Time Management: Personal Development 101 | Main
Daily schedule for the self-employed
The best thing about being self-employed is that nobody tells me what I have to be doing from one hour to the next.
The worst thing about being self-employed is that nobody tells me what I have to be doing from one hour to the next.
I relish the freedom that comes from being self-employed. I can make decisions quickly without getting someone else's approval. I can try out a new idea today, instead of waiting until the "right" time. I can do things that "just aren't done."
One of the most difficult parts for me has been to discipline myself to make effective use of my time. I have that entrepreneurial spirit that wants to try a lot of new ideas, with the result that sometimes I just bounce from one thing to another. Because nobody is telling me what to do and when to do it, I can become horribly inefficient.
The solution is simple. You know what it is, so you can stop reading right now.
I plan out my day, hour by hour. And I plan out each day of the week, hour by hour. This is written down, so it is visible and tangible.
The added twist for me is to plan out each day as "My perfect day."
Instead of waiting until some vague time in the future to have a perfect day, I want my perfect day to be today - this day.
Therefore, in my perfect day there are always things that I really like to do. (That's fairly easy for me because I don't always see a clear line between "work" and "play.") No day should ever be a day filled with unpleasant tasks. Every day should be a perfect day, and that is exactly how I will plan each day.
What about you?
- Have you considered what your perfect day looks like?
- Have you written down, in narrative form, your perfect day?
- Have you built an hourly schedule for one such perfect day?
- Have you followed through by actually following that schedule?
Week 10 - Empty the head; write it down
One change each week. This week: Write it all down.
Sometimes I carry around a "to do" list in my head. Trust me; this is just about the worst thing to do.
The trouble is that the mind does not know how to sort out the list and tell me (honestly) which things are the most important and which things really need to get done right away. The unconscious mind has this list of things, and then it randomly sends them up to the conscious mind. As far as my brain can figure out, each item on the list is of equal value.
My brain fires out these random items from the list: check the movie schedule, write a thank-you to a customer, spend an hour on your tax return, pick up milk at the grocery. This brain thinks they are all equally important, equally worthy of my immediate attention.
What happens? While I'm doing taxes, the brain is talking to me about movies. In the middle of a movie the brain is reminding me about taxes.
Time management? No. Just a hodgepodge of "to do" items swirling in my brain all day long.
The solution is simple: Write them down. Do a brain dump. Clear the brain of all this clutter.
Here's how it works:
- Set aside half an hour. Use normal size paper or write with a computer.
- Make a list of everything that's on your mind. Everything. Business, personal, spiritual, health, family, friends. Everything.
- Write everything. The big things and the smallest things. Things for this week and things in the far future. The whole idea is to get these out of your brain and onto paper.
- Don't bother to put them in logical order.
- Don't bother to put them in order of importance.
- Take a break.
- Come back an hour later and spend a few minutes adding to the list.
- Do not remove anything from the list.
If you've done it right, all the "to do" items in your head are now on the paper. You don't need to think about them any more. If something new pops into you head, add it to the list.
- After each item on the list, write down the first action that needs to be taken. For example, if the item is "going to a movie," the next action will be "check movie listings." If the item is "plant a garden," the next action might be "buy seeds."
- One or two words is enough.
- Don't prepare a total action plan for each item.
Now when you are ready to plan your next day (or your next hour), everything is right there. You can pick some things based on "top priority" or based on "this will be fun."
This is what I'm doing this week, and intend to re-visit and update my list once a week.
Time Management: Time Shift
Do you have a schedule? Do you tend to do specific things at the same time each day?
Give some thought to whether you're doing the right things at the right times.
I'm not suggesting doing more, or making a list, or getting your priorities in order. I'm suggesting that you might be a bit like I am in the sense of always performing the same tasks at the same times. Maybe a little change is a good idea.
Biorhythms. There's no doubt in my mind that we are not at our peak of productivity or energy all day every day. For whatever reason, there are some times of the day when we have more energy, or are more creative, or are more willing to do unpleasant tasks. At other times of the day, we might be more inclined toward slowing down, being restful, letting our minds drift, or staying away from anything that looks like work.
Daily patterns can be discovered. You can simply keep a journal for a week. Make a note every hour or so that records how you feel, how much energy you have, how creative you feel, or if you're in a sour mood. At the end of the week you might find that there is a pattern. The important thing is that you are looking for your very own pattern, not somebody else's.
Weekly patterns also exist. If you keep a journal for several weeks you might find that certain days of the week are better suited for you to be doing some thing creative and other days are better suited for routine or repetitive tasks. Again, your own pattern is what is important.
If you look at a whole year, you will no doubt find patterns that follow the seasons, the phases of the moon, the weather, the changes that take place at your workplace, the academic calendar, and so on. Your pattern will not fit everyone else's. That's nice. It's yours.
Once you see a bit of a pattern, then you can work on shifting things around. If there is a specific task you do once a week (let's say paying bills, or grocery shopping), then do this:
- Check your own personal biorhythms, and find the best time during the week for doing this task.
- Make a decision to perform this task at the ideal time for you.
- Keep this going for few weeks, and then decide whether this shift was right for you.
Multi-tasking
Multi-tasking is doing several things at once. For example, you sit down in front of your computer to do some writing. As long as you're sitting at the keyboard, you might as well go ahead and check your email, listen to the radio, chat with whoever else is in the room, and talk on the phone.
Wow, just see how efficient you are because you are doing all those things at the same time. Maybe you could add some more, like eating breakfast.
The big problem with multi-tasking is that you are going to lose your focus. You're not going to be fully devoted to any one of the tasks because your attention is divided into too many directions. The results will be that none of things you are doing are going to be done as well as they might be, and in the long run you are probably not going to save any time. Is that what you want?
My recommendation: One thing at a time.
Focus is important. If you have something to write, then you want to be focused on the writing. The last thing you need is to have your attention pulled away in several other directions. You'll lose your train of thought, and your final product will be less than your best work.
If one of the multiple tasks is talking to someone else in the room, things just got worse. When we're in a conversation with another person, that person should be getting our full 100 percent attention. Just think of the times when you were talking with someone and it was obvious that her attention was divided between you and something else. I'll bet that didn't feel good. So don't do it to others. If someone walks in while you're doing something else, then you have a choice of dropping what you were doing to pay attention to this other human being, or telling her she'll need to wait until you are ready. She will appreciate it, and you will be better off.
Sometimes when I'm in the middle of writing a short article (like right now) I feel the urge to switch over to my email or to make some minor change to my web site or make a phone call. I really have to resist that urge and stay on task and stay focused on what I have decided I am doing right now. I'll get this piece of work done much faster and much better. And then I can move on to the next task and do it faster and better.
Of course, there are times when doing two things at once actually enhances each one of them. If you play some favorite music while you're meditating, then it could be that the meditating goes better and the music is more enjoyable. (For me, meditation goes better without the music. Each to his own.)
By the way, I don't recommend eating breakfast at the keyboard. One of the few things that can wreck a computer setup is to spill wet Grape Nuts on your keyboard.
How about you?
In the end, you have to make your own decision about multi-tasking. Is it for you?
You can easily run a little test to find out. First, decide on a specific period of time such one hour. Second, deliberately do multi-tasking for one hour. (Then take a little break.) Third, ruthlessly avoid multi-talking for one hour, and focus strictly on doing one thing at a time. Now sit back and compare the two hours. Compare them both from the point of view of pure productivity and from the standpoint of how enjoyable the hours were for you.
Ross Runkel, Post Office Box 1031, Salem, Oregon
97308-1031.
Phone 503-399-8028. Fax 503-566-8844. email Ross@LawMemo.Com
