Module four scheduling yourself. routines and rituals should form the framework of your days at home and in the office. In addition to these key activities, you will have day to day tasks projects to complete and goals to work on. This module we'll explore how to schedule those tasks and activities in the most efficient way possible. The simple secret of successful time management in order to be as productive as you can be, you must remember the simplest secret of time management. There is no secret no one size fits all solution and no magic button.

You must explore different methods and through trial and error find the solutions that work for you. Note that we said most people find that combining several different time management and productivity methods creates a system that works for them. As a last note, remember what we said earlier about growth. As you grow and as your life changes you may need to revise your time management system. Remember, keep an eye on On what others are doing and new ideas that emerge, you might just find something that works for you. Developing a tracking system.

Although there are many time management systems out there, we have found that most systems boil down to a few key principles. Here are our top three ideas. Electronic solutions. Most email applications, including Microsoft Outlook, and Lotus Notes actually fall into the category of a PII, personal information manager application. This means that they can start calendar tasks, email and contact information all in one place. To make the most of your electronic solution.

Follow these tips. Keep personal and professional information in two separate locations. For example, you might have a computer at home and one at work or to email profiles on the same computer. Take the time to learn about the features of the application and how to use them to be more productive. We'll look at this a bit more later on in the course. Try to use just the application as much as you can.

Switching between your computer and your daytime are will waste time and increase the risk of missing information. Productivity journal. If you're more of a traditionalist and prefer using something similar to an old fashioned day timer, try this solution. To start Get yourself a spiral notebook and label it as your personal productivity journal or your professional productivity journal. We recommend keeping a separate journal for work and for your personal life so you can focus on them at separate times, thus maintaining your optimal work life balance. label each page with the day in the date and what needs to be done that particular day.

Next, prioritize each task in order of importance. Highlight the top three items and focus on those first, cross off items as you complete them. items that are not completed should be carried over to the next page. You can keep a long term calendar in the back of the book or use a three ring binder with sections to record upcoming events. The earth Important matrix. Managing time effectively and achieving the things that you want to achieve means spending your time on things that are important and not just urgent.

To do this you need to distinguish clearly between what is urgent and what is important. This concept coined the Eisenhower principle is said to be how former US President Dwight Eisenhower organized his tasks. It was rediscovered and brought into the mainstream as the urgent important matrix by Stephen Covey in his 1994 business classic The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Here's a breakdown of each quadrant. urgent and important. activities in this area relate to dealing with critical issues as they arise in meeting significant commitments perform these duties now.

Important but not urgent. These success oriented tasks are critical to achieving goals. plan to do these tasks next, urgent but not important. These chores do not move you forward towards your own goals managed by delaying them cutting them short and rejecting requests from others postpone the issue. chores, not urgent and not important. These trivial interruptions are just a distraction and should be avoided if possible.

However, be careful not to miss label things like time with family and recreational activities as not important. Avoid these distractions altogether. scheduling appointments, it's important to master the art of scheduling appointments efficiently in order to maximize personal productivity. Some tips to get started. block off solid, quiet time to work at your desk without interruptions, no phone calls, meetings or visitors dropping in unannounced. Make sure that people know you're unavailable from 9am to 10am.

Or whenever you find yourself working most productively. Leave the most convenient time for callers to call on your voicemail message or ask them to leave you a time that's convenient for you to call them back. You can also use voicemail to communicate your current status at your desk all day traveling or on vacation. meetings can be a big time waster, suggest start and finish times for meetings and strictly adhere to them. Remember, after 45 minutes most meetings lose steam. When possible use conference calls and web conferences to save travel time.

If you're leading a meeting, remember to prepare a meeting agenda in advance with copies emailed to everyone. set a good example by starting and finishing on time with important points discussed first. Scheduling tasks are you finding your to do lists getting longer and longer. Give some of these ideas a world. Instead of being overwhelmed by a large project deconstructed into smaller bite sized projects, delegate effectively by matching up individual strengths with project tasks. be strict with deadlines but be flexible enough to accommodate individual situations.

Always have a backup plan. allow for extra time when dealing with external parties.