The Dreaded "To-Do" List: A Novel Approach

For me, if I am not finding time to create, it is usually a sign that I am mismanaging my time in general.  So today, I thought I would just quickly share with you a time-management tool that I really-really like, and even better, it is FREE!  

http://davidseah.com/blog/node/the-task-progress-tracker/  

What distinguishes David Seah's Task Progress Tracker (link above) and Emergent Task Planner (http://davidseah.com/blog/node/the-emergent-task-planner/) from most other planning tools is that they include a very simple way to record your estimate of how long each task will take.  Time-management guru Julie Morgenstern* insists that knowing how long tasks will take is the gateway skill to good time management, and I think she is right.  In both Mr. Seah's time-management tools above**, you can place a little hash mark after the correct 15-minute interval to indicate how long you think the task will take you.  Then, as you work on the task, you fill in 15-minute bubbles as you complete them.

I hope this helps!

God bless,

Lori.

*Note that Ms. Morgenstern also includes a box for "How long will it take?" in her time-management forms, but (1) hers are not nearly as fun as Mr. Seah's and (2) they are not free.

**As you will quickly see on his website, these are just two among many free tools he makes available.  The Emergent Task Planner is also available as a notepad or a spiral-bound notebook at Amazon.  If you are considering buying one, please make sure to pay attention to the sizes.  One is considerably smaller than the other (if I recall correctly, the larger one is 8.5 x 11" and the smaller one is only 5 x 8").  Reviews for the smaller one suggest that it is too small for the taste of most users.