Your calendar most likely contains court dates, closings, client meetings and other appointments that occur on a specific date or at a specific time. It also probably includes deadlines, such as the last day to file a motion or brief, the day you promised the client you would provide them with a draft of a document, etc.
In Time Management Tip #11, I talked about creating external deadlines - deadlines that you share with others for completion of tasks that don't have a built in deadline - in order to ensure that those tasks get done.
But creating and documenting deadlines is only the first step. Next, you've got to actually do the work - you need to write the brief, prepare for the client meeting, draft the documents, write the marketing copy, etc. Some of my earlier tips, including prioritizing and using the Power of Three can help you decide which projects or tasks to tackle first and keep your to-do list from becoming overwhelming, but your calendar can be an important tool as well.
Instead of just entering a deadline into your calendar and adding the task or project to your to-do list, schedule time on your calendar to do the work necessary to complete it. Some people call this "time-blocking;" you block a specific period of time on your calendar to work on the task. You don't necessarily need to block all of the time necessary to complete the task at once; try simply blocking time to complete the next action necessary to move the project forward.
Treat each time block as you would an appointment with a client, with only slightly more flexibility; if something more pressing arises that you must do during the time scheduled to complete the task, instead of simply not doing the work you'd planned, move the appointment to another place on your calendar.
Using this method will help you to cure "I need to see it" syndrome, because the task or project will be on your calendar as a reminder, which means you won't need to keep the file, paperwork or other reminder in your office or on your desk to remind you to complete it. But it will also help you to better track your progress on open items, more accurately estimate the time it will take to complete them, and reduce the likelihood that you will be completing tasks at the last minute.
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danmoyle/11178388835/
Hello Allison,
Thanks for sharing such a nice information on time management. It is really interesting and also useful because we all need proper time management in our life whether it is business or in our personal life.
Thanks
Markus Baldauf
mbmc.at/headhunter.html
Posted by: Markus Baldauf | December 23, 2013 at 03:20 AM