Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Managing the Time Monster



Lesson One - Scheduling your life
The one thing that I think we all struggle with is time. It is the great equalizer. Everyone only gets 24 hours in a day. I don't care how rich you are, or how smart you are. We all have the same limited number of hours in the day.

Break your projects into bit size pieces.
I read an article that said that most of us are so busy that the most time we can spend doing one task is about five minutes.

Okay, what can you do in five minutes?

  • Mop the floor.
  • Write a novel, a scene, a sentence, a word. (Not counting the time it takes to boot up you computer.)
  • Drive the kids to a baseball game.
I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. Most task take more than five minutes.

The trick is to take a large task and break it up.
"Mop the floor. (this is my personal hell)" – but look at it this way.
What part of the floor needs the most attention? The corner where Johnny didn’t clean up his mess, the spots where dirt has collected, the dust bunnies that are growing in the corner. (Bunnies multiply quickly)

Got five minutes? A wet paper towel can fix these spots. The floor looks nicer and you can wait now, until you can get someone else to do the floor or have more time.
I know this was a simple example but if you can break down your tasks to bite size chunks. They are easier to swallow and you can get more done.

Don’t let the waves pull you under.

Tina

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