It has become almost universally acknowledged that time management of some form is essential to our success. It is something we do almost without question. There are several ways to manage our time. Each one of these has its benefits and drawbacks. Some focus on lists, some on calendars, some on goals, some on values, and some focus on productivity.

The Tools of Time Management

  • Lists
  • Calendars
  • Goals
  • Values
  • Mission Statements
  • Vision Statements

Lists are a simple way to see what to accomplish in a time insensitive way. A list can be used for an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year. Use your list wisely, as a poorly managed list can cause you to feel burned out by unaccomplished items.

A calendar is a good tool for tracking time sensitive items. Some people may like seeing a full calendar, and so they mark out work, or other generic blocks of time. Some people will only mark specific meetings on their calendar.

Values, Goals, and Statements.

Unlike lists, and calendars values, goals, and statements are closely intertwined. Values are your deepest motivations. Sometimes they are concrete, and sometimes they are not. When you define your values you can keep them in your mind with mission and vision statements.

My mission and vision statements have a habit of popping up in the front of my mind when I might make a poor decision. This has helped me continue on my path of development.

Goals grow out of values. Not all the goals you get asked to help fulfill will be your own. You may have work goals, which you do not really care about, but you will do your best to fulfill them. In some planning methodologies no distinction is made between your own goals, these others. They come up with ways to help you be most efficient wherever you are. In some methods you are taught to internalize the outside goals, and make them important to you.

Why Do All of This

Time management in all of its forms is our attempt to make the most of our time. If we leave to chance what to do next, then it’s just as likely that we will watch cartoons as write a book we want to write, or clean our home, or any number of things. All of the most successful people have always known what they meant to do and worked goal after goal and task after task to do it. There are variants of the tools which might be helpful, or ideas to help yourself be successful when using them, but if you think about your values, and use them to add items to your calendar and task list you will be better off than others who grope for what to do next.