Maintain Focus with a Personal Organizer

The biggest time problems experienced by business people are interruptions, many of which are self induced.

A study mentioned by Vince Poscente in his book The Age of Speed, involving 36 office workers found, that on average, they spent only 11 minutes of a typical workday focused on a given task before they were interrupted - and once interrupted, it took them nearly half an hour to return to the task, if they did at all. Another study of more than 11,000 office workers revealed that interruptions caused more than 2 hours of lost productivity per day - that's 25% of the workday wasted.

There are many things you can do to ward off external interruptions, such as engage voice mail, turn off your cell phone and close your office door; but there is still the tendency to interrupt ourselves as ideas pop into our heads, or we suddenly remember we forgot to do something or we think of something we have to get someone else to do.

That's when a Personal Organizer comes in handy. First of all it gives us someplace to record things other than our To Do list, and allows us to capture information at the time so we don't forget it. In its simplest form a Personal Organizer is a half-size binder with several forms. These could include note paper, telephone directory pages and others; but here are three of the most useful forms.

Telephone & Visitor's Log

When talking on the telephone, use a Telephone & Visitor's Log to record the person's name and number, the date of the call, a brief summary of the conversation, and any action required as a result of it. Fill it out as you talk on the telephone. The action required section is on the extreme right of the form, where it stands out. When you've completed the action, put an X through it. You could also note the date that action was taken for future reference. A log prevents you from having to rely on your memory, ensures that you remember to get the caller's number in case you have to call back, and provides a permanent record of any promises, prices quoted, or other information that could be of use at a later date. And just as important, it forces you to focus on the call rather than other conversations or noises surrounding you.

Delegation Record

One of the advantages of the Delegation Record is that it eliminates incessant interruptions to yourself and others. While working on a project, and unrelated thoughts pop into our minds, the tendency is to grab for the phone, email, - or even shout to someone across the room. Constant diver?sions such as these make our workday fragmented and inefficient. By jotting the intruding thought onto a Delegation Record or Communication Record for later action, we don't forget it nor does it sidetrack us. Once the current task is completed, you could follow up on those other items that you had thought of during the day.

Meeting Participant's Action Sheet

As a meeting progresses you could use a Meeting Parti?cipant's Action Sheet to summarize the decisions reached, action required, whose responsibility it is to initiate the action, and the date that action is to be completed. With this summary sheet you won't have to delay action until the minutes are issued. You will also be able to spot any errors in the minutes. And if there are no minutes, these notes are a must. The Meeting Participant's Action Sheet will also enable you to keep the meeting on track even when you are not the chairperson. If you find the group skipping to an agenda item before a decision had been reached on a previous item, you could quickly bring it to their attention. So it will help keep everyone focused on the meeting.

You could make up your forms based on your needs and place them in a binder in sections with labeled dividers. Or you could purchase one at an office supply store or online. Personal Organizers are also available at many specialty and time management websites.

About The Author
Harold Taylor's website https://www.taylorintime.com
Harold Taylor has been speaking, writing and conducting training programs on the topic of effective time management for over 30 years. He has written 16 books, including the Canadian bestseller, Making Time Work For You. He has developed over 50 time management products that have sold in 38 countries around the world.

Time Management For Success

It's always nice to think that you can just get out of bed each day and do whatever you want, whenever you want. Unfortunately, everyone knows that type of living will never get them anywhere. At best, you'll end up living life day-to-day with no real goals in sight, but only accomplishing the things that you must do in order to get by. Without practicing time management, people will definitely get by, but they won't achieve much.

The key to practicing effective time management is to realize your goals in life. What are the things you want for your life? Do you want more money, a nicer car, a bigger house? Where do you see yourself ten years from now if you continue on the road you are currently on? Most likely, you'll see yourself struggling like you are now, but only because you don't have it together.

Getting organized is often one of the hardest aspects of life, however if you can master it, then you have nothing to worry about. Everyone needs to follow a daily "system" to ensure they accomplish their goals. No one says that your "system" needs to be the exact same everyday. One of the easiest ways to make sure you meet your goals is to start small. Creating a daily to-do list will help you accomplish everything from the smaller goals to the larger ones.

