time management

SALOPMAN

Hi
Ive been exactly the same - never doing things in time etc etc but now I use https://www.yahoo.co.uk (Email and Calendar) to remind me to do things - it will remind you from the Calendar automatically via email - take a look its saved my bacon many a time over the last 12 months, also good for reminders on credit card and bill payments toooo!!
Cheers
Paul

tiff

I'm a terrible procrastinator, and I love the tip of setting a timer for 15 mins/45 mins etc and will try that today. I try to be all things to all people and end up failing, so setting myself a target/time limit might help me no end.

TM, I love this forum for the same reasons as you. Its not just about moneysaving, I cant post in the Arms forum about little things that I know you lot will understand/appreciate/can help with!

amarillo_2004

Sorry to be so literal, but I've got my frugal head on.

If you buy multiple diaries each year, and they never work for you, then STOP BUYING THEM. Problem not solved, but £10 saved!

Like other posters the electronic version works for me, & you can configure them to show as much or as little of the day / week / month as you need. When you do this you will realise the problem was never about the perfect stationery, it was about your priorities. There's a deeper question: do you really want to be doing the thing you think you *should* be doing? If you did, would you be sabotaging yourself?

Theres also a practical question. all the time management in the world can't create more time. Are you expecting too much from each 24 hours?

pavlovs_dog

well thank you all for your replies thus far, they've given me a lot to think about

the elcetronic appraoch is fine in theory, but i want something portable, so that i can carry it around with me, and add to it and amend it as necessary. maybe a pda is required?! its something i will consider, as i can see clear advantages there, but given the expense factor, i would have to be certain before shelling out.

took moggins advice, had a nosey around flylady, and stupidly signed up to their email newsletter thing...big mistake! i've had over 30 emails from them in the past 24hrs...and am now desperately trying to unsubscribe/block them before i lose my sanity (whats left of it) or my inbox explodes! think i future i will stick to having a poke around the site, and printing off the bits i find useful. organisedhome also had some useful bits, so thanks to whoever recommended that one.

tried a variation on MATH's approach; one list with three things to do by a certain hour in the day. unfortunatly, my baby nephew was in the house, and my glasses werent ready to collect, both of which threw a lot of the afternoon's plan out the window. i also found myself taking on extra things inbetween as i found/remembered them. clearly greater organisation and discipline is needed.

however i have also learnt that i need a system that is comprehensive but also flexible, yet at the same time wont make me feel like every second of my life has to be accounted for...am i asking too much?!!!! having thught about what armarillo said...yes i DO want to do the things i think i SHOULD be doing, because without them, i wont get my degree, which means i wont get my career etc etc. it is not the tasks themselves which are the problem, its letting things slip, so the workpile builds up, and then you dont fancy doing it because theres a workpilee, so you procrastinate and the pile gets bigger. im aware of the cycle, i just need to break it.

im not expecting to build rome in a day, i just want to make better use of the time i do have available to me, because i know im not using it effectively. which means it gets to points like this (ie end of term) and you can guarantee that the sun is shinning, mates want to go down the pub, and you have an assignment to finish. i want to manage my uni work effectively so i have more time for things like

seeing friends
time with the OH and my family
pursuing hobbies
reading

rather than not leaving myself time to do these things, or doing them but feeling guilty that i havent done something else more important.


psycho-analyse that, if you will

moggins

Arrrgggghhh, I'm sorry!! I forgot to warn you not to sign up for the e-mails!!

I rarely use the site as I have the book, I bought it from Amazon last year and it's a far better way of using the system.

Lassie_2

Hi,

A time management tip from from the book '7 habits of highly effective people' by R Cove (I think that's right). Instead of making straight lists, divide the page into 4 quarters. Across the top of the page write IMPORTANT and down the left hand side of the page write URGENT.

The top left hand quadrant is your IMPORTANT/URGENT list: In here list everything that is important to you and has to be done within the next few days / during the week. To begin with, this will be a very full box and can look overwhelming so tackle it in short bursts as described before.

The top right hand quadrant is IMPORTANT/NON URGENT list: List all the important things that need to be done before they become urgent e.g. paying bills, sending cards off in time: list all tasks for that week which are not driven by deadlines e.g. cleaning / gardening jobs: plan in some family time / me time:

Bottom left hand quadrant is URGENT / NON IMPORTANT: These are usually jobs which have been dropped on you at the last minute due to other people's lack of planning. Remember you can say no / negotiate more time / train them to do it themselves in the future (plan time for that in the IMP / NON URG box!)

Bottom right hand quadrant is NON URGENT / NON IMPORTANT: is usually empty.

If you can get into system of making these lists once a week and drawing up a rough plan of how the week will look, the URG / IMP box begins to diminish as you plan your jobs ahead of schedule.

potsofmoney_(I_wish)

Hi all,
I don't post here very often although I do read everyday. I have been thoroughly enjoying the OS style of life for a while now and have found it manageable with 3 kids under 3 who do keep me very busy. I do sell a bit on the net and am planning to declare myself Self employed and have a really good go at it and go to college p/t.,

This is my dilemma/query. I do find that keeping up with everything takes a lot of organisation, my worry is that with more stuff to do I'm not going to manage it all, which is not what I want as the benefits of this lifestyle are brilliant. I was thinking of allocating a particular time in the week just for baking and get ahead that way.

I was wondering how everyone else manages to fit it all in with balancing time with the kids, OH ect, and any tips please.

Many thanks in advance

overlykeensaver

Good question! I have a 12mth old daughter so it is tricky to get things done. But one thing I can think of straight away is that me and Mr Overlykeen spend one Sunday morning or afternoon a month/six weeks and do a huge cook up of food to put into the freezer in portions. this means that on two or three days we are both at work, we don't have to worry about cooking but we are still getting good value, tasty and nutritious home cooked food.

Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?

I think the idea of a set day for baking is a good idea - especially if someone else knows to look after the children for a few hours if there will be something tasty at the end of it!

Pink.

Hi potsofmoney,

Some of the threads listed in The complete 'how to declutter and organise your home' collection should help you.

Pink

Atalanta

Wow, you are managing to do a lot with 3 children under 3! I have found the best way to get things done with young children around ( especially housework) once they get past the little baby stage and can't just be propped up in a chair to watch - is to just aim to do 10 minutes. Over the course of a day you can usually do several lots of 10 minutes which add up to a lot longer. Whereas if you tried to spend half an hour cleaning the kitchen you would know that you were going to be interrupted and so probably wouldn't even try to do it. And if they are still playing happily at the end of the 10 minutes and haven't demanded that you go and give them some attention then you can carry on for a bit longer.
I've also tried letting them help - but this means that everything takes 10 times as long, which is OK once in a while but I don't want to spend my whole life cleaning....and it's really hard work with more than one child.
If anyone else has any tips I would love to hear them.