June 17, 2008
The Mic is On: It’s About Time Management!
Liz published this at 7:00 pm
It’s Like Open Mic Only Different
Here’s how it works.
It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.
There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.
Let’s start with:
- How do we track our time?
- What makes us lose track of it?
- Do we bill by the hour?
- Do we lose money when we do that?
- How do we make sure we have time for things we want to do?
And, we’ll talk about whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)
Oh, and bring links about time management to share!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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238 Comments to “The Mic is On: It’s About Time Management!”
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Becky McCray said
It’s time to start!
Joe said
Did I manage my time properly?
Am I first?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hiya!
Just in time!!
My son is going to Machu Pichu this year too!!
Tammy Lenski said
Hey Liz! Happy evening. I’m glad to get to participate tonight…a rarity for me.
Some quick answers to your opening questions: I bill by the hour. I bill at a robust enough rate that I don’t lose money billing that way.
I make time for what’s important by doing it first when I can (running first thing in the morning, for instance, or doing important projects first thing in the day), or scheduling it in my calendar and making it sacred.
Rick Cockrum said
Hey! I’m on time. Hi Becky. Hi Liz.
Joe said
Awwwww.:-( Becky beat me to the punch.
I gotta look at my time management all over again.
Tammy Lenski said
Hiya, Becky! I’d love to hear your thoughts on time management.
Becky McCray said
Liz, wow! What a deal! I’ll share lots of pics to help get him excited.
Joe said
Not exactly time management, more about wasting it. http://workingathomeinternet.com/WP/2008/06/17/two-addictive-business-tools-you-will-love-to-hate/
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Tammy!
I like the way you think . . . and the way you bill!
Rick Cockrum said
Machu Pichu. I hope he has the time of his life.
Becky McCray said
Tammy, I’m the last person to talk time management. But I am off searching my archives to see if I ever thought I knew something!
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Rick!
Congratulations on all of the things that have been filling up your time!
Tammy Lenski said
Becky – I don’t buy that at all!
You get too much cool stuff done not to have some insights.
Liz, I suspect you’ve got incredible wisdom for us on this. Want to offer up a tidbit from your own coffers? How do you bill?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hey everyone, what a timely topic. Right now I’m frustrated with one commitment. Although it pays some, it is taking lots of time, so I have less time to focus on opportunities that might make more. Make sense?
ME Liz Strauss said
Joe,
No worries. You’ve got everyone beat on comment management.
Tammy Lenski said
Ok, let’s talk about good tools. I love Remember the Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com) and Backpack (http://www.backpackit.com) in tandem to manage time and projects. And I use FreshBooks (http://www.freshbooks.com) for invoicing.
What do you all use and like? Why?
Trisha said
Hello everyone!
Rick Cockrum said
Thank you, Liz. The best one, my daughter getting married, is now over. The feeling of relaxation is overpowering.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Tammy,
My wisdom is slow in coming. I find it’s easiest to set prices based on what the work is worth, rather than time. Based on time means if I get good at something — faster and more efficient — I get paid less.
Becky McCray said
This classic isn’t so much about time management as much as it is about FOCUS. I really should re-read and renew this idea:
http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/2006/03/focus.html
And speaking of renewing, everyone should read this gem by Jon Swanson:
http://levite.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/renew-what-matters/
Hmmmm… two links. I predict this will get held by the spam filter!
ME Liz Strauss said
Ha!
Becky, it looks like Akismet was eavesdropping on you and let it through without a hitch.
Tammy Lenski said
Liz, that’s interesting to me. If I get fast and good at something because I’ve done it a lot, I give my client the benefit of that and am sure to tell them. They get “off the shelf” value…but I can also take that work and personalize it to their particular needs, which many of them want me to do, so I don’t end up underselling by the hour. Maybe our different work arenas don’t compare well, though! Can you give me an example?
Becky McCray said
Ha! How cool. Can’t believe it worked. Must be my going-away present.
