and timely manner. Even better than being efficient, the Master List can be a flexible list. The nature of life these days requires an affinity for change, constantly. So flexibility is key when you need to get things done.

So, how do you plan? And how is your plan working for you?