Time Management
Making time for the things you enjoy
If your calendar system is working for you (ie. you use it and you can keep track of all your commitments) that’s great. If not, switch to a system that you will use. If your fancy Blackberry doesn’t meet your needs, you may want to go back to a paper system. Use what feels right for you. The only thing that matters is that it works for you.
OK, you have your calendar/planner, but you are still not finding time for the things you enjoy. An important lesson from my corporate life is: “Keep the goals in front of the team”. In this case, your goals will be identified by the things you value and wish you had more time for.
Step 1:
Identify what is important to you; the top 3. If they don’t come to you, here is a list to get you started:
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Family and Friends
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Health
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Travel
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Hobby
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Wealth
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Fame
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Success
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Mental Challenge
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Spiritual Fulfillment
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Love
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add your favorites and make sure you have something that is ‘fun’ for you
Identifying the top 3 things that are important to you will give you your values or your ‘goals’. Write them down in a place you can see every day and in your calendar.
Step 2:
Get all your tasks out of your head and onto paper. Identify everything you have to do or want to get to. Do a brain dump. If you like lists, go ahead and list them. If you like to draw, use a white board.
Suggestions for categories or sections:
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Calls/Phone
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Computer/Office
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Car/Out
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House/In
Step 3:
Prioritize these into:
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Today – You have to do it or something bad will happen
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High- Important to you and it matches your values
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Medium – Don’t have to do it soon and not part of your top 3
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Low – Ok if you never do these
Re-evaluate your priorities based on your values in Step 1. If none of the tasks meet your top 3 values, then add some tasks to your HIGH category which do. Remember to add some fun.
Step 4:
SCHEDULE the TODAY and the HIGH items into your calendar. There is no such thing as ’spare’ time. If you want to get something done, it needs to be blocked off in your calendar. If there isn’t room in your calendar, it’s time to look at what is taking up your time that does not match your top 3 and work on eliminating those things. These are the energy zappers and time wasters.
Summary:
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Your calendar system needs to be large enough to hold your life and be portable.
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Before you plan your time, think about what is important to you.
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Get things out of your head and onto paper, prioritizing those things which support your top 3 and other critical life tasks.
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Work on eliminating the time wasters and energy zappers by learning to say ‘no’ to things which do not bring you happiness.