Joe said
Sent an invite to @duncanriley on Twitter to see if he’d like to join the convo.
Hope ya don’t mind.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Glenda,
Are you having the time of your life?
Trisha said
My computer isn’t working right, I’m going to come back a little later.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Hello everyone! Time management is something that I absolutely have no skill at managing.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Not at the moment, Liz.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Hey Glenda, are you talking about the same gig that we share?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Trisha! Bye Trisha!
Becky McCray said
Is it fulfilling? Will it lead to more profitable work in the future? Are you happy with it?
Tammy Lenski said
Becky, I like your focus post a lot. It reminded me that I set goals for the next day before I head out of the office each afternoon. I keep them front and center so I’m more likely to reach them. Never more than 1-2 big ones. Not tasks, goals. It mostly (but not always) works.
Do you set goals for days or weeks or quarters or…?
Rick Cockrum said
On a day-to-day basis, one of the best time management techniques I’ve found is to just do one thing at a time. It’s more difficult than it seems with everything vying for our attention.
The Delusion of Multitasking
Tammy Lenski said
Hey, Karen, how are you?
Tammy Lenski said
Ooops…getting dark here. Gotta go walk the dogs before the bears come out. Back in a few.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Hi Tammy, I’m doing well, how are you?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Karen, yep! I’ve been working on two posts for two days. Just published one and discovered the publish date was yesterday, when I first saved it, so it won’t show up in the New Posts list. What’s the point?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hey Karen,
How are you?!!
Is that project with Glenda gaining speed?
Scot Herrick said
Ah! The war between focus and trivial technology distractions is what time management is all about. Where’s Twitter?
Becky McCray said
Tammy, I set annual goals, then use my general focus areas to try to remember what’s important. I need to improve! Time for that mid-year review, me thinks.
ME Liz Strauss said
Glenda,
You can change the post date can’t you?
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Glenda, just cut and paste into a new post and delete the old one. I’ve done that before.
Liz, the project is slow because of um, time management.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Back in a bit, folks. I’ll finish this second post, then I might be in a better headspace to hang out with friends. Sorry.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Scot!
You could start a war by saying Twitter is trivial. (Though most might admit it’s a distraction.)
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
ooo, Karen, that’s sneaky. I love it.
ME Liz Strauss said
Glenda,
That’s not sneaky. That’s creative problem solving at it’s best!
ME Liz Strauss said
I’m a little frustrated by what I think of as Internet time.
Folks say that they’ll help me learn something. These are folks I’ve helped in the past, soon as they ask. Then weeks go by and I still can’t find anyone who’s got the time to show me how. I hear “I can show you that in 20 minutes,” but they don’t.
Tammy Lenski said
Scot, Liz, et al – Twitter is a distraction, yes. And addictive. I’ve started giving myself distraction prizes (like Twitter time) when I accomplish something I set out to. Just a stupid psych trick, but it seems to be working. Still get sucked into Twitter sometimes, though.
Chris Brogan’s comment about Twitter at SOBCon helped me a lot. Someone asked him how he keeps track of the large number of folks he follows. His response was something like, “I don’t. I view it more as a stream that I plug into here and there.” It helped me because it taught me I don’t really need to go back pages and pages to see where conversations started. Now I just pick up where I enter and let the rest go.
How do the rest of you manage the Twitter allure?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Yesss, that worked. Thanks Karen! I’m feeling better now.
ME Liz Strauss said
Glenda masters time before our eyes!!
Tammy Lenski said
Liz, do you think it’s because people really don’t feel they have the time or because they were probably exaggerating with the “20 minutes” estimate, and now they’re avoiding?
Joe said
Question for all, do amy of you have open tabs for Twitter and/or Plurk Right Now?
Is it good time mgt or a distraction from the convo at hand?
Becky McCray said
Liz, that’s important stuff. And probably a symptom of a couple of underlying causes: they are inconsiderate, and just maybe you aren’t pushy enough??
