Secret Interest

I have a secret – I am in love with time management systems and techniques. I find myself constantly reading about the latest time management tips. I get a thrill from pulling out my massive (think bible size) red day planner and using a newly sharpened pencil to write down an appointment or schedule out my days months in advance (yes, I have not conformed to an electronic calendar and I make no apologies for this).

More recently, I was waking up in the morning with a million and one thoughts about what I should accomplish in the day ahead, but I didn’t have a plan of attack. Even though I have a deep interest in time management, I still don’t always instill these principles in my day to day life. After a rather non-productive day trying to do as much as possible without really doing anything, I looked at my ever growing “To Do” list and noticed a task: Watch DVD’s. I then remembered that Dave had let me borrow some DVD’s that focus on the aspects of running a business. I pulled out the DVD’s and one of them was a presentation from Chet Holmes on his secrets of time management. Well of course this would be the one I watch first because of my hunger for time management techniques.

I am not sure if God was sending me a message this day by directing me to the DVD, but after I watched it I felt relieve come over me. I was now equipped with the knowledge to actually knock items of my “To Do” list. Chet Holmes had outlined a few simple steps to stay organized and productive:

1. Make a list of the six most important things you want to accomplish in a day (you can keep a longer list of ongoing items you would like to accomplish).

2. Next to each of the six things you wrote down, allocate time for them.

3. Transfer the six things into your day.

4. Prioritize and make sure the most important tasks are at the beginning of your day (you are less likely to be interrupted earlier in the day before things really get moving).

5. Schedule time for email and miscellaneous things that may come up.

Half of the battle sometimes is making the time to actually organize your six most important things. However, in reality this only takes about five minutes and from my experience so far, you get those five minutes back from time that you are not spending wondering what to do next. I am practicing Chet Holmes techniques in my daily life and I wake up each morning knowing exactly what I should be working on. There is no more questioning, or dabbling in this or that…I accomplish a lot more! I encourage you to try out this system for yourself and let me know what you think? Since I am a time management addict, I want to hear your time management tips?