Coping With "To Do" Lists - The Self Improvement Blog

By Terry C Misfeldt ?

In a previous EzineArticles.com piece, I wrote about knowing how and where you spend your time each day as a step to getting a better handle on how to manage the time you have for work. It didn?t cover much about your free time, but we?ll dig into that here.

A second step in learning how to control the ticking clock is to write down all the tasks ? big or small ? you feel are on your plate that need to be completed at some point. Avoid judging, just write them down. What this does, among other things, is it downloads that data from your brain. Putting it on paper or in a laptop document opens up space in your memory bank.

One of the more difficult steps in this process is to go through all these items and, first, determine if there?s a deadline for getting them done. Take a look at the list in terms of work-related tasks and personal items. Separate the two areas as best you can. There will be occasions where the two are inseparable, but you are the one responsible for setting priorities between work and play or personal activities.

As you consider deadlines, also take the time to realistically think about how long it will actually take you to compete each task on the list. If a client needs a proposal for a project by noon tomorrow and you estimate that writing the proposal requires four hours of your time, it may be best to put the ?to do? list project aside and get cranking on the proposal. If you procrastinate until 8 a.m. tomorrow, you will create undue stress on yourself trying to scramble and complete the proposal. In the process, you may do sloppy work, misspell words and not have time to make corrections, or miss the deadline entirely and have to come up with a lame excuse.

If mowing the lawn is on the list, you should know it will take 30 minutes ? start to finish ? to complete the task. This is a chore that remains on the list, except during the winter months up north, so you understand that and use a spare 30-minute window when the weather tells you it?s time to get out and mow. Assigning time values to each task is critical to managing your ?to do? list, but avoid spending so much time working on the list that it becomes a chore itself.

Write items down and cross them off when they?re accomplished.

A technique I?ve found helpful is a spiral notebook; the kind students use (or used to use) for taking notes in classes. Use this as your to do list management system. As you fill and complete a page, put an ?x? through that page and keep going. You always have items on your list but focus on the most important items.

Now let?s cover your free time. You could become ?boring? by constantly focusing on the items on that ?to do? list. Granted, you would probably get a lot of work done, but you should take time to do fun things for yourself, too. I call it my ?Terry Time.? I may have work that should get done, but know I need a break to refresh myself or clear my head by getting away from the project. I?ve found that taking ?Terry Time? makes me far more productive when I come back to the task that trying to slog my way through it.

We all need personal time? to relax, read, exercise, smell the roses, or take a nap. What we have is the moment we?re in, so it?s vital to enjoy that moment.

Author Eckhart Tolle opened my eyes to an approach to time and the tasks we face in his book, A New Earth. We have three approaches to tasks:

1. Acceptance ? Best used for a job we may not want to do. We accept that it must get done and just do it. You may not enjoy writing the weekly sales report, but you understand it?s value, accept that it needs to get done, and you do it.

2. Excitement ? You look forward to a task and attack it with a sense of excitement for the satisfaction it can give you. If you own a business, I hope you go to the office or shop every day with the expectation that it will be an exciting day.

3. Enthusiasm ? This is the approach that is defined by your passion. You have a goal in mind, know what it will take to achieve that goal, and approach each task and every day with the enthusiasm that you are getting one step closer to achieving it.

After weighing all these considerations and assessments, it comes down to doing what, in your opinion, is the most important thing you should be doing? right now!

Terry is President and Trail Boss for Brand Irons. Brand Irons assists business owners in branding their work, and then working their brand. Every business is unique and should be a leader in their industry or market. One of the skills is taking the time to think things through, and that may require professional assistance, which is available through Brand Irons. Business owners need to remove the emotions from basic business decisions and make them with reason and business clarity. Once the foundation is laid, marketing is focused on the consumer and generates a measurable return on the investment in marketing efforts. Advertising is where the emotion comes back into the picture. Terry is available to conduct group workshops on strategic marketing and time block management. Call (920) 366-6334 to schedule a meeting.

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