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Tammy,
I’m a lot like Chris on the Twitter thing. Sometimes I have it on and just look over. Sometimes I throw a comment in and forget to look for a response that might come back . . . On the weekends sometimes I go there to play.
Rick Cockrum said
Glenda discovers time travel!
Tammy – I’ve managed Twitter’s allure by not getting involved with it.:)
Tammy Lenski said
Joe – No. I use Twhirl, which I only open up when I think I have time to Twitter. If I opened Twitter in another tab I’d have to wrestle — my — hands — away — arghhh!!! — from clicking on — that tab.
Marti said
Good evening!
Rick Cockrum said
Hi Marti!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Tammy, I think of Twitter as water cooler chatter. I hear bits n pieces as I pass by during the day. But there’s no way I can stay all day or I’d get nothing done.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
No problem, Glenda, I’ll send you the bill in the next email.
Oh wait, dang, I owe you money for all the tips you gave me before!
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
I love Twitter– I never had access to a water cooler before.
Marti said
I’m afraid Twitter has become a casualty of my time management – LOL
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Hi Marti– how’s the hubby doing?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Marti!
Welcome back to the comments of your life!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Yeah, a nifty time travel trick! Hmm, how often could I do that with one post? {evil grin}
Joe said
Gotta take clothes out of the dryer, right back.
Marti said
Hi Karen (and everyone)
Thanks for asking.
Husband is seeing slow but steady progress. He is walking with a walker now, but the left arm is still pretty paralyzed. He has some movement from his shoulder but can’t use his hand. But we are hopeful it will come back with time.
God bless all of you who have sent me encouraging notes and tweets.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Karen, call it even!
ME Liz Strauss said
OMG!! Do you think Joe’s been Nekked as a jaybird all of this time?!!
Marti said
LOL re: Nekked Joe
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
re 47 Liz, what kinds of things do you need a hand learning? Perhaps we could use this time efficiently and cross a couple of things of your to-learn list tonight.
Joe said
Funny!
ME Liz Strauss said
How to build a landing page on a WordPress blog.
Marti said
Regarding time management, I find I have to actually write out a schedule – then stick to it, and give myself little rewards for sticking to it. For example, I told myself I could come to chat if I got the north side of the yard mowed (and I did, so here I am)
Joe said
Only took 4 comments to do that, it takes at least 10 to put clothes ON!
Tammy Lenski said
Liz, what specifically do you need to know about building a landing page?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hey Marti, how are you doing? I was thinking of you yesterday while watching an interview with a dr who had a stroke. Quite insightful.
ME Liz Strauss said
Marti!
That reward system thing works with just about everyone I know. I do it all of the time. I think some of the magic of it is that it gets us to chop big tasks into smaller ones.
ME Liz Strauss said
Tammy,
I’ve got the copy. I need the tech.
Beth Kanter said
I find that a lot of social media conversations can make me loose track of time. So, I time box. If the task is open-ended, I take out the kids’ old time out timer and set it for an hour or 15 minutes or whatever – do the open-ended task and when the bell goes off – try to stop.
But I also give myself chunks of time to do the exploration, pivot browsing, serependity conversations that is social media ..
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Liz, in your WordPress, can you create a page vs a post?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Beth!
I like to do things to beat the clock. Maybe I’m a competitor at heart.
Joe said
Liz, what ARE you looking for? It doesn’t sound like you are asking for something too difficult.
Marti said
Thanks for asking, Glenda. I am hanging in there. I take it one day, sometimes one hour at a time. I have learned that I raised very resilient children, who are capable of propping me up when I am sinking. And that I have wonderful friends (like all of you!)
Tammy Lenski said
Ok, Liz, I can probably help with the WordPress tech. What do you need to know?
ME Liz Strauss said
Tammy, let me go look at your site and I’ll tell you.
ME Liz Strauss said
I also need experience behind some decisions I have to make.
Marti said
Yes, Liz…breaking down tasks to smaller, manageable bites is SO important. The reward you promise yourself doesn’t have to be big, it can be a Klondike bar, or 10 minutes at Twitter.
