How To Reclaim Your Time

Do you find yourself sinking under the blaze of busy? Are papers marching across your desk in such a mad frenzy that your mind is goes blank the moment you sit down? Ahhh. What to do? I face this challenge myself on a daily basis, and asked fellow Huffington Post blogger Karen Leland, author of Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day to share tools to untangle your day.

Write It Don't Fight It
All those undone items tug at you to get done today, or be as far off in the future as retirement. The trick is to gather them together by writing them down so that you don't have to waste valuable mental real estate trying to keep track of them.

Think of your brain as a computer hard drive - it can only hold so much memory. When a hard drive reaches it's capacity, it starts to slow down and wonky things happen. (What are your weary wonks? I know we will all get a laugh out of sharing them.) By capturing your open items on a list your brain is freed up to focus on what's in front of you right now. The ideas and to-do items that comprise these lists come from a variety of different sources including:

• Conversations with family, friends and business associates
• Something you read (book, magazine, business brief, research paper etc.)
• Items you receive in the mail (a brochure, invitation, pamphlet etc.)
• Emails
• Classes you take
• Conferences you attend
• Voicemail
• Professional groups you belong to
• Meetings you attend
• Your in-basket
• Your desktop
• Your file drawers
• Your closets, cupboards and cabinets

Just taking the time to capture all the open items in your life and write them down can dramatically improve your ability to focus and get things done. You can do this all in one sitting (in which case you will need at least a day) or in short spurts. Please do this and let me know how you feel at the end of the process. My bet is that you will feel far more focused and far less stressed. Please let me know!

Drain Your Brain
Go Through Your Spaces At Work and Home.
Look through your desk drawers, desktop, in-basket, closets, cupboards, shelves and file drawers and make a master to-do list of anything that needs to be done based on what you see. For example: As you look in your file drawer do you: Need to clean out last years financial file and store the receipts, make file folder labels for the most recently added documents, follow up with a potential client, whose business card you found stuck in one of the folders.

Go Through Your Electronic Spaces.
Look through your email in-box, PDA and voicemail messages and add any action items to the existing master to-do list that you are not going to handle immediately and are not recorded elsewhere. For example: An email from a colleague requesting you make a few changes to a report you wrote, a voice message from your brother about possible dates for a family reunion, an email from the professional association of crawfish-catchers announcing their annual crab feed fund raiser.

Go Through Your Brain
Look through your own mind and using the list above write down any relevant to-do items. Once you have done this final emptying out, you can keep this system squeaky clean by adding to your master to-do list anything that pops into your head.

Reinvention Tip:
Some people prefer to keep a master list of all these various and sundry to-do's and transfer them to a daily or weekly to-do list as needed. Others prefer a detailed breakdown of the master list into more defined categories.

Get Hands On Help:
Go to:http://www.amazon.com/Time-Management-Instant-Career-Press/dp/160163014X to get more information.

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Eli Davidson is a nationally recognized executive coach and motivational speaker. Her book, "Funky to Fabulous: Surefire Success Stories for the Savvy, Sassy and Swamped", (Oak Grove Publishing) has won three national book awards. Eli is a reinvention catalyst, who can transform your professional and personal life from Funky to Fabulous with her ten, trademarked Turnaround Techniques that create rapid and remarkable results. Check out her blog at http://funkytofabulous.blogspot.com/

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Comments

[Robert Siciliano - Huffpost Blogger]

Great stuff Eli,
Im a master list person myself. I use paper and the "notes" app in my iphone.
Robert Siciliano

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Robert,
I am a huge fan of your work and there are days I could marry my iphone!

[ConnieKadansky]

Time Management is really self-management. When I am truly "on purpose" I am able to focus on essential activities versus non-essentials. It's easy to get diverted when I am "off purpose." There are many interesting diversions that can capture my attention.

I believe it is important to have complete free time, preferably at least one 24-hour period of time each week, to be able to just rejuvenate and feed our creative side, i.e., draw, play piano, try a new recipe, go for a walk, lay out in the sun, etc. This was part of the www.strategiccoach.com entrepreneurial "time" management system. Practicing it made a huge difference in my enjoyment of life!

(Eli: we met at National Speakers Convention. Thank you for inviting me into your space!!)

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi There,
I am such a fan of what you are up and a huge fan of your work!

I wish everyone in America followed your advice. "Taking one 24-hour period of time each week, to be able to just rejuvenate and feed our creative side, i.e., draw, play piano, try a new recipe, go for a walk, lay out in the sun, etc."
Please share more of you wisdom with all of us!

[tedled]

... eating less food, which jesus & ghandi & dick gregory called "fasting" actually quickens my body/mind' functioning, which results in more time to do stuff ... this is what atheletes call "the zone", when the ball seems to get bigger and slow down so that one has "more time" to make the play ... scientists call it "caloric-r­estriction­" instead of "fasting", but it's the same thing ... try it ... that's the only way to know fer sure ...

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Hmmm, This is certainly the most unique take on my post....

[Norge]

Use your time to breath.
Use your time to live your life.
View the plants, trees and have a slow relaxed stroll through the forest or along the shore.
Reflect on the work the plants, insects do for us so we can continue our mad rush to no where.

Disconnect the tv and turn on so classical, gentle soft carressing music which will almost put you to sleep for a while.

