I am no time management expert but I am a busy man. I am a business owner with varied interests, I am a Rotarian, I am active in politics and I was until a couple of weeks ago an MBA student. Most importantly, I am a husband and father. Fitting all of this in requires excellent “time management.”
Not trying to sell anything today but just wanted to share with you some of how I manage my days below.
How do I define time management – You can’t control time. It doesn’t stop. All you control is what you do with your time. I have goals in every aspect of my life and I prioritise these goals. I also have responsibilities. I then schedule these into my day. This is how I define time management
How do I define my to do list – I’ve been told in presentations and blog posts that “to-do lists” are bad. The presenters or authors then proceed to describe a system that I think of as a to do list. To-do lists are broadly defined and can mean different things to different people. These presenters and authors do make a good point though – the scary thing about the to do list is that they get longer ALL THE TIME. It’s important to remember that you may not (you won’t) get through your list. You’re always adding things to the bottom of the list before you’ve finished everything that is on it. If you can accept this then your life will be much easier. Prioritising your to do list means that you will do the most important things every day and this will help you achieve your goals.
How do I structure my day – At the start of each week I schedule my meetings and other appointments. Between these times I will schedule work blocks – usually 2-3 hours. I will break down these time periods into 25 minute blocks with a 5 minute break. (I have a short attention span sometimes so a scheduled break is good.)
Then I fill these blocks. Some blocks I fill with “important tasks” and others I’ll fill with as many small batch tasks as possible that I need to do myself. Other tasks I try to either automate, outsource or eliminate. Like I said, not everything on your to do list will get done. Realistically it might be time to delete those things that you aren’t going to ever get to instead of leaving them on your to do list.
How does technology help – I am a massive technology maven. My most important products and services are my CRM, G Suite, my smartphone and my iPad. I also have my PC and laptop but give I use G Suite as much as possible the choice of computer I use is not really that important. I won’t go into too much detail about how tech works as this is for future blog posts.
Do I work 9-5 – I don’t work 9-5. Some mornings I have breakfast meetings. Some nights I have meetings. In between I sometimes work from home with my 15 month old. So, when Angus is awake, I am not necessarily always concentrating on work. I don’t want to. But, of an evening I will be back in front of the computer. (I don’t always call it work as I love what I am doing.)
How do you manage your day?
That’s it for day 3 of the 365 day challenge. I hope you’ll follow my journey and I hope you’ll find the gold nugget that is valuable for your business. If you’re interested in keeping track of my blog posts, you can sign up for notifications here and I will send you an email every time I publish a new post