Tammy Lenski said
Liz, here’s a landing page as a sample, in case it’s helpful:
http://conflictzen.com/events/twitter/
ME Liz Strauss said
Tammy,
it’s too complicated for the comment box.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Liz, there’s a check box somewhere in WP where you can select a page as the landing page.
We did this with our IL HV blog, but I can’t remember exactly how we accessed that info…
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Marti, I’m only an email away if you ever need a shoulder. With your hubby, does he still have his speech and cognition? Is it mainly the physical that has been affected?
Joe said
Liz,I don’t know if I can assist or not, but you know all you have to do is ask.
Tammy Lenski said
Liz, call me. I’m at home. I’ll email you the number. I’m up late tonight because Rod’s taking the red-eye from Chi-town and not home ’til 1 a.m. I’ll be up at least another couple of hours.
ME Liz Strauss said
Karen,
I know there is a place like that, but I cna’t remember either where it is or in what version it started.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Marti, glad to hear that the hubby is recovering. Hope that the arm function improves.
ME Liz Strauss said
Karen,
It’s on this Option page
Reading Options
Front PageFront page displays:
Your latest posts
A static page (select below)
Joe said
Liz, on WP…
Dashboard
Options
Reading
Pick Static Page, but be sure the page exists already.
I think it started on v2.5
ME Liz Strauss said
thanks, Joe!
I need to upgrade the blog I want to get this on.
Marti said
Yes Glenda, his speech is almost perfect (the left side of his mouth droops just a bit) and his thinking is clear. They gave him memory tests and such and he did fine. It seems to be more motor skills than anything.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
That’s it!
Rick Cockrum said
I think the static front page option started in version 2.1.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Rick!
Of course, the blog is on 2.0.3
Tammy Lenski said
Liz, are you wanting a static front page or a landing page?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
THAT is good to hear, Marti. There are ways around the physical, tho its still a pain in the butt!
ME Liz Strauss said
I’m wanting a landing page.
I’m writing you an email right now.
Marti said
Do many of you find you have an aversion to making lists and schedules, or do you embrace them?
Marti said
Thank you Glenda! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends.
Rick Cockrum said
Marti – Loose lists and loose schedules work best for me. Anything more turns into a straitjacket.
Tammy Lenski said
Marti, I make lists, but I think list-making is a stylistic thing.
A few years ago my husband decided he’d start to make to-do lists like mine. About a week later I started finding weird globs in the bottom of the washing machine. We finally realized they were his to-do lists! He’d make a list, put it in his pocket, and never look at it again! He decided list-making was just not going to work for him. And the washing machine thanked him.
Marti said
Rick – Loose lists sink ships (LOL)
Tammy – the washing machine thanked him – that’s funny!
Joe said
Marti, it’s hard to make a To-Do list when every call I get seems to be an emergency. Everyone thinks their problem is more important than someone elses. (but they don’t want to pay extra for it)
Marti said
Joe, I can see your point. Setting priorities must be a constant battle.
Oh darn, my phone is ringing, be back soon…..
Tammy Lenski said
Joe, it sounds like you’re thinking of your to-do lists as static beings. I think of mine as organic and always changing, based on the re-prioritizing I do as clients call with pressing issues. I probably re-order my list several times a day.
ME Liz Strauss said
One thing that works for me is to make a list of what I think I can accomplish in about 2/3 of a day. I know the rest will be taken up with other interruptions. If it’s not, I feel ahead of the game.
Joe said
Marti, you are too funny/
Tammy, you are probably right, I just find it difficult to prioritize sometimes. I keep answering the darn phone!
Rick Cockrum said
Joe – that’s why they invented answering machines!
Tammy Lenski said
Joe, that’s why your clients love you. You’re accessible. And helpful. It’s a curse, though, in some ways!
Joe said
You’re right Rick, but if someone’s computer crashes, the LAST thing they want to hear is my VM.
