AboutKenneth Renshaw Expertise Basic questions about time management, and the use of Day Timers paper and Sharp/Palm eletronic devices in time management.
Experience Day Timers, Sharp OZ, and Palm (Handspring) organizational devices.
Expert: Kenneth Renshaw Date: 5/1/2008 Subject: Where does the time go?
Question Hi there!
How are you?
Thanks for helping out on this site :)
I have a very intense job- working 10plus hour days, commuting long hours, and finding the millions of things I need to get done having to collect dust on the shelf b/c there are just not enough hours in the day.
I have pretty high goals for every aspect of my life and maybe want too much and balance is hard to achieve... professional success, relationship success, spiritual understanding, self-improvement, good friends, family time, fun, educating yourself, reading, discovering your purpose and trying to leave a legacy behind in this world.
With work, most of these things get neglected. I find my schedule always inconsistent, my sleep schedule is constantly irregular. I've tried paper planners, I don't want to pay for a smartphone b/c they're close to $100/month, I've tried an electronic daily/monthly to do list spreadsheet that I keep updating, I've listened to Anthony Robbin's "the time of your life", I've organized my to-dos in A-D task quadrants: A: important and urgent, B: urgent and not important, C: important and not urgent, D: not urgent and not important, I've put all my papers in file cabinets, etc.
Whats the best solution for me?
I also get bored easily...making it additionally hard to keep up wit rigid schedules...although some structure is necessary for habit and ease and a decrease of chaos.
Thanks so much!!
Regards,
Aly
Answer Hi, Aly, thanks for writing. This sounds like quite a complex problem that may need some further analysis and personal attention. However, let me give a few suggestions: 1. I usually prioritize A, B, C, and D without any consideration for urgency, and give a star or asterisk to an urgent item, which itself can be A, B, C, or D. Drop the D's-urgent or not, procrastinate the C's, UNDERschedule the A's so they can all be done in a day (doing the urgent A's first), and overschedule the B's so the rest of the day is filled with important things. I usually do A-urgent first, A-nonurgent or possibly B-urgent next, then B-urgent or A-nonurgent after that. 2. In long-term or short-term planning, have as few A's as possible, and feel good about it when the A's are done. Do the B's when you can, but cut the stress over getting them all done. 3. Have 1 or 2 long term A's in each area of life. Put as many other goals as possible in the B catagory (or C or D) to simplify your life, but still have balance in each area. 4. When bored, change to another A (preferably in some different type of activity). 5. Look at your long term A's every day and do a little something toward a long term A each day. Don't worry so much about doing an A in every area of life EVERY day, but balance can be attained if an A in every area is done sometime during the week. 6. Have an A with you all the time, so vacant moments can be used productively. 7. Reward yourself when an A is done, especially if it is an unpleasant one. 8. Use ONE planner (written or electronic-I use a Palm Tungsten C PDA) and have it with you ALL the time. More than one planner will get anyone out of control. 9. Take advantage of routine, but change it often to prevent boredom. 10. Pay attention to proper amount (preferably regular hours, when possible) of rest/sleep and proper nutrition. 11. Schedule free time as an A to refresh. 12. Make a list (over a period of a few weeks) of your time management problems and set up some A level goals to attack them daily. 13. Simplify and say "NO" whenever possible. 14. Delegate if you have someone to help or a subordinate at work. 15. Write a list of accomplishments at the end of each day, and reward yourself-at least mentally. 16. Have a daily list of prioritized scheduled (done at a certain time) and unscheduled (can be done anytime) items. By making a high priority unscheduled item on the scheduled list, it can receive more urgency and priority, however. 17. Remember priority and urgency are 2 COMPLETELY different things. A wrong number is an urgent D. A report due in a month is a high priority, but not urgent. A medical emergency is both urgent and high priority. Get rid of urgent, low priority items, but place more urgency on the less urgent A's so they don't get procrastinated and suddenly become urgent the night before a deadline. Hope these ideas help some and write anytime.
