Saturday, 21 February 2009

  • Kill the Chaos, Insert Zen: Lifetime Goals, Task Lists, & Time Management

    Now that I'm going back to college for a different degree than what I had aimed for in the past, I was struggling a bit with getting things done, time management, etc.  Actually, I was struggling somewhat before I started classes, so things have gotten even more chaotic since then!

    I have been researching and reading up on different time management methods, goal setting, and the variety of prioritization methods that are out there.  I think I may have found "The One."  Maybe you will feel the same, maybe not.  But anyways, let me recap some of the methods I have used in the past, before telling you what I now use.


    In the military, I used the 4 quadrants from Stephen Covey, because I liked how he pointed out the difference between "important and urgent", versus "not important and urgent", etc.      After all, you tend to do things that are important or urgent to those above you when in the military, even if those tasks didn't fit your definition of important or urgent.

    I did have an excellent First Sergeant who me walked through Strategic Planning and showed me how to incorporate it into my personal life.  (He even got me a spot in Covey's 3-day course, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which was usually reserved for supervisory types.)  I was 17 at the time, so I feel that he had given me a good set of tools at a young age, which kept me on the "straight and narrow," so to speak.  I used the 4 quadrants for 8 years, and it worked well during my time in the military.  After I got out of the military and felt more "in control" of my own destiny, I decided that I needed something less complicated to go with my new life. 


    Personally, GTD (by David Allen) was a little better, but the process itself was time-consuming to learn or apply, and didn't quite meld with my way of life.  I even looked into the Pareto principle to see if it offered something I could incorporate with GTD, but I didn't like getting only the top item done on my list; I knew I was capable of getting them all done, I just needed to figure out how to reorganize, rearrange, or do something with my time to better fit my needs.


    More recently, I've found a balance using a mix of what worked for me in the past, but mainly through using Leo Babauta's ZTD, or Zen to Done.  After reading up on ZTD and having it make complete sense to me, I've been able to pare down my task list to have ONLY things that matter to me, or things that relate to my goals.  Because everything on it (which I have been able to keep down to 10 tasks or less) is important to me, the Pareto Principle just doesn't cut, 2 to 3 of Covey's quadrants wouldn't apply, etc.  Also, my day is twice as long most other folks, because I am awake during the day to take care of my children, and then I am up at night not just for school -- but also to take my hubby to/from his afternoon or evening shiftwork.  I often don't sleep till 4am, and I am up by 7:30am, but I manage to get my sleep in-between and feel rested despite this odd schedule.


    What I've been doing is using my PDA to group tasks by location first and then by timeframe, so that if, for instance, I am on the way to drop hubby off to work at 2:30pm, I can use my PDA's task list and pull up all of the stops that are on the way there or on the way back, and knock them out in one drive.  I include "Contact", "Internet/PC", and "Mail" as locations, so that I can make my phone calls in one sitting, etc.  What used to take 4 or more hours now takes 2 hours or less; and yes, I am so anal-retentive that I kept track of my progress using this and other methods I've tried.   (It's a fine line between undying determination and blatant stubbornness...?)  I find this method to be extremely efficient, less time-consuming, less stressful, and a money-saver when it comes to fuel/transportation/mileage.


    What methods have you tried to use in prioritizing tasks, setting goals, and time management, and why have they worked or not worked for you? 

    Post your responses in the comments!

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.