The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The way you use your time is the way you live your life.

Find Time With The 2 Column Method for Planning and Review

Posted on July 9, 2009, under Time Management Skills.

ClockFinding time with schedules and to do lists is a time management skill that many of you are familiar with.  I’d like to discuss a variation that can help you fine-tune these tools, increase your effectiveness AND decrease feelings of frustration and overwhelm.

I call this my 2 Column Method and you can adapt it to pretty much any time management tool that you use.  The basic idea is to plan your time and then, after the fact, review how things went and how closely you managed to conform to your plan.  That’s where the 2 Columns come in – one is for your plan and the second is for your review.

I recommend doing your planning the night before, and then reviewing your day and planning the next day before you go to bed.  It’s a good idea to have your list be sequential.  There may be some tasks on your list that have a specific time attached to them – and others that are simply in sequence and can be done within a more general frame.  If you have goals – for example to exercise for 20 minutes – include them in your plan.

Here’s a very simple sample:

Date/Time

 Plan Review

7/9/09

5:00

 Get Up 5:10

Check e-mail Done

Check voicemail Done

Meditate-20 min 25 min.

Exercise-20 min 30 min!

7:30

 Leave for work 7:15

Budget for Next Year Partially done.

5:30

 Meet friends for dinner Yes

Plan for tomorrow Done

10:00

 Bed 9:45

One of the key things to keep in mind when using the 2 Column Method is that this is for your information – it is not grist for your inner critic!  As you use this tool you will begin to clearly see your patterns.  Are there goals that you consistently don’t meet?  Maybe you need to move them to another time of day, or consider modifying them in some other way.

The 2 Column Method gives you excellent information about your time baseline, as well as daily opportunities to adjust your planning and find more time!

Do you do daily time planning?  And do you also assess your results regularly?  How about trying the 2 Column Method?  I’d love to hear how it goes for you!

What if you could find another hour every day? You can! You are invited to sign up and download The New Finding Time Boundary Template. It’s FREE, and when you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) my FREE, weekly Finding Time Tips and my FREE, monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine!

Let’s explore time together …

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