| It is about 10:55 PM on a Tuesday night and I just got | | | | from 1 to 2 pm. Those designated times would be |
| up out of bed. It wasn't really my idea, but after a nice | | | | strictly for phone calls and e-mail. Outside of those |
| evening of relaxing after a long day, we realized there | | | | times, the away message was on in outlook and the |
| was one thing we forgot and it had a deadline of | | | | answering machine takes the calls. Other regular |
| midnight. Since we work together and play together, | | | | events got scheduled for their own mini-days and |
| both of us got out of bed (I won't pretend we jumped | | | | meetings and things were scheduled (when possible) |
| out of bed) and trudged to the office to complete the | | | | into certain times as well. |
| final task. | | | | This methodology allowed me (and others) to keep |
| It's not my task, it's my wife's, but true to our | | | | focus. A problem with all the multi-tasking that goes on |
| partnership and its unwritten rules, I am up, and so my | | | | nowadays is that people start things and never finish |
| time isn't wasted, here's an article on time | | | | them, or the start things, and then when they get back |
| management. Lately I have noticed that I don't have | | | | to them it takes ten to fifteen minutes (or more) to |
| the focus I had while I was working a traditional job. My | | | | regain focus and really get productive. With mini-days, |
| wake up call was drifting a bit later, and my bedtime | | | | you knew the start and stop time and that allowed |
| was also drifting back. As a disciple of Ben Franklin I | | | | freedom. |
| was dangerously past the "early to bed early to rise" | | | | That was back before computers were really used |
| stage. Not good. | | | | much and now with productivity software you can |
| Luckily I am also evaluating a new software package | | | | really break down projects into steps and break those |
| called Work Time Studio. Will this be the cure for my | | | | down into tasks and really laser focus on specific |
| lack of focus? I can only hope. | | | | items. I am thinking I'll really like the software once I get |
| In my book, Someone Else's Tomorrow, I talk about | | | | used to how it operates. |
| mini-days. Mini days is a concept I ran across many | | | | Time management software is nothing new. I used MS |
| years ago and it really works. Basically it involves | | | | Project years ago and it was somewhat intuitive, but I |
| taking your work day and its various components and | | | | am hoping the new package makes my day even |
| breaking them down into mini days. For example, | | | | more productive as I move forward. |
| communications might be from 9 to 10 am and again | | | | |