Many business owners have a love-hate relationship with their to-do list – they know it’s a good idea to have one, in theory, but in actuality, they struggle with it. They feel stifled- or, just as often, intimidated and overwhelmed – by it, they feel like it messes with their focus, is too hard to manage, and so on.

However, most of the frustrations that entrepreneurs have with their to-do lists have nothing to do with the list itself, but everything to do with how they use it. Now, if throwing your task list to the wind works for you (meaning: you’re productive + profitable + happy), then fabulous. Keep doing it, darlin’. However, if your current to do list habits are not-so-hot, but you know the idea of shredding it entirely would be a terrible one, keep reading.

Let’s face it, the whole “if it’s important, you’ll remember it” idea is…nice in theory but not so much in practice. At least for most of us (myself included!). If I don’t have a list of my appointments and tasks for the day easily accessible at any given moment, I find myself wandering aimlessly throughout my workday with nothing to guide me and way too much to distract me. (Hello, Pinterest!) Unless you’re working in an environment with absolutely no means of distracting yourself, it’s far too easy to get off track and waste hours at a time.

With that in mind, here’s three ways to stop fighting with your to do list & get back in the realm of peaceful productivity:

Have one list + keep it short

It’s just not worth it to try and juggle multiple lists. Nope. You’ve got one life, so you get one list. This also helps to prevent overscheduling & burnout – one problem a lot of business owners run into is that they don’t acknowledge the amount of physical + mental energy that “home” tasks take from them, so they assign themselves a massive “work” list, on top of a “home” list that might include cooking, taking the dog to the vet, helping their kids with homework, and so on. Then at the end of the day, they can’t figure out why they’re so tired!

The other half of this is to keep your to do list short. In general, if your list can’t fit on a post-it note (written in normal writing, not minuscule etching), then it’s too long. In fact, a good way to force yourself into this habit is to use the post-it note rule for a few weeks, even if you also use some kind of digital project management tool. Learn to ruthlessly edit your tasks and say no, leaving time only for the most important + effective activities.

Also, if you have to move a task too often, get rid of it. My rule of thumb is that if I postpone a task three times, then I either delete it, delegate it, or put it on a backburner. This keeps me from wasting time on busywork or work that frustrates/bores me.

Separate tasks from reminders from appointments

There are a million definitions for a “task”, but here’s mine: anything that requires substantial mental and/or physical energy and a time period longer than 15 minutes. Take out the kitty litter? That’s a reminder, not a task. Write a blog post? That’s a task.

When creating your to do list, you need to separate your reminders from your tasks from your appointments (which are essentially time-specific tasks). I don’t care if you color-code them, underline them, or use glitter (for example, in my weekly planning toolkit, they’re all clearly separated for each day), but they’re not the same thing and should be treated accordingly. Your tasks should be done during your peak hours, and depending on the nature of your appointments, they do too. (Client call? Yes, definitely. Doctor’s appointment? Notsomuch.) The reminder items, however, can be done whenever you have the time/energy. Making the mental distinction between these items can make arranging your workday approximately a million times easier + more efficient.

Set your bigger goals first

You can start with your yearly or monthly goals, if you want, but for the purposes of this post, let’s stick with weekly. Set a planning date with yourself, & at the beginning of the week, pick 2-4 goals – the top things you want to get done this week. The best way to think of these is that they might not be the only things you’re planning on doing this week, but if they were all you got done, you’d be fine with that.

Then, break each of those goals down into the smaller tasks that need to get done to make the goal happen. This creates your master task list for the week. Then you can parcel the tasks out among your days, depending on factors like what days you run errands, or the days when you have lots of appointments (days like that are a good time for smaller or less intense tasks, not so much for deep diving creative work & brainstorming).

There you have it: the tools you need to create an awesome to do list. Now, go forth & get it done!

Photo Credit: Rob Warde via Compfight cc

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Get it Together Guru for Creative Entrepreneurs – Michelle Nickolaisen of Bombchelle Austin, TX

Michelle is a project + operations wrangler for creative businesses, who also writes & teaches about productivity, organization, & systems (that don’t suck) for creatives. She lives in Austin, TX with her Shiba Inu & loves Buffy, dark chocolate, and tacos. Find her on the web at Bombchelle, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

From Michelle’s site: “My name is Michelle, and I’m an expert at finding out how + why something works (and then putting that knowledge to usually-good use), being grade-A curious, & getting things Done with a capital-D. I work with with creatives who have an established business, who are ready to launch something new or who want to go in a new path, who tend to get stuck going from innovation into action. If you’re working with me, you can expect sass + laughter, fun surprises, and lots of action.”

