Time is our most precious resource.  No, in fact, today is our most precious resource.

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So how to make the most of each and every day without feeling overwhelmed? In my talk at Athena Cappuccino Connections₁ last month, I shared the five most common issues people typically face when it comes to managing their time, and offered strategies to address them. Let’s start here with the first three.

Issue 1: You Don’t Estimate How Long It Takes To Complete A Task

You tend to fill your to-do list with a lengthy list of tasks without estimating how long it takes to complete them, and often end up with more than you can handle in one day. You feel overwhelmed and end up working very long hours. Or you feel frustrated because you can’t complete all your tasks on your to-do list.

The strategy here consists in adding a time estimate to each of the tasks you put on your to-do list so you can create days with a realistic workload.

The tricky part though is that time is intangible. There’s often a big discrepancy between how long we THINK it takes to complete a task and how long it ACTUALLY TAKES. Things we enjoy doing seem to go very fast, while on the other hand, things we don’t enjoy doing seem to be taking forever. This may lead us to procrastinate because we make a big fuss out of something that, in fact, is not so time-consuming.

If you struggle to accurately estimate your time, select one to three tasks you need to perform on a regular basis or tasks you tend to procrastinate on and time yourself several times until you’ve got a good understanding of how long it takes to complete these tasks.

Issue 2: You’re Unrealistic About How Much You Can Do

Your days are a succession of meetings, appointments and tasks amounting to more hours than you can possibly handle. It takes you a lot of energy and discipline to go through them and your days are completely thrown out when the unexpected happens.

The strategy here consists in planning no more than 4 to 5 hours of real work per day and streamlining your workload.

We often assume that everything we put on our to-do list must be done immediately, perfectly and by ourselves. But time is finite so we permanently need to make choices on how we use it. Using a framework to streamline your workload can be very helpful, I personally recommend time management expert Julie Morgenstern 4D’s.

The 4D’s stand for Delete, Delay, Diminish and Delegate. When you have more on your to-do list than you can possibly handle, go through your list and ask yourself, for each task, whether you can delete it, delay it, diminish or delegate it.

You’re not being unprofessional, irresponsible, careless or lazy by making these decisions. On the contrary, it means you’re making well-thought out decisions about how to use your time. So let go of the guilt, and learn to create space for what’s really important today.

Then look at your workload again. Is it now manageable? If not, go through another round of 4D’s.

Issue 3: You Can’t Remember What To Do

You assume you have an excellent memory and don’t bother to write down your meetings, appointments or tasks. As a result, you clutter your brain with information and often can’t find sleep at night because you go through what you have to do the next day in your mind. And you end up missing an important meeting that is costly for your business.

Trust your life with a planner! The advantage of writing things down is that instead of spending time thinking about what you have to do, you just do it.

Whether paper or digital planner, it doesn’t matter. What’s more important though is to:

• Have ONE planner only. One planner for home and one planner for work just can’t work, because these two worlds are inter-related.
• Capture 100% of your activities in your planner. A planning system only works if it’s complete.
• Use it as a planning tool, not only as a place to capture information. In that respect, it’s better to plan the next day the night before than in the morning itself because the pressure of the day is not coming down on you and you have time to apply the 4D’s. It’s also very energising to start your day by knowing exactly what to do.

In my next post, I’ll go through the other two most common time management issues I’ve shared during my talk at Athena Cappuccino Connections. So stay tuned for more!

In the meantime, have a look at my one-on-one time management coaching program to learn essential tools and skills to feel in control of your life again!

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