Aug 14, 2008

Audio File for Effective Time Management
(2 minutes 19 seconds)

As some of you know, I’ve been going to law school at UALR for the past year. It’s a part-time program which fits nicely into my work schedule but has cut deeply into my time availability.

During the Semester
During the semester, a typical day starts around 8am and as soon as I get off of work, I’m in class by 5:30pm. I sit in a class room until 9pm. I then get home, reply to emails, return urgent calls, prepare for the next day’s work, and then start reading for the next day of classes.

When I sit in class, I think about all of the thing that I COULD accomplish if I were not in school.

Needless to say, when I got out of school for the summer, I couldn’t wait to get out and see how much I could accomplish. As the summer began, I thought that I needed to work long hours to “get caught up.”

Now, in mid-August, I’m still working late hours and probably getting just as much done as I did while I was in class.

I’ve come to the realization that I lack time management skills. Actually, I don’t lack time management skills… they just go away if they’re not required. My formula looks something like this:

The more stuff I have to do and the less time I have to do those tasks… the better my time management skills. This follows my theory of:

“If you push yourself to accomplish more than you think you can handle… you’ll surprise yourself with how much you can actually accomplish.”

So, a few things that I’ve learned while trying to fix my time management skills.

1. Do not work with outlook open. Set time aside to respond to emails.
2. You do not have to answer every phone call. Set time aside to respond to phone calls.
3. Prioritize your task list. Not every task is equally important. Hone in on tasks that are important.
4. Log Your time. To measure your time management, you must know where you are spending your time.
5. One task at a time. I’m the worst at trying to do three things at once. But time and time again, I’m reminded that making a list is a better solution.

I leave you with a book that was given to me by an ex-girlfriend that told me long ago that I had time management problems. Admission is the first step to solving the problem.