Joe said
It’s tuff being a nice guy Tammy, but somebody’s gotta do it.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
I have lists, but I can’t find them.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
I am with Rick on loose – maybe that is why I generally feel like I’m drowning. I had an organizer figured out in excel that worked pretty well – til I got too busy to keep it up or something.
For me, most of that stuff is in my head because it takes me so much time and energy to write it all down and track it. I know what I want/need to do each day. It’s when things take much longer than I thought and then I get behind of my schedule. That is when I get frustrated and have a meltdown.
Joe said
Karen, I have plenty of extras I never had time to get to, want some?
Marti said
OK, grandma just got un-prioritized – LOL
(reminding me for the fifth time today that she has a doctor appointment in the morning.)
Yup, got it grandma, bye…LOL
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
ah, Karen, still dealing with office organization thing?
Clutter – another time zapper.
ME Liz Strauss said
Clutter in the mind and on the desk . . . slows us down.
Tammy Lenski said
Marti, I guess grandmas always have to come first. When I was a little kid the New York State police were always bringing my grandmother home…after picking her up for hitchhiking. My mother would have to stop whatever she was doing to explain to the officer that gran liked hitchhiking and the if he wanted her to stop, he’d have to figure out how to convince her. She lived to be 89, hitchhiking almost daily. Maybe the grandma you mentioned could hitchhike to her doctor appointment … ?!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Marti, at least she remembered.
Joe said
Glenda, I have a way of dealing with clutter.
I get out of the “office” and sit outside in the sunshine (or in this case, the Tiki lamps) with the Lappy!
Rick Cockrum said
As you say Joe, everyone thinks their problem is the most important thing in the world, and to them, it is. But if they don’t want to pay for the privilege of having their problem treated as the emergency they think it it, you’re doing a disservice to your other customers who were already ahead of them in line and to yourself in terms of loosing time due to continual task switching.
I’m not saying never answer the phone, but if you’re already involved in income producing labor, it costs you money to do so.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Although Liz, I know where everything on my desk is.
Tammy Lenski said
Joe, I have a way of dealing with clutter too. It’s called my husband’s home office. Where he can clutter to his heart’s content.
Charlene said
Hi all. There are some Virgos in the office who are great at list making and management. Me, a Cancer, I’m not so good at lists.
Marti said
Karen, I started making my lists on index cards because my purse has a little pocket they fit in. Plus it forces me to break things down more. Which is good, because a shorter list is easier to finish and feel that wonderful sense of accomplishment from.
jes said
Wow this is great! I’m absolutely horrible at tracking my time. There’s a song where “minutes turn to hours into days and weeks, months” and before you know it POOF it’s all a blur anyway.
DAYDREAMING and Technology (mail, podcasts, social websites, blogs) is where I lose it. My issue is just starting. So I have Dr. Neil Fiore’s “The Now Habit” & David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” on referral by Merlin Mann at 43folders.com. Yet my issue is Starting.
Oh and Julie Morgenstern & her daughter Jessie have a great book for teens on organizing. Helps me greatly! http://tinyurl.com/3lcc3p
ok the vicious cycle’s starting. going to pzizz myself to sleep. i’ll catch up later…maybe..oh, indecisiveness.
It’s all medical..
Sprite said
Hi Liz!
You mean time management, like when I’m in a multi-tasking frenzy, .. or like now, when I ate 2 cream puffs instead of one so I wouldn’t have to waste time later to come back & eat the other? *grins**hugs*
Depending on what I’m doing, I bill by the piece of work or by the minute.
Charlene said
Does anyone put something they’ve already done on the to-do list just to experience the thrill of crossing it off?
Melissa Perce said
Ha! Anyone who knows me online knows that I mark time on twitter. If I can go back through my archive, I can remember what I’ve done, need to get done, and things that I’m interested in possibly doing. If it weren’t for twitter, my day would be marked by when my children are awake, asleep, playing and bathing!