All too often, people fail because they don't believe that their goals can become a reality. They give up on doing things that will lead them there because they are intimidated at how much is involved. The truth is that if you take things slowly (as in day-by-day), you will get there and continue to move at a steady pace.

It's important that you make your daily to-do list a priority. Try not to overload yourself by placing too many things on your list. Start with listing five tasks each day that you must complete, and then move on to listing six, then seven, then eight, all the way up to ten and maybe even fifteen if you think you can handle it. Place small check boxes out beside each task so you can check them once you've completed each one.

Do not expect your day to go exactly as planned. Doing so will only set you up for disappointment. Realize that there will be phone calls, people who need you, people who stop by, etc. Always make time for those things each day, and if you have too much to do, let everyone know that you will be busy.

Creating a daily to-do list along with realizing what your big goals are is a great tool for managing your time and making sure that you become successful. Have your list right beside you when you wake up in the morning. Pick it up and look it over after you've had your coffee, shower, etc. Carry it around with you if it makes it easier. It's crucial that you keep your mind alert and fresh on your goals all day long so you do not get lazy and tempted to quit.

You'll notice a drastic change in your life and the way you feel once you start practicing time management. Best of all, you'll have more time for the things you want to do, after achieving the tasks that you must do.

About The Author
Natalie shares her personal experience overcoming shyness, building self-esteem and making positive changes in your life at Thoughtful-Self-Improvement.com. Learn more tips on time management by visiting her Web site.

Ten Time Management Myths

1. We can manage time. We cannot manage time. Nor can we save it. Time ticks away relentlessly in spite of our efforts to control it. We are provided with 24 hours of time each day to use as we like. The key is in how we use that time. We can use it wisely, or we can waste it, but we can never save it. At the end of the day, it's gone.

2. Time management involves getting more done in less time. Some people may believe that, but effective time management refers to getting done fewer things of greater importance. We cannot possibly do everything we want to do, or all the things there are to do. But if we prioritize what there is to do, and focus on completing the priorities to the exclusion of everything else, we will be more effective.

3. "To do" lists help get things done. "To do" lists do nothing to further a project or task. They simply remind us that they are not done yet. Scheduling time in your planner, as appointments with yourself, to work on the tasks helps get them done. "To do" lists are intentions; scheduled blocks of time are commitments.

4. People need a "Personal Organizer" or other time management system to get organized. People are not organized because they use a time management system, they use a time management system because they are organized. Personal organization involves breaking old habits and forming new, effective ones. It is a state of mind as opposed to a state of the office. Some people are more organized using a 65-cent steno pad than others are using a 65-dollar organizer.

5. A "Quiet Hour" is a great time management tool. A "quiet hour" is a figment of time management writers' imaginations. There is no such thing as a "quiet hour". We can reduce interruptions, but never eliminate them. To be effective we must learn to work in spite of the interruptions. Frequently, interruptions are not time wasters, but opportunities arriving at inopportune times.

6. Keeping a time log to determine where your time is going is the place to start. A time log should be done last, not first. All we need is more paperwork and interruptions when we're already inundated with them! We should get organized first, adopt effective habits, schedule time properly, put into practice time-reducing techniques and procedures, and once we have the time, keep a time log to effect further refinements.

7. The biggest time wasters include telephone interruptions, visitors, meetings and rush jobs. These are not time wasters, they are time obligations -- they come with the job. The biggest time wasters are self-imposed, such as procrastination, making mental notes, interrupting ourselves, searching for things, perfectionism, and spending time on trivial tasks. We are our own worst enemies. Being effective involves managing ourselves, not placing the blame on others.

8. It's more efficient to stick to one task until it's completed. It may be more efficient, but it's not more effective, for seldom will you have time to finish it. It's more effective to break large projects into small one or two-hour chunks and work at them for a brief period each day. Working on priorities involves frequent brief sprints, not occasional marathons.