Image: askingsmartquestions.com

I find the concept of time very contradictory. We always complain of not having enough time yet we seldom use this resource mindfully. People who do not find time to complete their projects or to meet deadline spend hours on Twitter or Facebook. It is important to learn to manage our time. But it is equally important to know how not to waste time. Do you waste your precious time on mindless activities? Can you identify the time wasters that are eating into your time and making you inefficient? Check out yourself.

Interruptions

This is perhaps the greatest of the time stealers. As you try to concentrate hard on the project at hand, a colleague passes by your cubicle and engages you in a gossip. A phone call makes you lose your focus and you end up wasting time. These stealers interrupt the flow of work. The only way to deal with them is to maintain separate slots of time for different activities and attain life balance.

Unable to say “No”

So many people suffer from this syndrome. They just don’t know how to say no when they should. Either they feel embarrassed or shy or simply lack courage to say no to something that is not worth their attention and time. Being assertive and knowing what is important is extremely important to manage time effectively.

We need to think and find out the reasons behind our inability to say no. It may take a little bit of practice but will save a lot of time and stress.

Lack of planning

Do you maintain a journal at work? Are your days planned beforehand and are you able to stick to the plan? If your answer is in the negative it is likely you are wasting your time. People who plan well and execute their plan effectively are the best users of time. When you work in a haphazard manner, you do not work according to your priority and hence waste time on unimportant things. So learn to organize your life and you will see how you can manage your time too.

Procrastination

I once suffered from this problem and know how it leads to waste of time. Putting things off is a very bad habit. It makes us waste our time and energy. It leads to unnecessary worries and negative thoughts that do not serve any purpose. So learn to overcome procrastination and you will learn to manage time.

Do you suffer from any of these symptoms? What are you doing about them? Unless you take any action you will continue to run short of time. So identify the time stealers in your life and chuck them away.

Image: ehow.com

Time. What a precious commodity nowadays.  Sometimes we try to make things so difficult, but does time management have to be difficult. The reality is that you cannot manage time, because time keeps ticking and never stops. It waits for no one.  So when we talk about time management and time management skills we are really talking about managing ourselves and what we do with our time. So how do we manage ourselves to make the best use of our time? And what are some basic ways we can manage ourselves in order to do just that?

One of the most effective ways to manage ourselves is by having a to-do list. I’ve written about this before. Creating a ‘to do list ‘every day is an effective way to manage ourselves. Many experts agree that making a ‘to do list’ the night before is very effective in the sense that your sub conscious mind can work on ways to accomplish your daily goals during your sleep. Plus making the list itself will not have to be a priority and you can get started right away on accomplishing those daily tasks that spur us on to greater success.

Another effective self-management tool is prioritizing your to-do list, putting the most important tasks first. In the event that you cannot achieve every task, because things do happen, at least you can get the most important things accomplished. Then you can arrange the other tasks for the next day and in turn prioritize those.

One of the most important, but seemingly harder tools to use for most of us is simply the little word “No.” You must learn to turn down requests to do things that are unimportant to you or prevent you from accomplishing the goals you set for yourself.  You may feel bad about saying “No,” but if you do not you will just resent the time that was stolen from you and maybe  the person who asked you to do it.

So these are just a few basic time management or in reality self-management techniques you can begin to implement right away.  Create a to-do list, prioritize the tasks, and most importantly, learn to say “No” to those things that rob you of time and prevent you from reaching your daily goals. You will be glad you did in the long run.

Related articles

• Time Management Is Self Management (tshoaele.wordpress.com)
• 26 time management hacks I wish I’d known at twenty (businessinsider.com)

And of course, a procrastinatrix. Someone who’s only job is to hold you accountable for getting it done, now, not later.

In a world with fewer bosses than ever, when we are our own boss, these two functions are more important than ever. If you can’t find a way to do it for yourself, spend the time and the money to find someone to do it for you. Neither job is particularly difficult to do, but it’s hard to do to yourself. Two more job titles for the future.

My thanks to Seth Godin for the foregoing text. These words resonated with me today as I looked at a To-Do list containing over 180 different items. Sometimes one can get lost in the lists and lose sight of the important tasks. I wasn’t really procrastinating, but certainly could have used an agonist right at that very moment to nudge me into action.