Rick Cockrum said
The index cards are a great idea, Marti, ala the hipster pda
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Joe, I’ll pass– I’m drowning with Glenda.
Becky McCray said
Jon Swanson is doing a post on index cards tomorrow! It will be at http://levite.wordpress.com/
Marti said
Oh Tammy, your grandma sounds like a hoot! (Although I’m sure your mother didn’t see it that way – LOL)
Sadly, I am grandma’s keeper…errr…caregiver. She has Parkinson’s. But with gas prices, we may both start hitchhiking – LOL
Your grandma sounds like ripe material for a memoir….
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Now see, Marti, I can’t find index cards…
Joe said
Rick, I recently started a “retainer” service where they actually feel they have the right to 24/7 service.
Not the case, but that’s what they think (and I already have their money) so I DO have to take some of those calls. Most are solved in one sentence answers, so it’s not always a problem now.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
I’ve got so much clutter in my head that my brain hurts.
ME Liz Strauss said
Sorry to Jes, Sprite, and Melissa, You comments got caught in the spam filter. Have no understanding why.
Welcome if you’re still out there!
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Charlene!
How’s your time flying by?
Tammy Lenski said
‘night folks. Thanks for the fun and conversation.
Charlene said
Liz – you are on my to do list for tomorrow (grin). For now, running outta battery power so have to sign off I’m afraid. Good luck to everyone who bills by the hour (or minute) and I love the g-ma memoir idea!
Becky McCray said
Tammy, good night. Thanks for asking such great questions.
ME Liz Strauss said
Thank you, Tammy.
You gave me more information than anyone has in weeks . . .
Tammy Lenski said
Marti, my mom did write a story about it before she (mom) passed away: Great Great Grandma, Where Are You?
Rick Cockrum said
Good night, Tammy.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Karen, Darrell has found electronic post-its that “stick” to his desktop. Would that help?
Tammy Lenski said
You’re welcome, Liz. Call me tomorrow morning if you still have questions. I’ll be home. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
I have AOL reminders that I use– they pop up. Problem is, I don’t use it all the time!
Rick Cockrum said
Bye Charlene.
I’m off, too. Thank you all. It’s good to see everyone again.
You have a good problem to have, Joe.
Good night, Liz. Thank you for the evening.
Marti said
Thanks for the link, Rick – that’s a great article!
—
Karen, step one is to get a purse with a pocket inside.
Step two is to buy index cards.
Step three is to buy a pencil with an eraser.
Step four is to place the cards and pencil in the pocket.
Step five is to write notes to yourself on the cards and keep them in the pocket.
Step six is to read and follow the notes.
Step seven is to reward yourself every time you finish a task on a notecard.
—
Becky, that is awesome, I will look for Jon’s post!
—
Goodnight Tammy – great chatting with you!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
There’s always writing on your hand, Karen!
Becky McCray said
Goodnight, Rick!
ME Liz Strauss said
Bye Charlene!
Bye Rick!
Glad to have you here again!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
G’night Rick.
ME Liz Strauss said
#163!!
Great comment Glenda!
Marti said
Bye Rick, always a delight to chat with you.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Ok Marti, now I have to go find my purse!
Marti said
Best wishes to you Karen!
Joe said
Liz, is that right, #comment 1002643?
That’s an awful LOT of comments!
ME Liz Strauss said
Karen!
I have to go find money to buy a purse.
Marti said
I think making it part of your routine is the hardest thing. I had to force myself to set a time of day (for me first thing in the morning) to check the bank balance, make lists, pay bills, etc. It is a habit after a week or so of “forcing” yourself to do it.
Marti said
Liz, check your local thrift store for a fabulous vintage purse. Saves money and recycles!
Joe said
Most of my list is not even a list, it has just become a habit. Most of it has to do with just waking up in the morning and seeing what needs to be addressed through the day.
After I am awake is when I need a list of priorities.
But it is also when the calls start.
Maybe I should make a list for clients to follow?
