// BLOG
Effective Time Management
March 19, 2008
When you first begin to undertake a time management program it is beneficial to record your daily activities for no less than one week. One option for doing this is to keep a journal or notebook with you throughout the day, for the period during which you will be doing the recording.
Using both the front and back of a plain sheet of paper in your journal draw 12 rectangles, several inches wide. (You will have 6 on each side.) Each rectangle will represent an hour of time, in a typical 12 hour day. Label each rectangle with hour increments, such as 700 to 800 am for the first, 900 to 1000 am for the second, and so on. You will do this everyday for one week.
Each block is reserved for you to record the activities that you perform during that specific time period. An example of a block of time could be;
“7:00 to 8:00 am, Monday- Showered. Brushed hair, teeth. Made and ate breakfast. Dressed for work. Applied Make-up. Balanced check book. Drove to the office.”
Make notes as often as you can, and be specific in the details that you record.
At the end of the week look back through your journal and make note of any blocks of time that you could have made better use of. Some amount of fun and free time is important to your overall health and well-being, but if you notice that there are continuous blocks of time that are not being managed wisely, this is a good place to start to make some changes in your daily time management habits.
Planning For Long Term Goals
March 17, 2008
Learning time management skills often requires the setting of long, medium and short term goals. When evaluating the number of goals to be completed, planning when, exactly how you will meet your specific goals is one of the most important steps in the process.
One example of a long term goal might be to build a home of your own. Simply setting this goal is not nearly enough. If you really hope to accomplish your goal you must have a detailed plan in place to help you achieve it.
Effective time management skills include setting deadlines for when you will meet your entire goals, as well as thinking through all of the small steps that you will need to take along the way. This is the planning process and it requires that you make commitments to yourself, in order to meet your long term goals.
If your goal is to build a house within the next two years, then the next step is to detail all of things you will need to do in order to accomplish that goal.
It is also important to set shorter deadlines for each phase of this process. In this case some of the things you might to need to accomplish in order to fulfill your goal, and the deadlines you might apply could be find a piece of land on which to build by December; blueprints for the home complete by March; hire contractors by June; purchase materials by July etc… In this way you break down complicated, long term goals into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Delegating Tasks
March 15, 2008
One way that many people can increase their productivity, and thereby improve upon their overall time management skills is through learning to delegate responsibilities to others. Whether in personal or professional life “no man is an island unto himself.”
When time constraints and looming deadlines threaten, it is not the weak person, but the strong one, that can assign some of the burden to others.
Many people with time management difficulties simply have taken on too much. In one’s personal life it can be difficult to say “no” and in one’s professional life it can be downright impossible. An angry boss or supervisor is not something anyone wants to deal with. If you find yourself in a crunch that you can’t possibly get out of, this may be the time when you simply must call in the reinforcements.
Whenever possible a team approach to large projects and difficult tasks should be adopted in the professional world. While some people may have a difficult time trusting others to carry their share of the load, learning to delegate can be an important step in to more effectively using your time.
Decide upon what skills you have, and which aspects of the project are most suited to your own level of ability and creativity. Assign smaller tasks, such as running copies, doing research work, to others. This frees up your time and energy to concentrate on the more important aspects of the job.
At home tasks can be delegated to other family members. Even the youngest child can learn to do some chores, such as picking up toys, or putting towels on a shelf.
By requiring children to share some of the burden of household chores you are also teaching them to be responsible, and helping them prepare for adulthood.
10 Steps to Getting Rid of Clutter
November 30, 2007
Are you ready to get started on your journey to clutter control? Here are 10 things you can do right now:
- Get rid of your largest items first. Eliminating exercise equipment and large stuffed animals that don’t belong in a room can result in an immediate improvement in clutter reduction. Once you get rid of the big pieces, it will make it easier to move on the the smaller pieces.
- Return everything that has been borrowed from someone else. Magazines, books, CDs, videos and tools are just a few of the things that may below to friends or neighbors. Return them to the people they belong to.
- Pick up everything that is on the floor. Sort into boxes, baskets - and most importantly - trash bags. Take laundry directly to the laundry room.
- Recycle newspapers, magazines and catalogs. If you’ve read them, throw them into your recycle bin. If you haven’t, put them into a “to read” basket or shelf. Cut out articles that you want to keep and toss the rest of the magazine.
- Have you looked into your closet lately? I mean really looked? How many pieces of clothing and shoes are there that you never even wear? Donate them or put them in a box for your next garage sale.
- Go through your dresser drawers and toss old socks, pantyhose and lengerie. Also, get rid of sweaters and jeans that no longer fit you. Are you really going to be able to wear them within the next few months?
- Now, go to your office. How many old pens are in your desk drawers that don’t work? Toss them! While you’re there get rid of used ink cartridges and other things that you’re never going to use.
- Clean off your desktop. Go through each piece of paper and decide how important it is. Put bills and statements into your “in” box to pay. Throw old newspapers and flyers away.
- Empty all of the wastebaskets where you have tossed your decluttering efforts immediately - before you decide there’s something in there that you just can’t part with. Believe me, after a few days you won’t even remember that item!
- Wash each room’s windows. There’s nothing that will make a room look brighter and cleaner than a little sunshine.
There it is. Start with this ten items to make a huge difference in the clutter of your rooms. You’ll be glad you did.
What Is Clutter and Where Do I Put It?
October 25, 2007
I define clutter as anything that doesn’t have a designated place to be put away when not in use. For instance, if you purchase a new tablecloth and you don’t know where it’s going to “live” when not on the table: that’s clutter.
Only keep things in your home that you know you love and will use. If it is not something that you need then it qualifies as clutter. Perhaps you were given something as a gift but you don’t really like it…so…you don’t use it. That is clutter. Don’t feel guilty about giving it away to charity or to someone else who will use it!
Any item relating to an incomplete project is definitely clutter. Maybe you started an afghan years ago and have it (and its yarn, needles, etc.) stuffed in a drawer. You know you’ll never finish it but there it sits. That is clutter. Give it away or put it in a “garage sale box” for a future garage sale.
If you have children and have clothing that they’ve outgrown or that need to be mended, that is clutter. You might want to keep the outfit that he or she came home from the hospital in for sentimental reasons but…everything else goes.
Do you have a “junk” drawer? I’ll just bet that you don’t use everything in that drawer. Go through in and toss, toss, toss. Only keep the items that you know that you use frequently.
Holding onto items (be it clothing, toys or craft projects) for the future, without setting an actual date for use or completion is called a dream. You might think you have a plan for them but without a date on your calendar or an item on your “do” list, it’s considered clutter. Have a plan for these items or let them go.
Often, clutter is simply a postponed decision. If you put off making a decision about how to use or where to put something, you will set it on a counter or stash it in a drawer until you’re ready to make that decision. Sometimes, it will sit there for months until you stash it somewhere else. All these things are also considered to be clutter.
Go through all the clutter that you have sitting on counters, drawers, closets, floors - and in places only YOU know about - and make a decision. Keep or throw away. But remember, if you keep it, you must use it!