Building Blocks For Time Management
Whenever I hold an Assessment with a new client on organizing their home or business, I’m also evaluating their time management skills. Time management is the “foundation” to getting organized, and staying organized. Let’s envision time management as four building blocks.
Building Block #1: The Landing Pad. Whether you have a nice U-shaped desk at the office or a small nook in the kitchen, it serves the same purpose. This area is where you have your computer, your telephone/answering machine, calendar, personal address book, checkbook, files, shredder and trash can for sorting junkmail. For your Landing Pad to be effective, you need to maximize your space (especially if it’s a small nook) and keep it free from clutter.
Building Block #2: Your Scheduling Calendar. Paper or electronic? I used a week-at-a-glance Day Timer for many years, and never thought I’d use a PDA. I’m a visual person and felt that keeping track of my appointments via a 2×2-inch screen on a PDA would never work. Well, two years ago I did convert to a PDA, and it’s the best thing I ever did. Let me explain. All PDA’s come with scheduling software that you download onto your computer, and you then sync your information to your PDA. You carry your PDA with you (instead of a bulky calendar), and it will beep reminders to you for your appointments (you can also schedule recurring appointments–I love this function). Anyway, you determine when you want to be ‘reminded’: You can set it for 15 minutes in advance of your appointment, an hour, four hours, a day, five days, etc. This is a valuable tool to ensure you’re not late (and you don’t have to rely on your memory!). Most PDA’s feature a ‘graffiti’ function (with reminder features) and, if not, you can download a similar feature from the internet for a small fee. Let’s say I’ve just finished having my stylist cut my hair. Before I leave, I want to schedule my next appointment. I check my calendar (using my PDA), then use the graffiti function to actually scribble my next appointment information (using the PDA’s stylus). I set the reminder feature to beep an alarm to me at a time when I know I’ll be back at my Landing Pad. Once back at my Landing Pad, my PDA will beep a reminder, I check it and, oh yeah, I need to enter that hair appointment into my computer scheduling software. I do so, then I delete the graffiti entry. Now, you don’t have to do it this way. You can stand there at your hairstylists and manually enter the future appointment into the PDA (which would later be uploaded to your computer’s scheduling software), but that will take you several minutes. That’s not practicing good time management skills. You have the alarm capability–use it.
Now, let’s talk about the scheduling software. You don’t have to use the software that comes with your PDA. You can use Microsoft Outlook, MSN’s free Hotmail, and others. You just need to ensure that it’s compatible to sync with your PDA.
You also have a feature to view your Contacts (aka, your personal and business address book). We’ve all had the typical phone and address book, with crossed out entries because someone either got a new phone number, or they moved, got married, divorced, etc. Enter your Contact information on your computer and download it to your PDA (you can even assign categories). When you’re out and about and need to call someone, all you have to do is look them up on your PDA. Everything is at your fingertips. And, again, you can also use Microsoft Outlook, MSN’s free Hotmail, and others. They all have a Contacts feature.
Now, here’s the final reason why a PDA is a smart investment. If you lose it, you haven’t lost any information because it’s all on your computer! If you carry a paper appointment book and lose it (like we’ve all experienced), well, how shall I describe what you’ll be feeling. Frantic . . . devastated . . . kicking yourself. It would take you weeks or months to recreate everything you’ve lost. Definitely not good time management skills.
Building Block #3: Follow-Up System. When I was a secretary, we called this a ‘tickler system’. You can create your own by having hanging folders labeled 1-31 and January – December. The 1-31 stands for the days of the current month you’re in. Let’s say you have a meeting scheduled with XYZ Company on April 10th. Instead of keeping their file laying in your work area in preparation for the meeting, you can store it in the ’10′ hanging file. This way you’ll always know where it is; however, you need to remember to check your tickler file daily (if you’re using scheduling software, you can schedule a recurring reminder for every morning at 8:00 a.m. to check your tickler before you start your day). So, the morning of April 10th arrives, and you pull everything you’ve got filed under ’10′. Now let’s say you have a different meeting set for May 10th. Do not place the information for that meeting under ’10′ right now. Remember, at the moment, your 1-31 stands for the days of the current month (in this instance, April). Your information for the May 10th meeting will be stored temporarily in the ‘May’ hanging folder. Do you see now how this works? So let’s assume that today is May 1st. The 1-31 slots no longer represent April–they now represent May. So, on May 1st, you pull everything that you set aside in the ‘May’ folder. Look through all of it and sort it in accordance to the date that’s applicable, and refile them under that date. Perhaps you have a bill that’s due May 21st, and you want to mail it on May 18th. It goes under the ’18′ hanging file. Now take note–whether it’s a bill or a greeting card, I recommend paper clipping it to the hanging file so that the top is sticking out. Otherwise, it falls to the bottom of the hanging file into what I call the “never find-again land”. So here’s where the electronic scheduling software comes in handy–schedule a recurring reminder for the first of every month to check your monthly tickler.
I hope you see how efficient using both the electronic scheduling software and tickler can be. And, you can keep your tickler in sight on your desktop, or out of sight in a file drawer. But . . . it’s only effective if you check it daily.
Building Block #4: 15-Minute Organizing. You’re free time is sparse, and it’s difficult to set aside three hours to organize your kitchen, for example. Instead of seeing the “big picture” (your cluttered kitchen as a whole) and becoming overwhelmed, set aside 15-minutes once or twice a day to tackle the clutter. Here’s how it works: Perhaps you’ve decided that you want to tackle one section of your messy kitchen counter. Set a timer for 15 minutes and ensure there are no interruptions–this is your time. Sort through the mess. The items you’re keeping, put them away. Set aside an area for donation items, and toss what’s left. When your timer sounds, stop what you’re doing, and now your time is once again available for family, work, returning phone calls, etc. The point is, you truly will begin to see progress. You can accomplish a lot in 15 minutes if you make it a priority. If you do this once or twice a day, within a few days, you’ll see the results and that, in turn, will motivate you to continue to make this a priority. So, instead of seeing the “big picture” we’re taking “bite-sized chunks”. I tell my clients: “Inch by inch is a cinch–yard by yard is too hard.”