Do You Have Time for Time Management?

Time management and organization are usually treated as two separate skills, but they are so closely related I will discuss them both together.

Organization is the ability to arrange according to a system. If you are neat, detailed and orderly, generally have a place for everything, and have no trouble keeping track of everything, you have organization skills. But if you’re messy, continually lose or misplace things and have no system for filing or handling e-mail or organizing other information, you are likely weak in this skill.

Time management is the ability to estimate and allocate time effectively. You are good in the skills if you have little trouble meeting deadlines, have a good sense of time passage, and know the importance of time. You’re seldom late for meetings or appointments, set target dates, schedule your time and meet commitments. But if you’re always running late can’t account for where half your time went, have trouble estimating how long things will take, and fail to meet target dates, you are weak in this skill.

If a person is weak in these skills — or in any of the executive skills being discussed in this blog — they can actually strengthen the skills by adopting systems that partially compensate for these weaknesses.

In the case of time management and organization, I recommend the use of hardcopy planners and reverting to the old habit of writing things down and doing one thing at a time. This does not mean that you should abandon the use of technology, including the Internet, e-mail, iPhone’s or texting. But forgetfulness, lack of focus, distractions, impulsivity, procrastination and other time wasters are reduced considerably when you build structure into your day that is both visible and actionable.

With the average Canadian spending over 45 hours online each month, there’s not much time left to focus on what’s important. And research suggests that Internet use is having a negative impact on how we think and behave, affecting our ability to focus, store memory, and interact with others.

Over 30 years ago I developed the Taylor Planner as an ADD-friendly planner since it compensates for many of the weak executive skills identified by individuals diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.

The planner displays an entire week at a glance (7 days) in 15-minute increments from early morning until late evening. It contains a weekly “Action List” of things to be done and space each day to block off time to work on the important tasks. Working in chunks of time rather than marathon work sessions makes it easier to maintain focus and avoid distractions. You can see a copy of the planner at www.taylorintime.com.

Writing everything down, including things to do, appointments, morning, evening and weekend commitments, follow-ups and reminders makes it difficult to forget anything. There are sections for goals, important contacts, and assignments and due dates as well as plenty of space for personal notes, and other information.

Blocking off time to work on specific projects a little at a time avoids procrastination. Marking down the time you have to leave for an appointment prevents lateness. Notes in the daily “Follow-up” section remind you to check up on things asked for previously. You also have a permanent record of what you have accomplished.

There are daily follow-up sections for recording important dates and events you want to remember, such as birthdays, and reminders such as when to look in your follow-up file and where you put those theatre tickets.

The suggestions at the front of the planner include using colored self-adhesive labels to flag birthdays and other special events as well as yellow sticky notes for those urgent items you can’t afford to overlook.

Other suggestions include organizing your work area before you call it a day, placing the top priority (or a reminder of it) on your desk before you leave work, and always preparing for the next day, whether that includes putting out the clothes you have to wear or leaving your computer bag, ready to go, at the front door. Also, set alarms on your smartphone to signal when it’s time to stop working on a task or when it’s time to leave for an appointment.

The more you are reminded of things you have to do or times you have to leave or places you have to visit or errands you have run, the less you will have to be reminded – since new neural connections are being strengthened in the brain.

You could attend a time management course for assistance or hire a professional organizer initially to organize your home, work area desk, file system, and set up procedures or systems for e-mail, handling paperwork and so on. The important thing is to develop systems that will work for you and stick to them until they become second nature.

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