Time Management skills

From a time management project I carried out last year. Mostly common sense I know, but helpful to really think about what you do with your time day to day . . .

I am not a morning person

Schedule simple / routine tasks am

I often flit from one task to another

Create separate time blocks for routine tasks and specific projects

Starting a new project sometimes daunts me

Assign time blocks to specific projects. Set attainable goals.

I often procrastinate, filling my time with minor duties

Adhere to a daily “to do” list: rank urgency and essential vs. desirable

To be honest, it sounds like you have plenty to deal with anyway.

Like you, I'm out of the house for at least 11 hours a day. I leave at 7.30am and don't usually get back before 7 pm. I generally unwind a bit and chat with G&T about our days, then it's time to get cooking / eating / washing up / have a shower etc. By then it's about nine so we watch a bit of TV and go to bed.

Saturday and sunday mornings seem to get swallowed up with supermarket / farmers market / housework / laundry. Saturday afternoons are for shopping trips / visiting family / going to a museum etc, which only really leaves sunday afternoon for everything else - this tends to be either work we've brought home, coursework for my diploma or sometimes just relaxing as that sunday 2 - 6 slot seems to be the only time I have to myself.

I'm a bit like you, a classic procrastinator so I can't say I'm very good at time management, but I've just been on a course at work so here are a few things that maybe you can try:

- Look at the week and determine what's important to you to achieve

- Book time for the tasks that are important to you. Make sure you stick to your plan (eg. book time in your calendar for exercise/study and don't be distracted)

- Plan your day and plan your tasks according to your priorities

I'm still learning to be more organised but I found that having planned my day I'm more focused on getting things done. Hope this helps...

Both very useful, thank you. I am adding them to my spreadsheet (see I am organised!)

P&P- you have no idea how many things I mentally assign to that little 2-6 on a sunday timeslot- and then spend it watching the eastenders omnibus. gah!

Safetyzone- i actually do think that looking at what's important helps. There have been loads of times where the only way I have got though is by saying "ok, what must I do?" and dropping absolutley everything else. it does make you feel calmer.

I think I'm quite good at time management, so I'll run through how I do things, and it may help, or you may already be doing it.

The key thing is to prioritise what's important to you. Am I right in thinking your study is aaccounting based? If so, when I was training, this was my greatest priority - passing my exams meant a whole new set of doors would be opened to me, which in turn would make other aspects of my life easier.

At work and at home, I have a to do list. Wth my home one, I allocate the time in which I would like it be achieved - as I now only work 3 days a week, much of this is assigned to my days "off", so that we can have the weekend free as a family. With my work one, I prioritise again, and rank how and when I will complete things.

I have to admit to gaining satisfaction from ticking things off my list, and reviewing it at the end of the day to see what I've actually done.

Within my home to do list, I try to allocate one thing every evening so I'm not just slumped in front of the TV. One evening, my nanny stays an extra hour and I get to the gym; another evening I may do the books for a chairty of which I'm treasurer ; another evening will be compiling my internet supermarket order and planning meals etc etc. By breaking tasks down, they don't seem so big and daunting.

For things I put off, sometimes I get days when I'm feeling super-motivated. These days I start with the jobs I've been putting off. 9 times out of 10 I find they're not as bad as I'd feared.

Right, I've got to get back to work, but hope this helps in some small way, if at all.

thats absolutly the sort of thing I need, thank you!

Yes, I'm doing CIMA, and I really need to get it done as qucikly as possible as I'm already working in a job above my qualification level and there is a chance another will come up next year which i simply must be fully qualified for.

If you're stil about- do you list the weeks activities or the days? I tend to list the weeks but find it easier to bump things back a day that way so may have to try just doing it day by day...

I have a running to do list (I keep a paper notebook with me at all times, and add to it as and when), and some things do get bumped back and back as they're low priority. But when I'm having a super-motivated moment, I sometimes push these low priority items up my list just to get something done and get them off my desk so to speak. I hate having things hanging round staring at me accusingly ?.

Against each task, I pop a note of which day I'd like it done by as a target to be reached. I find it's amazing how much more I get done this way as I hate to miss a target (Anal, moi?).

I do sympathise with the study, though - it's incredibly hard keeping up with everything else and finding the time to study as well. I did ACA, and it was easily the hardest thing I've ever done. [whisper] I'm thinking about doing my Chartered Taxation exams in the next few years, but just whispering that makes me feel sick, so not sure if I can ever go back to studying again...

WEES makes sense.

But it occurs to me that when your days are as filled as yours are, and you have a To Do list a mile long, if you find yourself slumping in front of the TV watching the EE omnibus on a Sunday afternoon instead, then perhaps you should schedule yourself to do that and not feel guilty about it (which is a complete waste of energy and causes anxiety) . We all need time to mulch and relax and be mindless...

I'd also look at whether things like household chores are eating too much into your time - are you doing more than your fair share? Can you make time by doing online shopping? (Meal planning plus Ocado unlimited delivery plus rice cooker has made massive change to our life)

My H swears by this time management book - I've never quite found the time to finish it though 😄

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-free-Productivity/dp/0749922648/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251205716&sr=8-6

My boss has just taken her first round of chartered tax. She did the same, finished CIMA and got a bit bored (its like child birth I think, as soon a its over you forget the pain and want another baby!?) She did find it tricky but from what I gather her major problem is shes a total number bod and not good at written questions – so much of it is law and so on theres a lot of reading, study and essay type writing. Good luck if you go for it!