As I’ve blogged before in the recent past, I have been working on a new method of time management. Unfortunately in spite of all my efforts - which have been considerable - it simply hasn’t worked. So I think now is the time to call a halt and go back to what I know does work.
Every cloud has a silver lining and this is no exception. It gives me a good opportunity to show how effectively Do It Tomorrow works. After more than a year of not using the Do It Tomorrow techniques, I have badly neglected my business and my work has descended into chaos. So now I have an excellent subject for blogging:- How quickly and effectively can I move forward using DIT?
One of the great advantages of DIT is that it puts you instantly back on top of your work. This is done by “declaring a backlog”. Instead of struggling to get up-to-date with piles of email, paper and tasks, you simply sweep them all into folders and get on with the new stuff. You can then deal with the backlogs at your leisure in the knowledge that they can only get smaller.
The next thing I need to do is draw up a Will Do list. I did that last night and kept it as short as I possibly could. In fact all it consists of is this:
Current Initiative
Email
Voicemail
Paper
Task Diary
Tidy Desk
Draw Up Tomorrow’s List
As I’ve not yet spent any time thinking about projects for the future, the Task Diary list is only four items:
Buy page-a-day diary to use as Task Diary
Follow up lunch with J
Blog: Seminars
Newsletter
And finally, my Current Initiative is to clear the backlogs - the main one is paper.
Remember with DIT the aim is to do everything on the list without exception - that’s why it’s called a Will Do list. I’ve deliberately kept the list as short as possible today to get myself off to a good start. I shouldn’t have any problem getting through it with ease.
So let’s get going: my first action is to start clearing the backlogs. I’ll start with email. Let’s see, the only email I haven’t dealt with came in yesterday - so that’s not a backlog. Paper? Yes, I’ve got several items including some bank statements to be reconciled. With a Current Initiative, I don’t have to finish everything - I just have to do some work on it.
Time now: 8.40 a.m. How long will it take me to get through everything?