Category Archives: Time Management

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Remember to Use Your Planner – 4 Quick Strategies

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I often write about planning your day, capturing to do lists and identifying which planner will work best for you.  In fact, that has been the theme here at My Attention Coach this month!

But there is a problem…

If you don’t actually remember to use your planner, it will do no good.  It will provide no value whatsoever!  Today I want to provide some tips for remembering to use your planner.

Consistent Location

Keep your planner in the same place every single day.  It might be the uncluttered corner of your desk at the office and the table in your hallway at home.  Especially if your planner is small and/or you keep everything on your phone, make sure that you use a consistent pocket of your briefcase, purse or backpack.

Schedule It

Set an appointment for yourself every day to remind you to look at your planner.  Even better if you open it up and review it!  You could either set the appointment for the same time or change the times to keep things more engaging for you.

Visual Reminder

Creative?  Draw a picture that represents your planner and post it both at home and at work.

Not so creative?  Find a picture online, print it and post it, again both at home and at work.

Symbol

Identify some type of symbol that will act as a reminder to use your planner.  For example, you could tie a red ribbon around your favorite pen, buy a special picture for your office, or purchase a small plant.  When you do something like this, set the intention by saying aloud, “whenever I see the __________, I will remember to use my planner.”  Repeat this positive statement at least 5 times initially.  Then say it once whenever you think of it.

 

 

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Find Your Most Productive Time

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Time management is a challenge and tasks are coming at you faster than you can handle.  When you find your most productive time, you can get more done in the limited time that you have. Listen below for my top 3 tips that will help you determine your most productive time of the day.

Listen to internet radio with Laura Rolands on BlogTalkRadio

Just in case the player above isn’t working correctly, you can always listen in at Blog Talk Radio.

 

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Where did my time go?

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How often do you find yourself asking this question?  It can be difficult to determine where your time goes, but if you can figure out the answers to that question, you will make big strides in your time management.  For example,

  • If you know that you are spending 3 hours on Facebook, you can save some time by shortening the time!
  • When you see that you are super productive between 10am and noon, you can schedule your most challenging times during that time.

Below are a few ideas that you can use to figure out where your time goes.

Weekly Snapshot

Use a Weekly Planning Snapshot to keep track of your time in one-hour increments over the next week.  At the beginning of each hour, write (or type) how you spent your last hour.  Make it short; write for 30 seconds or less.  At the end of each day, look at how you spent your time.  Where did you spend your time?  What were your productive times?

Estimate Your Time

When you are planning your day, estimate the amount of time each task will take you to complete.  Add up the time you estimate.  Does the total equal more than the amount of time you have to work today?  If it does, you need to take some things off the list.

At the end of the day, compare your estimates to the amount of time your tasks actually took you to complete.  How close were you?  How can you adjust your estimates to be more accurate?

Notice

Yes, this sounds too simple to be helpful, but it can work.  Spend the next week consciously noticing where you are spending your time.  Tell your inner critic to be quiet and let you just pay attention to time.  At the end of each day write down or record what you noticed during the day.  Noticing where your time goes will give you new insight into time wasters and time savers that work for you.

Which one of these strategies will you try this week?

 

 

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Taming the To-Do List with Effective Prioritizing: FREE Teleseminar

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Setting priorities is a challenge with ADD / ADHD.

Your to do list is long, everything is important and it can be downright overwhelming.  Join me over at ADDClasses.com as I teach strategies to help you tame your to-do list with effective prioritizing.  First, I’ll teach you how to capture your to dos.  Then I’ll be teaching prioritizing strategies that you can use in both your personal and professional lives.

Listen over the telephone or internet!

Register before the class begins and you will be able to listen to a free replay until 2/19/2013.

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Success Strategies: Procrastination and ADHD

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Join me for this live class at The Community House (Birmingham, Michigan) February 5, 2013 from 7-8:30pm.  The focus is on developing strategies for overcoming the procrastination that very often comes with ADHD.

Procrastination impacts the productivity of adults and children with ADHD. Join me for an interactive session where you will learn to improve productivity in your everyday life by implementing strategies for overcoming procrastination. Each participant will develop a realistic action plan to begin overcoming their challenges immediately.

Class will be held at The Community House located at 380 South Bates Street, Birmingham, MI 48009.  Their phone number is 248.644.5832.

Register at The Community House website:  http://bit.ly/ProcrastinationADHD

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