Time Management

When you get something (postal mail, e-mail, assignments, general work, etc.) you can:

1. Do something with it
2. Delete it
3. Delegate it
4. File it
5. Do something, but not right now

I have this list typed up and taped to my desk. It serves as a nice reminder to not let piles of work build up on my desk..just do something with it!

The key is the fifth item “5. Do something, but not right now.” - these are the things that pile up on your desk and distract you each and every day.

My solution to this: I have 12 folders in my office - listed January thru December. If I have something that I need to do something with - but it’s not important and is something that can wait a few months - I put it in the appropriate months folder. It’s now filed and organized…

Let’s say it is the first week of September - you grab your September folder and review the contents. Take action on items or refile items to future months.

This keeps your desk organized and your mind clear.

How can you “5. Do something, but not right now.” with e-mail? That’s a little trickier - but I have a great solution. See this post.

Everyone has e-mails that are important, but not urgent. These are the e-mails that fill up your inbox… And leave you feeling overwhelmed and behind. Your inbox is never clean!

At times, my inbox has ZERO e-mails in it…

Don’t be jealous - join me! I couldn’t do this without GooToDo (not a Google product).

Once you have used the program for a little while (and get in the habit of using it) it will become your best friend.

To give you an introduction to how the program works - follow this link.

This program is an amazing way to increase your productivity and peace of mind.

If you are like me you read a lot of business articles, print publications, websites/blogs, industry magazines, etc. You hear/read/see ideas from multiple sources everyday…

All of this reading and education is great but you can’t always put it to use at the time you find it, so you put it somewhere for future reference..that’s where the fun (or frustration) begins.

In the past, when I wanted to go back and find the interesting ad/article/nugget of information - I can’t find it. It’s either in my e-mail, in a stack of stuff, bookmarked in Internet Explorer…who knows.

In order to fix this problem I created an Idea Box. I went back in time and went with a LOW level of technology! Here’s what you do:

1. Grab a box.

2. On the outside of that box write, Idea Box.

3. Write a couple rules on the box…mine are:

1. Don’t put anything in this box without adding a sticky note to it that states what you found interesting/useful.

2. Review Idea Box every 4 months.

It’s as simple as that. Now - all of your ideas are printed out and kept in one place for you to reference as needed.

Everyone loves to save ideas and great thoughts. The key is to organize that information so that you can use it when the opprotunity arrises.

Create your Idea Box today.

I found this quick tip during my daily reading and thought I’d post a link to it.

In addition to your daily clean-ups, take at least one day per month to purge your office of unnecessary documents, misplaced files, and clutter. A clean office will make you more efficient and more effective.

While I don’t devote “one day per month” to this task, I do spend a couple hours during the month to organize and clean my desk and paperwork. It’s amazing how this simple task can increase your clarity and productivity.

My wife and I are about 20 weeks along and yesterday had our Ultrasound. We found out that we will be having a boy!

Click on the photo to see a bigger image…Once open, click photo or press on the X to close.

The pregnancy process thus far has been great and we know that come July, our lives will be changing big time with the birth of our first child.

I’ll stay on topic with this blog and turn the conversation to Time Management.  This is something that most all business people and entrepreneurs battle with on a daily basis.

Balancing work, family life, spiritual life, hobbies, social responsibilities….these things and more all require a chuck of our time.  The toughest thing is making sure that one doesn’t dominate the rest.  Usually that one ends up being WORK.

You may love your work.  The harder you work, the more money you may make.  There may be things that you feel can’t wait until tomorrow and you have to stay late or work into the night in order to finish them now.

But when you step back and look at the whole picture….where does your family fall on your priority list?  Is your spouse or children getting the short end of the straw?  Are you not going to church because you feel you “need” to finish up some work?  Are you not able to volunteer some of your time, because you can’t commit to a few hours each week?

Everyone is different…all this post is trying to say is this:  THINK.  Make sure your life is balanced.  Make sure everything that is important in your life is getting the attention it deserves.

I feel this type of thinking leads to a healthier, more complete and rewarding life.

Share your thoughts or experiences on this topic by leaving a comment.

And ALSO, leave a comment about how cute our baby boy is! We’re ecstatic about him.