To do lists a great way to manage time

Many people wanting to be in more effective control of their lives are advised to manage their time by careful planning of each day and by keeping a journal to reflect on the daily issues.

Time management specialists advise keeping a to-do list and prioritizing tasks. They also advise that:

• You sandwich in some time every day for crises or emergencies.

• You keep to a daily routine of doing some things at the same time every day thereby reducing time spent in making decisions about when to do it.

• Determine your productive time. If you are a morning person, tackle difficult tasks early in the day. If you are an evening person, save your tough decisions for that time. Use non-prime time for reading the newspaper, making phone calls, watching TV, etc.

• Most time management specialists suggest that you schedule some time for relaxing and even loafing a bit.

• Recognize the fact that many of the items on your to-do list are not high priority. They may even be moved to the next day's list if necessary.

Keep a journal and reflect each day on the events that pleased you or disturbed you. Look for patterns of behavior.

An interesting comparison of these two--the list and the journal--may reveal feelings that would have been undetected.

For instance, Jim kept a to-do list faithfully. He knew that he probably could not accomplish everything on his daily calendar and he learned not to be concerned that he moved the unaccomplished on to the next day. It was still a good way to stay organized and to set priorities and goals.

He did schedule some relaxing time every day and he used this time for recreation, playing a little golf or taking a long walk with his wife in the evening.

What he discovered as he read his journal, however, was that some of the entries were about things that were not on his list at all. In the midst of all his time-centered activities were pleasures of so-called serendipity. They had just happened.

• He had taken time last week to play some touch football with the kids in the neighborhood. And he and his son decided it might be fun to try to do that on a regular basis.

• His wife had shown him a house with a garden that she really admired and they had returned home to call and ask a local nursery about landscaping the side of the house. This was providing a new area of interest for both of them.

• His neighbor returned from hospital surgery and he spent an hour with him and offered to drive him to the doctor until he was able to do so himself.

• His daughter asked him to read an essay she was working on for a class at school. She said that she valued his critique and he was stimulated by rethinking old knowledge.

Such simple events. And they had replaced time for items that were not of great importance. In fact, he had more energy the next day and had polished them off.

Jim decided that future to-do lists would include a block of time for the unexpected. If it was the unplanned that gave him renewed energy and pleasure he wanted to schedule a place when it could happen.

Copyright c 1995 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.