Most people are under tremendous time pressure nowadays or better said let themselves put under pressure. There are 1000 and one things to do, day in day out. Don’t you know that from yourself?

We seem to have this endless list things to do. Some people keep a “To Do List”, I have a
“Can Do List” …. Shopping, exercising, going to work, commuting, bringing the kids to school, sorting out the car insurance, meeting friends, get that birth day present for mum, going to the bank, keeping the house or apartment in order and so on …. and where is time for yourself, for our  partner, family etc.

Re time management – a friend of mine says it should better be called “Self Management”. I agree with him, as we can only manage our-self, we can try to influence or convince others to do or don’t do things, but we are ultimately only able to manage our-self.

Here my 5 Top Tips – regarding Time – Self Management:

1. “Ink It – Don’t Only Think It”
   Writing down what you can, should, would like to, have to, might …. do. You won’t have to worry about forgetting it, just get a simple mini notebook that you carry always with you. It really frees the mind and the pressure of having to think of it and allows you to schedule jobs, tasks for later on in the week, month or year.

2. “Keep a NOT To Do List”
   e.g. watching excessive  TV, browsing the internet hours on end, starting a job without a clear – defined outcome ….., it really helps you to focus on the important and relevant things in life.
   

3. “Get into routines – Schedule regular times for certain tasks.” e.g. Friday morning 9am-12am accounts, working out, exercise Monday, Wednesday, Friday 6pm-7pm, reply to e-mails first thing in the morning 8am-9am, spend Thursday evening from 6pm onwards with your partner and don’t let work get in the way.

4. “Define your Values”
   What do you value? What are the most valuable things for you?  Aim to write down 10-15 items on a piece of paper and then prioritize them, e.g.
   1. Health
   2. Family
   3. Friends
   4. Security
   5. Creativity
   6. Relaxation – Chill Out Time
   7. Learning – Education
   8. Energy physical and mental
   9. Time for yourself
   10. ….
   The next step is to schedule time on your Values. E.g. meet with siblings Friday evening, get a relaxing massage once a month, switch off my work phone on Saturday and Sunday, visit a arts exhibition next Sunday with friends ….

5. “Keep a 15min Block Activity Diary for one week”
   I did a business development course two years back and during one modules we got the task to write down for a whole week what we do in 15min blocks. 

   Initially I thought it is wast of time – it wasn’t. Try it out yourself.

   You will most likely realize that spend a much more time on things that you thought take only five minutes.
   You could even go ahead and mark times in red that you spend on your “Values” (see above) and mark time in blue that is just wasted with unimportant activities. Do you see more red or blue?
   Ask yourself after doing this:
   1. What did I learn from doing this?
   2. How do I actually spend my time?
   3. How much time did I spend on my Values?
   4. Where did time just frizzle away?
   5. What can I change today to spend more time on my Values?

I recommend the below mentioned CDs and books in relation to time and self management.

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)
2. The 4-Hour Work Week (Tim Ferris)
3. First Things First (Stephen Covey)

Focus on Prioritizing and “Keeping the First Things the First Things.”
and let me know via e-mail or on facebook book how you got on with keeping your one week 15min block diary or what you think about the mentioned books.
Martin

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