Time Management Tips

Here are some tips I gave on the

Time Management System

"Plan
Your Work, Then Work Your Plan"

This system trades on three
important principles:

Procrastination
kills.  Just do it!

A
place for everything and everything in its place.
Don’t
put it down; put it away.

Goals:

1.  Keep desk clear

2.  Have a place
for everything, including all "to do's"

3.  Never lose
track of any obligation, task, document, or idea

4.  Have a plan
to follow to accomplish the tasks of each day

Need:

File
folders, 1-31 for each day of the month and Jan-Dec for each month of the year
"In"
tray and "Today" tray
Software:



1Password, or equivalent
Things, or equivalent (organizes “To Dos”)

When a paper comes in:

Throw
it away or...
Act
on it immediately, then throw it away or...
File
it immediately in the folder for the month it applies to or...
If
it's for the current month, file it in the folder for the day it applies to and
make an action note in Daytimer or “To Do” list for that day or...
Make
an action note in the day or month that requires action, then throw it away
or...
Put
it in a permanent file for future reference.

When a task or appointment comes in:

Act
on it immediately or...
Schedule
it immediately for day or the month it applies to or...
Put
it in a long term goals/task file for future reference.

Planning:

1.  At
the beginning of every month plan the month ahead. 



Make
a monthly "to-do" list of the tasks you want to complete that month,
including items from your "master list" of short term and long range
ideas/goals/tasks you want to pursued that month. 
Schedule
everything electronically (in scheduling calendar on your computer or
hand-held device) or in pencil (in your Daytimer)—your goals, deadlines,
meetings, appointments, etc. 
Also
check your monthly folder for that month and place any items in the particular
day they need action on for that month. 
For example, if in January I receive plane tickets for a flight on
February 20, I will put those tickets in the February folder and forget about
them until February 1st. 
Then on February 1st when I’m doing my monthly planning I’ll
take the tickets out and place them in the folder for the 20th.  On the 20th I just check the
folder for that day and there are my tickets.

2.  If you use a Daytimer, you must double
enter your appointments.  Every
appointment is scheduled in the month-at-a-glance section and also as a detail
on the daily page.

3.  At the beginning of each day (or
ideally the night before), plan your work with a list according to your daily
schedule.  Be sure to do the most
critical/important/time sensitive tasks first (“big rocks first”).  You might want to list tasks in one
column and phone calls in another, both in the order they should be done based
on their importance.

4.  Stick with the list!  Plan your work, then work your
plan.  It may be most efficient to
do all of your phoning at one time at the beginning to quickly eliminate those
items.  It's also easier to make
east coast calls in the morning.

5.  Whatever is not finished by the end of
the day is either dropped or advanced to an appropriate day on your calendar in
the future.  Don't just push it
into the next day.  If it's not
urgent, move it later in the month when your schedule has more room.

6.  When new ideas, tasks, or obligations
come in, enter them either in the master idea file, the monthly to-do file, or
the day in the present month or a future month they need to be addressed.

7.  When new appointments are made, enter
them immediately.

8.  Any information about appointments
(phone numbers, directions, etc.) should be detailed in the daily diary section
or the memo section or daily record.

9.  Keep an extra section as a diary of
notes during the day.  Write the
date, then jot any notes of importance (phone numbers, brief details of a
conversation). 

10.  When new things come up, take brief
notes on paper if necessary and then enter them in your electronic schedule as
soon as possible.

The basic point is that in this system every name, number,
task, goal, appointment, or meeting has some place it can go in your system as
either a scheduled appointment, a scheduled task, or an unscheduled long-term
goal or task.  In the case of
paper, it can go in a long term topical file (e.g., “insurance papers”), a
future month it needs to be acted on, a day in the current month it needs action,
or a general idea file.

More thoughts:

Regarding
email, I try to respond to each item immediately and get it out of the
way.  If it relates to something
more long term I'll post the task in my calendar as a "to do" item or
print out the email and place it in one of the daily or monthly folders as
appropriate.  The key for me is to
read as little as possible, get rid of everything as soon as possible, and keep
my email empty.

Principles of Time Management

1.  “Big
rocks first,” i.e., work on the most important things, not necessarily the most
urgent things.

2.  Plan
your work (the night before, if possible) then work your plan.
3.  Clear
your desk at the end of every day, placing loose papers in their
appropriate folder or file.
4.  Don’t
put it down, put it away. 



Act on everything immediately—emails,
phone calls, etc.,—whenever possible to keep tasks from building up.  Don’t put off until later something
that can be resolved right now.
Make an instant decision on each paper that
crosses your desk (act on it, file it properly, or throw it away).


5.  Don’t
over-schedule.  Don’t put more
on your daily list then you can finish. 
You’ll never have the satisfying feeling of closure.
6.  Ask:  Is this the most important use of my
time right now?

7.  In a few moments of idle time ask:  What can I complete in the next ten
minutes?

8.  Break big projects into little projects,
smaller parts that you do one by one to accomplish the whole.

9.  Under-promise, then over-deliver.

10.  Aim for excellence, not perfection.

11.  Plan to be 15 minutes early for each
appointment.

Read this list weekly.

Just do it.
Do it now.
All things are easy to
industry.  All things difficult to
sloth.

Diligence
overcomes difficulties.  Sloth makes them.

“I daily become more
sensible that my work must be affected by constant and regular exertions rather
than sudden and violent ones.”—William Wilberforce