For the last ten years or so, I have gradually taken my time management more seriously.
I was once buried under my TO-DO list. Starting with basic time management principles, I began making a dent in the many little things that I’ve got going on.
The first place I am focused on was list making. I am a list maker by nature, so it was fairly easy to begin this habit. Using Todoist helped me organize them. Sometimes, I have a higher number of tasks that I am able to push to the next day to manage my time better.
Second, I learned how to handle my email box. I take the time to “process” every little email. Since my work life bleeds into my private life, my personal email and work email stay at zero—except for those issues that I need to have quick access to for reference.
One final area I am still working on is the amount of meetings that I go to. I go to several throughout the week. Most meetings, I don’t have a choice to go to, and some I go because I consider it important in being a part of the team. I can get a lot of Situational Awareness (SA) from being in those meetings, especially if I take notes. However, to free up more time to focus on study and preparation I always have to make wise choices in which meetings to attend.
It makes me feel productive each day I execute somethings off of my TO-DO list. I am continually looking for new strategies to try, but what I am doing now works pretty well.
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This post is a rewrite of a post from August 2009 title “Tackling Time“.
Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash