time management (jeremy) to do list

8/3/2019 Time Management (Jeremy) to Do List

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What is Time Management?• Having all the information you need

readily available• Having a trusted system that allows

incoming information to be collected,organized and acted upon

• Keeping your head clear ofdistractions

• Knowing what needs to be done at a

given time, in a given situation• Feeling like you‟ve actually

accomplished something



The 3 Phases in Time Management

•Collect & Organize•Process & Prioritize

•Do & Review



Key 1: Discrete Phases•Each phase of time

management is adiscrete activity.

•Don‟t skip phases.

•Don‟t mix phases.



Key 2: Reduce Collection Points•Reduce your

Collection Points.•No more “stuff in

the glove box, stuffin the briefcase, stuff

on the desk”



Key 3: Be Organized•When “stuff” comes

in, it gets put into theright CollectionPoint.

•No piles!

•No random stuff inrandom places.



Key 4: Review Often, Review Well•Regular reviews are

essential!• You can‟t know

where you‟re going if

you don‟t know

where you‟ve been. •Feeling like you‟ve

succeeded requiresthat you know whatyou‟ve

accomplished.



Key 5: Next Actions Are Key•Next Actions and

ONLY Next Actionsgo onto your to-dolists.

•Projects get broken

down into NextActions, with the fulllist hidden away.

•Don‟t overwhelm

yourself.



What Are Collection Points?•A Collection Point is

where you „capture‟and store incominginformation.

•Examples: Notepad,

physical inbox, PDA,cellphone, computer,etc.



About Collection Points

• Too many Collection Points aren‟t

healthy.• Collection Points must be reduced to

their bare minimum, otherwise you

lose information.• In an ideal world, we would have one

place where all information comes in,

gets sorted and gets prioritized.• In the real world, information comes

from a million directions all at once.



Key to Success: Reduce Your Collection Points



Suggested Collection Points• A single place to put paper (physical

in-box, basket or a visible space justfor you)

• A single place to jot down NextActions or thoughts “on the go” (pad

of paper, PDA, personal recordingdevice or even leaving yourselfvoicemails with your cellphone)

•

A single place on your PC where youcapture Next Actions (Outlook‟s TaskList, a todo.txt file on your desktop,etc)



Suggested Collection Points

• A single place to collect Email (your

Outlook inbox, your hotmail account,etc)

• Your voicemail boxes (work, home,

cell)



Unhealthy Collection Points

• Car glove box

• A pile on your desk• A pile on somebody else‟s desk

• On a chair

• In a “Miscellaneous” file in your filing

cabinet

• In the bathroom



Critical Elements to a Filing System• Whether your filing system is real

(filing cabinet) or virtual (on yourPC), it requires certain commonelements.

• Recommended structure: Business

Critical, Business Reference,Personal and Generic Reference

• Underneath each top-level structure,

include a folder for each project• Mirror the filing system wherever you

file items.



Example Filing System• Business Critical

• Microsoft Courses

• Blogging Book• Taxes

• Business Reference• Newsletters

• Seminar Notes• Personal

• Worship

• Band

•Generic Reference• Paid Bills• Filed Taxes

• Correspondence



Why This Process is So Important

• First you get everything where you

can find it (Collect & Organizing)• Then you figure out what needs

“doing” (Processing)

• Then you figure out what‟s mostimportant (Prioritizing)

• Finally you do (Do)

• Then you make sure you‟resucceeding (Review)



What Happens When You Don’t… • Stuff shows up, gets put somewhere

•

You make a „mental note‟ (these often usecrummy glue and fall off before you gethome) to do something about it

• Other things crowd into your day as

people ask you to do things

• When you finally have free time, you can‟t

remember what you have to do

•At the end of each day and week, you feellike you must have done something

important, but can‟t remember what it

might have been.



What is Processing• Working your way through the

material in your Collection Points• Resisting the urge to “Do”

• Touch each item once, so that youcan move onto the next item quickly.Make decisions as you touch items,not “later” (otherwise you‟re justcreating piles)

• Transfer items into other CollectionPoints as needed (from a voicemailonto paper, or from paper into yourcomputer)



How to Process

• Processing is a 4-step process,

characterized by 4 D‟s: Delete, Do,Delegate and Defer.



Step 1: Deleteif it isn‟t worth keeping,

it‟s worth throwing away

Step 2: Doif you can do it in 2 minutes or less,

do it immediately

Step 3: Delegateentrust someone elseto do the task or project (like getting your husband to take out the trash)

Deferif it‟s something you need to do,

but can‟t do in under 2 minutes, you‟re deferring it for later



What Are Next Actions?

