In the quest to perfect our time management habits, there is truly no greater joy than finding a new time management tool. I just love a new time management tool. In fact I covet a good tool, and can happily blow some of my own time management plans out the window by spending an inordinate amount of time cruising (both online or physically) shelves and shelves of glorious stationary, apps and programs which all promise to help me manage my time the smart way. For mine, nothing beats the tangible luxe-ness of a lovely leather planner. And yet, I digress. The selection of a really good time management tool has become quite complex. Let’s face it – aside from choosing online or offline, each buyer is faced with a multitude of (potential) time wasting decisions, including:
- Page to a day; week; month; year
- Task to a day; week; month; year
- Columns for each family member or one column for all
- Different coloured pens for different members of the household; stickers; post it notes and other fan dangled add-ons
- Shopping lists; ingredients lists; friends lists; networking lists; contacts lists; emergency lists; birthdays; anniversaries; national days; school holidays in every state
- To Do’s for you ; your partner; your kids; your nanny; your cleaner; your pets
- Alerts; alarms; warnings
- arghhhhhh…
It can be challenging. So, here are a few things to keep in mind next time you decide to Tool up:
- You don’t want just any Tool. You want a Tool which will help you plan and protect your time.
- BUYER BEWARE – stay away from Tools that hurt. I don’t mean the sorts of Tools you find at Bunnings. I meant the sorts of Tools which market their value as being the ‘absolutely best ever time management tool’ which will totally revolutionise your time in no time at all. In reality, they are so complicated or cumbersome to use that they actually suck up hours of your time learning and then maintaining them.
- Decide on your preferred medium – paper; phone; desktop. If you prefer online Tools and Apps, then just Google what’s new and beaut and stay on top of the trends – new online tools and apps come up all the time.
- Cool online Tools all do exactly the same thing as their equivalent paper based friends, so go with what you are most comfortable with and which you are most likely to use properly.
- If you use a combination of online and offline Tools, make sure you coordinate them to ensure they are in sync.
- If you are a bit of a technophobe, do yourself a favour and stay offline until you have the time to schedule some free time to learn about online time management (try reading that one again).
- Choose Tools which you can keep with you and use on the go.
- Choose Tools which you will enjoy using.
What is your favourite time management tool? Time Stylers works with professional women who are very clever when it comes to managing their business or career, but who aren’t using their smarts on the home front. Time Stylers has a reputation for helping our clients to find 30 guilt-free hours a month. What would you do with an extra 30 hours?
Time Stylers: www.timestylers.com.au
BaM: www.babysittersandmore.com.au