ME Liz Strauss said
Routine is important to time management. So is fitting the time of day and your energy kevel to the tasks you’re working on.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Liz, I thought you were a six-figure blogger!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Marti, you pay bills every morning? Boy, I don’t have that much money! Once a month is tough enough.
Becky McCray said
I like the advice to set aside time each evening to create the 6 Most Important Things List for the *next* day. When I used it, I found it worked. Why, I wonder, am I not using it now?
ME Liz Strauss said
Karen!
You confuse me with Mr. Rowse.
Strauss, Rowse. I know they sound alike, but they’re not.
Marti said
Oh Glenda, you are in quite good form tonight! No, it only feels like there is a bill to pay every day – LOL! But I do keep a list of when they come due, and I mark each one as “paid” when it is. Plus I can budget for the upcoming ones.
ME Liz Strauss said
Becky,
If I had to do 6 things every day, I think I’d give it up before I start. I’ll only commit to three at tops.
Marti said
Becky, making it a habit is the most difficult part…..
Give yourself a reward for every day you do it.
—
Liz, LOL on Strauss/Rowse
ME Liz Strauss said
It’s making a promise to yourself to keep up with a plan you to make.
Marti said
Well folks, time for me to turn in. Gotta prioritize sleep too – LOL
Thank you all for your warm thoughts and prayers, and for all of the great tips on time management.
May peace and joy bless all of your lives.
Hugs and love….
Becky McCray said
Good night, Marti. Always great to see you. All the best to you, and your loved ones.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Marti, that still sounds like too much work and too much focus on bills. I stick them in a folder as they arrive, pay them at one time, and file done. And check the balance twice a month before the mortgage come out – plus a few more times if necessary.
But, really, it comes down to whatever method works for you. For Karen, it may be post-its on her forehead for her kids to remind her!
Trisha said
anyone still here?
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
LOL Liz, you’ll catch up to that Rowse guy one day soon.
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Glenda, all of my bills are auto-pay for that reason–I would forget to pay them!
ME Liz Strauss said
Good night, Marti!
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Trisha!
How’s that computer!
Marti said
You are right Glenda. Each person has to find a system that works for them. Thanks again for everything!
G’night!
ME Liz Strauss said
Hey Karen,
I forget to pay them too.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Oh gosh, Karen, I’m starting to wonder about you! Now I understand about the ebook.
Joe said
Yet another Tuesday Night
Where I learned really useful stuff
And got much more than I gave
Which leaves me in a position so tuff
Paying back the friends that do give
With such vim and vivor and added fluff
This is why I am here each week
Because these friends give more than enough
And when stupid questions are asked
They are not the least bit gruff
But will always be there
For each and every one of us.
Burma Shave
Nite Liz
Nite All
Trisha said
It was a couple of blogspot blogs that I had open.. I closed them and then everything started working fine
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
G’night Joe.
Trisha said
the weather was so perfect here tonight I kept wanting just to go outside and so something, but I didn’t know what
ME Liz Strauss said
Good night, Joe
sleepy swell!!
Trisha said
‘do’ something that was supposed to be
ME Liz Strauss said
Hey Trisha,
Glad it was just blogspot misbehaving not something more serious.
Trisha said
me too, this computer is too new to have problems already
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Yeah, Glenda, now you know a bit more about me– scary, isn’t it?
ME Liz Strauss said
That’s what I was thinking — that you just bought it.
Meikah Delid said
Hi Liz, hi everyone!
Time is of the essence! How do you manage it when you have gazillion of things to do? =)
Here’s a quote:
Samuel Smiles – “The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.”
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Very scary, Karen! Tho I sense you aren’t quite that bad.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Meikah!
Time to see you! Yea!!
Meikah Delid said
Is blogspot also in trouble? I thought it’s TypePad. Got an email from them today explaining their downtime.
ME Liz Strauss said
Typepad has been taking up a lot of people’s time lately. They’ve been as hard on folks as Twitter has been with being down.
