Time Mgt from the Inside Out

from Book by Book blog 27 May 14 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz

Motivations & Obstacles. The Author – Julia Morgenstern – begins the book by asking you to take a look at what your motivations are & what obstacles stand in your way. I especially liked the section on obstacles, which she divides into three:
– Technical errors (things like your home or office is dis-organized or you tend to mis-calculate how long tasks will take),
– External realities (like you have a career or life where you are frequently interrupted), and
– Psychological obstacles (like a fear of success or that you thrive on being busy & are always in “crisis” mode).

How to Manage your Time. Additional sections of the book deal with:
– Defining Goals – of what you are going for, so you have direction
– Effectively using your Time. How you currently spend your time – working toward your Goals,
– Planning – Learning how to estimate how long the Tasks of your Goals will take . . .
Or use can use the Author’s WADE formula as a planning tool:
– Write it down (in one place)
– Add it up (estimate time required)
– Decide what you will actually do
– Execute Your Plan

Implementing Time Management. As this books reviewer, I have already implemented several pieces of the advice offered. I have been working mostly on Task Time Estimation. I am always under-estimating how much time something will take and over-estimating how many tasks I can manage in a day or a week.

Getting Organized has another chapter called, “Where Paper Meets Time”, included a quick-start process for quickly getting rid of paper piles. As an admirer of the principles of this book, I applied this process to the ever-present piles on my desk , and it worked like magic! Within an hour, I had weeded the multiple piles into one small pile, and with time estimates written on each one, I quickly got through several simple short tasks that I had been putting off. It’s best to “plan” to get or stay organized – once a week – at the same time. Then it becomes a habit and is easier & easier to do.

Because I’m a big fan, I am still using the book, which is filled with Dog-eared pages & Post-it notes. I am still working on several of the Action Items the Author outlines. I wouldn’t say that my life has been miraculously changed, but I am definitely making good progress, a little at a time, in reducing my stress and making my To-Do lists more manageable. I am excited to keep working on the advice she provides and also to read her book called “Organizing from the Inside Out”, so that I can tackle some of the clutter where ever I find it and be less of a procrastinator. All in all you can tell, I’ve found “Time Management from the Inside Out”, to provide very useful guidance that I will continue to use !!!

Comment – if you have listened to or read the book.