Rebel Without a Clock

People usually think I am a very regimented person because of my work and expertise. In reality, I am a big rebel... against rigid scheduling. I tend to feel better and function better when I have a prioritized list and an open block of time, rather than scheduling out every minute of the day. When I see a week that is blocked out with numerous little appointments all over it, I cringe and the rebel inside of me wants to chuck it all to the wind and run away! And yet, many friends tell me I am one of the most productive and self-disciplined people they know.

Are you shocked? I think there is a huge myth out there that you must exactly follow someone else's expertly engineered system to manage your time. What I have come to believe is that time management is very personal and unique, as unique as a fingerprint, and unless you follow a customized system that works for your brain and your personality, it will never stick for long. I also think people may need to change their time management systems periodically because they get bored or their circumstances are different. One size does NOT fit all.

There are many kinds of systems out there, from elaborate paper planners to conceptual methodologies to sleek electronic solutions. Whatever system or combination you choose, I believe it all comes down to these five essential components: (UPDATE: I ended up writing a series expanding on each of these bulleted points. Click here to read those posts.)

• CAPTURE: Find the best ways for you to capture information about appointments, ideas, and tasks securely so you can relieve the stress of trying to remember it all. I have several capturing tools: paper & pen, Jott service on my phone, e-mailing myself, having others e-mail me, and typing things directly into my computer.
• COMMIT: Make the decision to prioritize and take action on projects and tasks that are right for your goals, obligations, and objectives. For some people, committing to something means putting an appointment on the calendar to do it, and for others it means moving it to the top of a list or highlighting it on a page. A big part of this committing process is deciding what the next action is. Sometimes you don't commit to taking action, and an idea ends up just being captured somewhere for the future.
• CUE: Find the best ways to remind yourself of things you have committed to at the right time. I use my calendar for this and check it daily. I also use reminder alarms on Outlook & Blackberry. Members of our Clutter Diet program can use our customized e-mail reminder system to send themselves messages at any kind of repeating interval (weekly, every other day, every 3rd month, etc.).
• COMPLETE: You ultimately must take action for any of this to work! I think Socrates said it best when he said, "Know Thyself." If you understand what motivates you to take action, that is probably the biggest factor of all. Rewards are a great motivator, and sometimes fear and consequences are very effective too! For me, I work best with deadlines and accountability to others, and I think that is true for most people.
• CORRECT: Take time out to review what's working and not working for you and adjust to changing priorities. Pay attention to new solutions and methods so that you can assess and improve over time. Travel, job changes, and other life transitions can mean temporary adjustments to focus more or less on your scheduling rigidity. David Allen's "GTD" concept of the Weekly Review is a great example of making corrections on a weekly basis.

Certainly there are weeks that necessitate my planning things out to the minute even if the rebel inside me doesn't wanna do it. But finding multiple reliable solutions that work for your own unique personality will ensure that a system has the flexibility to keep up over time.

Share your thoughts and your favorite Capturing & Cueing tools in the comments!

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Comments

[Dane]

Wow; this is beautifully written. Yes! "Appointments" just impair my ability to be maximally productive. Travel-time is the worst. I try to use car time to return calls and listen to satellite radio xm156; but still, in my home office, I have better control of potential distractions, and can really move through my task list! Thanks for another great post. You got me thinkin'!
~Dane
http://www.bionicbutler.com
twitter: @danenow

[CJarrow]

Great post, Lorie!

I like your thoughts on CAPTURE. This is one skill that I think is missing from most people's time management skills.

How often do people have to re-find something that they didn't write down? (Or ever worse, wrote down someplace they will never see it again...)

I love to use a Moleskine notebook as the "one place" that I capture all notes.

[Mike Vardy]

Lorie,

I had a chance to chat with Mr. Allen, who follows not only GTD, but EffTD.

Part one of the interview can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/EffTDGTD

I know you'll enjoy it. You pretty much ave to.

Eventually yours,
Mike Vardy

[Genny Esterline]

Fantastic blog! You always hit the nail right on the head...so to speak. "Capture" is key and patience in the process of determining what works best...alot of trial and error, which falls back to the "Correct." Just in scheduling my time I have found that I need to see the entire month on the wall or in my planner. I then use the daily pages of the planner for important notes about that day. It took time and trying many different types of planners to find what works best for me. I am a visual person. Out of sight, out of mind.

I love the idea of the Jott service (What a great tool!) and I think I am going to try it. Thank you!

Genny Esterline
www.connectionsforwomen.com

[Kat]

Wow, Lorie are you my twin? I am quite the rebel when it comes to daytimers. It turned me into a robot in 80s. I could not go anywhere without, without breaking
out in sweats. Then I went the other way when I recovered. ha

But that full day on my calendar with alot of appts just make me insane. I have a magic number anything more than four. If I end up with something more than that. I reschedule something. Otherwise, I have a frown inside all day.

Great blog...

Kat

[Ariane Benefit]

Absolutely!!! What you said

"I have come to believe is that time management is very personal and unique, as unique as a fingerprint, and unless you follow a customized system that works for your brain and your personality, it will never stick for long. I also think people may need to change their time management systems periodically because they get bored or their circumstances are different. One size does NOT fit all."

This sums up my philosophy PERFECTLY. I always develop custom systems for myself and codesign custom time systems with my clients..AND tech them how to sdjust it. It the underlying process of assessing needs that it MOST important to designing a time management system.

No offense to others' systems but especially creative people and ADDers need to design their own in order to bond with it.

It's also critical to use your calendar to capture things you WANT and love to do. Make intrisically reqarding to capture by making sure to have something FUN or to have completely unscheduled time to do things like read or meditate or nap. If you build in the good stuff...the have to stuff is easier to follow through on. : )

excellent and inspired post!

Rock on my sister!