Trisha said
Plurk is down! You should see the picture they have instead of the silly birds lifting the whale thing! Its silly too, but in a different way
Karen Putz / DeafMom said
Goodnight everyone! Sister just arrived and I forgot she was coming over!
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Trisha,
The whole Internet is a little silly these days, isn’t it?
ME Liz Strauss said
Good night, Karen,
Thanks for being here!
Trisha said
yes, it is! at least with plurk it sounds like it was a planned thing
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Ok, thanks to Karen sneaky time travel trick, tomorrow morning’s post is ready to republish [why can't we set the publish date?]. So, if tonight I write this morning’s post about lunch with @tojosan last Thursday, and tomorrow morning research blogs carnivals, which was Monday afternoon’s task, then I’m all caught up!
Nothing wrong with my time management!
The bottom line is do what is most important to you in that moment and let the rest go.
On that note, time for supper – last night’s leftovers.
Thanks Liz.
ME Liz Strauss said
Plurk is the most fun of all I think!
Trisha said
plurk is fun, but I don’t think as easy to use as twitter
ME Liz Strauss said
Trisha,
I’ve decided that Plurk and Twitter appeal to people who think different ways. I find Twitter boring and very linear.
Trisha said
I don’t think I’ve seen you on plurk. Have you used twirl?
Meikah Delid said
Hi Liz, thanks! Yeah time to see me indeed! =) Tho am late again because of our time difference.
Am now at Plurk and Twitter, but I get an error message when I try to plurk. Hmmm wonder what’s happening? Seems like everybody is experiencing a downtime!
ME Liz Strauss said
Someone is breaking the Internet on a regular basis these days!
Melissa Perce said
Plurk is a website I actaully have to work at getting all the updates. I am forced to spend time there if I want to know what’s going on. Where as twitter I can just click a few buttons and see if I missed anything. It’s a time thing for me. I have 2.5 seconds to check on “socializing for work” before one of my kids does something drastic. Twitter makes it easy and fast.
ME Liz Strauss said
Ah Melissa,
Unplug. Conversations in a bar never get caught up completely. Pretend Plurk is a barroom talking.
Melissa Perce said
Got my drink in hand!
Trisha said
yeah, I rarely actually check updates with it.
ME Liz Strauss said
when I check updates on Plurk, I only check those for myplurks and my friends.
Meikah Delid said
Liz, you’ve described Plurk right on the dot! It’s like a barroom where you can hear everyone talking, and you can go around join in as many conversations as you want. =)
It just takes a bit of getting used to, though, unlike Twitter where it’s more linear.
ME Liz Strauss said
It’s been days since I’ve been to Plurk. I’ve probably lost all of my karma. People have been asking me to join hi5 this week.
Meikah Delid said
Hi, Liz! how do we time manage with all these social networking invites! =)
I have had a hi5 account for 3 years now, but I have not gone there for 2.5 years! hahaha
Trisha said
I’ve never even heard of that one
ME Liz Strauss said
I never heard of it either, Trisha. Suddenly, a bunch of folks are checking it out.
Trisha said
I remember stumbleupon years ago. Someone added my site to it, way before social networking/media/bookmarking were even terms being used. I could kick myself for not checking into the site further back then.
ME Liz Strauss said
Yeah, I reviewed it when it first came out and thought it was sort of lame. Still think was lame when it started.
Trisha said
Are you usually up this late on your computer?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi,
I work a lot.
But I really need to pack it in soon. Early morning meeting down the street.
Trisha said
I usually try to shut down by this time too, otherwise its hard for me to sleep.
ME Liz Strauss said
Good night, then!
Sweet dreams!
Meikah Delid said
I don’t like hi5 that much that was why I didn’t pursue it.
Well, yeah I know it’s late there already. Here in my
side of the world, it’s still afternoon. =)
Have a good night!
Suzie Cheel said
Interesting I forgot this yesterday, my excuse- Des’s Birthday. See you nect week and will put it in the diary
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