Do you want to improve your time management skills?
Be honest with yourself here.
Do you want to improve your time management skills, but find To-Do lists do not work?
Do you have a calendar, but have done little with it for weeks?
Are you trying to get everything on your To-Do list done and feel unsuccessful because you frequently do not do that? You can improve your time management by rethinking how you use your calendar and To-Do lists.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
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Think about your goals.
Before we get into any responses, I want you to think about some things:
Have you identified two or three major goals that you want to achieve this month or this year?
Do you feel overwhelmed because you think you have too much to do to focus on your goals?
Are you working on those goals, or are you going in circles doing everything else but what YOU want to do?
Are you trying to do more of other people’s goals rather than accomplish the tasks on your To-Do List?
Do you feel so comfortable with the life you have now that you do not want to feel uncomfortable, even if that means you do not try to get your dreams to come true?
You cannot improve your time management skills and achieve your goals if you do not take the time to work on your goals.
….
Do you have your answers?
I suspect your answers did not make you happy. You would not be reading this, most likely, if you liked your responses.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details.
Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
With this in mind, rethink your feeling about To-Do Lists and calendars. Are you unhappy with them because you are not getting closer to what you want to accomplish? Deciding you really, really want to improve your time management skills and accomplish YOUR goals is a good first step. Until you make yourself a priority, you will have a hard time improving your time management.
Does this make sense?
Do you have a problem with a tool or the way you use the tool?
If so, the problem, I would guess, is not the To-Do list or the calendar. The problem could very well be how you use those tools.
When you itemize things on your list or calendar, are the items the really important things, or are they things that you know you need to do at some point, like do laundry, but are not steps you need to take to get you closer to your specific goals? I am not saying these tasks are bad. They may need to be done, but they are not the tasks that help you achieve your goals.
Keep two lists. Maybe three if you want.
I would suggest you keep two lists. One list can have everything you can think of that you need to do. That way, once you write it, you do not have to waste mental energy trying to remember the task. It is on paper, a whiteboard, a computer app, whatever. You just need to read the paper, whiteboard, computer app, or whatever.
Now, think about the really important things you need to get done this week or tomorrow. If you have a big task due at the end of the week, what can you do today or tomorrow, depending on when you read this, that can get you closer to completing that task?
Maybe the only thing you can do now is to gather the tools you will need to complete the task. Taking some time now to gather the tools will save you time later. If you need ideas, start a list and write down the ideas as they occur to you throughout the week.
YOU control your list. The List does not control you.
For most of us, I think, we get depressed looking at our To-Do lists because we feel as if we are doing and doing, but not getting anything done. I would also suspect that “not getting anything done” means that you feel that you are not accomplishing some goal you want to accomplish.
Maybe you have a school paper you need to write, and you cannot get yourself into gear. Maybe you want to enroll in college but have not done anything to explore that. Maybe you want to get started on your Christmas gifts now, rather than wait until December. I suspect there is something you want to do, but you believe you do not have the time to do it.
Bah Humbug.
If you have a goal, a dream, you need to make time to work on it.
I am not suggesting you need to think of doing everything tomorrow, but I am suggesting you at least get started on that goal.
Remember when I wrote that I recommend two To-Do Lists and one of them lists some major tasks? I would think you need to include some action toward that goal on your list.
You will always have housekeeping or maybe childcare chores or something else.
Something new, or old, will always need to be done. Those tasks are not going to disappear. You know that only too well. What might disappear is the time and energy and opportunity you have to achieve your goal. If you want to have some semblance of life and satisfaction, you need to work on your goals.
You have a right to do something you want to do in your life. You also cannot help someone else, your children or significant other, perhaps, work on goals if you have little or no experience working on yours. How can you help someone get over the tough points if you do not have experience doing the same thing?
Do you think that buying a program that is supposed to teach time management will help? I would say if you simply think buying the program would help, save your money. I also found one study, albeit from Australia, that indicates that first-year health care students did not demonstrate remarkable improvement when they were is a guided program.
That does get me curious, but that does seem to indicate that a controlled program, in and of itself, is not sufficient. I maintain that a person’s desire is the important thing. Would you agree or disagree?
I am thinking about creating a planner that I can send to you to help you accomplish those things in life that you want to do as well as those you need to do. You will be able to get it free and then we can all work to make a planner/calendar/To-Do list that fits your needs.
Is anyone interested in helping me create a planner? Contact me and tell me what you would like to see on this planner.
If you found this helpful, please share it with someone you think would also find it useful. I would appreciate it. Your friend might appreciate it too.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details.
Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
If you have any questions or comments, please leave me a note.
Valerie
updated on 28 May 2023