3 Tools For Time-Management
There are so many wonderful tools out there today to help us with our time, energy, communications, and management. There are also many apps and websites that are a bit of time-wasters. (Thank you Facebook at MLB.com!) However, there are resources that have really changed the way I self-manage and go about my life. Like most of you, I use great apps like PCO, Evernote, Sheet Music and Survey Monkey. So if you are not using these services, I would highly encourage you to take advantage of them. However, I wanted to dig a bit deeper to find some “lesser-used” resources that I would encourage you to check out and see if they would be a good fit for you.
GROUPME
If you’re like me, I am constantly texting and checking in on my teams, different groups of people, campuses, and staff. GroupMe is a terrific messaging app that works across all devices that I have found really works well for what I needed. The layout is beautiful and clean and easy to create threads that just work. For instance, during Hurricane Harvey in Houston, the whole leadership teams on our staff was using GroupMe to stay in communication. I had up to 15–20 threads going at once, all with teams across our church and city and was such a help in communication. Because it’s a system that works with your WIFI and/or wireless, it works seamlessly internationally as well. Bonus…it’s free!
DAY-TIMER:
Years ago, I read an article about 6 things that the most successful people do every single day. One of those action steps were to write down your “to-do” list by hand each morning. Not to just add items to a digital or a large list but start fresh every morning by taking the unfinished items from the day before, and add the new items to start every day with clear action steps for the day. I started using my Day-Timer about 4 years ago and it really has changed the way I strategize, plan, and prioritize my day. I have tried many different digital systems in my life, but they come and go for me. But when I started to understand the power of actually writing actions steps down, and rewriting them every day, it has helped me incredibly stay focused and not let things slip. I use the pocket size calendar version because the bigger size feels a bit too bulky for me and I can fit this size in my back pocket, so I constantly have it with me. Just ask anyone on my team, if anyone mentions anything that I need to check on, remember, or get done, I quickly pull out my little Day-Timer where I make a note right then and there. That’s the key! Always have it with you and ready to use it.
There are many advantages to Day-Timer, but the strongest points are that it’s easy to prioritize, simple to take notes from daily meetings, and the calendar system has a very clear layout.
Now, let me be quick to say that although some people keep their calendar using the Day-Timer system, I do not. I simply have too many people that look, schedule, and plan things around my calendar that I have to keep a digital calendar so that my assistants, team members, and family can see my updated schedule at any given moment.
TIME MANAGEMENT MAGIC:
The third resource that I’m going to recommend is the book that actually got me hooked on the Day-Timer and taught me how to use it to my advantage. “Time Management Magic” written by Lee Cockerell is a crash course in time management and really changed the way I think of my day, schedule, and “to-do lists.” Cockerell was the Senior Operating Executive of the Walt Disney World Resort and led teams of over 40,000 employees, 20 resorts, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, and the ESPN Sports complex. He had to have a clear and disciplined system to stay organized and get things done. The system he teaches through this book is one that I teach my interns at Houston’s First Baptist Church, and make the book a reading for all my employees when they come on my team.
Lee says, “You either pay now or pay later with just about every decision you make about where and how you spend your time.” Just having a “to-do” list is not enough. That’s only the starting point. Lee teaches to label your “to-do’s” in three categories; Urgent, Vital, and Important. The urgent items are the ones that must get done that day. The vital are the ones that need to be done soon, and the important items need to be done but there is not time sensitivity to them. Then, you go one step further and prioritize each category by assigning each item with a number (starting with 1) based upon their urgency. Then, only when you prioritize each item, you then have a clear roadmap of what to do.
Bottom line is, everyone needs a system for time management. This may not be the one for you like it is for me, but you still need a clearly defined and disciplined method.