What do you think? Could you get some benefit from an agonist or a procrastinatrix?

Merriam-Webster defines time as “the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues.”

Lately I’ve been thinking that no matter how hard I try to control my day I just can’t do it. Stuff happens. An unexpected call, email, text message comes in. One of my dogs gets sick or my wife needs me to take or pick up the cleaning. No matter how carefully I follow my own advice and plan my day, it seems like stuff happens and I am frequently interrupted or pulled in any number of different directions.

So, what’s the solution? Is there a solution? Does what I’ve described above sound familiar?

I’m known to be stubborn. So, let’s consider for a moment that “stuff happens” and maybe we really can’t control our day. I’d still like to consider some of my old reliable time management tips and see if you think they can be helpful even if we all agree that “Stuff Happens.” Do you think these so-called tried and true tips will still work?

• Schedule time for interruptions
• Take the last part of every day and plan the next day. Or, in the alternative, take the first part of every day and plan your day.
• Close your door, turn off all the sounds on your phone, computer etc. when you really have to get work done
• Schedule a time during the day to answer email, tweet and check your Facebook page

Do these kinds of tips still seem relevant if we believe “Stuff Happens” or should we just toss in the towel and go with the flow?

Related articles

• Take Control Of Your Time: Manage Your Day (lipsticking.com)
• Time is Money: Improving Time Management (TimeManagementMagazine.com)

I’m wondering what you do on a daily basis to manage your time? That’s the question. End of post.

It just occurs to me that life is moving faster and faster. Maybe it’s that the days are starting to get shorter. Maybe it’s the constant changes in technology. Maybe it’s the fact that social media is now embedded in our lives. Maybe it’s that the world seems to be at our fingertips in an instant because of the Internet.

Whatever it is, more and more people are commenting about how fast paced our life is today. Many days seem to be over before we know it, before we have a chance to check off the tasks on our To-Do List.

So, I want to know what you are doing to manage your time. What gets you through the day? What tricks do you employ that enable you to cross off items on you To-Do List? While you’re at it, could you tell me if you also have some time for you. Do you have time to exercise? Do you have time for spiritual endeavors? Do you have time for your family?

Please take a minute and share.

Let me know what you think!

I’ve been making lists. Most of the time. But I still find myself getting distracted and trying to do three or four things at once when none of those things are on my list.

I’ve been scheduling a time to work on email, but I have so much email that it takes too long and I just get frustrated.

I’m behind on LinkedIn invites. I’m behind on Tweets. I’m behind on Facebook updates. I’m behind on Pinterest posts.

I’ve been trying to create a daily task list for about three months.

So, what’s the solution to this dilemma? This weekend I am not going to do any work until I feel that I am organized. I’m going to take some time and re-read my own tips. I’m going to get my To-Do list caught up and organized. I’m going to clean up my office and the desktops on my computers. I’m going to get a good night’s sleep. I’m going to finish the book I’ve been reading for over a month now.

Come Monday, I’ll be back on track and back to my old productive self!

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I’m reading The Ultimate Sales Machine, by Chet Holmes. In it he lists The Six Steps To Great Time Management and I want to share those steps with you.

1.Touch it Once

If you touch it, take action. Don’t open that email or letter until you are ready to deal with it. It may help if you institute a company policy that insists on a descriptive subject line for all email.

2. Make Lists

If you don’t keep lists you are a reactive person. Lists help you stay focused on high priorities and highly productive matters. Your list of items you want to accomplish in a day should not have more than six items on it. Then you must focus on getting those six things accomplished during the day no matter what.

3. Plan How Much Time You Will Allocate to Each Task

Do not think about when you will do each task yet. Just determine how much time you will need to dedicate to each task to get it completed.

4, Plan the Day

Now that you have allocated time to each task, you need to plan the day. This is not a general guide to how your day might unfold. It must be specific and have a time slot for absolutely everything.

5. Prioritize

See where your most difficult tasks are placed in your daily schedule. Place the most important task as the first item you plan to tackle that day.

6. Ask Yourself, “Will it Hurt Me to Throw This Away?”

Ask yourself this question and then THROW IT AWAY, DELETE IT, GET RID OF IT! Studies show that 80% of our storage is occupied by things we will never use or refer to again.

So, what do you think? Are these good ideas? Do you have other ideas you’re willing to share with us? Are you going to try to implement these six ideas? Let me know!

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