Step #5: Put a block or two in your day. For example, say to yourself, “I need to block out 90 minutes to make client calls.” Monday you can do it at 9:30 in the morning because you don’t have any appointments scheduled. On Wednesday, though, it has to be done in the afternoon be cause your morning is filled with various things.
There are different types of task lists. Long ago I read in time management books how important it was to write down everything you need to do every day and keep a list. I did that. I used ACT! 2000 software and set up my task list so it would roll over every day. So, for in stance, I would have 35 calls roll over, and before the end of the week I had 200 people to call and 75 or 80 different items that needed my attention. It literally fried my brain. I couldn’t deal with it because I didn’t know where to begin. So I thought about it for a while and developed a different strategy.
It is what I call a “product list” and a “must-do list” and here are their differences:
A must-do list is immediate and includes things that must get done now. So for example, these are things that need to be done tomorrow or, perhaps, later on today, things that absolutely have to happen and are extremely time sensitive, probably requiring your attention within 24 hours. Ideally there should be no more than six to 10 items on this list at any one given time because that is probably all you will be able to complete.
Step #6: Now you are going to add your must-do list to the process. They are two different lists. Again, I want to remind you of the differences. A must-do list might include preparing for a meeting later on today or tomorrow, returning three or four phone calls you received while in a meeting, or researching one project for a particular client in preparation for a presentation. Things like this are immediate and time-sensitive activities that must get done.
Project lists include activities you know you need to get done, but not within the next 24-hour period. For example, maybe you have a seminar coming up in a couple weeks and need to prep for it. Well, do you have to prep for it today? No. So in essence you cannot have it on today’s must-do list, but you can have it somewhere on your project list so you don’t forget about it.
Remember, a project list allows you to keep track of everything you have going on. Here is the beauty: because you have two separate lists, you take the item that is on the project list and move it to the must-do list when you are ready to do it. Everything you focus on for that day is on your must-do list. You put the project list away, put it in a folder, keep it in your desk, etc.
For me, I use my software to keep track of everything, but I only see it when I need to pull it up. Way back when, my to-do list used to contain 85 to 90 items. Now I deal with no more than six to 10 items a day which allows me to keep a laser-like focus on accomplishing those goals because I don’t become distracted by the other less important tasks.
Every morning I spend time deciding which projects are candidates for that day’s must-do list. That is how I stay focused and up-to-date, capable of keeping track of everything.
More in our next issue!________________________________________________________________________