9. We should have one planner for the office, and a separate planner for the home. We should have one planner, period. We are only one person, sharing our lives with people and activities at work, at home, at school, etc. Since we only have one life, we should only have one planner. Both business and personal activities should be scheduled in the same planner so business activities don't take precedence over personal and family activities. Sometimes in a business environment this may be difficult without duplicating or hot synching with a handheld, but it is worth the effort.

10. Time is money. Time is more than money; it is life. You can always get more money, but you can never get more time. It's an irreplaceable resource. When time's gone, you're gone.

About The Author
Author's website https://www.taylorintime.com
Harold Taylor has been speaking, writing and conducting training programs on the topic of effective time management for over 30 years. He has written 16 books, including the Canadian bestseller, Making Time Work For You. He has developed over 50 time management products that have sold in 38 countries around the world.

Use a Day Planner to Budget Your Time

To maintain balance in your life you have to examine your personal values and make sure that the things that are important to you are reflected in your day planner. Your day planner should display your personal time budget.

Planning is important in order to avoid impulse spending of time. Plan what TV programs you will watch, the sporting events you will attend, the family outings, jogging, quiet time and so on. The best day planner should go from 7am to 10 pm, 7 days a week so that personal activities can be scheduled as well as business activities. Block off your vacations, evening classes, church activities, your child's little league games, those scheduled dates with your spouse, those special events, that annual cruise or camping trip. Sometimes you may have to schedule personal activities during work time and work activities during personal time. Balance is a blend of work and personal life; there's no guarantee that one won't intrude on the other - but it balances out.

You should plan both your work priorities and your personal priorities at least a week in advance, and schedule them into your day planner. Don't over schedule. We recommend that you schedule between 30% and 50% of your available time after work for those key areas of your life, including family, friends, exercise, household projects and so on. Allow time for last minute opportunities, family demands and spontaneity. You must have plenty of discretionary time.

If you develop poor working habits, such as continually working overtime, working through lunch, not taking breaks, working at the kitchen table after dinner - your life can soon get out of balance. The habit of eating in front of the TV set can cause problems as well, since we develop the habit of watching TV with no purpose in mind.

Just as meetings consume a lot of time at work, TV consumes a lot of time at home. And just as we should have meeting-free days at work to concentrate on priority tasks, so we should have TV-free evenings at home to concentrate on quality time with the family. So it makes sense to decide in advance which TV programs you will watch - then stick to your plan.

Don't rely on "To Do" lists - they're simply intentions and are frequently postponed. Activities and projects that are scheduled in your planner become commitments, and those are the things that usually get done.

About The Author
Harold Taylor's website https://www.taylorintime.com
Harold Taylor has been speaking, writing and conducting training programs on the topic of effective time management for over 30 years. He has written 16 books, including the Canadian bestseller, Making Time Work For You. He has developed over 50 time management products that have sold in 38 countries around the world.

A Follow-up File is the Best Friend to Your Day Planner

It's important to schedule time in your day planner - appointments with yourself - to work on the important tasks that must be done. But it's equally important to have any reference material, instructions or guidelines handy when you are ready to do the actual work.

Whenever you schedule time in your day planner to work on a priority task, place any relevant paperwork in your follow-up file so it is available when you need it. This also keeps your in-basket and desk clear of any paperwork.

Your follow-up file can be a set of 12 hanging folders, one for each month, and 31 manila folders marked 1 through 31, representing the possible days of the month. There should be only one set of these manila folders, placed in the current month's hanging folder. (You may need a couple of additional unmarked hanging folders to house them comfortably.) The manila folders are transferred, a day at a time, to the next month's hanging folder once the contents have been dealt with. This means you will always have 31 folders for future days as you continue to plan ahead.

When you schedule time in your day planner to work on a task, and there is material you will need to refer to when you do the work, include the note "See FF" as a reminder to check your follow-up file at that time. In fact, don't put anything in your follow-up file without first indicating that it is there. Let your day planner tell you when to look in your follow-up file. The more details you include the better, but even a simple "See FF" will remind you that something has to be done that day. If there are electronic files that must be referenced, add a note in your planner accordingly. Don't rely on your memory; let your planner be your memory system.