Organize your life around that which first prioritizes yourself and your family.
Be with your children, your loved ones, family members who are sick when need be.

Prioritize your family above all else for if the hard times knocks on your door
the firm or boss at the job do not prioritize you in actual reality
even though they may put out a lot of hot air to the effect.
For you are just another screw in their system
and if they reorganize and and no longer have a need
for a few screws

They will not pay your bills.

Live your life, do not just exist for the job or firm or slave masters.

Your life belongs to yourself and is the most valuable gift you will ever receive.
One element of your life is Time and it is your time and do not let others
convince you they deserve it more than you for their own perposes.

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Dearest Norge,
My prayer is that everyone not only ready your comment...but lives it.

My life was quiet different when I unplugged the TV. That tip alone can give anyone a fresh perspective on life.

Putting those you love first is the only answer to true happiness.

THANK YOU!
Eli

[Norge]

Eli,

Lovely of you to respond with such kindness.

Thank you
From Norge

[GhostwriterDoF]

People don’t manage time, Eli. They manage tasks within a time frame. And the great appeal of the to-do list is the sense of accomplishment we get, both in creating a list and crossing things off that list. Yet, by compiling a to-do list we are simply outlining a basic plan.

Everyone has a system of living and a set of principles to guide them as they stumble through life, whether they are aware of it or not. As creatures of habit, we take great comfort in having a plan to follow but, as thinking beings, we tend to complicate things more than we ought to.

Planning and prioritizing is already a natural part of creating a to-do list. It is also a good idea to leave some flexibility in our plans, to account for those things unforeseen that daily life brings, amidst the epidemics of chaos and stresses associated with modern living. Through a sense of order, we can find ourselves more focused, and more productive towards achieving our goals and realizing our dreams, especially when we are on top of our game, rather than being buried by it.

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

What terrific points. A sense of order is certainly something that many of us (including me) crave.

That calm zen that we reach when we are in our center is by far the most productive place. If you have more insights, I hope you will share them.

Best,
Eli Davidson

[GhostwriterDoF]

In time, Eli,

in time...

measurement
by minutes seconds and hours
our lives
with the sun moon and stars
the seasons
on weeks months and years
a calendar

existence
by past present and future
our being
through growth and change
the path
in beginning and ending
a lifetime

cognizance
of the universe and its movements
a journey
through eternity and immortality
the secret
counting fleeting moments
our bane

'tis an old poem I wrote but, it fits the tone of the conversation well.
A sense of order can be defined by the mind but, contentment is found in the heart.
Paul .G. Rose

[AZ4thatone]

First thing to do... Step away from the computer!

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Yes indeed!!!!

[pragmaticdallasite]

Can't.....­..step....­...away...­.....life.­.....passi­ng.......m­e......by.­.......

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Eli!
Great job, and you are reading my mind! I have a post coming up on Sunday, that is all about how we are "obsessed with busy."

I love the practical tips--- how about a few for busy mom's during summer vacation? Kids are so used to being "busy" all day long, the transition to summer can be brutal with constant interruptions of, "I'm BORED!"
Trying to have a coherent thought is a true challenge! ha ha.

Take care
Kari

[Davia King]

Eli this is so true....I have tried it. Its all about simplifying our lives, thank you for the reminder!

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey Davia,
I love your hat...and your wisdom!

[Carolyn Rubenstein - Huffpost Blogger]

Great post - thank you for sharing really great tips that can be put into action immediately! I think my strongest point of stress comes with "electronic clutter" that I can't see pile up, but it's still there. I am more of a paper person and like the idea of removing little nagging items from my electronic files to a "master list." Definitely going to try :).

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Egads! I must admit moving my electronic files to a "master list." is sure on my list!

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Eli,

A valuable post, thank you. These are good reminders and I know they work well.

I have found a really useful and similar system through David Allen's Getting Things Done. I track projects and tasks and each week, review and revise what I am doing. In this way, I stay in touch with what is important to me and move each item along. Some things lose importance and I let them go.

Keeping track makes for much greater peace of mind and space to be creative with my life. These things are simple to do and in my experience, make a big difference.

With love,
Anne

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

You bring up such an incredibly profound point! So many American's have an addiction to...stress! My take on this is that if people are rushing they use that to numb themselves from the emotional pain of being present.

Thank you for the terrific tip. I am going to push back and take a walk before lunch.

Best,
Eli

[Carolyn Rubenstein - Huffpost Blogger]

Definitely agree! Love your comment that "if people are rushing they use that to numb themselves from the emotional pain of being present." So very true!

[sixyfivepercentwater]

My ex had "time management issues." He used to buy book after book about organization, etc. but he never had time to read them. He was always late, always stressed out, could never manage to be present in the now. In short, he was absent from his own life.

I used to worry about him, to try to help him, and finally I begged him to change. Then I realized he was continually making choices which perpetuated the crisis that was his life. At any point he could have pushed back from all of it and taken a walk, but that would have felt wrong to him. He was choosing to live a chaotic, cluttered, whirlwind of a life for his own reasons, and even his continual cries for help were part of his choice. Like so many Americans, he chose to be always at his wits' end and to continually complain about it, because he felt deep down that this made him Mr. Important, Mr. Big Shot. He had no real interest in changing, and if he had wanted things to be different they would have been.

His discomfort zone had become his comfort zone. I identified my comfort zone and moved on.