(This is part 3 of our 5 part series on Time Management Techniques. In our first two posts we talked about Punctuality and Goals.)
In this post we will talk about Technique #3, Making Lists. In order to help you work toward your goals ,it helps to create a list. The more details you can put down on paper or enter into your phone or computer, the easier you can remember what you need to work on. Here are 3 basic lists that everyone should consider implementing.
A schedule – Make sure to enter all of your events and appointments into a calendar system, either written down or in your computer (Gcal and Outlook are two systems you can use). You can schedule everything for the entire year and never forget( in addition, you can set up reminders on your computer to help you focus on whatever is you have planned).
To-do list – There are as many different methods as there are opinions about how to keep track of your “to-do’s”. The most important thing is to find whatever works for you and be consistent in using it. One program that is recommended is Simpleology , a great productivity tool.
People to call list – You can create a simple list of people in your contact list by either creating a manual system using index cards or entering them into your calendar. If you just need to return a call, you can add this to your to-do list instead (You can also use a CRM such as HighRise)
By using lists, you will see how much closer you can get to achieving your goals of time management.
In our next post , Technique #4, we will discuss what a tickler file is and how to use it.