How To Make The Most Of Your Time
(And Get Almost Everything Done!)

Q: What is your thoughts on time? How can we manage time, or at least manage our own time?

Athough I use the expression all the time, "time management" is a bit of a misnomer. Time just is. We can't manage it. We get a ration of 24 hours a day from the day we are born to the day we die, and during those 24 hours we have to be doing something, even if it's just sleeping or watching the tv.

What we can manage though is ourselves. Specifically we can manage where we are putting our attention at any given moment. So if I were being picky I would refer to it as attention management, rather than time management.

Q: How important is using a tool, for example, like a weekly calendar or day-by-day business diary to manage and plan our time? What sort of time management tools do you personally use?

I think to some degree it's a matter of personality. There are people who seem to be just naturally well-organised and view the efforts of the rest of us with amusement because they simply can't understand what the problem is.

But I've never been one of those. I've always struggled to keep well-organised, and most of the techniques I've developed have been initially for my own benefit.

Do It Tomorrow and Other
Secrets of Time Management

My basic tools are my diary which lists my appointments, a list of what needs doing (with a good system for working it), plus the reminder function on Outlook tasks. Any tasks which I can't do for a week or more go in the reminder system rather than on the list.

Q: How do you help people become more efficient and make (almost) every minute count in an 8-12 hour day?

Efficiency is a matter of having good systems. So if something isn't working properly then the solution is to examine the system you are using.

For example a lot of people have trouble keeping up with email. If you examine the system by which they handle email it usually goes something like this: Receive 10 emails, process 5, leave the other 5 for later. Receive another 10 emails, process 5, leave 5 for later.

After you've repeated this a few more times you have built up an impressive backlog of unactioned emails. Almost any system is better than this!

So it's a question of asking yourself questions like: "How am I dealing with email?," "How am I dealing with non-urgent tasks?" "How am I dealing with client requests?" and then seeing how you can improve it. Almost always a little thought can result in significant improvements.

The Time Warrior by Steve Chandler

Q: Some people say to aim for 4 largish projects/tasks to achieve in one day. Others say to go for 6 or 10. How many projects do you try to complete in one day (as a general rule)? Do you get so absorbed in what you're working on you forget to eat?

I don't personally go for any of that inflexible type of number thinking. I just work systematically through my list of tasks according to the best system I can devise.

That allows me to give proper weight to different types of tasks and also to my own energy and psychological state. And yes, I do sometimes get so absorbed I forget to eat. So I tend to make meals one of the tasks on my list.

Q: I provide printable calendars (link) that people can download and print to help them manage the next week, month or year. What tools and services do you offer?

At present I'm retired and don't offer any services. I used to run seminars and do individual coaching, but I don't do that any longer. However I am hoping to publish a new book soon.

Q: One reason I created a calendar site was because I thrive on efficiency and like helping people use their time wisely. What got you into writing about time management?

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

I think it was self-defence more than anything else. I wanted to run my own business, but I knew I would never survive unless I was considerably more organised. I didn't find the existing time management books much help so I started developing my own methods.

Q: What things do you do to help yourself be super efficient? I write down what I want to get done and focus only on the project at hand. I also keep a written home office record (link) of exactly how long it takes to achieve those projects or tasks. What's your secret to super efficiency?

Being systematic. Find or develop the best system you can and stick to it.

Q: What sort of calendars do you use and how do they help you manage your time? For example, on my Apple iMac I use iCal. Do you find more and more people are using mobile (cell) phone applications and how would you suggest people prepare their business for time management of the future?

I use the Calendar function in Outlook, and print out a working copy to use during the day.

With time management, I much prefer to use paper and pen. Somehow electronic time management is too soulless for me.   On the other hand I try to file everything electronically that I possibly can. I find an awful lot of people are the other way round. They prefer electronic time management but paper filing.

I don't think the basic principles of running a successful business ever change. For managers, the most important part of their job is thinking and time for thinking is usually the first thing to be dropped when the pressure is on.

Q: Focusing 100% on one task is not always easy with so many distractions (chat, Facebook, telephone calls, urgent conversations, other people etc). If we can remove as many distractions as possible, how long should we sit down in one sitting to complete a project, and how can we do it effectively?

I don't think there can be a standard answer to this. My advice is to work on a project for as long as you feel like it, and then take a break to do other things. But it's essential to come back to the project fairly quickly. Little and often is the rule.

Q: What does success mean to you? When would you consider yourself successful? What steps can we take to achieve a high level of success in our own life?

For me success is more of a journey rather than a goal. What I love is the process of making things happen, from first conception to final completion. It's that sense of mastery that I keep aiming for.

To achieve this sense of mastery, I think it's important to build up a record of success in carrying things through to completion. It almost doesn't matter what those things are, because what you are trying to do is to learn to trust yourself to get things done. If you can't trust yourself, then you are going to shy away from a lot of opportunities in case you can't carry them through.

Footnote

Mark Forster is a British author best known for three books on time management. His biggest selling book to date is Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management which challenges some traditional practices in time management with four simple tasks and seven principles.

The four tasks of his quick start guide are:

• To assemble all delayed work into backlog folders where it cannot be seen
• Collect all new work into related batches for the following day
• Write down ALL things too urgent to wait until tomorrow before doing them, and
• Start each day catching up on backlogged work

The seven principles are:

• To have a clear vision
• Do one thing at a time
• Do small amounts of work often
• Define realistic limits using...
• Closed lists of finite tasks that are not added to
• Reduction of interruptions, and
• Clarifying solid commitments as opposed to vague interests.

Together, these form the foundation for what is the Do It Tomorrow (DIT) time management system.

Find out how to make the most of your time at Mark's blog here