Here's an article on Lifehacker today that talks about seeing work in 5 types.
http://the99percent.com/tips/7151/The-5-Types-of-Work-That-Fill-Your-Day1. Reactionary Work
In the modern age, most of our day is consumed by Reactionary Work, during which we are focused only on responding to messages and requests - emails, text messages, Facebook messages, tweets, voicemails, and the list goes on. You are constantly reacting to what comes into you rather than being proactive in what matters most to you. Reactionary Work is necessary, but you can't let it consume you.
2. Planning Work
At other times, you need to plan how you will do your work. Planning Work includes the time spent, scheduling and prioritizing your time, developing your systems for running meetings, and refining your systems for working. By planning, you are deciding how your energy should be allocated, and you are designing your method for getting stuff done. The best workflows are highly personalized and occasionally borderline neurotic, but they keep us engaged. It may not sound sexy, but Planning Work helps you become more efficient and execute on your goals.
3. Procedural Work
Of course, there are many motions we go through every day that are neither reactionary nor strategic. Procedural Work is the administrative/maintenance stuff that we do just to keep afloat: making sure that the bills are paid or preparing tax returns, updating a deck for a business presentation, or tracking old outbound emails to confirm that they were addressed/solved. Procedural Work is important, but we must remember to remain flexible in our approach to it. Procedures backfire when they become antiquated and remain only out of habit, not necessity.
4. Insecurity Work
Insecurity Work includes the stuff we do out of our own insecurities - obsessively looking at certain statistics related to your company, or repeatedly checking what people are saying about you or your product online, etc. Insecurity Work doesn't move the ball forward in any way - aside from briefly reassuring us that everything is OK - and we're often unconscious that we're even doing it.
5. Problem-Solving Work
Creativity becomes most important during Problem-Solving Work. This is the work that requires our full brainpower and focus, whether it be designing a new interface, developing a new business plan, writing a thoughtful blog post, or brainstorming the features of a new product. Whether you're working solo or as a team, you're leveraging raw creativity to find answers.
The idea is to spend most of your time on #5 (actually problem solving/doing) possibly #2 (strategizing). Obviously #3 should either be automated as much as possible (setting up systems when strategizing (#2) and #1 (reactionary) and 4(insecurity) should be minimized as much as possible.
While these are meant to be utilized in the workplace, they work for the home life and other aspects of life too!
For example, I automate a lot of things that are very routine to certain days. I cook my lunches for the most part on Sunday (big pot of rice, slowcooking a pork roast, making a pot of beans) as well as do laundry. Monday, I take out recycling, trash, compost etc. etc.
If I want to get something done, I'll disconnect myself from my phone and laptop (to avoid reactionary/insecurity tasks), plan my strategy, and the problem solve whatever needs to be done by doing it. This can be anything from figuring out something very specific (How do I change my brakes on my car?) to something more broad (How can I eat more healthy?).
I've found by automating the routine stuff and minimizing the sources of reactionary/insecurity stuff, I have plenty of time to strategize and problem solve, sometimes to the point where I get bored, and will intentionally return to the reactionary/insecurity work (get on Facebook, read some political discussions, pore over my net worth and student loans). I also know that if I have something come up that needs strategy (I want to grow 25% of my food this summer in my garden) or problem solving (My kitchen is constantly messy - why is it happening, when is it happening, and how can I fix it?)
I don't confess to be a total overachiever (I still have dirty laundry, a messy kitchen, forget to make my lunch sometimes!) but it certainly helps to break it all down into chunks and to prioritize what all you have to get done and how to approach it.
