Time management crash course
Published by Hypno on Saturday, June 21, 2008 - 10:15:15 - Filed under
Time management crash course
Here I’ll sum up probably the most important time management tips.
First set yourself a goal (a three month goal for example). It’s crucial for time management. If you don’t know where you want to go then how will you know how to get there?
Then break the goal down to smaller chunks so that you can see what you have to do to get there. Don’t worry about the plans’ accuracy, later when you start working on your goal you will gain better clarity about things you have to do. The most important thing is to have some sort of plan, you can refine it later if needed.
When you are ready, make a weekly time table about the things that you will do. First write down everything in a list that you need to do. Then pick the most important things and insert them to the days that you will do them. After you’ve done that insert the less important ones, and insert those. After that insert the ones that are even less important. You get the point. Make sure that you make the list based on IMPORTANCE and not URGENCY. Some people mix up the two things. Things that are urgent are sometimes NOT important. (And sometimes some things are urgent and important too, make sure you put them in first position)
To emphasize the point let’s say that you have to fill up a bucket with large rock, smaller pebbles, and sand - Stephen Covey (a self-help “guru”) likes to use this example - if you put the sand in first, then the pebbles, than there won’t be any room for the big rocks. But if you put them in the bucket in the opposite order, then there will be room for all of them.
You can use a program, called Keynote to keep lists, and to organize the things that you plan to do. It’s freeware, give it a try.You can download it from here.
About the daily lists: Every day when you start your work, review the things that you have to do and insert the things that may be missing from the list. David Allen in his book “Getting Things Done” recommends to start with the very small things first (the ones which take just few minutes to finish), so that you could take them off your mind and get a clearer head for the big things. After you get finished with those very small things focus on the big ones, then the mediocre ones, and last but not least the small ones.
Some people may find that after a while time management becomes pointless. That’s usually because they didn’t set a goal that inspires them, or they failed to reconnect with the goal that they set in the first place.
That’s time management in a nutshell. There’s a lot to learn about time management, I won’t get into detail now. There are lots of books about it if you are interested in it.
Oh, and last but not least remember that time management is not your life, and it’s not your master. Time management was created to help you, and to make your life easier. Don’t go overboard with it. Make sure that you take some time off to relax and have fun.