You have the tools.
They are intended to save you time and keep you on schedule.
But, are they doing the job?
Or have they become more of a distraction and burden to your productivity?
Make sure your time management tools are doing their job.
Time Management Tools Doing Their Job
This morning, I was reviewing my calendar and was reminded of an appointment this week that I did not know I had.
Why did I not know?
It was because I had made the appointment over a year ago. In fact, I added it to my calendar almost 13 months ago.
Yet, I did not take this appointment as a surprise. Rather, it was proof that my time management tools were doing their job.
My calendar kept track of an important appointment, so that I didn’t have to think about it until it was timely again.
Signs Your Productivity Tools Are Working
Every time management system has 4 essential tools.
- Calendar
- Todo List
- Notebook
- Address Book
They are all equally important and essential.
While you may have the essential tools, they must be effective in their function. Otherwise, you will end up wasting more time using them, than you are saving.
“Your time management tools should save time, not take time.”
Here are 4 Signs that Your Time Management Tools Are Doing Their Job:
- Remind You of Appointments Before They Happen – Your calendar should remind you of appointments in advance. This can be done via electronic reminders or simply a weekly calendar review if you are using a paper-based system. You should be able to put meetings on your calendar and then forget about them until they are relevant again, whether this means next week or next year.
- Ensure You Are Doing Your Top Tasks – Your list should always be with you to keep you on track with your priority tasks. It should be a place to list all of your necessary todos, so that you get them “out of your head.” When you need to know what to do next, you know immediately where to look.
- Remember Important Information – Your notes should let you recall important information and data. An electronic solution (Apple Notes or Evernote) makes your notes instantly searchable and available anywhere you are. Your notebook should store solutions and data for future reference, so that you don’t have to solve the same issue twice.
- Capture All Contact Information – You shouldn’t waste time searching for that one phone number or email address. Your address book should capture any and all contact info. You never know which piece of contact information you may need again.
Saving Time vs. Taking Time
Make sure that each of your time management tools is doing it’s job.
They are there to save you time and make your life easier.
If they aren’t, it may be time to evaluate your tools or your discipline in using them.
Question: Are your time management tools saving you time? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Excellent concise article. Here is one of my favorite tools to help monitor TASKS as they become more overdue on a daily basis…. Can catch (& do) them as they are slipping further overdue. (app: TOODLEDUE)
This is true, it really simplifies the work with documentation. The service https://fluix.io/solutions-esigning allows you to exchange documents in quarantine without leaving your home or office, without having to send the original by courier. A doc or pdf signed in this way (in fact, the format does not matter) is equivalent to an official paper document with wet seals and signatures.
Time management can be a challenge if you have tools that disrupt your workflow more than that they help. So genuinely I would use a tool that makes it super easy for employees (or yourself) to clock in/out of your work or to some extend automate that (alerts/notifications can help).
This is also what we kept in mind when developing https://essaywriterfree.net/linear-programming-help/. Simple commands, and an integration across all devices so you can always see what your time is being spent on.