Manage your time

There are a ton of books and systems you can use for time management but none of them are particularly practical in my view. There are two problems with them. First, most time management pros focus on individual contributors as opposed to managers who must both manage and do.

Second, few of the systems recognize the fact that most of us take notes in meeting and “to do” items get embedded in these meeting notes not written neatly in the appropriate place in our organizers, be it the paper version or the latest, greatest digital gadget.

The system I use solves both these problems.

• Take notes as you usually do. Leave the left-hand margin blank. Whenever there is an action item for you or someone on your team, put an arrow in the margin like the picture
• If the action item is for you, add the due date for the deliverable beneath the arrow
• If the action item is for someone else on your team, put the initials of the person you are delegating to above the arrow
• When you get back to your desk (post meeting) transfer all the to do items to your organizer … and check off the action item from your meeting notes.

BTW, The check doesn’t mean you’ve finished the action item but that you’ve transferred into the system you use for tracking purposes.

Now, you’ve got a complete listing in one place of everything you have to do, including stuff you intend to delegate to others.

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