• The very next physical action you

have to do to move a project forward• “Call travel agent about vacation

prices”

• “Heckle Peter during sermon” • “Get gas for lawn mower” (or not, if

your “Project” is to NEVER do the

lawn)



What Aren’t Next Actions

• “Plan trip”

• “Pay bills” • “Do sermon”

• A Next Action is the NEXT action you

need to do. A Next Action is NOT aProject!



Next Actions vs Projects

• Projects are series of Next Actions.

In order to plan a trip you need todecide on a budget, then call thetravel agent, then talk to your wife,then get passports, then book thetickets…

• Generally Next Actions are “small”

things you can do in 10-15 minutes,while projects take serious time.

Wh N A i W k



Why Next Actions Work

• A Project is overwhelming, and is

easy to put off.• Something that only takes 10-15

minutes of your time is not only do-

able, it‟s also satisfying (checkthings off your list)

Wh D



What to Dump

• What are your responsibilities

• What projects are you involved in• What are things you‟d love to do

someday

• What things have you forgotten to doin the last 2-3 months

Id f B i D



Ideas for Brain Dump• Work• Projects (started) Projects not yet started

Commitments

• Communications ReportsProposals

• Meetings (new) Read and reviewBudgets

• Forecasts Pipeline reportsPresentations

•

Travel Training/seminarsResearch

• Personal• Projects (started) Projects not yet started

Commitments• Civic groups Special occasions Financial• Home chores Home projects

Entertainment• Health care Hobbies

Errands

Wh t A th N t A ti



What Are the Next Actions• In groups, help each other figure out what

the very next action required to move aproject forward is

• Break down project or two per person

• Remember: if it takes more than one

“step” to do each Next Action, it‟sprobably more than one Next Action

• Remember: Next Actions are generally 10-

15 minutes in length. If your Next Action islonger, see if it can be split up so that youare more likely to actually DO it

Ti f C ti N t A ti



Tips for Creating Next Actions

• Understand the difference between

projects and Next Actions• Break multi-step activities down into

individual actions

•Use action verbs

• Use a portable Collection Point tocapture Next Actions “in the

moment”

T T f R i



Two Types of Reviews

• Daily Reviews: Done at the beginning

or end of each day. Last 10-15minutes. Help you figure out whatyou HAVE to do each day.

•

Weekly Reviews: Done at thebeginning or end of each week. Helpyou assess priorities, measure yourprogress in large projects and alignyour plans for the coming week.

D il R i



Daily Reviews

• Don‟t plan too much in: Pickle

Jar‟ing It • Plan different types of activities (mix

it up, so you don‟t get bored)

•If it helps you get things done, planbreaks

• Leave space for you

W kl R i



Weekly Reviews• Do a brain dump to make sure stuff

that‟s in your head makes it ontopaper or into Next Actions

• Process any lingering information inyour Collection Points

• Review your progress from last week

• Look forward to the week ahead:what does your calendar look like,

what major events might be comingup, how full is your to-do list, is ityour wife‟s birthday or your anniversary? ;-)

Marc’s E ample



Marc’s Example

• At the beginning of each day, Marc

reviews his email, his voicemails andtalks to his wife and/or boss to seewhat needs done that day

•

Marc schedules in any calls he needsto do at specific times, or meetingshe needs to be at

•

He then either schedules in specifictasks OR blocks of time to do tasksfrom his Next Actions list

Marc’s Day Continued



Marc’s Day… Continued • As Marc goes throughout the day, he

carries a notepad with him to takedown notes.

• Marc does NOT have emailnotification on, because processing

email is part of the Processingphase. When he Processes, hechecks email.

•

Marc maintains 2 to-do lists: a large“Next Actions List”, and a daily list of things he HAS to get done, as well asthings he‟d LIKE to get done.

Marc’s Day Part 3



Marc’s Day… Part 3 • If Marc finds „free time‟ (ie: unscheduled

time) in his day, he looks to his small,

daily to-do list.• Marc has enough freedom and discipline,

that if he‟s “on a roll” with a project, hecan figure out what the Next Action is, and

do it right away while the thoughts arefresh.

• Marc keeps post-it notes in his day-timer:one side is the name of the project and thenext task he‟s set out, the other side is all

the tasks he has identified to finish theproject. As he crosses off items on oneside (the Next Action side), he writes anew one down from the other side.

Marc’s Story Part 4



Marc’s Story… Part 4 • At the end of every week, Marc reviews his

objectives for the week, the lists of things

he‟s gotten done and his overall progresstowards his “big goals” and rewardshimself accordingly

• During his reviews, Marc makes sure his

Collection Points are empty, makes sureeach of the important people in his life(boss, wife, business partners, childrenand Peter Fitch) are being well served

• Marc spends time in prayer or quiet time

to see if there is anything important fornext week

• Marc plans out his next week‟s important,MUST DO, and “hope to do” Next Actions

time management (jeremy) to do list

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