tasks that i need to accomplish for work i always complete right away, however, when it comes to my personal life i tend to procrastinate.
I understand the importance prioritizing but since I've tried several strategies to do this, I always revert back to taking care of issues immediately. The strategy seems to work better with my personality.
I keep several lists based on meetings, and discussions with our management team.
Thanks for sharing Le. Yes, it is important to build in time for relaxation, spending time with family and other activities that make us happy. It's easy to forget, but these activities are the real priority.
Stephen Covey wrote an excellent book on Time Management called "First Things First". The process of prioritizing tasks is a key part of his teaching. However, he reminds us that there are other things that must be built into our schedules for us to remain healthly and happy. We need to schedule time for recreation, family and religion in our lives. Covey's later book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" repeats a lot of the lessons explained in "First Things First". I strongly recommend Covey's work.
making lists and prioritizing is something I do on a regular basis
Interesting point Silvina. Going off the top of your head is often faster in the short term but less productive in the long term.
I agree. It was good to hear that we can have more control over our time and those with whom we interact do not dictate our time management.
I have the same problem of working with multiple agencies and having my calendars in separate places.
I have to remain more consistent with my "to do lists." Many times, I try to save time by just going off the top of my head. Big mistake....
Yes, it's great to have a buffer in your schedule for unexpected tasks. Only you know what percent of time that buffer should be. But it's great to have.
I make an updated to do list daily. Where I tend to get off course is by the students who have situations that need answers today. I also get side tracked by other facility and tend to then loose motivation. I need to work on setting more realistic goals for myself and taking into consideration the daily interruptions.
Monica, I too feel that crossing tasks off gives me greater satisfaction. Despite having a PDA and knowing how to use it, I still rely on my legal pad. This gives me the greatest sense of progress.
I have created to-do lists in my PDA, and that worked well enough. I found that a small spiral bound notebook gave me a greater satisfaction of crossing off the accomplished tasks.
I also keep the book until I use up all the pages. This way I can look back and really feel good about all the things that I got done.
This is a great Marcia. And agreed. Sometimes prioritizing can be stressful. This is especially true when we are online, in that we are so accessible. Going offline and setting an out of office automatic email reply can be a great way to take a break and regroup.
I do both - immediacy and procastination. Fortunately, I am an orderly person and I tend to get stressed when I don't have order.
I have learned that writing down what needs to be done each day works for me. Being online makes it hard to put off some administrative items, such as responding to emails.
My first priority every day is to check emails and determine if they need to be addressed immediately or can be saved to later.
If the issue is an issue concerning a student, it needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. If the issue is a lessor priority, I can wait until the end of the day or the next day as long as I respond within 48 hours.
I have developed a system that is very helpful. I use Outlook to assign priority labels on my emails. Red means an action is required. Green means the response can be handled later. Gold means there is no action required at this time but the item is important. I have other colors but red, green and gold are the ones I use the most.
In addition, I have created Outlook folders for items that need to be recorded. The folders allow me to clear my inbox and leave the items that need my attention now or later.
I am taking this course because prioritizing can be stressful. It is important for me to stay update on new practices. As I said, I seek order but I do not want to be overwhelmed by trying to achieve order. This module expands my knowledge on ways to stay more organized with less stress.
This is a good point LuAnn. You can actually gain more free time when you prioritize your tasks.
I have always been able to prioritize tasks--but getting them done was my challenge. For the past week I have implemented the list--then classification of importance and then attacking one thing at a time and I have to say it has worked and for the first time in a long time I am ahead of schedule--very exciting
I am a long time user of Franklin-Covey Time Management calanders and find that when I utilize the task priority aspect, I have more "FREE TIME"
Indeed! It's not just about getting your tasks on paper. It's also just as important to do them. Making your list a priority is the first step.
