{"id":169,"date":"2025-01-07T14:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T14:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/?page_id=169"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:17:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T12:17:24","slug":"time-traps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/skills\/time-optimisation\/time-traps\/","title":{"rendered":"Time traps"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>How to improve time management<\/h2>\n<p>This guide refers to concepts from the <a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/skills\/time-optimisation\/abcde\/\">ABCDE system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-presentation \" id=\"presentation-\" tabindex=\"0\"><div class=\"ohft-slides-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">Trap 1: delaying difficult A tasks<\/h2>\n<ul id=\"_xSViapZC64DtYT\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li id=\"_umjH0gaMyBGgiy\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Issue<\/strong>: High-value A tasks (20% of tasks with 80% worth).<\/li>\n<li id=\"_R0YjTh6fmNcDTq\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Freedom technique<\/strong>: Label and do the daily highlight first.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_kdo0mdldCxFHOh\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Action<\/strong>: Identify and tackle the most important task first each day to ensure progress.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_0483Q7UybKBTrq\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Example<\/strong>: Start your day by working on a major project instead of minor tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">Trap 2: preferring easy B tasks<\/h2>\n<ul id=\"_a1PEZSITlPZGkD\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li id=\"_kMJRwVpsgkSgkP\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Issue<\/strong>: Low-value B tasks (80% of tasks with only 20% worth).<\/li>\n<li id=\"_NO6nnRQkZIx15t\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Freedom technique<\/strong>: Execute and automate B tasks.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_MRXDL7jsXwLNKD\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Action<\/strong>: Schedule specific times to quickly execute or automate these tasks.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_sJQ56mbW2UgSC4\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Example<\/strong>: Set reminders to respond to routine emails or automate bill payments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">Trap 3: distracted by low worth C, D, E tasks<\/h2>\n<ul id=\"_t8fYTEGvZI9dsK\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li id=\"_HSoRDxHCnllCPo\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Issue<\/strong>: Spending time on tasks that are nice to do, delegatable, or eliminatable.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_EmLQOUcwtAPlQ5\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Freedom technique<\/strong>: Do these tasks during remaining &#8216;cushion time&#8217; as a reward.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_J8SRSZb7sRMbkw\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Action<\/strong>: Save these tasks for downtime or as a reward after completing higher-value tasks.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_KvjDnoxXhjI6BB\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Example<\/strong>: Check social media or engage in hobbies only after finishing important tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">Trap 4: constant attention switching<\/h2>\n<ul id=\"_kizi8yhbbPXlxW\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li id=\"_U2XFF2LKbz6nuW\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Issue<\/strong>: Frequently shifting focus between tasks, reducing productivity.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_F1dXsP5lvDq4QH\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Freedom technique<\/strong>: Use time blocking for all types of tasks.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_rzLlRk4f5us4ND\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Action<\/strong>: Allocate specific blocks of time for different task types (A, B, C, D, E) to minimise distractions.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_20DoMtuY9ztQd6\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Example<\/strong>: Set a timer for 30 minutes to focus solely on a specific task, then take a break.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ohft-slide-section\" style=\"\"><h2 class=\"ohft-slide-title\">Trap 5: hyperfocus on low worth C, D, E tasks<\/h2>\n<ul id=\"_qv9VzvBzlzOSpv\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li id=\"_eoUI711UEc7xcI\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Issue<\/strong>: Getting deeply absorbed in less important tasks.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_mTd8Tkdo6I4SJ1\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Freedom technique<\/strong>: Use hyperfocus mode for high-value tasks only.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_U9Upn81KnEwPk7\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Action<\/strong>: Reserve periods of deep focus for A tasks to maximise the impact of your efforts.<\/li>\n<li id=\"_xrCBodd7hKJGMZ\" dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Example<\/strong>: Use your most productive time of the day to work on a significant project instead of minor tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><button class=\"ohft-prev-slide\" type=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\">Previous slide<\/button><button class=\"ohft-next-slide\" type=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\">Next slide<\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"nhsuk-action-link\"><a class=\"nhsuk-action-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/skills\/concentration\/\" target=\"_self\"><span class=\"nhsuk-action-link__text\">Go to next section on concentration<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<ul id=\"_xSViapZC64DtYT\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to improve time management This guide refers to concepts from the ABCDE system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":366,"parent":36,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-169","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/169\/revisions\/330"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/mindset\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}