Your follow-up file can be used for invoices to be paid, tickets for future events, greeting cards to be sent - anything in paper format that must be used or acted upon in the future. Just remember to schedule enough time to actually do the task.

It is a simple matter to scan the pages of your planner if you want to find anything that is awaiting action in your follow-up files.

Coordinated with your planner, which is your guide to the future, a follow-up file will help keep your in-basket empty, your desk organized, and your mind at ease.


About The Author
Harold Taylor's website https://www.taylorintime.com
Harold Taylor has been speaking, writing and conducting training programs on the topic of effective time management for over 30 years. He has written 16 books, including the Canadian bestseller, Making Time Work For You. He has developed over 50 time management products that have sold in 38 countries around the world.

Time Management, Planning and the Sigmoid Curve

Charles Handy in his book, The Age of Paradox, makes an interesting case for launching a second career before the first one starts going downhill. Or a second business before the first one starts to falter. Or a new product before the sales on the first one starts to peter out. Handy feels the Sigmoid Curve, an s-shaped curve tilted forward, sums up the story of life.

For example, if we start a new business, we usually start slowly, sales take off, and then level off and finally start to decrease. The time to make a change is while we're approaching the crest of the curve, while everything is going great. At that point we have the energy and resources needed to get a new curve through its faltering first stage. But we are reluctant to change when things are going great and tend to ride the first curve down to oblivion. The various stages of growth are marked on the diagram.

Take products for example. I have probably developed over 100 products over the last 30 years, if you include manuals, self-study programs, books, training programs, videos and so on. But we probably have less than 50 available on our website at any one time. You can't wait until one product fizzles out before developing a new product. When things are going well, it's easy to sit back and do nothing. My public seminars were still doing well when I started doing teleseminars, and electronic products on flash memory sticks were developed long before book sales declined. You shouldn't wait for sales to plummet before introducing something new.

My experience in large companies showed that such things as austerity programs and cost-cutting measures took place whenever the company was on a downswing - at a time when the company could ill afford the damaged morale and resentment that normally ensued. By then it was too late anyway. Band-Aid approaches seldom work. Companies should have examined their spending habits during prosperous times when sales and profits were soaring. Living high on the hog during good times and panicking during recession is no way to run a company.

I like the concept of the Sigmoid Curve because it is more than just planning, it's anticipation.

A similar situation could occur in our personal life as well. If we get a higher paying job, an inheritance, a big sale or some other sudden influx of money, we might go on a spending spree that eventually escalates to a lifestyle. And when the source of the extra money dries up, we find ourselves unable to stop the downward spiral to bankruptcy.

It's difficult to determine where we are on the sigmoid curve at any point in time, only that we're on an upswing or a downswing. But companies usually underestimate how far they are on the upswing. Taking action before reaching the peak is a lot better than finding we're on the verge of a downward slide. Successful companies introduce new products; packaging or other innovations while things are going well, not as attempts to turn things around.

The things that make you successful are rarely the things that keep you there. The environment in which we live keeps changing. It takes courage and a degree of risk to change things when everything's going well. But not to do so may lead to disaster.

How do you know where you are on the curve? You don't really know until it's too late. So you must guess. In this fast-paced environment where change is exponential, it's likely that you're farther along on the curve than you think. In his book, The Age of Paradox, Charles Hardy refers to a study of 208 companies over a period of 18 years to find out which ones were consistently successful. Only 3 companies lasted for the entire 18 years. 52 percent could not maintain their record for more than 2 years. By that example, it would be reasonable to introduce change after 2 or 3 years. If you start a second curve too soon there are no great consequences. Start too late and it could mean disaster.


About The Author
Harold Taylor's website https://www.taylorintime.com
Harold Taylor has been speaking, writing and conducting training programs on the topic of effective time management for over 30 years. He has written 16 books, including the Canadian bestseller, Making Time Work For You. He has developed over 50 time management products that have sold in 38 countries around the world.