Scott Free Thinking

While not everyone is perfect at time management, I imagine there are some who feel that they are doing it quite well. In Biology class recently, the instructor pointed out that “no biological system is 100% efficient.” I thought this was an interesting statement. I think the big taboo in that statement is the assumption that her definition of perfection was correct. Who is to say what is perfect or imperfect? And all though all biological systems might not function with 100% efficiency, it seems as though over time and continuously in their infinite state they are always going toward perfection. Perfection and 100% efficiency is always something that your cells are attempting to move forward to do.

But today, we’re going to back out a tiny bit and consider some other ideas about how you can use practical time management strategies that will allow you to get things done, often times, in a third of the time than what you would have normally spent doing them. Some of you may already be doing these things, and others of you may want to step up and try these techniques. We’ll talk about a lot here, some of it we have talked about before on this site, some of it is being mentioned for the first time.

-Plan out your day down to the hour, even sometimes down to the minute.

If you really want to maximize your free time, and minimize the amount of time you spend getting things done, then perhaps the first thing you should consider is altering your plans, and really fine tuning them down to even the precise minute. A lot of time management sites or books will start by telling you to organize your schedule day by day, and this is a logical first step. I’m not going to sit here and talk about that, though, I really want to emphasize that planning down to the precise minute can be a powerful tool, if you follow it. Don’t set your study time for 20 minutes, set it for 23 minutes, or some other whacky number. If you’re having trouble waking up in the morning and you’re sleeping through your alarm clock, there might be a chance that you’ve said your alarm clock for a single time every single morning, like 8:00AM or 8:15AM, try switching it up every night. Set it to 8:04, or 8:12. Just slide some random numbers onto the end and see what happens.

You might wonder if right now I’m giving you some superstitious advice, but think about it this way: by planning out your actions down to a precise, and often odd numbered minute, then you’re reinforcing the action of planning, setting a more distinct goal, and you’re also going to unconsciously be reacting different to those slightly different times. It might sound kind of strange, but especially with the waking up example - your body will know when that alarm clock is going off at a slightly different minute, where you might not necessarily.

-Take the time to get organized; time spent organizing is far less than dealing with disorganizing.

Taking the time to get organized will save you a lot of time dealing with disorganization later. One thing I want to emphasize here, however, is that I empathize and sympathize with the person who seems to have “their own mess, but they know where everything is.” I’m often one of those people. If you take a look at my desk top here by the computer, you’ll notice papers seemingly piled on top of each other randomly, but memory serves me well and I know where everything is…most of the time. Being neat and having things laid out in a very straightforward, right-angle sort of way can help, but it is not absolutely necessary. Taking the time, whenever you have a spare moment here or there, to sort through things can make a big difference overall.

When it comes to organizing papers, there’s a number of things you can do. One book, entitled Getting Things Done suggests organizing all of your papers into neatly sorted, thin manilla folders. Not pocket folders, just plan folders. Not the kind you put in a filing cabinet, just plain folders. Make it clear cut, simple, and keep it to a healthy minimum. Always trash whatever you’re absolutely sure you don’t need anymore; though if it is for school, you’ll want to hang onto anything that has knowledge. Take it from myself, and take it from many others - hanging onto your high school handouts and college textbooks can come in handy later in the future. If you can, develop a system for organizing all of them early.

-Always keep time for having fun.

It is essential that you keep a block of time for laughing and playing every single day. Whether it is reading for enjoyment, spending time with the boyfriend/girlfriend, playing a videogame, watching t.v., playing catch, it just has to be something fun that you do everyday, and that is also not to say that it has to be the SAME fun thing everyday. On the contrary; you should definitely try and mix up your activities as much as possible.

Some people who are workaholics work for the sake of working. Other people, who love what they do, work for the sake of play. Figure out which one you want to be; a stress ball or a relaxed, alert creator of your universe. For me, I’d personally like to take the approach of self-creation, and start tinkering with everything I possibly can within my world. While it is important to get away from the daily grind, or just simply the usual project(s), it is also important that you try and enjoy whatever it is you are doing as much as possible. If you’re miserable with your job, your career, your work, or whatever it may be, it is definitely time for a change. Fun is important to your health, your wealth, and everything in between.

Why would I bring up something like fun when talking about time management? Because if you make time for fun, the time spent on everything else will be that much more effective. If you’re not happy, your feet tend to drag.

-If procrastination sets in, break your trance by experimenting and developing a sense of pessismistic optimism.

There is one thing that my dad said to me one night at dinner that had a drastic impact on me recently. I was telling him that it was difficult for me to concentrate on my school work because I was dealing with so many different distractions all the time. My thoughts would race, my mind was scattered, I always felt totally spent; but he told me one very important thing to deal with this.

“Scott, you’ve gotta understand what is important,” he says to me. “If this stuff starts popping into your mind, the thing to do is tell it to get the $#!% out of your head, shove it out of the way. You’ve got to have the attitude, ‘this is my life, this is what I have to do, and I’m going to do it!’”

And it is entirely effective, for me, to take on this way of thinking. If something in your own mental state is attempting to knock you off course, one method for dealing with it is to knock it off base with your own will. It is your mind, and you have control, nothing else governs that. You are entirely responsible for your own mental state, and you get to decide when and what your mind does, and what you’re involved in. You have the power, so use it.

I also talk about procrastination and the like in another post, Preventing & Overcoming Procrastination.

And that concludes our part 1 post of tips for time management. As it stands right now, it’s 6:30 in the morning and I’ve got to study for Biology exam, so I’ve spent enough time on this for now. Time management, get it? Harr harr…=]

Check out Tips for Time Management :: Part 2!