Time Management - The 4 Piles

March 25, 2008 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Time Management

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At the cornerstone of effective time management is doing what needs to be done. It’s not that most of us are really lazy(some are) it’s just we often sap our energy doing non productive things that are not any more urgent then they are required! Ultimiately if you know where you are going and what you want in life all these decisions become easier because they either help your mission or they don’t…

In essence you want to break up activities and tasks into 4 major piles.

Important / Crises

This pile here is obviously the one that should be dealt with immediately when starting this program. Anything that falls into this category should be done asap. Basically once you begin doing this your goal is to never really have anything in this pile. Why bother when it got sorted in the next section? Examples of a crisis include “start studying for an exam tomorrow”, “pay electricity before they cut me off”.

Important / Should Be Done

This is a healthy place to put down things that should be done / need to be done but aren’t at a crisis yet. This category should always have some things on the go and your goal is to get them all accomplished before they turn into crises. Examples: “Prepare quote for clients”, “Follow up cold calls”, “Write x bloggeries”

Not Important /Crises

This is things that aren’t that important but if to be done have to be done now. These could include an offer you get from someone saying buy now I’ll give you 50% off your web hosting, something you want to signup for that is expiring soon etc… Things that if they didn’t get done wouldn’t be the end of the world but they are time bound.

Not Important / Doesn’t have to be Done

Sadly this is where most of us spend most of our time. If you have a blog post you need to make at 7am it’s easy to start “wandering around the net” checking message boards, stats, checking to see if you made an affiliate commission etc… Other examples of this include going to a friends after work for a pint or two, meeting for coffee with some friends who want to gossip etc… These are not important things and they don’t have to be done to obtain your mission in life. That being said balance is needed so you shouldn’t totally cut out your friends but if you have work to do they will be there tomorrow to do the same “hanging out”. Get your priorities straight.

That’s a quick guide. If you write out your things to do / want to do on post it notes and put them in according piles you will see how much more manageable your day is and hopefully how much more productive it is as well!

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