Proper Daily Planning is the key to maximum effectiveness. Though developing and keeping track of your lists is important it is NOT "time management". Time Management is the activity of working out how to use your available hours. It is a strategy developed and followed to get as much done as possible.
Regardless how you accomplish them, there are some basics in planning your work day. Let's discover some basic rules tips and suggestions that can help you truly spend your time wisely. Remember, our days are like bank accounts. Rather than being filled with dollars they are filled with hours and they are refilled to capacity each day. Perhaps we should use this asset as efficiently as we can. Here are some tips:
1.Don't mix planning and working. Planning is separate. We should plan and then do. It makes no difference if you plan the morning of, or the evening before, make sure you plan, as a separate action, before plunging into your day.
2.Define the starting and ending time of your day. This should be a period when you are "on duty". It may extend beyond standard work hours.
3.Not all tasks are the same. There are Overhead tasks and Goal Oriented tasks. Overhead tasks are the routine things we all need to do: meals, errands like picking up the kids, exercise, basically actions that, though important, do not move us closer to our goals. Estimate how much time each will take to FINISH. Write the tasks and durations on your Daily Planning Sheet. These should be placed in a separate sections, separate from the Goal Oriented tasks (see next tip).
4.Next establish which Goal-Oriented Tasks you want to finish this day . Each must be specific. These can be complete tasks or milestones which are part of a larger program. Estimate the time it will take to FINISH each action. As you do this, write each task and its duration on a Daily Planning Sheet.
5.It is important that some time is set aside for the unexpected. A specific amount of time should be set aside for this and it will vary depending on your life. For some 30 minutes will suffice, for others it will take much more. By setting aside an amount of time for the unexpected you will find yourself in much better control of such events.
6.Sort the goal-oriented actions into the order you wish to do them. Set the most important, most remunerative and most difficult nearest the beginning.
7.There is nothing quite as effective as a countdown timer to keep you focused. When you begin a task, set the timer for the duration and hit start. While it is counting down to its alarm you vow to do nothing else but that action. You will be amazed how this will increase your effectiveness.
Regardless how you do it, if you work out some way to do the above seven points you will absolutely increase your production and management of your days like you've never seen before. This can be accomplished with a simple paper Daily Planning Sheet, a pen, a time and a calculator. Or, the best, you can use a computer. We have found that the common SpreadSheet is one of the most effective ways (such as Excel). You can set up a template of whatever sophistication you wish that can manage your tasks, keep track of the amount of time left in your work day, sort your lists and even handle the countdown functions. Regardless of its simplicity, any system will be better than nothing. Just make sure the above 7 suggestions are kept in mind, somehow, and you'll discover an ease of mind that you've not experienced before. It's an feeling we can only get by knowing that we are moving towards our goals in as efficient a way as we can.
Regardless how you accomplish them, there are some basics in planning your work day. Let's discover some basic rules tips and suggestions that can help you truly spend your time wisely. Remember, our days are like bank accounts. Rather than being filled with dollars they are filled with hours and they are refilled to capacity each day. Perhaps we should use this asset as efficiently as we can. Here are some tips:
1.Don't mix planning and working. Planning is separate. We should plan and then do. It makes no difference if you plan the morning of, or the evening before, make sure you plan, as a separate action, before plunging into your day.
2.Define the starting and ending time of your day. This should be a period when you are "on duty". It may extend beyond standard work hours.
3.Not all tasks are the same. There are Overhead tasks and Goal Oriented tasks. Overhead tasks are the routine things we all need to do: meals, errands like picking up the kids, exercise, basically actions that, though important, do not move us closer to our goals. Estimate how much time each will take to FINISH. Write the tasks and durations on your Daily Planning Sheet. These should be placed in a separate sections, separate from the Goal Oriented tasks (see next tip).
4.Next establish which Goal-Oriented Tasks you want to finish this day . Each must be specific. These can be complete tasks or milestones which are part of a larger program. Estimate the time it will take to FINISH each action. As you do this, write each task and its duration on a Daily Planning Sheet.
5.It is important that some time is set aside for the unexpected. A specific amount of time should be set aside for this and it will vary depending on your life. For some 30 minutes will suffice, for others it will take much more. By setting aside an amount of time for the unexpected you will find yourself in much better control of such events.
6.Sort the goal-oriented actions into the order you wish to do them. Set the most important, most remunerative and most difficult nearest the beginning.
7.There is nothing quite as effective as a countdown timer to keep you focused. When you begin a task, set the timer for the duration and hit start. While it is counting down to its alarm you vow to do nothing else but that action. You will be amazed how this will increase your effectiveness.
Regardless how you do it, if you work out some way to do the above seven points you will absolutely increase your production and management of your days like you've never seen before. This can be accomplished with a simple paper Daily Planning Sheet, a pen, a time and a calculator. Or, the best, you can use a computer. We have found that the common SpreadSheet is one of the most effective ways (such as Excel). You can set up a template of whatever sophistication you wish that can manage your tasks, keep track of the amount of time left in your work day, sort your lists and even handle the countdown functions. Regardless of its simplicity, any system will be better than nothing. Just make sure the above 7 suggestions are kept in mind, somehow, and you'll discover an ease of mind that you've not experienced before. It's an feeling we can only get by knowing that we are moving towards our goals in as efficient a way as we can.
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Learn additional time management tips from the experts. See our powerful spreadsheet-based daily planning sheet in action and discover how it will immediately increase your effectiveness and ease of mind.
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