Time Management

After watching this man’s “Last Lecture” last night, I watch his time management one this morning. Boy do I need to work on some of these things!! Here’s the video, well worth the hour and 16 minutes I think…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTugjssqOT0]

Anyway… some highlights:

Doing things right doesn’t always equal doing the right things. (aka FLYlady’s Housework done incorrectly still blesses the family!)

Manage Time like it’s money. Figure out how much your time is worth, and then look at how much time a task will take in $$.

You can always make more money later, you will never get that time back.

Being successful doesn’t make you manage time well. Managing time well makes you successful.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. You can always change the plan once you have one. Plan each day, week, sesmester/month/whatever long term plan.

ToDo lists: Break things into smaller steps, Be specific, and always do the ugliest job first.

Covey’s 4 Quadrant To Do List: 1. Due Soon, Important. 2. Not Due Soon, Not Important. 3. Due Soon, Not Important. 4. Not Due Soon, Not Important.

Make your priorities!

Inbox is not a to do list! ( I need to work on this!)

Use a calendar.

Learn to say no.

Keep a time journal, find out where your time is going and learn to budget it better

On Delegation:
Be Specific. Give deadlines, offer penalties & rewards for completion. Challenge people. Communication MUST be clear. Give objectives, not procedures. Tell relative importance of each task. Avoid upward delegation. Reinforce behavior you want repeated (little praise goes a long way)

Time is all we have. And you may find that one day you don’t have as much of it as you thought you did.

1 thought on “Time Management

  1. Many years ago I heard some time management tapes by Rita Davenport (FlyLady likes her a lot) who said that she was an “effectiveness” manager, rather than an “efficiency” manager. If she did things in an efficient way, but they were the WRONG things, it didn’t help her at all…I like your list a lot and need to ponder on it. Thanks…always enjoy your blog!!!

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