Forgetting appointments and due dates? Have reminder notes everywhere? Spend your time firefighting? Need to get things sorted, quick? This post will show you how to use a diary to get stuff done on time. There’s more complex methods, but this is an excellent base for all of them – so get started now, and refine later if you want.
1. Get a diary. Look for something:
- cheap – as you use it more your requirements will change, so you’ll want to upgrade. Don’t go for an expensive solution until you’re sure it’s perfect.
- easy to carry – small is good
- enough space to write what you want – so not too small
- easy to write in and check at a glance (paper great, pda ok, laptop bad, PC awful).
- the ability to add in more pages (see step 4)
- at least 2 views: annual calendar and daily. A monthly calendr is ok, but annual is better.
- have enough room in the daily page to write down all the things you need to do and remember in that day. I dunno about you, but I need at least one full page for that.
- preferably customisable, so that you can write absolutely in your diary – addresses, notes, lists, etc etc, and add in more pages when and where you need to. . They don’t need to cost the earth – I’ve seen them for about $5 at Whitcoulls. Also check out KMart and the 2 dollar stores. Or try a hipsterPDA.
Online solutions and time management software are great, until you’re in the car, on the underground, or at the beach. They’re not portable so you’ll need at least 2 systems (one to carry around): one is easier. The same goes for home and work: one combined system is easier.
2. Collect everything you have to do, ready to set up your diary.
3. Schedule in all your appointments in THREE places (yup – three places). This also applies to anything with a due date.
One: In the daily page for the day of the appointment.
Two: In the calendar page, on the day of the appointment.
Three: A few days/weeks before the appointment, as a reminder (in the daily page). How far in advance depends on whether you need to prepare for it. If it’s important, put in a couple of reminders.
Put in a reminder even if you think you’ll check what’s coming up in advance. One day you won’t, and you’ll be scuppered.
4. Create a master To Do list.
This is a part of your diary to write down everything – everything – that you need to do. This list will get added to – lots – and crossed off – lots, hopefully – so will look like a real mess over time. This is where a customisable diary is great – you can add more pages and replace the old ones. I put mine right at the front of the diary.
5. Prioritise your master To Do list.
The aim of the game is to mark which stuff is to be done first, in whatever way makes sense to you. Think about what’s important to you (rather than just urgent). Some ideas:
- Highlight the Quadrant 2′s so they’re easier to spot
- Eliminate as many Quadrant 3 & 4′s as possible
- Add dates next to anything with a due date (repeat step 3 if you haven’t already scheduled them).
- Don’t number all tasks from 1 – n, unless you have a very small list
- You could create a “priority” code – 1 for “do now”, 2 for “do soon”, 3 for “someday/maybe” (hello, GTDers).
6. Plan your first day: choose no more than seven (7) things to schedule into your day.
Remember – big rocks first (that’s those Quadrant 2′s).
Stick to 7. 7 is doable. More than 7, you set yourself up for failure, because of all the little things that crop up. If you finish early, you can always start tomorrow’s list.
7. Choose ONE MIT (Most Important Thing) from your list. Hightlight it. You’re going to do that one first.
8. Do it. When it’s done, cross the task off the daily list. As new stuff comes up, add it to the master To Do list. Schedule new appointments straight away (see step 3).
9. Review it. At the end of the day, update the master To Do list. Then plan tomorrow (steps 6 & 7). Check what appointments you have coming up in the next few days.
10. Done.
Acknowledgements and further reading:
My first time management system was based on a Daytimers planner, a great, and beautiful – but expensive – system, and I learnt steps 3 & 4 from them.
I learnt about MITs from Leo at Zen Habits (thanks Leo).
The Quadrants come from Stephen Covey, of course. Check out the previous posts in this series for more about them.
The “someday/maybe” category is from David Allen’s excellent Getting Things Done (GTD) system – there’s lots on information about it on the internet.
My current system is a hipsterPDA, which I read about from Merlin Mann, another GTDer.
All libraries have books in time management, and there is lots and lots of good information on the web. However don’t get into “analysis paralysis” – start now, get a system going, then customise it as you learn what you want.
