Poor Time Management – The Root Of All Evil …
Time Metrics – The root of all evil in daily life, the reason for always being in a hectic state of mind, forgetting important dates, added stress, added anxiety and just not accomplishing what you need and want to do is ….
Answer: The lack of effective time management! Simple as that. Trying to keep everything in memory thinking it will be available on demand and when you need it. Trying to accomplish too much without a game plan. No written priorities. No time management or game plan equals constant low level mental chaos.
Good News!! The solution is as simple as using a couple of common devices. Number one is a paper calendar and number two is a pad or index cards. Use index cards to write down the days’ and weeks’ priorities and the calendar to look long range where you write down everyone’s birthday, wedding dates, upcoming vacation days, doctor and dental appointments, business meetings etc. This will take a couple of hours but save you considerable time over the course of the year.
Having a visual paper calendar that you can readily view helps you manage the most valuable commodity there is. And that is time. Paper calendars do not need boot-up time. They are easily read. No squinting to view a 300 pixel wide screen. They are simple and work and do not break the bank. Total estimated time to place the information on the calendar is approximately 2 hours. But the savings over the course of the year is tremendous. Having a fluid time line knowing when something important is about to happen allows you to plan and integrate a solution during normal day to day activity. For example if you were aware of an important birthday you could easily integrate picking up a card or gift on your way home from work. But what if you forgot? Then that means a last minute trip to get that card and gift. Multiply that by dozens of similar events and you are talking upwards of hundreds of hours saved each year. The real benefit is reduction in stress!
Executive Summary: Buy a calendar and index cards and write things down! Software apps are not there yet.