Time Management

There has been some discussion lately on the DIT group on Yahoo about Mark Forster’s DIT and whether or not there is a revival of the DIT method among Autofocus users.   As a part of the discussion there has been discussions surrounding to-do-lists and their effectiveness and necessity.  This is not the first time the topic has come up and without tackling the debate about the necessity or pros and cons of the TDL; I wanted to see if there was a simple way to manage ones life while avoiding the TDL.  Obviously if you have a great memory you do not need to be a part of these debates.

I have outlined a method below a paper based method which accomplishes this and appeal to those right brained people inclined to take a more creative look at organization or those other just sick of list writing.  The method is called notes based time management or NBTM since we all productivity authors need to have acronyms for our systems.

The method is actually quite simple.  You start with a notebook of choice and simply start taking good notes.  So, as you have a meeting or a phone call you start taking notes on the meeting.  This does not need to be a word for word recording of the meeting, but simply the highlights.  There is no need to use complete sentences.  The key is what you do with the notes.  Specifically, you are taking the notes with the goal of understanding what do these notes mean to me?  Are there things I need to do as a result of this meeting and these notes? Is there an action I must take, a new project I will be working on or something someone promised to send to me? From these notes flow the items you will be working to complete.    There is a description of a method I discuss in the Ultra Simple Guide to Time Management (available via download on this blog) to make notations in the margins of notes to make them easier to scan and more quickly accomplish what needs to be done. However, all that is required is that you are reviewing the notes and identifying items important to you.  After reviewing notes, it may be that they simply contain information you would like to retain.  In this instance the best thing to do is file them and reduce the pages of notes you need to review to stay on track.  I would imagine that within one week, most people will have met with or spoken to virtually all of the key people in their life and most of the projects and actions that were on their plates will have been discussed.  So within a short period of time you will have a useful set of notes and a very good idea of all that you need to be on top of.  Additionally, you will probably be the go to person in the office to see who is responsible for what since many people do not take good notes.

This method is all great for interactions with others but typically you do not meet with yourself.  I still maintain for grocery shopping etc., a simple TDL is the way to go unless you would like to schedule a meeting with yourself and discuss the utter lack of food within your refrigerator and pantry and then review the notes for the corrective actions you decided upon to remedy the situation.  For the projects in your life you may want to use to use this method and have conversation with yourself and create notes of the session.  This approach appeals to those who do not want the formality or pressure of a to-do-list and may want to noodle on things and then notate them when a commitment is made to take action.

NBTM may be the way to go for those looking to have a less structured system but have a trusted system in place.  Let us know your feedback.

http://simpletimemanagement.blogspot.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/time-management-articles/notes-based-time-management-1433177.html

Related articles by Zemanta

• This column will change your life: Hands up who’s got a backlog | Oliver Burkeman (guardian.co.uk)
• FlowLett.com – A System That Optimizes Your Work (killerstartups.com)
• Prelinem Task Evaluation (slideshare.net)
• 3 Time Management Tips to Help You Organize Your Day (dietriffic.com)
• Achieve Goals Using the S.M.A.R.T. Method [Goals] (lifehacker.com)
• Manage collaborative projects online with DeskAway (en.onsoftware.com)
• Keeping up with my most-hated chore, the laundry (organisingtips.blogspot.com)
• How to Organize Your Day (ismckenzie.com)
• Student Organization Reminders (psipsychologytutor.org)
• Time management (slideshare.net)

Time Management Tips: How to Set Priorities Time Management Tip # 1 The “How” of Creating Time – Why are we so afraid of the concept? Tackling the Dreaded To Do List Time Management Fairy Secrets for Time Management Goal Setting & Procrastination Secrets of effective time management How to organise yourself for daily success Time Saver Super Tips Want To Accomplish More EVERY Day? Time Management! Time Management in the Workplace – Time Management Worksheets Time Management Makeover Get Hold Of Your Time By Following The Best Time Management Tips Time Management Essentials PART 1 Time Management For Students Is Important To Have Brighter Career Time Management Exercises - 10 Tips to Do More in Less Time Five Techniques For Beating Procrastination Do you use a spiral notebook? Best Time Management Gets You Closer To Your Family Is your desk a war zone? Stopping Time: secrets of time management Be flexible. Things can change Brian Tracy Time Management 101 Ways to Make Every Second Count: Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success with Less Stress SPEND TIME ADD VALUE - Time Management for Health and Happiness Time Mastery Made Simple No Margin Ned 2 -- Time Management Time management training Brain Power-Mind Habit Time Management Techniques: Tips for Learning Effective Skills Time Management Skills Training | Help Your Employees Make Time Time Management Tips Time Management Software ~ Control YOUR Time Drew Stevens Time Management Success Tips Tips For Successful Time Management Time Management In The Workplace – Stop Less, Do More Tips for Time Management, Goal Setting & Productivity 8 Simple Steps to Improve Your Time Management 3 simple steps and get extra 2 hours per day How Do You Spend Your 24 Hours? Stop being productive Time...Your Most Precious Resource "Tips For Success" Time Management Success Tips "YourNetBiz" Your Net Biz Not MLM Marketing Learn How to Conserve Personal Energy to Maximize Productivity Tips for Time Management Time Management: The Key to a Better Life Procrastination: a few coaching questions to help you moving on Do You Spend Your Time on What is Actually Important to You? Time Management Tips for MLM Network Marketing Success. Boost Personal Productivity By Simplifying Your Work Schedule Protect Your Time, Say No To Time Snatchers 5 Time Management Strategies For Busy Bloggers Maximize Your Time As A Way To Succeed In Time Management 20 Time Tips And Beliefs About Time Don't Ruin Your Life: Stop Procrastination Now Time Management Tips To Guarantee You Achieve Your Goals Time is Running Away: Time Management Problems Tips for Proper Planning of Time How To Create a Time Management Plan That Works Developing Time Management Strategies That Work For You Tips On Being Time Efficient In Your Daily Routine How To Spend Less Time Fooling Around Online And More Time Actually Working How to organise a party from your desk - Planning the modern Party Time Management Tips Why multi-tasking is a waste of time and how to improve productivity Extreme Time Management For The Information Age in 5 Steps Planning for Everyday Life: Virtues and Best Practices Finding More Time For The Things You Love Increasing Productivity and Restoring Order to Your Life 7 Rock Solid Ways To Stop Procrastination Now! Tips to Recognize Time Killer Six Time Management Skills Write It Down Now! Are you lazy to manage your time? Beat the Clock: Productivity Tips from the Trenches Did you use time management today? How a Day Planner can Improve Your Life How to Save Time and Streamline Your Day Time Management Training - Is There Really an Easy Way to Make Your Schedule More Flexible? Time Management-One Effective Method To Manage Your Time Effectively Taking Control of Your Time Before it Takes Control of You Effective Time Management - What to Retain and What to Get Rid Of 3 Time Management Tips - Because You Can't Travel Back in Time 5 Simple Tips For How to Be More Punctual 10 Rules to Boost Your Productivity Staying Organized - Tips to Save Time Resist Negativity to Dramatically Increase Your Productivity Time Management - Utilize These 4 Simple Tools to Help You Get More Things Done Time Management at Work - Must-Know Tips For Newbies 2 Empowering Time Management Techniques For Effective Time Management Clearing Away the Clutter to Increase Productivity Effective Time Management - Categorizing Time For Better Performance How can You Balance Work and Family? 5 Most Effective Techniques to Improve Time Management And Productivity Daily improvement in simple way

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Time management tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.